Baked Bread / Baking

'Home Baked Bread'

Have everything measured and ready to go

 Make a well in centre of flour and add sugar, salt, yeast.

 Add half of the tepid water and mix gently with a fork bringing flour from side into the centre. Once your mixture resembles porridge consistency then you are able to use your hands (dust them in flour first this will help your hands to be less sticky) and add rest of water gradually as you mix. Expect your hands to get a little sticky though! Your flour may need more or less water, so adjust where necessary. Pat and push the together with remaining flour.

Remove dough from bowl onto clean work bench and 'push, fold, slap and roll the dough around time and time again for about 5 mins (I can't begin to tell you how therapeutic this is!) - until your dough is soft, silky and elastic as above. Dust flour over top.

Place dough into large bowl and cover with two tea towels or cling wrap and tea towel and place in a dry warm area to rest for 1 1/2 hours. Dough will double in size.

After 1 1/2 hours dough will be elastic as above -remove from bowl, and knock the air out of it for 30 seconds by punching, bashing and squashing (great therapy). Place on floured baking tray and shape dough. Cover with tea towel and leave to rest for another 30 mins.

After 30 mins. remove tea towel to see dough. Dough should again, have doubled in size. Feel free to add some scoring to the dough creating your own patterns with a sharp knife. Place into preheated oven - 200 degrees. Place on top shelf and place a stainless steel bowl of water on the bottom of oven to create moisture while the bread bakes. Bake for ten minutes and then turn temperature down to 180 degrees and bake for a further 30-45 mins (depends on the oven you are using). To test if bread is ready, tap the bottom of the bread - it will sound hollow and the bread will be lovely and golden.

Take bread out of oven, admire, smell and allow bread to cool before cutting.

Homemade bread cooked with love is so much better! Give it a go X.

Ingredients

1 kg strong premium bakers flour

2 tbsp of caster sugar

1 level tbsp sea salt

625 mls tepid water 

(2 parts cold to 1 part boiled)

21g dried yeast

extra flour for dusting

ENJOY! -X-

Pita with Buffalo / Quick Snacks

This is a great after work or weekend snack for when friends call in unexpectedly! A visually appealing dish, with wonderful textures and flavours. A great accompaniment to your favourite movie, or a round the table chat with friends or loved ones. 

Noshy Pita with buffalo

Ingredients

1-2 large wholemeal Pita bread

*if using 2 then double the amount of ingredients

2 cloves roughly chopped garlic

1 tbsp dried oregano 

1 tbsp dried ground sweet paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried ground chilli (mild)

1 tbsp dried ground sun-dried tomato

1 tbsp fresh parsley

2 mozzarella balls

 sliced and placed sporadically

1/2 lemon

drizzle olive oil

Preheat oven 200 degrees

Line a large flat baking tray with pita bread/s

drizzle olive oil olive oil over pita bread

add your spices over pita bread

add chopped garlic cloves

add fresh mozzarella slices sporadically over bread

sprinkle with fresh parsley

drizzle with lemon juice

drizzle with another splash of olive oil

Place into oven for 10 minutes - or when cheese has melted and pita has browned with a crunch!

ENJOY! -X-

Sweet Potato chips / Quick snacks

Quick snack? Try our sweet potato chips. Using a potato slicer very thinly slice sweet potato slices, lay out evenly in baking tray (making sure to not overlap), drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, season with good quality salt and fresh rosemary! Bake until sides start to curl and crispy. YUM

Sweet potato chips

ENJOY! -X-

Sage and Anchovy Fritters / Quick snacks

A favourite snack for the Italians and for us! These little darlings are so flavoursome and simply - divine. Great to serve at a dinner party or as we did - with each other. Left over batter can be used to coat other vegetables, zucchini flowers, or fish.

