B is for Birthday (and bubbles!)

 It was my birthday at the weekend - Happy Birthday To Me!

 For as long as I can remember I have liked Birthdays - the presents, the lovely messages, the catching up with friends and family, the legitimate excuse to have lots of yummy (and often bad for you) food and drink PLUS being The Centre of Attention; what's not to like?!?!? As part of my annual Birthday Celebrations, I generally have a Family catch-up (traditionally a backyard BBQ) and a Friends catch up at whatever new or cool restaurant I've unearthed that I want to try out. Last year my birthday fell on a Wednesday which was most annoying and very tricky to organise - do you celebrate the weekend before or after?? And I work on Wednesdays and thus I was unable to cook up any type of storm, so Friends and Family all decamped to my local pub for a rowdy and raucous dinner in the bistro. Lots of fun (and no cooking or cleaning up for me) but no new Cooking Endeavors.

 So this year I was looking forward to trying out at least one or two recipes from my never-ending collection of Yummy Thing to Cook. I invited some friends over for dinner on the night of my birthday; we could have gone out somewhere but my Restaurant of the Moment is The Black Toro which makes divine Mexican food but is not always a cheap option. So I decided to have a dinner party at home. Which to most people is the antithesis of Birthday Celebrations: "Why are you doing the cooking on your birthday?" Because I Like To. Because I enjoy it. Because I love trying new recipes and sharing them with friends. Because its My Birthday and I can do whatever I want!! And Cook whatever I want (taking into account guests likes and dislikes, of course). So this led to several lovely hours flipping through cookbooks, and mixing and matching various meal ideas; something relaxed and fun like tacos? Or themed like a Moroccan feast? Or go all out and try some molecular gastronomy?? I did decide that cooking fresh doughnuts for dessert was probably not a good choice as deep frying after a few glasses of wine would not amuse the Health and Safety guys (i.e Husband).

 So after much deliberating I settled on  pork belly for mains as roast pork was always one of my favorite dishes growing up, and I hadn't been brave enough to tackle pork belly yet. I had a recipe from the Vineyard Cookbook ("Max's Tuscan Stuffed Pork" from Max's at Red Hill Estate - one of my favorite wineries) that I had earmarked the first time I looked through the book, but had never had the appropriate occasion. I also hadn't had a good look around for where to  buy pork belly, but that gave me a good research project. The recipe suggested serving it with mashed potato (meaning it was probably better suited to a mid-winter feast rather than a late summer birthday. Oh well!) so I decided to make 'Paris Mash' by Guillaume Brahimi; as The Frenchman and his wife were dinner guests it seemed appropriate! And then to add a bit of color (and something cholesterol free!) with some green beans. I was tossing up between a few versions of some sort of chocolate flan/tart thing for dessert, until I came across a Baci Gelato recipe in the Delicious Summer Special. Having already had one Epic Fail at Baci ice cream (read this to be reminded) you may wonder why I chose to revisit such a Disaster. Well, this recipe looked a lot more like  other ice cream recipes I had been making (and Delicious magazine haven't really steered me wrong yet), and I was not going to a let a recipe (let alone a chocolate related dessert one) beat me! Plus it would hopefully appease my not-a-fan-of-dessert-Husband.

 Birthday Day arrived and after a lovely day at work with text messages and cookies and cupcakes, I headed home early, because well, hey! It's my birthday! I picked some herbs from my garden (because I can and I love it) and  proceeded to Prepare The Pork. Knowing full well that The Crackling will either make or break a pork roast, I followed the anecdotal advice to dry it out as much as possible before cooking. I also knew that Salt was an Important part, which was not a problem in this recipe as roughly 1/3 cup salt was used for 1.2kg of pork! So lots of lovely pink Murray River Salt Flakes were rubbed all over the skin, plus inside with the herb and fennel mix before the whole thing was rolled and tied. Into a  lovely hot over it went for an hour, then lowered the temperature for the next hour or so. It smelled divine while cooking which is always a good sign, but I was more interested in how it crunched! I churned the ice cream while the pork was cooking, and it was going so far so good with Baci Mark II - it was already way ahead of the other recipe in that the custard had actually thickened on the stove! I also prepared The Mash, which had an interesting twist in that you cooked the potatoes whole with the skin on and THEN peeled them. I'm not sure how this contributed to the end product but I won't argue with a Frenchman. After peeling them and passing through a potato ricer, the mash is then put back in the saucepan for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. THEN you mixed in hot milk and a LOT of butter - the recipe had 600g of potato to 250g of butter! I think its safe to say that it won't get the Heart Foundation tick anytime soon, and no wonder is supposedly tasted divine! I cooked just under 500g of potato for the 4 of us and had out about 120g of butter, but it was getting to quite a liquid consistency before I added it all so I stopped (and I think I heard my arteries cheer as I did).

