Summer Vegetable Galette

I thought I’d left the crazy world of deadlines and sleep deprivation back in my college days, when the all nighters were all too common and I’d live and breathe Photoshop. But no, here we are again, a little bit older and wiser but still trying to beat the clock, when the to do lists seem to get longer instead of shorter. I’m heavily involved, working on a very exciting project with Denea, aka Gourmet Rabbit. I feel very lucky to be combining the two things I love the most, and I will tell you all about in early March when it is officially launched.

So, instead of a brand new recipe fresh out of the oven, today I’m dusting off one I’ve been meaning to tell you about since November. We invited my Nanna over for lunch one Sunday, and I cooked a lovely summer vegetable galette, with prosciutto and fetta. It was also a great opportunity to test out Bourke Street Bakery’s savoury shortcrust, which has since become my go-to recipe, because it’s delicious and buttery, and so versatile. You could even make a double batch and keep some in the freezer for those days when you’re short on time.

The best thing about this type of lunch is that you can use whatever’s in season – tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini in summer, pumpkin in winter, with whatever cheese you fancy. Or they’re a great way to use up the folorn specimens hanging around in your vegetable crisper. It’s casual, yet impressive and the free form shape of the galette means there’s no skill involved and even the kids can help out, or make their own!

Summer Vegetable Galettes
Makes 6 small galettes

The recipe below is a really rough guide, because you can get creative with the fillings, depending on what you like and what’s in season.

Shortcrust Pastry (from Bourke Street Bakery)
• 300g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1.5cm cubes
• 600g plain flour, chilled
• 1 teaspoon (5g) salt
• 3 teaspoons (15ml) vinegar, chilled
• 170ml (2/3 cup) water, chilled
• Eggwash, to brush

Filling Ideas
• Caramelised Onion
• Proscuitto, bacon, pancetta
• Capsicum
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Char-grilled Eggplant
• Baby spinach
• Cheese – feta, goats cheese, blue cheese, brie

1. Remove butter from the refrigerator 10 minutes before you start mixing. The butter should be just soft but still very cold.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and add the butter, pulsing in 1 second bursts about three or four times to partly combine.
3. Turn out onto a clean surface and gather together. Combine the vinegar with the chilled water and sprinkle over the flour mixture. Use the palm of your hand to smear the mixture away from you across the bench. Gather together and repeat this process once or twice more to bring it together. You should still be able to see streaks of butter through the pastry.
4. Divide into two round, flat discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5. Remove the pastry from the fridge 20 minutes before you want to roll it. Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface and rub some flour over your rolling pin. Divide each disc into 3 even portions. Roll each into a circle shape, sprinkling extra flour over the bench if needed. Place onto baking sheets and return to the fridge for at least an hour, for gluten to relax.
6. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Place the fillings of your choice in the center of each pastry circle, leaving at least 4-5cm edge. Fold in edge over filling, brush with egg wash and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with salad greens.

Holiday Mode

I’m having trouble snapping out of holiday mode. I just spent six glorious days in Perth with my favourite person, where the weather was lovely, the mood was lazy and miraculously, I didn’t get a single work call all week. It’s an interesting feeling, being on holidays in a familiar place. I’ve been to Perth quite a few times now, and although there’s still lots of things I want to see, and lots of restaurants I want to visit, it doesn’t feel like I have to jam-pack my schedule. I know that I’ll be back, in less than a month to be precise!

Instead, we cooked – the chicken with ratatouille made an appearance, as well as a lovely slow-roasted pork shoulder that was then shredded and served in tacos, and duck donuts (!) inspired by those at Sparrow Kitchen & Bar in Adelaide, which were almost perfect and that I hope to share with you soon. We had a picnic lunch in a gorgeous park with views of the city and Swan River, danced badly and sang loudly at Big Day Out, went for motorbike rides, watched movies (I finally saw Up! So gorgeous!) and just enjoyed spending time together.