Sage and Anchovy Fritters

Beer Batter

Ingredients

100g Flour

190 ml Beer

1 pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into bowl

Add beer and whisk until smooth

Cover with glad wrap and rest for 30 mins in refrigerator

Sage and Anchovy Fritters

Ingredients

anchovy fillets halved lengthways

sage leaves 

(double the amount of halved anchovy fillets)

vegetable oil for deep frying

sea salt

lemon wedges to squeeze over and serve

Take an anchovy piece and sandwich between two sage leaves, pressing gently together.

Repeat this process until complete.

Place oil into hot fryer, deep frying pan or wok. Depth of oil should be at least 2 inches in the centre. Heat on high heat until hot - a drop of stale bread should turn golden in a few seconds, and this is the temp you want. 

Dip sage leaves into batter, let the excess batter drain off, and remember to keep some of the sage stalk free of batter so you can easily lift in and out of oil. Place fritters into hot oil and turn  once to ensure both sides are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

Drizzle fritters with lemon and serve on a hot plate with lemon wedge

*If cooking larger amounts for dinner party don't forget to heat up baking tray for serving fritters

Julie & Julia / Featured Weekend Movie

We are huge lovers of Julia Child and her incredible french cook books! We have all of them in our home to take out occasionally...totally spoiling ourselves silly, with her wonderful rich flavours. Julia Child's recipes make our hearts sing! If you love France, french cooking and the blogging world, then hire this movie over the weekend. A favourite movie of ours X.

Fig Filo Tart / Sweet Mondays 'Stressed is desserts spelled backwards'

We love Autumn and creating any dish that includes figs for their rustic colour and wonderful texture.
This Fresh fig tart is incredibly easy to make, and every mouthful enjoyable with the crunch of the filo and pistachio, creaminess of the custard and cream and luxurious sweetness of the fig and honey.

Mondays are much more enjoyable, when you have this to look forward to! Don't you think so?

'Autumn Fig Filo Tart'

serves 8-10

Ingredients

6 sheets filo pastry (thawed if frozen)

50g butter melted to brush each filo sheet

and to grease your tin

10 figs cut into wedges

75g plain flour

85g caster sugar

4 eggs

450 ml creamy milk

2 tsp almond extract (or essence)

icing sugar for dusting

honey to drizzle over figs

pistachio nuts and double cream to serve

Preheat oven to 190 degrees

Grease your tin with butter

Brush each filo sheet with melted butter (do this quickly so pastry doesn't crack)

Line your tin with your filo sheets one at a time

Trim excess with scissors, leaving some filo overhanging the edge

Place fig wedges in tin skin down on filo

Sift flour into bowl and add caster sugar

Add the eggs and gradually add milk whisking until smooth (you may not need all of your milk)

Add almond extract or essence to mixture and stir

Pour mixture evenly over figs

Place into oven for approx 1 hour. You want the batter to set and the pastry to be golden

Remove your tart from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes

Drizzle with honey and dust with generous amount icing sugar

Serve with double cream and crushed pistachios 

ENJOY! -X-

Mediterranean Flavours / Greece

Most recently Melbourne celebrated Greek culture by hosting a festival in our city. This dish brings together some of the wonderful flavours we love from Greek cuisine.

'Flavours from our Mediterranean kitchen'

serves 4

Ingredients

600g lamb or beef mince

3 large red and green capsicums

2-3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 3mm-4mm

1 eggplant

2 large mushrooms

1/2 large brown onion or 1 small

2-3 cloves garlic

100 ml white wine

200ml Good quality vegetable stock

*if you don't have time to make your own,

then we suggest Maggie Beers Vegetable stock

3 TBS olive oil 

1 TSP mild organic chilli paste (we use 1 TBS)

1 TBS tomato paste

160 ml pasatta or 1 can of diced tomatoes

1-2 heaped TSP oregano fresh from your garden or market

1 heaped TBS parsley fresh from your garden or market

 salt

cracked black pepper

For the tzatziki;

1/4 cucumber finely sliced lengthways and then diced

170g Greek yoghurt

1/2 lemon (juice)

Brush capsicums with 1 tbs olive oil, season with salt and cracked pepper, and place into preheated oven 230 - 240 degrees. Roast until skin blisters and blackens.

