I.love.chestnuts.

Fillet mignon surrounded in a cushy bed of crunchy long beans, tender mushrooms, melt-in-your-mouth fagioli beans and creamy, buttery chestnuts. Sighz. Need I say more?

*Burpz* Oops, 'cuse me.

Chat Thai

With the cheap meal deals on offer and fast service, Thai food invariably draws in much of the student crowd around Sydney Uni. Seriously, I’ve never seen more Thai restos anywhere else. Back in Singapore, my knowledge of Thai food was limited to fluffy pineapple fried rice with generous servings of pork floss and the ubiquitous sour, tangy Tom Yum soup. Sydney (okay, and maybe Africa) must have been the last place where I thought I’ll get to know Thai food better.

However with the multitude of restos around serving up their own versions of Thai cuisine, it’s hard to figure out what’s the real deal sometimes. And who better to ask than another Thai?

Saturday late morning saw us at the Contemporary Art Museum for the 2008 Biennial Art Expo with our favourite Singa-Dutch couple. As expected, there was the small handful of intriguing art pieces and more than your fair share of mind-boggling ones, so I was really quite looking forward to lunch to perk me up. Since we were in the city, we decided to check out Chat Thai. A mutual Thai friend had brought them there before and they couldn’t stop raving about it and how authentic it supposedly was. ‘Nuff said. They had me at authentic.

The dreary wet weather must have kept the crowd away and we were lucky to get a seat rather quickly; I was told that it’s normally packed to the brim during mealtimes. Not that I minded waiting. The kitchen was out in front at the waiting area and we could get a sneak peak at the goodies on offer. At the sight of khanom craok, my heart must have skipped a beat. I’ve read about these little coconut snacks on Eating Asia and have since spent many a night thinking about them. And here they were, brazenly looking all golden and crispy right in front of me. In Sydney. Boy, life is good to me.



We were quickly ushered to our seats and the waitress laid out 4 beaten tin cups in front of us. After poring through the menu for a bit, our orders were placed. 10 minutes must have whizzed by when our first dish was served.


Khao Mok Gai

The Khao Mok Gai reminded me a lot of nasi biriyani. The chicken was extremely moist and tender and the rice deliciously spiced, but it was the sauce that blew me away – it was tangy and rich in coriander. The crunchy deep fried shallots rounded off the entire dish nicely.


Ki Mao

Next up was the Ki Mao, and I am more than happy to report that there were no traces of tomato sauce in sight. The flat rice noodles had a nice bite to it and there was just the right amount of seasoning (not drenched in sauce like some places serve it) with lots of fresh, half-cooked veggies, just the way I like it.


Crying Tiger

I was a little apprehensive about the name Crying Tiger, but all traces of doubt fell away as I sank my teeth into the soft, char-grilled pieces of beef. The meat held its own and I found the sweet chili sauce on the side almost unnecessary.


Tort Mun Pla

The Tort Mun Pla was a dish of deep fried, spiced fish mousse served with roasted basil leaves. Drizzled with a fragrant sauce, this was quite more-ish.


Khanom Craok

Dessert. Finally, the dish I’ve been anticipating. It was everything I dreamed of and more. The crispy exterior easily gave way to a sinfully rich, cococnut custard filling. My first bite had me contemplating buying a whole box to take home, but doing so will surely lead to overkill. Besides, I need another excuse to come back soon!


Kai Nok Gatah and friend banana fritters

The deep-fried desserts were a bit of a disappointment. I thought the Kai Nok Gatah (fried cassava dumplings) were rather bleah. I usually love my banana fritters (known as goring pisang back home), but these were dry and to an extent, made me think of cardboard.


Red Ruby

The Red Ruby was a special which wasn’t listed on the dessert menu. This was surprisingly good, very good in fact. The gelatinous layer on the chestnut pieces were rose-flavoured, something I’ve never had before. I could easily finish a bowl of this on my own.

I forgot to take a picture, but we ended the meal with Thai coffee with condensed milk, just the way we drink our kopi and teh back in Singapore. I never thought there’ll come a day when I would get excited over finding kopi in a resto. Although this is something I can make on my own, it’s somehow more satisfying when someone else makes it for you. Sighs. The things we take for granted!

Oh khanom craok, I’ll be back for you.

