Cheesy Roll Ups

I love the cups of hot tea my husband brings to me in bed in the mornings.
I love reading a book in a sunny window.
I love falling asleep reading a book in a sunny window.
I love collecting the warm eggs my hens lay.
I love finishing a 10k run.
I love hearing the Willy Wagtails in the garden.
I love the rose bushes in their second flush of the season.
I love it when my jeans feel loose when I put them on.
I love my new boots.
and I love a snack I can make in 10 minutes flat.


Cheesy Roll Ups

from Elle's Kitchen
Makes 4 x20cm tortillas, cut into 3 pieces each, so 12 pieces total.

250g fresh ricotta
1/3 cup finely diced salami of your choice (I used a mild Sopressa)
1 cup grated cheese (I used a mix of parmesan and mozzarella )
1/3 cup spring onions, thinly sliced (just the green parts)
1 teaspoon pizza seasoning
1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
4x20cm flour tortillas
a bit of oil for cooking

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, salami, grated cheese, spring onions, pizza seasoning and basil. Mix well.

Spread each tortilla with some of the cheese mixture, and get it all the way to edges to help the rolls seal. Roll each one up tightly. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. Not too much, you're not deep frying, just browning the tortilla rolls. Depending on the size of your pan, place one or two rolls in the oil and brown on all sides. This should only take a few minutes for each one. Use tongs and turn the rolls so you brown them all over. Set aside, and finish browning the rolls.

Let them cool slightly before slicing. Slice each roll into 3 pieces.

Spanakopita Pies

"Here she goes again with the spinach and cheese pies", I hear you say. But it's a good one... I promise!

Spanakopita Pies
from Janelle Bloom's My Favourite Food for all Seasons
Makes 6

2 bunches of silverbeet
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon, zested
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped dill
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 egg, lightly beaten
300g Greek feta
125g ghee, melted
375g packet filo pastry
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Remove leave from silverbeet stalks, discard the stalks. Rinse the leaves and pat dry, then chop the leaves.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the silverbeet, a handful at a time, letting one handful wilt down before adding the next one. Keep adding until all the silverbeet is wilted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Pour the silverbeet into a colander and drain, squeezing as much moisture out as you can. Put the cooked silverbeet into a large bowl and add the lemon zest, nutmeg, dill and parsley. Add the eggs to the warm silverbeet mixture and mix until well combined. Crumble over the feta, season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (fan-forced). Lightly grease six 3cm-deep, 11cm (top) pie tins with a little of the melted ghee. Lightly brush one filo sheet with melted ghee. Top with another sheet and brush with ghee. Cut the pastry in half crossways and use both halves to line the base and sides on 1 pie tin. Trim the excess pastry with scissors, leaving about 1cm overhang right around the tin. Repeat five times to line all pie tins. Divide the silverbeet filling between all pies.

Brush 1 filo sheet with melted ghee. Top with another sheet and brush will ghee. Fold in half crossways so you have four layers of filo. Place over one pie. Roll the pastry top and sides together.Brush the top of the pie with ghee and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat five time to finish remaining pies.

Use a sharp knife to cut 3 small slits in the top of each pie. Place onto a baking tray and put the lot into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Baba Ganoush

We have lots of eggplants ready in our garden... which is great... except my boys don't really like eggplant. I've tried lots of ways to get them to eat it:

I've tried hiding them in moussaka, but they weren't fooled. They were like eggplant-seeking-missiles... talking missiles who asked "is there eggplant in this?" with the first mouthful.

I've tried them twice-cooked Chinese-style, first fried, then steamed and dressed in sesame oil and Szechuan pepper - who couldn't like that? Answer: My children!

I've even resorted to deception by putting them in curries and saying it's potato. That's pretty low (and lame), I know (and completely unsuccessful it turns out).

This silky and un-eggplant-like dip, I'm happy to say, doesn't require any bribery, corruption or fraudulent behaviour on my part. The boys don't even ask what it is, they just eat it - Works for me.


Baba Ganoush
from Janelle Bloom's Family Food & Weekend Feasts

2 medium eggplants
6 garlic cloves, skin on
4 spring onions, chopped
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C fan-forced.