This gorgeous cake reminds me of summer holidays and lazy days. The peaches have been beautiful this year, and this is a fantastic way to make the most of them, save of course eating them for breakfast with the juice running down your arm. Yoghurt Cake, or Gâteau au Yaourt is a French classic, and one of my favourite simple cakes to make. I’ve been making the version from the Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook for about two years now, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to mention it here! It would be wonderful to take on a picnic lunch, or to have for afternoon tea on a summer’s day.

The cake comes together quickly and easily, and is a great base for adapting the flavour. I made a great version using pink grapefruit last year, though lime is another firm favourite. You could of course substitute other fruit for the peaches on top. Berries or apricots would work nicely, I think. The cake tastes best on the day it is baked.

Yoghurt and Almond Cake with Orange Caramel Peaches
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 8

• 140g self-raising flour
• 4 eggs, separated
• ½ cup (110g) white sugar
• ¾ cup (210g) Greek-style yoghurt
• 1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
• 1 lemon, finely grated rind and juice only
• 70g almond meal
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup (110g) caster sugar

Orange Caramel Peaches
• 3 peaches, cut into wedges, stones discarded
• 200g white sugar
• Juice of 1 orange

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Sift flour into a bowl and set aside. Whisk yolks and white sugar in a medium size bowl until pale and creamy. Add yoghurt, olive oil, rind and juice. Stir to combine, then fold in flour and almond meal and set aside.
2. Whisk egg white in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, then gradually add caster sugar and whisk until firm peaks form. Fold egg white mixture through yoghurt mixture, pour into a 23-cm springform pan lined with baking paper. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in tin on a wire rack. Cake is best eaten the day it is made.
3. For orange caramel peaches, place peaches in a heatproof bowl and set aside. Combine sugar and 60ml water in a small saucepan, and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook until caramel coloured (8-10 minutes). Add orange juice, being careful as mixture may spit, and then stir to dissolve. Pour over the peaches, stir to combine and set aside for 1 hour. Spoon over cake to serve.

Lessons in Gluttony

I couldn’t say no to a post-Christmas celebration with my favourite group of food bloggers. Richard from Here Comes the Food invited us around to his place for a Boxing Day food fest, really the last thing my waistline needed around that time of year. Yes, this post is more than a few weeks late! What was originally going to be a summery barbeque was sadly rained out, but that didn’t stop me from traipsing halfway across Sydney in the rain, braving Cityrail trackwork, with dessert in one hand, umbrella in the other.

When we arrived, Suze was grinning and assembling her infamous Luther Burgers. And yes, they are what they look like – a bacon and egg cheeseburger with a Krispy Kreme donut for a bun. One of these babies probably contains the recommended calorie intake for an entire week, but that didn’t stop us. In fact, the flavour combination was great, in a dirty way, as the donuts leaked runny egg yolk and sugar glaze. The table was quiet – it was a combination of sweet and savoury that actually worked, with the sweetness of the donut and the pineapple working well together. It was a lesson in gluttony - crazy indeed, but definitely worth it.



And onto the rest of the food. Leona brought some Indian treats from Newtown, which I didn’t end up trying! Shez made a lovely foccacia studded generously with ham, tomato and cheese, which I really loved. The Ninja has brought some gourmet sausages, which we teamed with Baconnaise, a worthy investment on Richard’s part, because “everything should taste like bacon”. Simon has brought along his Chicken Surprise – balls of deep fried chicken, each with a different filling – some with smoked cheese, or asparagus, ham or proscuitto. The Ninja has unluckily picked the one filled with Wasabi, but apparently it’s not too bad.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of Richard’s or Billy’s delicious pork belly, or Jacq’s potato salad (thank god someone thought to bring vegetables!), nor the infamous can of whale meat that Billy has brought. I didn’t try any, but apparently it tasted like tuna with the texture of pork.



And then it was time for dessert! Steph has brought along a blow torch, with which to toast the marshmallow topping of her S’more Cheesecake, which was exciting because everyone loves fire. This was incredible! The dark chocolate filling wasn’t overly sweet, thankfully, and the topping was absolutely delicious – melty, toasty, and slightly crunchy with marshmallows from Sweetness The Patisserie. You can find the recipe on Steph’s blog.