 Guests arrived, champagne was popped, presents were given (Hooray!) and then it was The Moment of Truth - Crackling Time. And it did (double hooray!). It was so crispy and crunchy, but the meat inside was still tender and just about falling apart as I carved - yummmmmm. In fact it was so yum that there was hardly any leftovers! I will definitely make more nexy time as cold roast pork sandwiches are delcious.

Bon Appetit!

 The ice cream set beautifully and was also delcious, with the white chocolate-hazelnut slab on the side. So obviously the culinary angels were smiling at me on my birthday. Success!

 Now onto the Family Gathering. Mindful of keeping things easy and relaxed, summer family get-togethers are generally BBQ related - everyone can bring a salad or dessert and it all works well. In previous years I have served various kebabs/shaslicks combinations, slow roasted and marinated meats and even Beer Butt Chicken (Google it if you are unfamiliar with this quirky cooking style). This year I expanded on an regular family dinner idea - mini hot dogs. Grab some small chipolata sausages and a packet of Bake-at-Home dinner rolls and it makes a nice change from sausages-in-bread. To make it a bit more Grown Up for my party, I cooked onions and had out shredded cheeses, tomato and barbeque sauce as well as American Mustard, so you could have your 'Dog with whatever 'fixins' you liked. Easy to prepare, easy to serve and yum and fun to eat.

"Whad'll it be??"

   And then there was The Cake. For what is a birthday without a Birthday Cake?!?!



 I found this recipe in the January Delicious: "Indulgent Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche".

 You had me at Indulgent. You had me even more at Indulgent Chocolate Cake!

 And they weren't kidding - four layers of cake with chocolate filling and caramel in between . Probably a bit too much for my usual dinner part desserts (it served 8-10 and I don't think it could have been easily adapted for a half or quarter version!), but it sounded perfect for a Birthday Cake.

 Well, not only was it Indulgent, it was also Involved. For the cake batter, you had to cream the butter and sugar, then gradually add flour and alternate it with buttermilk, THEN add whipped egg whites! 

  The Filling was whipped butter and sugar mixed with melted chocolate, and to assemble, it was a layer of cake, then chocolate filling, then dulce de leche (which I couldn't source so I used Caramel Top n' Fill - sneaky!), repeated 3 times, then topped with melted chocolate. Obviously a Weight Watchers - Diabetic Australia Approved recipe!

 It was the first time I'd made a multi-level cake and a I managed to avoid some of the rookie mistakes such as cutting uneven layers. The only issues I has was the Stability of the Cake! It was warm day and the filling was very soft which meant there was a bit of sliding when putting on the top layers! Eeek!

"Steady...steady!!"

 I managed to keep it all together and even piped on some flowers to make it look all pur-dee.

('T' being my girlfriend who had her birthday on the day of my party)

 

  And good lord it was Delicious. Thankfully not too intensely chocolate as some cakes can be, just very sweet and yummy. Everyone was very happy with a small slice (which was no mean feat trying to keep all four layers together during the slicing!) which did mean I had about a quarter left over. Thankfully its all gone now; I managed to "share the calories" with my work mates and also deliver a piece to my cousin who had missed the party. I think my blood sugar is just starting to go back to normal....

 However, I have already had a request to make this magnificent cake again for one of my Ladies Lunches I have regularly with some girlfriends. I felt a little like the guy in MacArthur Park (no, my cake didn't get left out in the Rain)  "cause it took so long to bake it! Oh noooooo!!!" But its not the difficulty of the cake, more that there would be only three of us to share The Cake, which not be good for any of our waistlines. Maybe I can save it for one of their birthdays....

 In the meantime, I have 360 odd days to work out what I can cook for my birthday Next Year! Might just go flick through a recipe book now......

Hello Sweetie

 Reading Epicure in The Age this week, there was an article titled "Lollies We Love"  (http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/lollies-we-love-20130128-2dfyj.html)
 Someone had done their PhD on lollies! Australian lollies through the years to be precise. I'm not sure why (or how) they chose this topic and what area of study it relates to (maybe they'll be a Doctor of Lolliology), and what the qualifications of the assessor must have been (I want THAT job), but who cares! Lollies and Sweets and Candy O My!! So instead of a PhD, I present my DgB.

"Lollies are talisman of their era ... Many of our best memories revolve around lollies".
You bet your sweet bippy they do.