Pierce the skin of each eggplant 5 or 6 times with a fork and place on a baking tray with the garlic. Roast for 40 minutes, or until the eggplants are soft and almost collapsed.

Cut the eggplants in half and scoop out the warm flesh into a food processor. Add the spring onions, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice and process until smooth. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and half of the sesame seeds. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds on top and serve with lots of crusty bread.

Chocolate Toasted Muesli

If you can't have Coffee Cake Muffins for breakfast, then this would have to be your next choice, right?

Chocolate Toasted Muesli
from What Katie Ate
Makes enough to fill 2 x 1 litre jars

500g rolled oats
60g wheat germ
50g shredded coconut
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100g sunflower seeds
110g pumpkin seeds
120g natural almonds
100g pecans
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
150g dried blueberries
100g chopped medjool dates

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Mix the oats, wheat germ, coconut, cocoa powder, seeds and nuts in a big bowl, then divide in half.

Heat the oil, honey and maple syrup until thin and runny. Pour over half of the oat mixture, mix thoroughly- leaving the other half dry. If it looks a little too wet and is starting to clump together, add some of the dry mixture.

Spread the wet mixture evenly over the two baking sheets and bake for about 90 minutes, stirring every now and then to make sure it toasts evenly.

Allow to cool, then mix in the dry ingredients, including the fruit and store on an air tight jar.

Coffee Cake Muffins

  

For those mornings when coffee is life support.


Coffee Cake Muffins

slightly adapted from here

Makes 12

For the Muffins:
140g unsalted butter
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 1/4 cups plain flour
1 cup vanilla sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons warm water

For the Topping:
40g cold, unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup plain flour
3 1/2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Put the butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.  Once melted, continue to cook the butter until it starts to turn nut brown and smells delicious.  Remove from the heat.

In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together.  Add the brown butter and whisk again.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine.

Take half of the batter and spoon it into the prepared liners.  Dissolved the coffee powder into the water and add it to the remaining batter and stir.  Divide the espresso batter evenly between the liners, on top of the plain batter.

Make the Topping:
Put all the topping ingredients into a bowl and rub them together with your fingertips.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the liners.

Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Pork and Parmesan Sausage Rolls

We are in serious snack-food territory with these tasty little morsels. And like all snack-food, it's hard to stop at one. That's why I've cut them into dainty bite-size portions, so you can go back for seconds and thirds and fourths...

As with any simple recipe like this one, when you are using few ingredients it's really important to use top quality. Use all-butter puff and the best sausages you can get your mitts on. I am spoilt by having a quaint and "traditional" local Italian Delicatessen near by. They stock authentic Italian pork sausages which are to-die-for. Grinding your own fennel seeds might seem like an unnecessary step, but whole spices have better flavour than ready-ground spices. However, if you're short on time, or just can't be bothered, use ground fennel seeds.


Pork and Parmesan Sausage Rolls
from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals
Makes 36 cocktail-size sausage rolls

3 sheets of ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry
18 pork chipolata sausages
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of whole fennel seeds or ground fennel seeds
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
1 tablespoon sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

If you're using whole fennel seeds, put a teaspoon of them into a mortar and pestle and grind until they are a fine powder.

Slit the chipolatas down the sides and remove the meat from the casings, discard the casings. The meat will retain the sausage shape if you are careful when you take it out of the skin.

Unroll one pastry sheet (put the rest back in the fridge until you need them) and cut it in two lengthwise so you've got two long rectangles. Brush them both with beaten egg, then arrange 3 sausages down the middle of each rectangle, and scatter over the ground fennel seeds and some grated parmesan. Roll the pastry over to make rolls, make sure the seam is on the bottom, then brush the whole lot with beaten egg again. Scatter over the sesame seeds and cut each long roll into 6 mini ones. Repeat the process with the rest of the pastry and filling until you have 36 mini sausage rolls.

Place them on the baking tray and bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 minutes or until golden and crunchy, and serve hot, warm, at room temperature or cold - they're great whichever way you go.

Orange Cake

I was asked to bring something sweet along to a dinner party with some of our closest friends. They were doing the main course and I was bringing dessert. I didn't  know that they had planned a Moroccan themed meal - lovely warm spiced lamb and vegetables, scented chicken and couscous. This orange cake had all the right flavours to compliment the meal. I love a bit of Serendipity.