Peel and thinly slice potatoes 3mm - 4mm and place into small baking tray, cover in vegetable stock liquid and place in oven for 10-5 mins. The potatoes should be tender but still firm enough to not turn mushy and break later when you add them to the mince sauce.

Begin your chopping.

Finely dice cucumber, place into bowl with yoghurt, add squeeze of lemon juice, mix, cover with cling wrap and place in refrigerator.

Slice rounds from eggplant then cut rounds into halves. Place the eggplant pieces into colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes.

Slice mushroom and put aside.

Finely dice garlic cloves and onion and place aside.

Once capsicums ready remove from oven, place in bowl, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate.

Once potatoes ready remove from oven, place clean tea towel over dish and place aside.

Begin cooking your sauce - In a pot (we use Le Creuset, expensive but well worth it!), sweat onion and garlic over low-medium heat. Onion should cook without colour as per photo. Add mince and turn up heat to med-high, breaking up the mince and mixing through onion and garlic. Once mince starts to turn brown from pink add white wine and remaining vegetable stock liquid from potatoes, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. 

Bring sauce to a simmering temperature.

Add pinch pepper and taste. If you need more seasoning then add it.

Wash eggplants to remove salt, pat dry with absorbent paper.

Add tomato paste and chilli paste to mince and stir through.

Add eggplant to mince sauce and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Add passata or diced tomatoes, and mushrooms to sauce, stir though and turn to low heat.

Take capsicum from refrigerator, peel and remove skin and seeds as per photo. Add capsicum to blender and hit the pulse button 1 or 2 times. You want the capsicum chunky, not pureed. Once complete, place into sauce with oregano and parsley and potato. Stir through to warm potato and serve.

Serve with Tzatziki and some crusty bread.

ENJOY! -X-

*this dish is also great the next day

Autumn / Embracing a new season brings new opportunities

Happy Autumn to everyone in the Southern Hemisphere and Happy Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere. Our favourite seasons are Autumn and Spring. We love the vibrant rustic colours of Autumn and the blossoms and promise of new life that Springs brings us. We look forward to cooking some delicious dishes throughout Autumn, so stay tuned. Here is a favourite Autumn Poem to share with you all;

'Come, little leaves'

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,

"Come o'er the meadows with me and play;

Put on your dresses of red and gold,

For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,

Down they came fluttering, one and all;

Over the brown fields they danced and flew,

singing the glad little songs they knew.

By George Cooper

Caramelised Pear Cake / Desserts

As we launch 'Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards" Sweet Monday desserts, we couldn't think of a better recipe to feature first, than this one! This cake is incredibly moist, luxurious and decadent. The pears goes back beautifully with the caramel, and as we are approaching Autumn/Winter here in the Southern hemisphere, pears are at their absolute best. The perfect dessert to share with neighbours, friends and family. Adrian Richardson (mentioned in an earlier post) is a renowned Melbourne celebrity chef - go to http://www.lalunabistro.com.au/ to find out more about Adrian and his La Luna Bistro.

Caramelised Pear Cake by Adrian Richardson

serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into small dice

2 tbs brandy or rum

3 eggs

120g caster sugar

160g plain flour

1 tbs baking powder

140g unsalted butter, melted

Caramelised Pears

120g unsalted butter

400g caster sugar

5 pears, peeled, quartered and cored

Combine the diced pears and brandy or rum in a bowl and set aside. Thoroughly butter a kugelhopf tin.

We didn't have one so we used another round cake tin and it worked fine but without the gorgeous patterns of the kugelhopf tin, which does look very impressive!

Cut strips of baking paper about 10cm wide and lay them around the base of the tin, aiming to cover the base and reach a short way up the sides. This will prevent the pears from sticking to the tin.

To make the caramelised pears, melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the sugar and stir over medium heat until dissolved. Increase the temperature to medium-high heat and cook for 8-10 mins to a golden caramel (it's extremely important that you don't burn the caramel, it will taste bitter - so manage the temperature).