 I have always been a Sweet Tooth. Always. Maybe its genetic, my parent's (Mum is a Cherry Ripe fan, Dad is partial to black jelly beans) courtship was apparently moved along nicely by a well timed packet of scorched almonds.  I remember the Great Childhood Ritual of buying lollies at the Milk Bar; the agonising over how to get the best value for money. Do you buy five 1 cent lollies or one 5 cent lollie? This was when 20c would buy you a decent bag of mixed lollies (a 50c bag and you were set for a week!) and you still could buy Fags and chocolate cigars with the red ends. I remember the freaky but utterly cool sensation of crunching on Moon Rocks, of trying to make a tune with a Melody Pop and of long long car trips punctuated by the Tupperware container of Raspberries handed around the back seat. There was the excitement of getting the chocolate "stocking" at Christmas and wondering who was going to want the Mint Pattie or Coconut Rough, and the joy when Santa discovered the Cadbury Stocking. I honed my memory skills learning all of the Quality Street and Roses selections thanks to a yearly chocolate box gift from a family friend (and still no one can tell me what a Noisette Pate is).
 In high school were the slumber parties where we dared each other to try Warheads (which were actually fine once you got through that outer layer), and I got through Year 12 Swot Vac with a packet a Darrel Lea soft eating licorice by my side. Dates at the movies with Hubby To Be involved sharing almost a whole bag of peanut MnM's during the previews. I had the phase where sucking on Chupa Chumps was "cool", and I could probably rustle up a few "holders" if I looked hard enough. Late afternoon slumps brought on by Physics lectures at Uni were often remedied by a Snickers Bar from the vending machine (until I realised they had the highest fat content of any chocolate bar and switched to a Time Out, or a Twirl; much healthier)
  In my working life, I was fortunate (or not) to be within walking distance of a Haigh's chocolates store and those famous Frogs. If we were having one of Those days, there would be the pooling of gold coins for someone to do a "Haigh's Run" - the choice was up to the runner, but Speckles were always a good choice, as was their Nut Combination, Berry Chocs were the In things for a while but there was always the Frogs if you were feeling particularly flush with Cash.

 So as you can see, lollies and I have had a long and delicious history.

 And since we've just celebrated Australia Day, let give a shout-out to all those distinctly "Aussie Lollies" - Jaffas that were apparently awesome for rolling down the aisles at the movies (what a waste of good chocolate!), Minties who had the added enjoyment of the wrapper ripping contest to see who could get the longest ribbon, Violet Crumble (though I was always more a of a Crunchie Girl myself. And then that blissful spell when Crunchie Nuggets were out! The Perfect proportion of chocolate to honeycomb!!), Fruit Tingles and Life Savers (and seeing who could get it to the smallest circle without it breaking), Choo Choo Bars that you would always find half-eaten and smooshed to some furniture/clothing/car seat like tar, Redskins which always remind me of Mill Valley Ranch (but not the Spearmint! Sacrilege!), Turkish Delight which has been a sweet around the world for eons but it took an Aussie to put it in chocolate, Cherry Ripes which are apparently one of the only Australian delicacies that you can't get in Northern America (much to my Brother's chagrin), Peppermint Crisp which I have never seen eaten by anyone -  just crunched on top of a chocolate ripple cake (Flake was also a good topping option, but the melted green always looked much more impressive), Fantales which were consumed once a  year while watching the Oscars, Kit Kats which were pretty good all along, but then they became Chunky and reached a new level of yum (higher chocolate to wafer ratio! Am I the only person who want a mini Kit Kat Chunky?) and of course Mars bars - not only delicious but a great ingredient in the best "baking" options around; Mars Bar Slice.

 But of course being brought up on a steady stream of American movies and TV shows, I always knew there was more Out There. Hersheys were the first exotic chocolate bar I tasted, and then fell in love with their Cookies and Cream. My girlfriend's travels to the US brought me Reece's and all their wonderful incarnations - peanut butter cups and Piece and more. I got over the weird flavour and sensation of Big Red gum to request it from anyone who was going to America, I loved Galaxy when I was in the UK and even tried Tiffin (chocolate with raisins and biscuits chunks) when a friend sent it over. And then Canada brought us Turtles with their oddly shaped pecans and caramel in chocolate.

 So much chocolate, not nearly enough salad and exercise!

 So what does a Sweet Tooth like me choose to crave now? Well, the peanut MnM's have stayed consistently in my lollie jar, even though they have a pretty high fat content (Almond MnMs just don't taste as good); my reasoning is that there is less chocolate in each one, so one or two won't hurt (especially if you have them with a handful of raw mixed nuts as I do somethings to assuage my guilt). If Hubby or I venture near a Haighs store, we know that Chocolate Macadamias are the go-to purchase (Turkish Delight for him, though he'd probably prefer a good French cheese. Weirdo). As for chocolate, I have adopted a slight snobbery in that Nothing Less Cadbury (sorry Red Tulip and Rowntree), with Lindor being the chocolate of choice. I try to have block and Lindor balls in hand, because some days you don't feel like the awesome yumminess that are Lindor balls. I prefer Milk, but do love the choice afforded by the box of Assorted - Dark when I'm feeling virtuous, Mint for a bit of difference and Hazelnut for trying to spin it that its healthier.

