Christmas Catch Up

 So we've taken down the decorations and recovered from celebrating the New Year; it seems like a goods time to look back on my Christmas culinary adventures for 2014.

 As regular readers would know, this year I made gingerbread trees to give out to friends/family/work colleagues/school teachers/comic book shop guys/the school crossing man. So I ended up making a LOT of gingerbread. Each batch made 64 Christmas tress, and I made 3 batches. That is a lot of mixing, rolling, cutting, baking, piping and bagging. Suffice to say, I don’t want to even think about gingerbread for a few months! Ironically I actually got to taste my first Christmas gingerbread at the weekend (the last two trees left over from Christmas day) and they still tasted good, almost two weeks after baking!

 One thing I did different this year was an attempt at Gluten Free (GF) gingerbread. With a friend who is coeliac and several gluten intolerant friends, I felt bad that they couldn't share in the spoils of my baking. Luckily, the only ingredient that contains gluten in my gingerbread recipe is plain flour (it uses bicarb soda as a raising agent), so I thought it was be a fairly easy substitution. I had some GF self-raising flour in the cupboard from a previous GF baking session which I usually wouldn’t substitute for plain flour. However, using my Science Brain, I remembered that it was the gluten in the flour that bound the baking together and helped it raise, so GF self raising flour was probably closer to non-GF plain flour than non-GF SR flour. All clear??

 And it worked quite well. I went more on Feel than exact measurements when adding the flour; GF flour has a rather different texture to non-GF so I probably had to add more to made the dough sticky enough to roll out. And I think the GF SR flour did make a difference, in that they were a bit more rounded, a bit softer, less crispy-biscuit like (next time I'll buy GF plain flour). But the main thing is they still tasted (and looked) like gingerbread, and my GF friends were very appreciative, even though I didn't get a chance to ice them.

(the darker ones were chocolate gingerbread)

 My next step is to try and make a refined-sugar free gingerbread (have I mentioned that a lot of my friends are very health/diet conscious with a lot of “…. Intolerant” kids???). I figure that I can substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar, and maple syrup for the golden syrup. This will probably affect the consistency and “stickiness” of the dough, so will probably mean a bit of fiddling with the (GF or not) flour. Next challenge will be going dairy free – should be a straight swap with nuttelex for butter which would hopefully cream up well with the sugar. I thought I had almost got everything sorted to finally make a batch for one of my friends (who is gluten, dairy, soy and refined sugar free), who then informed me that she doesn’t eat refined oils, which nuttelex is. *sigh*  My other option is then trying to cream coconut oil and coconut sugar together (and hope that it holds together), mix it with maple syrup and GF flour, and hopefully the addition of ginger will make it still taste vaguely like gingerbread.

 (Or maybe I can just resign myself to not making her gingerbread!)

 Regular readers will also know that I love a good theme, and Christmas is a great excuse to get Creative with Cooking. Last year it was my Rudolph pancakes, which this, year when I made them in early December, Son 2 proclaimed that he wasn't much of a fan of because he doesn't like bacon (Son 2 LOVES bacon, so he didn't see the issue). Nerdy Nummies Ro had made some Snowman pancakes (its the third 'treat') but that wasn't really suitable for an Australian Summer Christmas (but will be great if we go to the snow!). I then came across this awesome blog called The Joys of Boys (they had blog on making Star Wars snowflakes. So cool). They had Santa pancakes, which apart from having a HEAP of whipped cream (which I would think would be that nasty stuff from a can – what is it with Americans and a tonne of fake whipped cream?!?), they also had cherries for the hat. I have a girlfriend whose kids would adore this version (their dad was raised on a cherry farm and they are massive Fresh Fruit Fans), but mine, not so much. So what to use? Coincidentally at this time, one of my girlfriends (She with the French husband) was getting ready to go the Paris to celebrate Christmas with the Hubby’s family. For 5 weeks. And so was clearing out her freezer. As well as a packet of breadcrumbs (which my chickens loved) she also gave me a bag of 5 frozen eggs whites; which were leftover from an awesome chocolate Crème Brulee she had made the last time I went for dinner. Hmmmm – how fortuitous! So on Boxing day (as Christmas morning breakfast was taken up with the traditional croissants and fresh fruit breakfast), I made these Santa Pancakes...

...bacon for the hat, an egg-white omelette (badly) cut into shape for the beard and hat trimming, blueberry eyes and a strawberry nose. I got big smiles from both Sons who then carefully removed the fruit, swapped the bacon for egg and happily devoured them!