Chat Thai
20 Campbell Street
Sydney

Chee Cheong Fun

Even having lived overseas for 8 years, I still get hit by the occasional bout of homesickness. Anyone who has been to Singapore must know that food is central to our society, and as such, I've been seeking solace in SE-Asian cuisines whenever I can.

Anyone who has been to yumcha would recognize these cheong fun rice-noodle rolls. Back home, it is known as chee cheong fun and is quite a popular breakfast food. The HK-style cheong fun is more savoury whereas cheong fun is more commonly served with a sweet/savoury sauce in Singapore. Chee cheong fun is extremely easy and takes only 3 minutes to whip up as fresh cheong fun is available in most Asian grocery stores. All you need to do is cut them into bite sized chunks, mix a little hoisin sauce with water to form a thick but runny paste and lace the cheong fun generously with the sauce. Add a good sprinkling of sesame seeds and serve with a little bit of sambal chilli on the side if desired. Sit back and enjoy.

Eclairs

Sometimes, too much of a good thing really can be a bad thing.

Think about it. Apples half the size of your head. Big fluffy pillow-like croissants instead of small, buttery, flaky ones. Slabs of banana bread pumped up to the equivalent size of 3 slices of bread stacked together. Now what they make up for in quantity, they fall short in quality.

I usually buy free range eggs and there was a substantial discount on some large 800g free-range ones. Well, money oftentimes speaks louder and so we thought, what the heck, how different can it possibly be? Oh trust me, when it comes to eclairs, it can take on catastrophic proportions.



The original recipe called for 5 large eggs, so I decided to halve it and go for 2.5 eggs. My first batch of eclairs looked more like a bunch of cooked tongues, all flat and spread out. Zut. Quel q'un se es assis sur les eclairs? Did someone sit on my eclairs? I thought I didn't do the recipe right, so this time I repeated the recipe, but decided to use just 2 eggs instead. The second batch struggled to rise and did so more than the first batch, but probably won by a nano-millimeter. Pffft.

I decided to do a bit of research and found that the problem might be too much egg. To make sure this was the case, I watched a video on Youtube to get a rough idea of what the consistency of the pate choux should be like.

So half stirring and half praying (as I was down to my last 2 eggs), I used 1.5 eggs and voila, the eclairs puffed up beautifully and obediently like mini corn cobs. Taking into mind that this was achieved with one whole egg less, I was a little gobsmacked. These 800g eggs were not just large eggs, they must be extra-large eggs. Shudder.

The creme patissiere on the other hand was a breeze to whip up. I love love LOVE coffee eclairs and substituted melted chocolate with a tbsp of instant coffee instead. It was rich, velvety and simply lovely. I piped the creme into the eclair instead of slicing it into half and spreading it in between. And since we had to keep a chocolate element in the eclairs, I dipped them in a simple dark chocolate ganache made with dark 74% chocolate and thickened cream. My, the combination was so very good.

Let's just say I'm glad I only have to do this once a month or I'll probably end up looking like a choux puff! Merci beaucoup Tony and Meeta for coming up with this splendid idea! You can find the recipe at their blogs.

Jabo-what?

I love Harris Farm. It's like a supermarket version of a deli in Sydney, stocked with all sorts of lovely foods, fresh or prepared. It's my mini haven to escape into and the minutes just fly by as I take my time to peruse the aisles. I like to come here to stock up on crusty ciabattas, wholemeal lebanese rounds, thick greek yoghurts, dried and fresh fruits, veggies*, nuts and the occasional soft, buttery brioche loaf or slice of gourmet cheese. Every now and then, there will be some new exotic looking produce that will pop up on the aisle. I love trying new things, so if the price is within reason, it will usually end up in my basket.

Dark purplish, ripe with juice and only at 4 dollars a punnet, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to try these. Jaboticabas are native to Brazil and is much likened to the grape. It has a tough, astringent skin which bursts delightfully to reveal its sweet, whitish, half translucent flesh. The seeds, if present, are soft and yielding and can be crunched through easily. Tastewise, the jaboticaba reminds me somewhat of a cross between a mangosteen and logan. Go figure.

Other than eating these fresh, these are apparently frequently used in jams or drinks. I immediately knew what I wanted to use these for - a peanut butter and jaboticaba-jelly sandwich. I've been craving for a PBJ sandwich for some time now and the mere thought of the deliciously salty, crunchy peanuts melding with the sweetness of the jelly had me practically tripping over to the kitchen to get started on the jam.