Orange Cake

from Janelle Bloom's My Favourite Food for all Seasons

For the Cake:

zest of 3 washed navel oranges

400g peeled and quartered navel oranges (You can use the oranges you zested. Just bung them, cut up, into the processor - no need to peel.)

185g butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
21/4 cups self-raising flour

whipped cream for one of the layers

decorations

orange zest

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan forced. Lightly grease a 22cm (base) round or springform pan then line the base with baking paper.

Place the orange flesh into the processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the butter, caster sugar and vanilla, pulse until combined (don’t worry if mixture looks curdled). Add the eggs, pulse to combine then add the flour and pulse until all the flour is distributed (don't over-process once the flour goes in or the cake will be tough).

Spoon the mixture into the cake pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in the cake pan for 10 minutes before removing the it from the pan and turning onto a wire rack. Turn upright.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

250g cream cheese, softened

125g unsalted butter, softened

2 cups of sifted icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer until it is smooth.  Add the butter and beat again.  Then add the icing sugar, vanilla and orange juice and whip it until the sugar has dissolved and you have a creamy, spreadable frosting.

To assemble:

Cut the cake horizontally into three even layers. Place the bottom layer onto a serving platter or plate. Spread half of the frosting on top, distributing it evenly. Place the middle layer on top of the frosted layer, then spread the whipped cream onto it. Finally, place the top layer on top and spread the remaining frosting evenly over it. Decorate as you like. I used some pretty icing flowers and orange zest.

Goats Cheese Tortelloni

This is a hybrid of pasta and gnocchi - in my mind, the best of both worlds. Tortelloni are BIG. It takes at least two or three bites to eat each satin pillow (though I wouldn't put bets on that!).


Goats Cheese Tortelloni
from Neil Perry's Rockpool
Serves 4 as a starter (I made double the amount and we ate it as Dinner)

350 g  Dutch Cream, Nicola or Kipfler potatoes, unpeeled
150 g Goats Ricotta (or regular cow's milk ricotta, if you prefer)
Lemon Juice
Sea Salt & freshly ground black pepper
150 g Hard Bakers Flour

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Season the goat’s cheese with lemon juice, salt & pepper. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain and leave until cool enough to handle (the dough works through the pasta machine much better when warm). Peel the potatoes and push through a potato ricer or a food mill.
Add the sea salt and flour, and mix into a cohesive mass.

Take half the dough and cover with a tea towel to keep warm, put the other half through the pasta machine.
Dust the dough with a little flour each time you put it through if its sticking, but it shouldn’t be necessary.
After about the third time though, the dough will start to come together, but don’t expect it to look as smooth as normal pasta dough.

Lower the machine to the fifth setting, fold the dough into 3 and with a rolling pin roll out the seam end evenly. Make sure that the width of the dough is the width of the pasta machine. Open the machine out to 10 again and roll the dough through. It should become silkier and smoother with each passing. Continue down the scale again until you reach 3. This dough is not as thin as a normal ravioli, but the texture will be luxurious.

Lay the pasta sheet on the bench and trim the edges with a pizza cutter. Cut the sheet in half lengthwise, then cut the halves into perfect squares of about 3cm square. It is very important that you work in squares, as the sides fold over to make a triangle. This dough doesn’t need water to stick together, however you must be very careful not too use too much flour on the bench or in the last winding through, as the flour stops the tortelloni from sticking together. The dough also deteriorates as it gets cold so try to work with it whilst hot.

With the dough directly in front of you pipe a bit of goats cheese towards the top right-hand corner of each square. Fold the bottom left-hand corner to the top to form a triangle enveloping the goats cheese. You should have triangles on the bias with point facing away from you to the top right. Fold the base of the triangle lengthwise so it is level with, and covers, the top point. You will have a long skinny piece of pasta with a bump in the middle. Pick up the pasta and wrap it around your index finger, with the top point of the triangle facing away from you. Squeeze the two ends together where they overlap and remove your finger.

Place on a floured tray and repeat with pasta squares, then with the remaining dough. The filled and rolled pasta will keep in the refrigerator for a day and freezes very well.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt the water and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Place the tortelloni in the boiling water, and as soon as they float back to the surface remove with a slotted spoon.