 And what about the next generation? What will be the lollies that take my kids back to their childhood? This being the No Artificial Colours or Flavours  No Sugar No Peanuts No Gluten No Additive generation; the one that ate the plate of fruit kebabs at Son 2's party but left the plate of chocolate crackles. I can't speak for all kids but mine are partial to Smarties or MnMs (because they are ones that Mummy can dole out one at a time guilt free). Kinder Surprise score well, but that may be more to do with the cool toys inside. And really, anything that comes in a party bag is greeted with a smile.
 But the choice for my boys when they've eaten their dinner and a yogurt and thus qualify for a Special Treat? "Tim Tam please!"

 Aussie Aussie Aussie.

Mum's the Word

 I had a “My Mum’s” dish at the weekend. You know, those dishes that everyone makes a version of but your mum’s (potato salad, spaghetti bolognaise, chicken soup etc) is The Best?

 It was kind of nice to be reminded of my mum’s culinary skills, as I do feel that she may have got a bit of a bad rap in my previous blogs. Yes, she is practically allergic to anything spicier than Saxa ground black pepper. Yes, her ability to make rock-hard pastry is a family legend. Yes, scrambled (or poached) eggs were a perfectly suitable Sunday night dinner.

 But she also served up home cooked meals for my family most nights of the week for my entire childhood (excluding the odd Fish and Chips or Gus and Rosie’s pizza nights). Granted they were usually of the Meat and Three Veg variety (and more often than not, vertically-grilled sausages or chops with pressure cooked veges – because that was the healthy way to cook them. Hmmm, maybe she was ahead of her time in some areas), but that was probably because it’s what her mum served up her family, and what most families (including mine) still get served up most nights. And she also makes a mean roast dinner (her roast pork with crackling was, and still is a favourite). And she once made sesame prawn toasts from scratch because that’s what I said I wanted for a Special Dinner (followed by banana fritters for dessert. I had obviously not heard about cholesterol at that age).

 And more importantly, she cooked the Foods of my Childhood; those dishes that immediately take you back to your kitchen table or backyard and make you feel like a kid again. Such as her chocolate cake (made with drinking chocolate not cocoa) topped with chocolate icing and dessicated coconut. Or her “stringy egg” chicken and corn soup. Or for my brother, her cauliflower and cheese sauce. And how could I forget (thanks Little Bro)Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding! (made from the PMWU cookbook) - my first experience with cooking alchemy (you pour water on the top, cook it, and it goes to the bottom and makes sauce - magic!)

 But for me, this recent trip down memory lane was caused by a dessert. We had a big family BBQ at the weekend as we have 3 family birthdays within 2 days. As is standard in our family we all “bring something” to share the Hosting Load. My mum had mentioned that she was on dessert duty and “… I thought I might make a trifle”.

 I was immediately transported to my childhood backyard; the sun was just going down, the smell of charred meat (and fried roast potatoes) hung in the air. The rice salad was half eaten, the cutlery stand only had spoons left and my mum walks past carrying the aqua casserole dish with the 70’s design on the lid. Ace – it’s dessert time.

  Now I know that Trifle isn’t up there with a croquembouche for daring desserts – 'snake cake' (with a few liberal dashes of sherry), topped with canned Two Fruits, custard, whipped cream, jelly (red is preferred but we will accept green) and a generous sprinkling of crushed nuts. In fact, my grandma (who is generally the Matriarch of Making Yummy Things) makes one to a very similar recipe. But it doesn’t taste as good as My Mum’s.

 And I’m quite happy if no one else agrees with me, because that is the essence of a Mum’s Dish – there are lots of different recipes and variations, some will be quite nice but they are Just Not The Same.

 So here’s a salute to my Mum’s Trifle, for its deliciousness and for reminding me that you don’t have to be a sophisticated cook to be a great one.

"Hello gorgeous!"

Looking exactly as it should

Perfection

  It did, however make me wonder what my boys will remember for their “mum’s dish”. Their Favorite meals at the moment is “circle pasta” (ravioli/tortellini pasta from the supermarket) with veges, or chicken nuggets with veges. *sigh* Maybe I’ll work on memorable desserts…..

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.

Let Them Eat (Decorated Cup) Cake!

  So here is my latest Thing; where “Thing” is loosely defined as That Which I am currently Getting Excited over, which consumes my Thinking Time and often ends up with spending money.

 Cake Decorating.

 Which has kind of been a simmering Thing for a few years now, but has recently gone to the full rolling boil.

 There are a few sources from which this Well of Enthusiasm for the Icing and the Piping may have sprung. Firstly the many childhood hours spent pouring over the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book (the original with the train cake on the cover – all good 80’s mums had one!) and deciding which of the amazing cakes I would have to the next 5 birthday parties. I never did end up getting The Castle but O Joy! O Rapture! the year my mum learned how to make a Dolly Varden ice cream cake!!
 Or maybe it was the rather impressive cakes my girlfriend made for her daughter’s parties (she was the first child born in our group of friends). The cakes in the first few years were good, but then she really hit her stride and we were treated to an Emerald City (for a Wizard of Oz themed party; it was The Castle! In green!!), a merry-go-round, and even a foray into rolled royal icing with a moulded sleeping child. So the bar had kind of been set high.
 