The skin of the jaboticaba has a lot of tanins and can impart a bitter taste, but the acid in the citrus helps cut through it somewhat. I used orange in place of lime since that was all I had on hand and it turned out beautiful too, although I was a little stronghanded on the orange. All that's left to do now is to simply slather it on a thick slice of mixed grain toast with a good helping of crunchy peanut butter. Now that's comfort food.

Jaboticaba Jam

A batch of jaboticabas

Sugar

Limes

Place the jaboticabas in a saucepan. Add enough water to cover the fruit and bring to boil, then reduce the heat. Let it simmer for about half an hour to an hour, making sure it does not become too dry. Remove from heat and strain the liquid to get rid of the skins and seeds.

Whatever amount of jaboticaba juice you end up with, add an equal amount of sugar and the zest and juice of the limes to taste. Place the saucepan on a low heat to dissolve the sugar and heat until the jam coats the back of a spoon thickly. Remove from heat and place into sterilized jars.

*I'm trying to shift most of my fresh veggies and fruit purchases now to the little local grocerer though. For one, the produce is usually fresher and picked closer to the ripening stage since they are grown in closer proximity, and two, it helps minimize the amount of energy consumption with the reduced transportation.

Fresh pasta!

There must come a point in every foodie's life where they just want to try making everything from scratch.

Pasta is one of the essentials in my student pantry, making for a nutritious and delicious meal in just minutes. Therefore it becomes somewhat of an irony that I've never tried fresh pasta. The logic is simple: We don't eat out a lot, and I think having pasta as one of our staples automatically relegates Italian food to the bottom of my list when we do chow out.

So, having nothing better to do one afternoon, I thought why not try making some? Not having a nice, shiny pasta rolling machine wasn't an excuse for me. I mean hey, the good women of Italy have been doing it by hand for ages, no? Everything went fine til the dough rolling stage; this is when "Overzealous" became my middle name. I got slightly carried away, channelling whatever energy I had to make sure it turned out as paper-thin as possible. Let's say I had to practically scrape my lunch off the baking sheet! chuckle. Well, it was worth a try!

Prochaine fois.

Riz au lait, son fondant aux pommes caramelisee et son sirop d'erable

Having come across Linda's "Got Milk?" event in support of breastfeeding, I knew I had to participate. Yes I haven't got any kids yet (and I dont see any in the near future as well), but one thing for sure: when I do, I'm going the au naturel way. I can only imagine it's such a wonderful feeling to be able to nourish and nuture your bub like this.

I've bookmarked this dessert ever since I gleefully flipped open the glossy cover of Natalie Beauvais' "Trop Mad" cookbook. Believe it or not, this is the first cookbook I actually own ever since starting this food blog! To top it off, it's a gift from my bebe which really makes it all the more special. :)

This lovely dessert is a rice milk pudding with caramelised apple puree and maple syrup. It's quite a mouthful, but boy is it a delicious one. The ingredients are simple, basic and wholesome, making the most out of the natural sweetness of maple syrup and apples. Goes in line with the whole idea of breastfeeding hey?

Riz au lait, son fondant aux pommes caramelisees et son sirop d'erable

(Pour 8 personnes)

Le riz au lait:

100g rice

1L whole milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract (or to taste)

80g caster sugar

Le fondant aux pommes caramelisees:

1 kg apples

80g caster sugar

juice of half a lemon

6 tbsps of sirop d'erable (maple syrup)

Preparation:

Riz au lait: Rinse the rice under cold running water. Place the rice in a heavy bottom saucepan and add 1/4 of the milk together with the vanilla. On a low heat, bring the rice and milk to boil, stirring so that the rice does not burn. When the rice has absorbed all the milk, add the rest of the milk a little at a time, stirring frequently. When the rice is soft and the last of the milk added, add the sugar and combine well. Remove from heat and cool. Set aside.

Fondant au pommes: Wash and peel the apples, dicing them into small cubes. Place the apples, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and cover. Heat over a medium-low flame, stirring now and then to prevent the apples from sticking to the pan. When the apples are soft enough and slightly caramelised, remove from heat and mash. Cool and set aside.