I served it with a simple tomato sauce.

Cauliflower Soup with Porcini Oil

You can spend hours in the kitchen, elbow deep in exotic ingredients. You can use every dish and pan in the house to conjure up a gastronomic masterpiece. You can sweat and swear over the technical processes of complicated recipes. You can create foams, airs, jus's'sss, gastriques, edible spheres and pearls. Or you can cut a humble cauliflower from the garden and make a beautiful, velvety cauliflower soup. Add a touch of luxury with an incredible infused oil, and -  voilà, refined dining without the syphon, sous vide or liquid nitrogen.

NOTE: Please promise me you'll make the oil to go with the soup? It really does take the soup to a whole new level.

Cauliflower Soup with Porcini Oil

from Donna Hay's Seasons

For the Soup:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped

1 pale green stick of celery, chopped
1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
11/2 litres vegetable stock
salt & pepper
200ml pouring cream

Heat the oil in large saucepan, add the onion, celery and cauliflower. Fry gently for 2 – 3 minutes until the onion is tender. Add the stock, and let it cook for 10 – 12 minutes or until the cauliflower is done.

Blend the soup in a food processor until smooth. Pour it through a sieve back into the pan - sieving the soup is important if you want a sublimely smooth and refined soup. Stir in the cream and simmer for another 5 mins. Add pepper and salt if needed.

For the Porcini Oil:
10 g dried porcini
125ml olive oil

Slowly heat the oil and dried porcini in a saucepan for five minutes over low heat. Set aside and let it cool.

Pour the soup into a bowl and drizzle the porcini oil over the soup. I served it with my own Sourdough Bread.

Sourdough Bread

Making sourdough bread is not for everyone. It's not exactly difficult, but it does take patience (a quality that is not usually attributed to me) and persistence. This is a labour of love to say the least, which just goes to prove, I'll go to any lengths for good bread.

You can get the full run-down of how to make a sourdough starter here. I used it to start my starter (no, I didn't stutter, I startered) about a year ago. If you can't be bothered with all the palaver of making your own, then go to your friendly local baker and ask for some. They have to throw half of it away every day as part of the process of maintaining the "mother" so, hopefully they will be only too happy to help you out. After you have the starter, you're well on your way to having the most delicious homemade sourdough bread you can imagine.

Sourdough Bread

from Sourdough Baking

2 cups of sponge (proofed sourdough starter)* see below
2 or 3 cups of unbleached plain flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt

*Proofing the Starter:
Several hours before you plan to make your dough (recipe below), you need to make a sponge. A "sponge" is just another word for a bowl of warm, fermented batter. This is how you make your sponge.

Take your starter out of the fridge. Pour it into a large glass or plastic bowl.

Add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour to the bowl. Stir well, and set it in a warm place for several hours. This is called "proofing," another word for fermenting.

Watch for froth and and sniff. When your sponge is bubbly and has a white froth, and it smells a little sour, it is ready. The longer you let the sponge sit, the more sour flavour you will get.

Make your Bread:
Put the sourdough sponge, sugar, salt, and oil into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix on low speed. Add a cup of the flour and mix well on low speed. Add the rest of the flour a half-cup at a time mixing on low speed until you have a soft, elastic dough. Stop adding flour when there is nothing sticking to the bowl, the dough is sticking to the hook and there is not flour sitting in the bottom of the bowl.

Let the dough rise in a warm place, in a bowl covered loosely with a plastic wrap.  Let the dough double in size. I do this at night and let it rise over night. The longer you leave the dough to rise, the more flavourful and "tangy" it will be. When I make mine, I leave it all night for the first rise, and all day for the second rise, resulting in an almost malty flavoured bread.

Punch the dough down and knead it or about a minute. Shape the loaf and place it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Smear a little olive oil over the top of the loaf and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in size.

Place the baking sheet with the loaf in your oven, and then turn your oven to 180 degrees C  and bake the bread for 30-45 minutes. Do not preheat the oven. The loaf is done when the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped with a wooden spoon. Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or a towel and let it cool for an hour before slicing (yeah, good luck with that!)