 My own personal forays were what I’d call Simple But Effective; they didn’t take hours to make (some of the above-mentioned took up to four hours to create, baking not included!) but still looked good.

 We had Mr Hankey (from South Park) ...

  … Mud Cake cut into shape with licorice arms and mouth, marshmallow hands and hat trimming and a red roll-up (how that stuff is termed  ”fruit” I have no idea) for the hat.

  Got a bit more creative for a Murder-Mystery Birthday party; props, different colored icing, “piping” and even food coloring fingerprints.

 Then I became a mum and had two annual (and sometime up to 4) birthday parties (and thus cakes) a year. Before I discovered cake toppers (the amazing printed icing sheets that kids think are waaaaaay more impressive than anything you take hours to make, and only take 10 minutes for you to decorate your cake! Win-Win!!), I did the number-cake thing for a few years. But I did refer back to the WW Cake Bible to make a Mickey Mouse…

…as well as a Spiderman. Hint – the ‘writing icing’ you can buy at the Supermarket is a godsend!!

 So all not-too-tricky, looked quite good and everyone happy.

 Then I had the delightful opportunity to go along to a Mamma Bake Cake decorating class (www.mammabake.com.au). They come along to your house and bring EVERYTHING necessary (cupcakes, icing and ganache, piping bags and tips, patient instructor) to learn how to make amazing looking cupcakes! Brilliant!! They also sold all the tools required so I came home with six beautifully decorated (if oddly coloured) cupcakes, a new set of piping equipment (sorry Tupperware, your set was just not cutting it) and Enthusiasm to make hundreds more cupcakes.

  But where precisely was I going to use these fabulous new skills? Being a mum of two boys meant I wasn’t going to be called on very often to make roses and flowers for their cakes. In fact, Son 2’s response to my cakes? “They’re very girly ...” So I knew I had to get creative to use my new creativity.
 Luckily Christmas was coming up, and with it, lots of Catch-Ups and Dinners and Bring-a-Plates. Excellent.

 First up were some Rudolph cupcakes straight from the Mamma Bake website. I did tweak them a bit so I only had to make one lot of ganache, but as this meant there were more lollies involved so I didn’t hear any complaints!

   
 So we had piped chocolate ganache, pretzel antlers, white chocolate button with MnMs for eyes, and a half marshmallow with a half jelly baby (because I had them in the cupboard!) for the nose. They looked great and the kids (of which there were 9 at this particular gathering) devoured them with great joy. Well, they devoured the icing at least (though I’m proud that my son was one of the only to eat the cupcake as well – a good kid who appreciates good baking).

 So this was a great First Experience that taught me a few things: ganache takes a LONG time to cool/set before it gets to a good piping consistency (chilling it in the fridge helps but it still takes a few hours). And I really needed to invest in a cupcake carrier! There were quite a few large roundabouts to navigate on the way to The House, which I took at a very slow and sedate speed (Must Protect Cupcakes!!).

 Next up was a Christmas Family Gathering. I had been inspired by a photo on the Mamma Bake website of some very cute themed cupcake designs which would enable me to use more of the piping tips and techniques I had learned. So I created a few more designs of my own, baked a batch each of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, dipped them all in white chocolate ganache, coloured my butter icing (red and green of course) and I was Ready to Pipe.

 Two not-as-frustrating-as-I-thought-it-may-have-been hours later, I had these….

 Not too bad methinks. There was lots of practising first and remembering the techniques (“ohhh, you hold it the Other way!”) and switching back and forth between colours and tips but I was pretty happy with my effort.

 And so was everyone at the party – lots of “oooohs” and “aaaahs” and “did you make those???” However, no one seemed to want to actually Eat any of them! Apparently they DID look too good to eat. Hmmm, a problem perhaps? But I did manage to send everyone home with one for their morning tea the next day, which was great as it meant I didn’t have to eat 20 or so cupcakes!

 My most recent foray was more exciting as I got to make flowers and decorate pretty girly cupcakes. My girlfriend's little girl was having her first birthday party the weekend before Christmas, and if a First Birthday isn’t the time to go all pink and flowery (especially as she has two older brothers) then I don’t know when is!! I had pretty pink proper cupcake papers (try saying that three times fast!) from her mum which made things a little interesting, in that they made taller and thinner cupcakes than the traditional concertina papers. This changed the cooking times and meant I had less “area” on top of the cupcake to work with. As I had done my previous “practice” on larger diameter cupcakes I was a little concerned about whether there would be any issues with the smaller space. Plus I was piping ganache with a smaller tip which we hadn’t been shown in class (so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if it would work at all). PLUS it was the first time I was making Proper Flowers since the class. So after a few deep calming breaths, I waded in.

 The flowers went alright….

 And the rest of them turned out pretty good as well!

The 6 different designs

Close up of The Rose
 

Ready for the Party!

