Buckwheat Soba Noodles in Ginger Broth with Grilled Beancurd

Have this for lunch and then eat a cookie. Works for me.


Buckwheat Soba Noodles in Ginger Broth with Grilled Beancurd
slightly adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good
Serves 4

A small handful of dried wakame seaweed
1 x 5cm piece of fresh ginger, briused with the side of a knife
8 spring onions, scrunched up to bruise them, plus an extra 2 spring onions finely sliced for garnish
1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus extra for seasoning at the table
2 tablespoons dried bonito flakes
225g buckwheat soba noodles
300g beancurd
Back sesame seeds for garnish

Combine the ginger, bruised spring onions and soy sauce with 3 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, add the bonito flakes and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the wakame and simmer for another 2 minutes. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot. Remove the wakame and set it aside. Discard the rest of the contents of the strainer.

Cut the beancurd into bite-sized pieces and grill (broil) until golden and toasted.

Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil and add the noodles. Boil for 4 minutes and then drain and rinse under cold water.

Divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle the broth evenly over the noodles and serve topped with the finely sliced spring onions, grilled beancurd, reserved wakame and back sesame seeds. Serve a pot of soy sauce at the table.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (No Flour, No Butter)

  

 

We have a tradesman working at our house at the moment. He is remodeling our laundry (plus whatever else we think of for him to do while he's here - this job could go on forever). He is here every day and every day, when I bake, I make him a cup of coffee and take him a "sample" of whatever I've been baking. I think he sort of looks forward to his morning/afternoon cup of coffee and "baked surprise". This morning when I approached him with todays offering straight from the oven, he said "Mmmmmm, Hot Cookie", for I moment I thought he was referring to me - awkward.



Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (No Flour, No Butter)
slightly adapted from Ambitious Kitchen
Make 16

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
2/3 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In small bowl mix together the oats and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in dry ingredients on low speed, then gently fold in chocolate chips with a spatula.

Wet your hands then take lumps of dough and roll them into 5cm balls and place onto a baking tray 5cm apart.  

Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes and remove when edges barely begin to turn a golden brown. The cookies may look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook once you remove them from the oven. Cool for 2 minutes on the baking tray then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Caramel Bacon Popcorn

I can't believe I almost missed Australian Bacon Week. Another couple of days and it would have been all over without me splattering my stove with bacon grease, filling my house with that unmistakable, mouth-watering smell and stuffing my mouth full of salty, bacon-y bits. (Who am I kidding? I do that on a weekly basis.)

Any hooooo... I made this addictive popcorn in celebration of that indispensable, irreplaceable, utterly delicious piggy product - Think Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs with bacon... yes, really!


Caramel Bacon Popcorn
from Donna Hay
Serves 6-8

1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup finely chopped bacon, rind removed
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
40g unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup unsalted cashews, toasted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
sea salt flakes

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large frying pan (with tight fitting lid for when you pop the corn) over high-heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until burnished and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.

Put the pan back on the heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining oil and add the popcorn kernels and cover with the lid. Cook until the corn stops popping, shaking the pan every now and then. Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl.

Place the butter, honey and both sugars in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the butter has melted. Increase the heat and boil for about 3 minutes or until golden and thickened. Add the cashews and bacon, remove from the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine. Working quickly, pour the caramel over the popcorn and mix to combine. Spoon onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with sea salt. Leave for a few minutes to set.

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Bread is my life. Just though you needed to know that little detail about me.


Buttered Rosemary Rolls
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Makes 8 large rolls

15g fresh yeast
15g honey
320ml lukewarm water
250 baker's flour
250 semolina flour (or use another 250g strong flour if you can't get semolina flour)
15g salt
20g unsalted butter, melted
A sprig of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
Sea salt flakes

Dissolve the yeast and honey in the water. Set aside.

Put the flours and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the liquid mixture and mix for 10 minutes on low speed. It should be quite a wet, sticky dough.

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk - about 1 1/2 hours.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Spray a large round cake pan (mine is 28cm) with cooking oil spray.

Place the balls of dough in the pan, making sure they have plenty of room to rise. Cover with a cloth and leave them to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Gently brush the puffy balls of dough with the melted butter, being careful not to crush them.

Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary and gently brush with some more butter. Sprinkle with the sea salt flakes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until rolls are deep golden brown on top.

Orange Olive Oil Cake with Almond Glaze

There are days when you just need a little sunshine in your life, and if nature won't come to the party, then you just have to conjure up some golden rays of your own. And no, I'm not complaining about the weather again, I'm just sayin... again.

Orange Olive Oil Cake with Almond Glaze

adapted from Marcus Samuelsson

For the Cake:
3 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups caster sugar
1 cup Greek yoghurt
3/4 cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly grated zest of 3 oranges
1 teaspoon almond extract

For the Glaze:
2 cups icing sugar

1-2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Generously spray the inside of a 25cm Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together over a large bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks until they are pale and creamy. Slowly add in the sugar and continue mixing until it is completely incorporated. Add the yoghurt and olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add the orange zest and almond extract, and mix until just incorporated.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two parts, beating after each addition until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again for a few seconds.

Whisk the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form. Scoop 1 cup of the egg whites into the batter. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold them in, carefully turning the bowl with each fold, until just incorporated. Add the remaining egg whites and repeat. Fold gently, being careful not to knock too much air our of the mixture.

Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes then give the pan a tap and shake it a little then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Make the Glaze:

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the almond extract and enough yoghurt to create a glaze with the consistency of cream. Drizzle the glaze of the cooled cake.

Sourdough Oat Bran Rolls

I've decided to eat bread and cheese and drink some wine because it's Wednesday.


Sourdough Oat Bran Rolls
from Bitter Baker
Makes 16

For the Ferment:
100g white starter
370g  filtered water
300 g bread flour

For the Dough:
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
1 tablespoon honey
130g light rye flour
45g oat bran
78g bread flour
1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping:
Oat bran

Make the Ferment:
Mix the starter, water and flour in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 16-20 hours, until it is active and bubbly.

Make the Dough:
Add the salt, honey, light rye flour, oat bran and bread flour. Mix to a dough. Let the dough rest 5 minutes, then add the olive oil. Let it rise in the bowl, covered with a kitchen towel for about 3 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Sprinkle oat bran on your working surface. Turn the dough out onto the oat bran and sprinkle more oat bran on top of the dough. Roll the dough into a square and cut the dough in 16 squares. Place them on a greased baking tray and it let rise, covered with a kitchen towel, until doubled in size, 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees C. Spray some water on the bottom of the oven and bake the bread for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 230 degrees C and bake another 10-15 minutes.

Let these delicious little rolls cool on a wire rack (scoffing one warm, split and spread with lashing of butter as cooks treat).

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Holy mother of blueberries. These are THE best way to start the day... after a sleep in... with the morning papers... and with someone who makes great coffee... and does the dishes.



Perfect Blueberry Muffins
from Smitten Kitchen
makes 10

70g unsalted butter, at room temperature

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

3/4 plain thick yoghurt (I used organic biodynamic)

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

190g plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

100g blueberries (I used frozen)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper cases.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and whisk to stir out any lumps and fully combine the ingredients.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well, then yoghurt and lemon zest. 

Sprinkle half of the dry ingredients over the butter mixture and gently stir, then add the remaining dry ingredients and stir just enough to combine. Gently fold in the blueberries. The batter will be quite thick. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the paper cases to about 3/4 full.

Bake for 25 -30 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffins comes out clean of batter. Cool on a wire rack.