Teresa has brought some Momofuku cookies from New York, but I was so full by this point that I didn’t try one. My contribution was a green tea-tiramisu, where the sponge biscuits are soaked in a mixture of brewed green tea and Zen liqueur, with a dusting of matcha powder between the layers and also on top. Pistachios are sprinkled on top, but due to Steph’s nut allergies I served them on the side for the dessert. See the recipe at the end of this post!



Helen, the Cupcake Queen wows us with some delicious strawberry balsamic cupcakes, that are topped with popping candy for some childlike novelty. I like a dessert that makes people giggle, and this certainly did as the strange sensation of the popping candy exploded in our mouths. Jacq’s has brought a refreshing panna cotta with peach jelly, and Shez made a chocolate Christmas pudding (no photo of this, unfortunately) and a lovely citrussy sponge cake layered with whipped cream.

I left for home soon after this, as I was one of the only people present who had to work the following day. I was bummed to miss out on Pictionary and catching up with Yas and Lex who arrived later. Thanks Richard for hosting, and to everyone for sharing such great food! You’ll never come away from a food blogger’s gathering with an empty stomach, that much is for sure.



Green Tea Tiramisu (Tea-ramisu)
Serves 8 - 10
Adapted from Delicious Magazine

Note: Matcha powder is available from Asian groceries. Zen liqueur is available from selected bottle shops (I found it in Crows Nest.) You could also serve this in individual serves. I made a few extra in martini glasses for a more elegant presentation.

• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 200g mascarpone
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 1 cup thickened cream, whipped
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup Zen Green Tea liqueur (or Cointreau if you like)
• 12 sponge fingers/ladyfinger biscuits
• 2 cups brewed and cooled green tea
• ¼ cup matcha (green tea powder)
• Chopped unsalted pistachios, to serve

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (being careful not to let the bowl touch the water) until mixture is thick and pale. Remove from the heat, then add the marscarpone and beat until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.
3. In another large bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the vanilla and then gently fold in the mascarpone mixture, followed by the egg whites until completely blended.
4. Combine the green tea and Zen liqueur in a shallow dish. Dip the sponge biscuits into the liquid briefly, ensuring they’re soaked through. Layer half the biscuits in the bottom of a 1.5L serving dish. Spread half the cream mixture on top and dust with half the matcha.
5. Repeat layers, finishing with a cream layer and most of the remaining green tea powder. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
6. Just before serving, dust with the remaining green tea powder and scatter with chopped pistachios.

Couldn't Wait

I keep prattling on about how much I love summer fruit – berries, mangoes, peaches and cherries, but I also love summer vegetables. Eggplant is one of my favourite things, and I love zucchini in almost any form. Lets not forget gorgeous ripe tomatoes, which need nothing more than a drizzling of olive oil and some cracked black pepper on your favourite sourdough to be the perfect summertime lunch. What better way to showcase summer vegetables than ratatouille, an honest French dish that lets the flavours do the talking. I’ve already made this twice so far this summer and I couldn’t wait any longer to tell you about it!

I found the recipe in an old Gourmet Traveller Annual Cookbook from 2006. I have simplified it somewhat to really make the flavours shine. The ratatouille is served with some crispy potatoes that are sliced thinly, par-cooked until tender, then pan-fried with butter and oil until crisp. They’re then tossed with parsley and, if you like, a little red wine vinegar. Sitting on top is a crispy-skin chicken breast. Make sure you buy chicken with the skin on – parsley butter is pushed underneath the skin, and then the chicken is pan-fried skin side down before being baked, covered with foil for 20-30 minutes until juicy and perfectly cooked.

Everyone who has tried this dish has absolutely loved it, even the boyfriend’s parents! The components compliment each other so well. There is a little bit of prep work involved, but the ratatouille can be made in advance and heated gently just before you’re ready to serve it. It’s a fantastic way to showcase your favourite summer vegetables in an honest and simple, restaurant-quality dish, the best kind to have in your repertoire as far as I’m concerned. I know I’ll be making this again!