  But again, hardly any were eaten at the party! Whether the papers made them too tricky to eat (you have to rip them away from the cupcake; much trickier than the normal papers), or people were put off my too much icing/decoration on top (I try not to pipe too high or too much as this is something I don’t like about a lot of cupcakes; when there is more frosting than cake!), or again they were “too pretty to eat”, even though I had made some “simpler” designs (such as the ‘1’ and ‘A’)  that would be easier to eat. Hmmm … this is not a good pattern developing here. But I still had fun doing them (and I’ve got to get value for money from my piping set) so I will carry on!

 Next Up? I’m looking for inspiration for some Lego related cupcakes for Son 1’s birthday.

Pipe on!

Thankful

  What are you thankful for? I’m thankful that I went to my first Thanksgiving dinner at the weekend!

 We’ve been trying to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with our Friend-With-an-American-Husband for the last few years, but we’ve always been busy or they’ve been busy – which is probably related to is being celebrated a month before Christmas. But this year we got ourselves sorted and had the date booked out about 6 months in advance! Being celebrated on a Thursday (which is a public holiday in America), it didn’t really lend itself to a celebration on the day (people working makes it a bit tricky to roast a turkey and get there and celebrate before having to head home for work the next day), so we made it on the Saturday of that weekend.

 Naturally, I was very excited by this. Any time I get to celebrate something cultural and foodie is always good (New foods! New recipes!). But Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that has seeped into my (and probably most people’s) subconscious, through years and years of American TV watching. This is what I had gleaned: there was turkey. There were Yams (whatever they were). There was pumpkin pie. You got together with your family and there may or may not have been fights. You ate lots and then had a nap in the afternoon while the men watched football (refer to Thanksgiving episodes of “Friends” (I love the one where Joey tried to eat a whole turkey), “3^rd Rock from the Sun”, “Mad About You” and a dozen other movies).  But I was also aware that with a lot of Traditions, each family will develop their own (like in the Friends episode where Monica has to make yams 3 different ways to keep everyone happy). So I was equally as interested to see what their traditions would be.

 I had stumbled across a “spiced pumpkin pie” recipe in Delicious magazine about 6 months ago and had kept it safe for such an occasion; and was happy to be given the OK to make such an important part of Dinner.

 Which gave me a good chance to think about Pumpkin Pie. Such a stalwart of American tradition (perhaps it should be “As American as Pumpkin Pie”), but still odd. There is a Sweet Potato Pie (which I’m sure is a song by Ray Charles) in my Jamie’s America Cookbook, and I have seen a lot of mentions of rhubarb pie with spring arriving, but pies are usually associated with fruit – apple, berry, peach etc. Pumpkin is a vegetable and one that doesn’t always lend itself to sweetness, though being an Australian child brought up in the 1980’s, I did partake of a few Flo Bjelke-Petersen inspired pumpkin scones. But I guess those Pilgrims just used whatever they had available, and pumpkin would have been something that would have grown and produced a crop in the first year (and is native to North America – thanks Wikipedia!) Good work.

 So Saturday morning, as I started out making my pastry and roasting the pumpkin I had an unnerving thought…

 What if I was making it wrong?

 What if this Spiced version was a “twist on an old tradition” that actually made it Not the Way it Should Be? Would it taste wrong and thereby Ruin Thanksgiving (as Bart did in the Thanksgiving Episode of The Simpsons?). I had no idea as 1) I had never made pumpkin pie before and 2) I had no idea what Real Pumpkin Pie tasted like.

 As I had already started, I vowed to go and Finish What I Had Started, holding onto the fact that these were dear friends who wouldn’t really mind if I bought the wrong pie. Bake on!

 Pretty straight forward as baking goes – blind bake a sweet pastry case; roast your pumpkin pieces (drizzled in honey – smelled delicious!). The spices were nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, which were added to warmed cream, along with treacle and brown sugar. Mix this with your cooled roast pumpkin puree and an egg or two, pour it into your pastry case and bake for half an hour or so.

 Looked good coming out of the oven….

  So we set off with our pie, and a batch of Peach Ice Cream, which I’m sure is NOT a traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but it IS from Jamie’s America, and as it was a 38 degree day in Melbourne, I was kinda glad I had decided to make it. (I had defrosted my freezer during the week, and so has room to put the ice cream machine bowl back in. Hubby heard this and was quite vocal in his requests for “Peach Peach Peach!” ice cream, so I did what all good wives would do and made it so he would be quiet).  We studied up on the origins and controversy of the holiday on the drive over so we could have meaningful and intelligent conversations with our fellow guests (well, at least until we finished the first bottle of wine).

 We had decorations…

 We had turkey (naturally), we had Yams (sweet potato – of course!!), we had mash (potato) and we had American Mum’s traditional bean casserole (complete with battered fried onion on top – so yummy!).