Dressage: To assemble, place a good spoonful of apple puree into a glass. Add 2 good spoonfuls of rice pudding and top off with a tablespoon of maple syrup (or as much as you like). Enjoy!

Fruit Fan Fare! August MBP 2008

With these little babies in season, it’s hard to walk past the fruit stall and not grab a bagful. Especially when the damage is only a mere $2! Oh the pure joy you get when finding a steal extends even to the fruit stall…?



Having bookmarked this recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller for ages, I was glad when the perfect excuse to make it finally came up. Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen is hosting MBP August 2008 with the theme “Fruit Fare”, where fruit has to be incorporated into a dish. One of the rules is also to use a recipe from a fellow blogger, and incidentally, one of my all-time fave bloggers, Jen of Milk and Cookies has also made these and blogged about it before. You can read it here.



These baby lemon cakes were such a breeze to make, and my initial dismay at how little the batter for 2 servings seemed to be were soon turned to relief as I realized how moist and rich these were. Even better was the discovery of lemon-specked honeyed butter which I can see melting so beautifully on a nice thick slice of toast. Sweet heavens.

Served warm, this works out to be a real wintry treat! Try it and I’m sure you’ll love it.

Note: Some changes I made: (1) Instead of using lime, I used lemon. (2) As I didn’t have self raising flour on hand, I used good ol’ plain flour with a little bit of baking powder. (3) Also since I prefer whole foods, honey was used in place of sugar in all cases. (4)Yoghurt was used in placed of sour cream. (4) The passionfruit cream also called for icing sugar, but I omitted that and found it juste parfait. Feel free to add the icing sugar if you feel it isn’t sweet enough.

Baby lemon cakes with Passionfruit Syrup & Cream

Lemon cakes:

125g soft buerre

3/4 cup honey

2 tbsp finely grated lemon rind

3 eggs

1/2 cup yoghurt

1 cup self-raising flour

Passionfruit syrup:

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup lemon juice

pulp from 3 passionfruit

Passionfruit Cream:

300ml thickened cream

pulp from 1 passionfruit

30gm icing sugar, sieved (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Beat le buerre, honey et lemon rind until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add yoghurt and combine. Fold in flour and spoon mixture into 10 greased and prepared small cake moulds or a muffin tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool.

2. For the syrup, place all the incredients and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan and stir over medium high heat. When combined, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 mins or until syrupy. Makes ~ 1 cup.

3. For the cream, combine the ingredients and whisk until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

4. To serve, pour half the warm syrup over cool cakes and serve with passionfruit cream and extra syrup passed separately.

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

It's that time of the month again - and the DB task this time is a Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream cake by Carol Walter.





Other than the slight panicky moment when the buttercream would not come together (this was fixed with a little bit of heat), the cake was relatively easy to whip up, having had some experience with Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. And yes, it did involve a fair bit of creamin' and whippin' and my arm's still aching! I know I know, the call to get an electric mixer is getting ever stronger and resistance could be futile if I continue baking at this rate?



Anyway, shall keep this post short and sweet. Thanks to Chris of Mele Cotte for picking July's DB challenge! :) The recipe can be found at her blog!

PS: My darling boy got me a cookbook by Natalie Beauvais on Bretonne cuisine. I've already dog-earred several recettes! Trop Mad!

Pear Hazelnut Torte

When it comes to cooking, I love to do things the good old fashioned way. That means even if I have to cream the life out of butter and sugar to make it 'light and fluffy', I'll roll up my sleeves and put that hand whisk to work. Kneading dough? Nah, put away the dough hook, all you need to enlist is just a pair of strong, soft hands. Coming into such intimate contact with your food also makes you appreciate and understand the different smells and textures of the produce you are using. It is truly a labour of love, and that's a romantic notion I'll gladly stick to.

This hazelnut pear torte however, almost made me cave in to the idea of getting an electric mixer. Yep, almost. I shall stand firm. At a friend's request, I agreed to whip up a birthday cake for a surprise party tonight. Since the birthday boy's Dutch, I wanted to do something almond based, but the curious cat in me couldn't help but be enticed by the little bag of hazelnutnut meal on the shelves. I've never tried cooking with this nut meal before, and if the success of Nutella and Ferro Rocher is anything to go by, I'm sure the humble hazelnut is as much loved as almond, right? Right. Wanting to work with something in season as well, pears were the natural pick.