Crispy Chicken Breast with Ratatouille and Crispy Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 4

• 4 chicken breasts, skin on
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 40g butter, softened
• Sea salt & black pepper

Ratatouille
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small eggplant, cut into 1cm dice
• 1 green zucchini, cut into 1cm dice
• 1 large red capsicum, cut into 1cm dice
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 50g tomato paste
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• Sea salt & black pepper, to taste

Crispy Potatoes
• 5 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled into 1cm thick rounds
• 20g butter
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, optional

1. For ratatouille, heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add eggplant and cook until tender, then transfer to a bowl. Add zucchini to frypan and cook until tender, and then add to eggplant. Cook capsicum until tender and then add to vegetables in the bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar and simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add the vegetables and season to taste. Keep warm.
2. For potatoes, heat butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. Add onion and sauté for another 5 minutes or until onion is tender, then add parsley and season to taste. Remove from heat and toss through red wine vinegar, if desired.
3. To make crispy skin chicken, combine parsley and softened butter in a bowl. Using your fingers, separate skin from chicken breast to form a pocket and spread butter under the skin. Heat a frying pan to medium heat and cook chicken, skin side down for 3 minutes or until golden, then turn over and cook for another 3 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Transfer chicken to a baking pan, cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Serve chicken with ratatouille and potatoes.

Zumbo Summer Collection

My little sister had never been to Adriano Zumbo’s patisserie. While I had brought the occasional macaron home on my travels, I thought it was about time she tried the amazingly quirky creations of the man himself. I don’t get over to Zumbo as often as I’d like to, since I live on the other side of Sydney, but it’s always an experience, complete with sugar high and occasionally tummy ache. She was on school holidays and I had the day off, so the timing was perfect. It helped of course, that it was Mousse Cake Day.



That’s right, Zumbo’s infamous Masterchef mousse cake, in miniature form. The lovely Gourmet Rabbit even had a cake put away for me, which was fantastic, because they sold out so quickly that I would have otherwise missed out. It seems that even months after the Masterchef finale, the hype around Zumbo has yet to die down. And now I can understand it. Not only is the mousse cake absolutely beautiful to look at, the taste is sublime. Layers of chocolate mousse are interspersed with biscuit, apple and caramel to produce a masterpiece.



It was also a great opportunity to check out the new Summer/Autumn collection called ‘I thought it, you brought it, I built it, you bought it”, which was as wacky as ever. Who would ever have thought to put mashed potato or cauliflower or mustard in a cake! Although the cakes themselves seem to be slightly smaller than in the past, there are some beautiful summery flavours combined with the same skill, technique and originality that Zumbo is famous for.



We tried two cakes from the collection, as well as a handful of macarons. The first was “Not too S-h-a-b-b-y”, a flourless biscuit with muscovado crème brulee, plantation chocolate mousse and chocolate malt crème legere. It tasted like a super sophisticated version of a cake my grandmother makes, and was absolutely delicious.



The “5 6 7 8” was a gorgeous and summery cake – pineapple palm sugar sous vide, lemongrass, pandan and vanilla crème legere, coriander creameaux and peanut sable. I was intrigued by the use of coriander in the cake, but it worked brilliantly and tasted incredible. I liked that it was not overly sweet, but each individual flavour stood out in the different components that made up the cake.



I hadn’t had a macaron since our insanity on Zumbo’s Macaron Day back in November, but I was nonetheless excited to check out the new flavours. We bought Summer Pudding, Peach Bellini, Strawberry and Balsamic and Pineapple Coconut. All of the flavours were strong and true, I especially liked the Pineapple and Coconut flavour, and the Summer Pudding had a hint of “breadiness” to it that worked wonderfully.

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie, 296 Darling St Balmain
http://adrianozumbo.com

Thing of Beauty

An impromptu picnic with Bourke Street Bakery goodies on our walking tour of Surry Hills

I have extolled more praises about Bourke Street Bakery than I can count, from my daily trips to the Broadway store for coffee and crossiants, and my love of the recipes from the beautiful cookbook. There’s something magical about actually snagging a table at the Surry Hills store, and biting into the crackly crust of a ginger brulee tart. And the sound of the crust as you slice into a fresh loaf of sourdough. This is why I have chosen to cook a recipe from the book each month in 2010. You might remember that Mark and I cooked from the Tartine Bakery cookbook last year, and I wanted to keep with the theme. What better than Bourke Street, a Sydney institution and the home of some of my favourite delicious treats.