 I tried not to eat too much (I didn’t have seconds!) but was still rather full after main course, which gave us all a chance to chat about Thanksgiving traditions (in which it basically sounds like Christmas without the religion and presents) and talk about what each of us were Thankful for (a lovely touch I thought).

 And then dessert time. We handed out a (small) slice of pie with a side of peach ice cream (the recipe suggested serving it with whipped cream, but I got a bit enthusiastic with my whipping and managed to start making butter. Whoops!) and I held my breath while the American took a bite…..

  “This tastes just like the real thing”.

 Hooray!! And a little impromptu celebration dance from me. In fact the only complaint was that I had given him too small a slice (remedied easily with a second slice, and leaving him the leftovers), and that I had made it from scratch. Apparently in America, you buy a can of “pumpkin pie filling” and pour it into a bought pastry shell, and voila – “home cooked” pumpkin pie.

  I think I’ll stick with my version.

 But we all found it quiet tasty, except the Frenchman (who was also there), which his wife pointed out was probably because it didn’t have enough sugar (we had discussed earlier in the night his habit of having chocolate croissants dipped in hot chocolate for breakfast in France, so this was probably a good observation). It was savoury type of dessert, but still quite tasty – like a spicy pumpkin soup custard (which sounds worse than it tasted!).

 But more importantly, I didn’t ruin Thanksgiving.

 Which I was very thankful for.

Other Fish to Fry ... or Bake ... Or Grill...

  For the past few months I have been working on an area of my culinary repertoire that has been sorely under-represented; a Cooking Fear (if you will) that needed to be faced up to Like a Man (or like a Domestic Goddess at least)

  Fish.

  So simple, so complicated.

  Over the years, I have had many friends who raved about how simple and easy and tasty it was to cook Fish; especially those trying to lose weight  be healthy. But it was not a thing that I ever entertained the thought about cooking, or even ordering in a restaurant – I was always more of a chicken or pork or pasta girl. As with much of my cooking style, this lack of aquatic appreciation started in childhood. My mum doesn’t like Fish. Hence she never cooked it. I mean, we had Fish Fingers of course (topped with cheese and bacon pieces on special occasions) and graduated to the frozen I & J oven-bake Fish fillets in later years. But that was it.  The only other Fish that I was exposed to was the ubiquitous tuna or salmon casserole bake (with the nausea inducing white sauce and weird odour) seen at Pot Luck style dinners, which wasn’t  anything that was going to inspire a young girl to change allegiances. I liked prawns, but didn’t like shelling them myself (too many oozy slimy bits that made your fingers stinky); I couldn’t see the appeal of oysters (salty grey and disgusting), never liked smoked salmon and our budget didn’t stretch to lobster. Plus there was always that fear inducing aspect of swallowing one of the minuscule tiny bones that evaded your careful inspection and getting it caught in your throat and choking or getting a punctured lung (or something equally as dramatic); I don’t like my dinners with a Side order of Trepidation.

 Plus, the actual past-time of Fishing seemed like a HUGE waste of time. Why stand around on a river bank/pier or sit in a boat for hoooouuuuurrrrrrrs on end in the hope that you MIGHT catch something that MIGHT be big enough not to be thrown back and MIGHT feed you that night, when you could have guaranteed fun riding the four wheeled motorbike or making sandcastles or swimming and getting sand who knows where? Very inefficient.

 Slowly but surely, I have come around.

 In my younger casual-worker days, I worked across from a Fishmonger who would sell containers of crab meat and prawns (with a thoughtful container of Thousand Island dressing) which would get me through shifts without a meal break. Then when sushi became all the rage, I quite enjoyed the salmon and Fish pieces (sans wasabi!) before sliding back to the California rolls (you could eat them chopstick-free!). As a working girl, I was introduced to the famous fall-back lunch (“… but I thought YOU were going to get bread for sandwiches!!”) of canned tuna on crackers. But it was a work conference in Darwin that has had the most influence: I defy anyone who has tried a fresh Thai-influenced barramundi curry to not be convinced about the delicious versatility of Fish.

  All of this Fish knowledge was coming to the fore as all of the health benefits kept resurfacing;  it lowers cholesterol, it helps with arthritis, it’s good for avoiding depression etc etc.
 But where to start? There are SOOOOO many different types and cuts of Fish (blue rockling grenadier flathead flounder fillets steak tails boned skin on off – argh!!!) and ways to cook it  (pan fry, deep fry, bake and grill) that it was a bit daunting to work out what to cook First.

 Sticking with the Do-What-You-Know school of thinking, I decided on Fish Tacos (Mexican is So Hot Right Now).  I had two recipes and decided to pick the best bits from each in regards to the salsa and salad options, but both recipes called for Firm White Fish Fillets (500g or 4 x 180g). Me, a Fish Cooking Virgin so to speak,  having no idea of what to buy or ask for,  just went to the Fish section at my local Coles and looked in hope for some sort of Fish that I might recognise. I think I ended up with flathead fillets, which seemed to be quite expensive for the amount of Fish I took home. Which wasn’t very much.  Hmmmm, perhaps I should have bought by weight not number…..