Alas, my camera decided to play out on me right after taking these few photos, so I couldn't take any at the Spanish tapas resto we ended up at. We had a pretty awesome night - the food was aplenty, the liquids flowed freely and we even had a live flamenco performance! When the cake arrived, I swore I felt a tad jittery - after all this was something I never baked before! (Yes I wonder why I keep doing that) Turned out the last minute decision to put a good scattering of freshly pounded cardamom was a very good call. I am very much partial to cardamom these days and the fragrance was simply lovely. The cake was dense and had a slightly mealy texture interspersed with chunks of soft pears soaked in a little rum. I was told it's reminiscent of a Dutch cake called spekkoek, probably better known as kueh lapis, an Indonesian multilayer spice cake which I happen to be very fond of as well. I'm just happy that everyone liked the cake and am glad to say there were no leftovers!



For the recipe, I left out almost an entire half to three-quarter cup of flour/meal mixture which seemed way too much to me (it might be due to the eggs I used which were smaller). Which is just as well - I've already got plans to whip up another batch of these - juste pour moi! :)

Pear Hazelnut Torte
2 small pears (I used Packham)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup hazelnut meal
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or Chinese five spice (use whatever you have)
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tsps rum
5 cardamom pods (this is quite a lot - reduce if you don't like it too strong)

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

Coarsely chop half of pears and in a bowl toss with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tsp rum. In another bowl, finely slice remaining pears and combine with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tsp of rum.

In a bowl whisk together hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, salt, and allspice. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, and beat in vanilla and flour mixture until batter is just combined.

Drain chopped pears and stir into batter and spread evenly in pan.

Drain sliced pears and arrange in a concentric pattern over batter. Crush the cardamom pods slightly, remove the skins and pound the seeds to a fine powder. Scatter liberally over the pears. Bake torte in middle of oven 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean. Cool torte in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar if you wish.

Adapted from Gourmet.

Tengoku

There's nothing I love more than discovering a new resto that serves up great food with reasonable prices. And boy did I find a little gem, tucked away on Anzac Parade in Kensington.

Aptly named Tengoku or 'Heaven' in Japanese, this little unassuming shop serves up some of the most generous pieces of sushi I've ever had. Three pieces of fat, juicy scallops on a little knob of rice? Oh oui, j'adore j'adore! The meaty, freshly fried softshell crab rolls are such a welcome treat on a cold winter's night, and my eyes almost glaze over with pure pleasure as it crunches between my teeth. Though not featured in the photos, the irresistibly sweet scampi sushi and miso soup are another must-try.

I've already been there a second time in a week. Trust me, I'll be back pretty soon!

Tengoku

121 Anzac Parade, Kensington

96633388

(Make sure you call ahead to make reservations)

Rain, rain, go away

What could be more heartwarming than a bowl of warm cassoulet on a rainy, working weekday?



Mmm. I am so lucky to have a generous frenchie-french neighbour. :)

Danish pastry for one.

It's finally ready! A little late, but still very much here!

Right, so the June DB task was Danish pastries, or more specifically, a Danish braid using a Sherry Yard recipe. This is where I go off track a little. I still have more dough to make a braid, but I thought I'll leave that one till later in the week so I can share it with friends. (Food always tastes better when you get to share it with people you love dont you think?) For now, a single-serve Danish pastry suits me just fine.

I can't believe how easy this pastry was to make. The dough was beautifully speckled and smelt heavenly with the lemon peel and coarsely ground cardamom, making it a pure pleasure to roll out the dough each time.

Simplicity has always been key for me. So for the filling, I tossed together some thinly sliced Packham pears, a bit of honey, whole cloves and a drizzle of vanilla extract. Simple, wholesome and so satiating.



This dough really holds its own too. I made a tres petit crossiant from the cutouts and found it really, really good. Oh dear, at this rate, I'll never buy anything from the shops again!

Thanks to Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? for hosting and coming up with this month's challenge!

DANISH DOUGH (Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough)
Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated (I used lemon instead and found it works just as well)
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (Again, I used lemon juice in place of orange)
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Strawberry & Lavender Jam

Damn! Due to a technical difficulty, my DB post will be a day late. But better late than never, right? :) Check here tom for the post!