Carefully add the pear quarters (the caramel may splutter and spit, so be careful) and cook for 10-12 mins, tossing the pan gently to coat the pears in caramel - they will release their juices and stop the caramel from burning. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a few moments. Lift the pears out of the caramel and arrange them overlapping around the base of the tin. Reserve the caramel.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. To make the cake, beat the eggs and sugar until pale, thick and creamy. Sift on the flour and baking powder, then gently fold them into the eggs. Drizzle on the melted butter and fold it in. Gently fold in the diced pears and alcohol.

Spoon the batter into the tin to cover the caramelised pears, then drizzle the reserved caramel over the top. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (we found the time took a little longer, but that could be because of the tin we used).

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5-10mins (this is crucial! Don't try and rush this step! We didn't wait long enough and when we turned the tin upside down we had a little problem...the caramel hadn't set enough and the cake wasn't as stable as it should have been! Lesson learned), then invert it onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Carefully peel away the baking paper. Serve the cake with thickened cream - a must :)!

We found our cake to be very moist for a week!

ENJOY! -X-

Orange juice the old way / Juices

Why post this? Because we love orange juice - only when the oranges are freshly picked from our friends tree and juiced in our own kitchen. A whole lot of goodness, chemical free! Oh and the  oranges  photographed beautifully. 


Freshly squeezed Orange juice...the old way! Perfect start to the day to enjoy with our weekend breakfast feast 'Poached eggs with a rich Tuscan bean sauce'

Orange Juice the old way

serves 2

5 organic oranges halved

squeeze orange halves to make 500 mls of orange juice

ENJOY! -X-

Organic poached eggs with Tuscan beans cooked in tomato, garlic & sage / Weekend Breakfast Feasts

Our Weekend Breakfast Feast

Organic poached eggs with Tuscan beans cooked in tomato, garlic & onion

Serves 4

Every Saturday, in celebration of the weeks-end, we love to prepare a noshy cooked breakfast packed with flavour. We always find cooking cathartic, and what better way to refresh & re-energize than cooking a beautiful Saturday breaky!

The cooked beans in tomato, garlic & sage ( traditionally known as fagiolli all' uccelletto ) is our own - tried and tested over many months, using varying ingredients and methods. We think we've got it pretty right - the flavour is rich & luxuriant, the colour and textures an ode to its Tuscan roots. It is a hearty, rustic mix of flavours we know you will love.

Try these with organic poached eggs on a great sour dough loaf and you will never turn back!

1. Beans cooked in tomato, garlic & onion

Ingredients

500g dried red kidney beans
 (if time poor can use tinned)
500g dried white butter beans 
(if time poor can use tinned)

2 x 400g tinned Italian tomatoes

1/2 large red capsicum finely diced

200ml tomato passata

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely diced

 (refer to our post "Cutting onions without tears")

2 tsp mild organic chilli paste

(feel free to turn up the heat if you love the hot stuff)

6 large fresh sage leaves

2 large springs of fresh thyme

90ml extra virgin olive oil

2 anchovies

Sea salt & ground black pepper

If using dried beans, soak them in water for 6-7 hours or overnight. The drain, rinse and cook them in plenty of simmering water until soft - about 1 1/2 hours - then drain them and set aside.

Prepare your "mise en place" - (everything in its place) of garlic, onion, chilli paste and capsicum.

Put the garlic into your pot with the olive oil and gently simmer until fragrant, ensuring you don't burn the garlic. Stir in the onions and cook until they are soft but not browned (sweat). Stir in the chilli paste and add the capsicum and cook until soft.

 Once you have done this, add the fresh herbs - sage & thyme and stir them in.

Add in the tinned tomato's, passata and beans.

Stir in the anchovies (they will dissolve into the sauce and add a wonderful richness)

Add salt & pepper to taste

Lid on - and simmer over low heat for 30 mins (stirring occasionally).