 My last piece of Christmas faffing was something that had been hovering around my Christmas Pintrest board for a while – the Christmas fruit tree. There are lots of really cool variations (when you have a spare 5 minutes, type “Christmas fruit tree” in the search engine and check them out). I did like the 3D version, but it didn't seem to be able to support a lot of fruit and as I was doing this for our family Christmas lunch of about 15 adults, I wanted to make sure there was bit available. Plus I knew I would be assembling it after I had hosted breakfast but before jumping in the car to drive to lunch. So it trying to keep things less stressed on Dec 25th, I settled for the 2D version. I had no grand plans as to how it would look (how very unlike me! I must have had my brain filled with other Christmas Organising), but ended up using cantaloupe (or rockmelon depending on where you were born) as “boughs”. Small bunches of grapes were great for greenery, strawberries and blueberries for a touch of colour and some watermelon star cutouts to make it look Christmassy.

 So I hope you all had a fun and festive Christmas with lots of yummy food (as I did) and I look forward to doing it all again in 11 months time

(but maybe not gingerbread this time…..)

Easter Feaster

  And so another full-moon-after-the-equinox has passed, leaving in its wake a deluge of chocolate eggs, random pieces of foil, empty Hot Cross Bun bags (I didn’t get around to baking any this year – for shame!) and a few unwanted kilos (or is that just me??). Regular readers will note that the four-day long weekend is traditionally a time for The Making of Fabulous Breakfasts; though I seemed to have missed writing about it last year. For those of you playing along at home,  I do remember making a Smashed Pea Bruschetta (with goats cheese and egg, from Donna Hay “Simple Dinners"), which will be getting a revisit when all of the peas Hubby has planted around the place over the last few weeks start producing (he was inspired by Verge Gardening, and our car port now has little pots and stakes all around the place); as well as Huevos Rancheros, which was a Mexican tomato-capsicum stew concoction, into which you cracked a couple of eggs which cooked in the mix. Quite tasty but don’t try and freeze the leftovers to reuse at a later stage; thawing is not its friend.

 This year’s Feaster started on Good Friday with “Baked Egg Cups” (from Delicious magazine) which were like a deconstructed egg and bacon pie: a blind baked mini tart case lined with prosciutto and filled with egg and baked in the oven. It was supposed to be finished with a drizzle of truffle oil, but although I had sourced it at my local gourmet grocer, I hadn’t gotten back to buy it! (there was no way I was going to the shops on the day before Good Friday!). And I hadn't decided whether black or white, or australian or French truffle oil would be best (decisions decisions!!).  So I served it will a bit of aioli on the side; which is my stand-by condiment for everything these days! For the record, the only thing it hasn’t improved was quesadillas (I had forgotten the sour cream – despicable!)

 This recipe was quite easy to make but was a little bit time consuming, it lost points for not being able to roll out of bed and have it on the table in 10 minutes: I got up and got the sheet of pastry out of the freezer, went for a walk while it defrosted, then blind baked the pastry while I was in the shower, and baked the filling while getting table set and such. If you really wanted the extra sleep you could probably bake the pastry the night before and put it together in the morning; which I will probably do next time as it was quite delicious (and looked quite cool) – Son 2 was also a fan!

 Easter Saturday missed out on Cooked Breakfast as I have a gym class on Saturday mornings so it’s more like Brunch by the time I get back. I did try a variation on my blueberry quinoa porridge (I was too hungry to wait the 15 minute simmering time) using rolled oats in the microwave. Which didn’t work. Which is good to know!

 Easter Sunday was “Fetta Fritters with Roast Capsicum and Tomato Salad” (Delicious Mag again) – you’ve got to love a title that leaves nothing to the imagination. This was definitely not a roll-out-of bed and throw it on the table breakfast option! Firstly you had to roast the tomatoes for an hour (which I did the night before), grill the capsicum so you could peel it, and double-crumb your fetta (with a 15 minute chill period). But it wasn’t too fiddly, just time consuming. And very yummy.

The fetta fritters were really tasty; and I imagine haloumi done the same way would be equally as delicious. The salad was really light and I am planning on making this again but as more of a bruschetta brunch; adding more basil and some red onion to the salad, and then having smaller bite-sized fetta fritters on the top – mmmmmm.

 By Easter Monday I had just about gone through my stash of To Cook breakfast receipes, and I thought that by this stage I would be a bit over preparing and fiddling first thing in the morning. So I stuck to an old favourite, “Smoky Ham, Egg and Jarlesberg sandwiches” (another detailed title!). This was from a receipe book called (strangely enough) “Breakfast” (from Marie Claire) that I got for Mother’s Day about 5-6 years ago. Hubby was a bit sheepish in giving it as he felt it was asking me to make breakfast for him, on the day when I should have got breakfast in bed. But he of course was wrong, I loved it and I have used it many times over the ensuing years. It has given us “Scrambled eggs with salmon on croissants” (or with ham for me, the non-smoked salmon eater), and “Fried haloumi, rocket and tomato sandwiches”, as well as classics such as Eggs Benedict, Croque Monsieur and many variations of pancakes. But this was a favourite, mostly due to its simplicity, plus the fact that I usually had all the ingredients in the fridge. I do try to have a nice solid bread such as pasta dura, and after frying an egg and putting it all together (with a slurp of Dijon mustard,) it gets toasted in the sandwich maker and voila !