Wow I feel like I'm busier than ever! If I'm not at some party, I'll be catching up with someone over dinner or drinks or just simply catching up on my reading. I'm delving into Buddhist teachings and the Dalai Lama dialogues now, something which I've always found interesting but never really caught onto for some time. I can't begin to tell you how riveting it is!

Last week was Vina's birthday and she invited us to celebrate with her with dinner, drinks and a show @ the Vanguard. She's such a great person and I really wanted to make something special for her. I recalled her mentioning she's got a thing for sweet stuff (maybe it's because she's preggers), and with all the strawberries in season now, I decided to whip up some homemade jam infused with a tinge of lavender for something different. It's funny how lavender was the rage in food blogging, but most people have never heard of eating lavender or tried it for that matter. Phil actually thoguht he could die from it. Geez! *chuckle*

The highlight of the night was a performance by the Kahn Brothers, but to whet our appetite, the night started off with this duo - if I'm not wrong, I think they're from the Blue Mountains . The music was really good and easy to listen to. I liked them.

Then there was this.

This band was full on aggro. All the vibration from the loud, clanging music made me want to throw my steak up. Definitely not my idea of dinner music. The lead singer even got up and trampled all over his keyboard at one point. You know, self-expression is fine, but maybe because I enjoy playing music myself, ruining musical instruments just rubs me the wrong, wrong way.

After that band, everyone was really looking forward to the Kahn Brothers. They've got this amazing presence - the moment the band got on the stage, I felt instantly relaxed. Then again, after the show put up by that crazy band, anything would probably calm your nerves. The music is indie acoustic - my favourite song for the night was "Everyday". Yep, they've just got themselves a new fan!

Ritey, gotta prep my dough for the night! My post will be out tom - promise! :D

Strawberry and Lavender Jam (makes about 2 cups)

500g strawberries, rinsed and quartered

1/4 cup sugar (I cut down on the amount of sugar substantially to make this jam as wholesome and natural as possible. Feel free to increase the quantity to 1/2 - 1 cup)

1 tbsp dried lavender buds

1 tbsp lemon juice

Place the strawberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium-heat. Stir frequently until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and continue stirring, lowering the heat. Add the lavender buds to steep. The jam is ready when it thickens and runs off the back of a spoon slowly and thickly. Ladle the hot jam into a sterilized jar and seal.

Olive oil and orange rosquillos

If you take a look at the food blogs around, it seems like almost everyone's already attempted a baked doughnut, except yours truly of course. I've bookmarked this recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller eons ago and finally found the time to try it this morning.

And the entire batch almost ended up in the bin. 2 things happened. One: it wasn't a recipe for baked doughnuts but fried ones, but it did not deter me still since I am on a quest to eat more healthily. Two: I decided to ignore the quantity stated for the orange juice and go by 'feel' as I do sometimes. Uh-oh. For someone who loves everything in excess, the mere 1/2 cup of orange juice that the recipe called for didn't look enough and moreover I did not feel like wasting half an orange (yeah it was a BIG orange), so in went an entire cup (probably even a little more). So it's little wonder that the batter didn't come together as it should.

With my fingers stuck in what felt like gunk, it got to the point where I wanted to chuck out the dough and just settle for some Milo cereal and milk for brekkie instead. But the dough clung on so tenanciously that I decided what the heck, I'll just dip my hands in copious amounts of flour and try to do the best I can.

These were already brushed off as a lost cause and I only had enough curoisity to warrant 5 small rings. When the little rosquillos browned and cooled, I absently picked one up and nibbled on it. Thinking it would be rock hard from the excess amount of flour that was added, I was surprised when it was soft, chewy and bready. Mmm, not half bad really. Paired with a little chunk of 70 % cocoa chocolate that I had bought for making brownies for Tony, it was quite good too, but I found myself preferring the rosquillos on its own even without the recommended dredging in cinnamon sugar.

Before I knew it, I finished 3 little rosquillos. Think these deserve a try again.

Olive oil and orange Rosquillos
Note: The yoghurt I used in place of the pouring cream imparted a slight tangy, sourish flavour that people might not be used to. I only used it to make it healthier, but stick to pouring cream otherwise :)

1 egg

1/2 cup pouring cream (I used plain thick yoghurt instead)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 orange, finely grated rind only

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Vegetable oil for deep frying if desired

1 Combine eggs, cream, orange juice, orange rind, olive oil and 120gm sugar in a large bowl, mix to combine, add flour and mix until a soft dough forms, then knead for 1 minute. Divide dough into 20 pieces and roll onto a lightly floured surface to form 15cm-long cylinders, then pinch ends together to make little doughnut-shaped rings.