2. Organic poached eggs

Ingredients

4 eggs

100ml vinegar / litre of water

Heat water and vinegar in a deep pot until the bubbles are foaming on the bottom, but not breaking the surface (this temperature is very important).

Crack each egg into a small cup and gently place into the middle of the liquid.

As the egg falls through the water, it should set into an egg shape and then float to the surface when the white is set.

Cook until the white is set and the yoke is still runny - approx 2 1/2 - 3 minutes according to the size of your egg.

Remove from the liquid with a slotted spoon & drain on absorbent paper.

Trim edges to make it look pretty!

Serve on fresh sourdough with a curl of avocado & a splosh of our yummy Tuscan beans!

Buon Appetito! -X-

The Help / Featured Weekend Movie

We settled in to watch "The Help" tonight and loved this story. An emotional account, no doubt typical of so many lives , not just in Southern USA in the 60's - but all around the world. Good will always eventually win over evil - it's only a matter of time. If you haven't already seen it, then hire it this weekend! Minnie's cooking makes you want a big bowl of Southern fried chicken! We'd skip her chocolate pie though ;) 

Thursday's Cooking tip / How to Ripen Avocados

Need to ripen avocados quickly? Place avocados into a bowl or paper bag with ripe bananas! The ripe bananas give off a gas that helps to speed up the ripening process. This works for us every time and will give you ripe avocados for the following day, to enjoy as you so wish.

Bok choy with Poached chicken, Spring onion, chilli, garlic & ginger sauce

We have been missing Asia lately...mainly because we have recently been in touch with our friends, who still live in Hong Kong, and who we miss so much! That, and also the fact that another friend has just arrived back on Australian soil after spending an entire month in Thailand - yes a whole month, Lucky indeed! We also have another friend living in Chiang Mai who teases us with all the wonderful food he is enjoying! So, it goes without saying, that I have been totally inspired this week to create and cook a new recipe! I was so pleased with how everything came together. The flavours, textures and colours of this dish take you on a wonderful asian journey. So close your eyes and enjoy every mouthful *^^*

Bok choy with Poached chicken, Spring onion, chilli, garlic and ginger sauce

serves 2

Mise en place (everything in it's place)

place 1 1/2 cups brown rice

into rice steamer and let cook

Meanwhile start chopping

2 cloves garlic finely chopped 

2 tbs finely chopped ginger

1/2 large red chilli finely sliced

 (most seeds removed)

2 tbs peanut oil

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 bunch bok choy ends

 removed, washed

to remove grit

 remove tops

 and roots of spring onions

and wash, then

slice lengthways down centre 

of all 5

reserve 1 tbsp of dark green

spring onion leaf

slice as thin as possible (chiffonade)

this will be used later

Bring shallow pan of water to boil

with 3-4 large slices of ginger (skin on)

and a few sprigs of corriander, then reduce

to poaching temp

 (no bubbles coming to service

but still HOT, so low heat)

at the same time bring another 

pan or wok of water to boil

and place bamboo steamer

over top to steam veggies

Bok choy and spring onions

will take 4 minutes to steam

same time as chicken (below)

ginger slices and coriander will

infuse their flavour into water

leave for 15 mins, then add thin chicken slices

(we used 1 chicken breast)

and continue poaching for 2-3 mins

chicken will be moist,

 tender and white in centre

place in bowl, cover

and out aside

Bok choy and Spring Onion

steamed and ready to eat

Add chopped chilli, garlic, ginger

steamed spring onion halves

and 1 tbsp dark green spring onion

finely sliced into small

heat proof bowl

In a wok or fry pan heat 2 tbs 

peanut oil to smoking point 

over high heat 

(you can test that your oil is HOT enough

by sticking the end of a bamboo skewer

in it. If oil bubbles and hisses it's ready)

Remove from heat and immediately

pour over your mixture in bowl

then pour in your soy sauce,

sesame oil and mix through 

everything is mixed through and ready

to plate up

Serve your rice on plate
add bok choy first, 
then chicken slices
then carefully spoon mixture 
over chicken

ENJOY! -X-