This month I have chosen a recipe for sausage rolls, to coincide with Australia Day. Sausage rolls are sold all over Australia, from the footy ground, to kids parties, to fancy bakeries. If we’re being honest, I never really liked sausage rolls. The frozen ones still scare me a little. It even took me a while to get up the courage to try one at Bourke St Bakery, but I’m so glad that I did. When done well, it’s thing of beauty. A flavoursome meaty filling, encased in delicious flaky pastry – it doesn’t get much better than this, except dunked in copious amounts of tomato sauce.


Veal and Fennel Sausage Rolls. Photo by Simon

I cheated a little bit, not using the book’s recipe for puff pastry, but instead using the remainder of my home made batch that has been sitting in my freezer for the last few months. I have only recently been converted into liking fennel, after having shunned it since I don’t particularly like aniseed. But it was at Sparrow Kitchen & Bar that I changed my mind. The fennel seeds worked so well in the goat meatballs so I knew this recipe would be great. I swapped the pork mince for veal, which was a delicious substitution. I also cut down the pepper in the recipe below, because I think it had a little too much. I made half the recipe, but still ended up with about 16 small sausage rolls.

Unfortunately, the photographs I took didn’t turn out very well, but luckily Simon from The Heart of Food had snapped the one above. Thanks Simon!! These were enjoyed at the most perfect Australia Day lunch at Gourmet Rabbit’s lovely Balmain apartment. It was a fantastic lazy day of cooking, eating, and drinking some really excellent wine with some great people.

We also had goat’s brie, prawns, maple and soy marinated chicken wings, and the most incredible lamb shanks with roasted eggplant and purple sweet potato. For dessert, we had a fruit salad with some delicious Achacha ice cream and a bottle of dessert wine I had to go all the way to Adelaide to find! And that’s what Australia Day should be all about – good food and good friends. With lamb, and prawns, and sausage rolls of course.

Veal and Fennel Sausage Rolls
Adapted from the Bourke St Bakery Cookbook
Makes 12

• 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 30g fennel seeds, finely chopped
• 4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 150g brown onions, finely chopped (about 2 small)
• 150g celery, finely chopped (4-6 stalks)
• 150g carrots, finely chopped (about 2 small)
• 1.2kg finely minced veal
• 40g dry breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons white pepper
• Puff Pastry (I used the recipe from Daring Bakers)
• Egg wash, for brushing
• Fennel seeds, for sprinkling

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the fennel seeds and thyme and stir together for 1 minute, or until aromatic. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly mushy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Put the veal mince in a large bowl and add the cooled vegetables and breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix the meat quite forcefully to thoroughly combine. If you like, you can fry a little ball of the meat to test for seasonings.
3. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle, about 92 x 32 cm. Cut the pastry into six rectangles about 15 x 30 cm each. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
4. Divide the filling mixture into six equal size portions. On a clean work surface, roll each portion out into a 30cm log with a 3cm diameter. Place each log lengthways in the center of a pastry rectangle. Brush one long edge with egg wash.
5. Firmly fold the pastry over, pressing to enclose the log tightly, leaving the edge open. Cut each roll into 2 or 3 equal size pieces and place on baking trays lined with baking paper, seam side down. Brush the top of each roll with egg wash and sprinkle with fennel seeds.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C (375°F) and bake for 35-40 minutes or until they are a golden brown roll of steaming oozing goodness.

Franks Lebanese, Fairfield

Usually when people refer to “their local” they mean a pub around the corner, within easy stumbling distance from their front door. Until recently, I didn’t have one of my own. The pubs in my area are seedier than I’d like, so I have adopted Franks, the Lebanese restaurant down the road. Funnily enough, I’d walked past it almost every day for the last four years without even thinking to walk inside, and it was actually recommended to me by someone who lives on the other side of Sydney! I know Howard and Linda from Eat Show & Tell are also big fans.