2 If you would like a sugar dressing for your doughnuts, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.3 For deep frying: Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 180C and cook rosquillos, in batches, for 4 minutes, turning once or until golden, then drain on absorbent paper. Cool completely, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Rosquillos are best eaten the day they’re made, but will keep for 1-2 days when they will be best suited to dunking in coffee.
If you wish to bake it, what I did was preheat the oven to 400F and put the rosquillos in til they turn brown (approximately 15-20 min).

adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Royal National Park

I didn't mean to take a hiatus on blogging. Honestly. I even missed out on May's DB challenge (which everyone did such a fantastic job on btw!). But you'll see why in a sec...

Instead of labouring over joconde and mousse layers like a good Daring Baker should, I went on a camping trip instead to the Royal National Park. In winter. Amazing feat for a tropical-blooded person like me (yeah the moment it hovers around 20 deg celsius, I start reaching for a sweater).

Well and a fabulous time I had! Imagine enjoying a beautiful smoked salmon roll, perched on a stone cliff, soaking the sun from the cloudless sky and watching barrels of seawater form and crash in front of you.

Btw this salmon roll that Wendy whipped up was so yummy, we bought a pack of lebanese bread, a bag of mixed salads, smoked salmon slices and a chunky olive dip and had that for lunch everyday in uni. Easy peasy but so satisfying.

The coastal trail in Royal National Park is absolutely breathtaking. The landscape keeps changing - from tall trees with skinny trunks to short bushlands to spiny heather. And we had company too. Foxes, little birdies which go "Hoy!", a cute little bush rat and even a black snake with a red-belly which I didn't get to see cos I was right at the back dotted our trail.

Mind you, it wasn't all that easy. In all the hike was 26km long and consisted of soft, sandy trails that worked every inch of your calf muscles, maneuvering around slippery rocks and trying, arduous climbs that had us huffin' & puffin' and legs feeling like jello. Each time we crossed a hill, a glance back at all that ground covered leaves you a feeling of satisfaction like no other.

It's definitely time to brush up this blog a bit! Even though I haven't been taking photos or writing, I've been steadily building on my repetoire of recipes - deliriously full-flavoured coconutty rice with fried shallots, coffee-braised beef with orange rind, chewy oatmeal cookies, olive oil lemon cake, pillowy-light ricotta pancakes and a lovely, dense rum-soaked date and walnut cake that I brought along for the hike but was finished in one sitting (we really should have rationed that).

Til the next post! Ta!

BAHnana-walnut-chocolate-buckwheat bread

I can imagine there are a few cocked up eyebrows around regarding the title of this post. It's a joke that came about when E was buying banana bread from a cafe. The French pronounce the letter "a" as "ah", so naturally it came out something like "Can I have some Bah-nana bread please?"

The lady behind the counter started cracking up so hard and handed him the slice, repeating "Bah-nana bread Bah-nana bread". The joke has stuck ever since. It's been some time now since that incident, but everytime we meet up with the gang, someone still repeats "BAh-nana bread" to him. lol.

Having been busy during the weekends which is usually my baking day, and after a wonderful long weekend away eating, drinking and making merry at Hunter Valley (we're now very happy owners of 5 bottles of boutique wines), I'm feeling more than ready to get back in the kitchen again. NQN is hosting a Banana Bake-off, and I've just been waiting for those bananas to brown nicely.

I haven't met someone who doesn't enjoy banana bread yet. Early mornings in uni usually means a detour to the Architecture cafe for some banana bread. I especially love mine toasted as it causes the crust to crunch up and caramelize nicely - it's my favourite part! E usually has the task of finishing whatever I can't, and he wasn't too impressed when I handed him a brown bag once, revealing a slice of banana bread with the edges nibbled away neatly. Oops.

I've baked my banana breads into muffin-sized ones which are perfect for brekkie on the go (also helps in my portion control! heh) The addition of buckwheat flour gives a pleasant, grainy nuttiness which I adore and the few dark chocolate chunks are quite the treat. And as usual, I've mooshed in more bananas and toasted walnuts than the original recipe calls for, but reduced the amount of sugar which the natural sweetness in the bananas nicely compensated for. Yummy!