 Never the less, I soldiered on. We were having a Mexican themed dinner, so while my friends sipped on watermelon margaritas and lageritas (a Corona with a shot of tequila and some lime juice – be careful, the tequila likes to sit on top of if the beer so that first mouthful can be a bit potent!) I warily approached my first Fish-cooking endeavour.

 Which was a bit of a disaster.

 In hindsight, I think had the pan too hot or not enough oil (or both) – the Fish pieces stuck to the frypan, the flour covering flaked off everywhere and it was a rather unappetising-looking mess. It tasted OK (as most things would when topped with sour cream and pico de gallo salsa), but I had rather under-catered with the amount of Fish I had bought, and so each of us had two tacos with about 2-3 small cubes of Fish. Nice, but not enough to soak up the beer and tequila. Thankfully the Tres Leches cake (meaning “Three Milks”, which are used in its cooking) brought by my girlfriend was a  delicious (and solid) and chased away the hunger pangs.

 So an inglorious start to my Fish-Cooking Crusade.

 And so it got quietly put to the Bottom of the Pile while I cooked and experimented (more successfully) with other things.

 Then I received Donna Hay’s Simple Dinners which had a Fish/Seafood section. I usually gloss over these sections, but the pictures made me stop and look, and even made me think – I could Eat That.  And it was around this time that Hubby’s cholesterol reading was a bit high, which then made me think – We should Eat That.

 And so I bravely waded back into The Deep.

 First up was ‘Miso Grilled Fish’. It seemed pretty straight forward (marinate and grill) and I got to buy some new ingredients from my cute local Asian grocery store. After the failure of the first Fish Purchase, I thought I’d try the local Fish shop, in the hope that Someone in the Know would advise and guide me.

Nope.

 Me: “Hi, I’ve never cooked Fish before and I need firm white Fish fillets. What would you suggest?”

 She: “Ummm… I don’t know, what do you feel like trying??”

 Not helpful!! I also had a minor freak out at handing over $14 for two Fish fillets (I had better not leave half of this stuck on my frypan!) but I had heard that Fish was Expensive.  I had another minor freak out during cooking as I couldn’t tell when the fillets were cooked through (and I didn’t want to ruin and waste this precious Fish!) but I did the sneaky (and I’m sure big culinary no-no) of Cutting it To Check. And it was delicious.  And light. And healthy (served with a side salad). And a Success. Hooray!

 Next up was Salmon Teriyaki Noodles (from Delicious Magazine), which was a big step for me as I wasn’t even sure that I liked salmon! I figured that the sauce would help if I wasn’t a big fan of the taste, and I could always eat the noodles and veges. With a pep talk from my salmon-loving girlfriend (Don’t overcook it! Put a saucepan lid over your frypan to help it cook through!) combined with a bit of info I gleaned from Huey’s Cooking Adventures (which just happened to be on the TV in our waiting room when I was waiting for a fax) I felt I had the skills to make it work (or at least not totally destroy it).

 I purchased pre-packaged salmon from Coles so I knew I had the right weight and the right cut. I had enough oil in the pan this time and so only a few little pieces stuck, and it was only at the thickest part of the fillet that it wasn’t totally cooked through when I took it off the heat, which I remedied by popping those pieces back in the middle of the fry pan for a few minutes before mixing it in with the rest of the noodles. Sneaky!!

 Again – delicious. Again light and tasty (and healthy) – and I like salmon! Double Hooray!!

 To go in a different direction, I chose Crispy Fish Sliders (from Simple Dinners) next. This was more of your traditional batter-and-fry type of Fish dish, which I thought was a good skill to acquire, just in case anyone ever caught Something and expected me to cook it for them. It was a very simple batter, quite amenable to becoming a beer batter which is good to know.

 I had issues again with the oil/frypan combo, so a few of my fillets ended up in little pieces rather than whole fillets; I may not have had my oil hot enough when I started cooking (damn electric cooktop!). And still with the sticking to the pan thing! I might need to invest in another good quality non-stick frypan….

 Still, once the Fish was in a roll with some roasted garlic aioli and lettuce, it was yum and it didn’t matter whether there were Fish fillets or pieces.  So three from three (and one very pleased Hubby).

 Last on my To Try style of Fish cooking was a stew – Spanish Fish Stew (again from Delicious) to be precise…. which was quite nice and simple to cook (throw the Fish pieces in the flavoured liquid and simmer for 5 minutes) and no chance of it sticking to a tricky frypan! I think I might grow to like that cooking style…..

 So it now gives me great pride to state that I Can Cook Fish.

 And I will continue to Cook Fish! Like a sesame crusted salmon … or a Thai-style baked Fish … or a Fish Curry … or Popcorn Shrimp! (I know it’s not really “Fish” but it sound so yummy).

 Bring It On.