 So before I sign off I’ll just let you know about another awesome breakfast that came my way via the " Hot Food” section of Epicure (in The Age) – F.A.T, which stands for Fetta, Avocado and Tomato. This delightful combo was one I had been moving towards over the past few years;  I had replaced butter with avocado as a spread on salad sandwiches a few years ago, and a BLT was always my meal of choice when working at Johnny Rockets (with Red Red sauce of course!). The combo of salty, creamy and tangy works so well. Our preferred method of F.A.T ingestion is to smash up an avocado, add some S&P and basil or mint, pop that on a piece of toast, crumble over some fetta (Greek or Persian, whatever you have handy) and top with chopped cherry tomatoes (and a bit of onion if you feel like it) – divine, no cook and healthy (ish) breakfast in less than 10 minutes

Happy breakfasting!

Sticking Together

 Now although I am not a vegetarian I have always been a fan of the Vege Burger and have tried lots of different receipes over the years. All have been quite varied in their ingedients (brown rice, tofu, cous cous, +/- cheese, lots of different herbs etc), but the one consistent factor is the they never seem to hold together during the cooking process. Never. Ever. I generally get one or two that stay together, lots that fall apart and a whole heap of crispy crumbs left  in the bottom of the frypan. I have tried lots of different techniques and additions (mashed potato or pumpkin, egg, breadcrumbs) but none have made them hold together as well as the good ol' beef mince hambuger. *sigh*

 But at the weekend I had a Eureka! moment. I was making quinoa patties for my vegetarian sister-in-law who had most unfortunately sliced her finger while cutting up an avocado and had required surgery (as you do when you sever a tendon, artery and two nerves) which was going to impact on her cooking skills (among other things). I made some recently after Christmas, where I ended up with about a cup and half of cooked quinoa left over from salalds I made for my contribution to Christmas lunch. Those patties was a bit of a hotch-potch in that I grabbed a receipe from Google and added a few things that I had in the fridge (including bacon). Tasted great, but again, more fell apart than retained their shape. However I did try out a new technique, which was using an egg ring in the frypan, but more on that later.

 So the successful entrant was a Bill Granger receipe from the Decemeber Delicious Magazine (Quinoa Fritters with Green Goddess Sauce, check it out at http://www.taste.com.au/delicious/article/recipes/posh+cheeseburgers+and+quinoa+fritters,1637). Seemed pretty standard ingredients as previously tried but the stars aligned and the delightful cooking alchemy of Everything Going Right worked its magic and they all stayed together. All of them. So with that in mind, here are my tips for Sticking Together.

1. Moisture + Flour = Glue
 Do you remember the cheap glue you could make wih flour and water? I think there's something in that for all of us. Flour will help to bind almost anything together but it needs some sort of liquid to help it stick; whether this is sauce (sweet chilli or soy sace or something like tahini) or trying to be cheeky by not fully cooking your rice/quinoa/cous cous so there is some excess liquid.

2. Eggs-ellent
 Have you ever tried to make an egg-less cake? I have - one of my brother's friends when he was growing up was allergice to egg, so his mum had one that tasted quite good (and actually amazing straight out of the oven with butter - mmmmm). But generally, not a great rule to follow. And this is because Egg is a Great Binder. Egg and Flour are an even more dynamic duo. Not so great when cooking for vegans (or whichever strain of vegetarianism that doesn't eat eggs) but great for the rest of us. So throw in an egg; or two (the receipe asked for 2 eggs plus an extra egg yolk; as I had 2 spare egg yolks from another receipe, I used them and one whole egg. Worked fine)

3. Shape it Up
 - which usually meant rolling it into a ball/patty shape and hoping for the best. In my youth I worked at Johnny Rockets Hamburger restaurant (ask me after a wine or two and I'll break out the dance moves) and they had a technique for their patties where they threw a lump of meat from hand to hand over and over until it turned into a malleable ball. I have tried this with vege burgers and just made a lot of mess on my bench. Same goes for sqeezing the mix together; doesn't always help.
 What I tried this weekend was using an egg ring (or in this case a large scone cutter) on a baking tray, spooning in the mixture and pressing it down to create a lovely round patty. Remove cutter, move onto next one and repeat.

4. Chill Out
 Certain things get firmer in the fridge. Which is why you need to bring butter to room temperature before creaming it. So once you've shaped you patties, pop them in the fridge for a while to firm up; which gives them more of a chance to hold their shape. The weekend receipe said to chill for an hour, but as this was a late afternoon decision to cook them, I cheated with 30 minutes in the freezer which seemed to do the trick.

Then all that was left to do was pop them in a heated oiled frypan, and gentle press on top, flip (when browned) and repeat! I would love to have some some photos to share with you the various stages, but it wasn't until half way through the cooking process that I realised what I had stumbled across; the best discoveries are usually by accident!

 So hope this helps you in your healthy cooking endavour, and I will be adding this ripper recipe to my repertoire. Just maybe next time adding a bit of bacon.