Bahnana-walnut-chocolate-buckwheat bread (makes 6)
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 cup all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of baking soda
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 ripe large bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
a handful of dark chocolate chunks
Garnish: (Optional)
1 large banana, sliced or dried banana chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Line muffin trays with paper cupcake holders.

Lightly roast the nuts in a frying pan over medium heat, taking care not to let it burn. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan and place the slices of banana on top of the batter for garnish. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

adapted from Joy of Baking

Cheesecake popsicles - April DB challenge

If there's any faster way to ruin a diet, it's to pack all your calories into innocuous little bite-sized pieces. They look so harmless in that state cos they look well, kinda tiny, and that means we can sort of waive off the calories right? Oh sure. Just wait til you put one in your mouth. Oh it's incredibly good. You ooooh and aaaahh and mmmm for a bit as you savour the last creamy traces.

You're about to take another bite when it hits. *Blank stare* Um, it's finished? Your eyes get drawn almost by what you're certain is some sort of magnetic field over to the tray of popsicles. The little devil on your shoulder who's been yelling and screaming and stamping his foot all week as you fill up on your whole foods, fruits and veggies is suddenly quiet. Oh yep, he's smirking. Before you know it, you pop one more, and another, and then what the heck, might as well stop counting and then before you know it, you can kiss your waistline goodbye.

Apart from the calorific stampede, the DB April challenge was quite the experience. As you can see, the challenge this time was a tweak on an all-time favourite - cheesecake! I've always loved thick, creamy cheesecakes, my absolute fave being the Chicago Cheesecake from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (which you incidentally can't find in Sydney). The gelatin-versions just don't cut it for me. If I'm going to have it at all, I rather go all the way. Sort of reflects my attitude to life. Yeouch.

This month's task was chosen by Elle and Deborah taken from Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey cookbook. The idea was to make cheesecake pops - perfect for a party I reckon - and dip them in a flavouring of your choice. Chocolate was the featured dip, but I was a tad skeptical of that and decided on a caramel au buerre sallee (salted caramel) coulis as well.

I may not have mentioned it, but curiosity is a main driving force for this blog, as is the love for all things sensory in life. Creating foods that I have never attempted or tried before and capturing the details of it all on film gives me a kick like no other, probably akin to a piece of music that transports you to that higher plane, or standing in front of a gorgeous scenery which sucks all the words out of you. For me, it's not knowing what to expect out of the end product til you see it and taste it. When it's great, fantastic. Sometimes it's not, and you just keep tweaking it til you find that perfection.

Thus it is no surprise that this was also a first-attempt at baking a cheesecake, let alone trying to make them into pretty, edible things! I was so pleased when the cheesecake crust took on a lovely golden hue. The texture was how I liked it to be exactly - the full crumbly, tangy taste of cream cheese which coats the inside of your mouth, accented by the addition of lemon (the recipe did not call for it, but I added the juice of one lemon in). The one grip that I had was the amount of sugar in it - I found it a bit too sweet. Some folks might like it like that though.

After leaving the cheesecake to firm up in the fridge, I scooped the little balls with a spoon and quickly shaped them in my palms, after which a bamboo skewer was inserted into it. The whole batch was left to freeze, and later coated with tempered chocolate. Here's where I deviated again and used heavy cream to make a dark chocolatey ganache in place of shortening (that is something that sounds dodgy to me and I would never ever want to buy). It worked out pretty alright, as did the salted caramel coulis. A couple were dipped into crushed graham cookies.

Overall the popsicles seemed to work quite well with the chocolate surprisingly, but I much prefer the salted caramel. Although if you ask me, I would make the cheesecake again and eat it on its own (the purist in me adores the simple, unadulterated taste of foods as it should be). The recipe can be found at the Daring Bakers blog. Hope you'll have as much fun as I did!

Note: I made only half the amount of cheesecake called for and found that the addition of the juice of 1 whole lemon gave it just the right amount of tang. The salted caramel coulis can be made by melting by reducing 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of water into a dark syrup over med heat. Add 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, 3 1/2 tbsps of butter and 1 tsp of salt.