I’ve been to Franks a few times over the last couple of months and loved it. So when my favourite food bloggers had a day free, they decided to head out west with the promise of great Lebanese food and then ice cream at my place. We started with a Fatouch Salad (small $4.50 / large $7.90) which has lovely crispy pieces of Lebanese bread throughout. It was delicious and a great accompaniment to the other dishes.



You can’t come to Franks without trying the Charcoal Chicken, which is unlike any chicken you’ve had before. The rotisseries are constantly in motion cooking delicious chickens fresh. Half a chicken is served with hommos, tabouli, baba gannouj and garlic cream ($9.90). Take away chicken is also available, which we took full advantage of on Friday night, because it was just way too hot to cook.



We also got some Falafel ($10.90) to share, five pieces of falafel with the same accompaniments. It’s the best falafel I’ve ever eaten, without a doubt, and I was thinking about it for the rest of the afternoon. I think I could have eaten this entire plate on my own. I’ll know for my next visit…



My favourite dish is the Mixed Plate, which is three skewers – chicken, beef and lamb kofta served with tabouli, hommos, baba gannouj, picked, and grilled tomato ($11.90). The meat is beautiful and tender with the right amount of spices and the accompaniments are perfect with the complimentary Lebanese bread. Frank himself is lovely and the staff are welcoming and attentive. Frank remembers me even though I have only been there a handful of times! I’m falling more and more in love with Middle Eastern cuisine and it’s fantastic to have a place so close to home that serves such great Lebanese food.

Franks Lebanese Restaurant - 16 Smart St Fairfield



I also have a treat for my readers today. The lovely people at menulog.com.au have offered you guys $10 off your first delivery at Menulog, for participating restaurants in Australia when you use the code above. Just click on the image to take you to the website!

Summer Afternoon

My favourite part of summer has to be the fruit. I wait patiently all year for a few sultry months of peaches and nectarines, mangoes, plums, berries and the delicious things I can do with them. While I do wholeheartedly think that peaches should be eaten over the sink with the juices dripping from your mouth and hands, I have to say, this peach and ginger ice cream blondie comes pretty close. A great combination of the fresh peach flavour and a crispy, yet slightly gooey blondie studded with white chocolate chips, this dessert is perfect for a summer afternoon. It was certainly a winner with Steph, Karen and Betty who had trekked to my neck of the woods for a great Lebanese lunch (more on that soon) and the promise of home made ice cream.

Blondies vs Brownies is a raging debate, and up until this weekend, I hadn’t tried making or eating blondies at all. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe from The Perfect Scoop, and when there looked to be about the same amount of blondie mixture to chocolate chips, I knew it was going to be good. Crispy on the outside and still a little gooey in the middle, like a real brownie should be. While I still prefer my brownies to be, uh, brown, I think there is certainly place for a blondie recipe in my repertoire and baby, this is it.



In other exciting news, I received my first ever mention in the press recently, in an article about food blogging from the February issue of Cleo magazine. I’m in some great company, being featured with Lili from Pikelet & Pie, Suze from Chocolatesuze, Jen from Jenius and Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. Some great insights from these lovely ladies and it’s always a very positive thing to see food blogging in the mainstream media. Wheee!

Peach and Ginger Ice Cream Blondies
Adapted from Design*Sponge

• 500g perfectly ripe peaches
• 1/3 cup plus ½ cup sugar
• ½ - ¾ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 2/3 cip heavy cream
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or ½ vanilla bean
• 3 egg yolks

1. Slice the peaches into a bowl. Toss with the 1/3 cup of sugar, vanilla and ginger. Set aside while you prepare the custard.
2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Heat until almost boiling. Whisk the ½ cup of sugar and egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Add about 2 tablespons of the hot milk mixture into the yolks and whisk constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking constantly.
3. Return the mixture to the pan and heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Chill completely before proceeding.
4. While the custard is cooling, puree the sliced and marinated peaches in a food processor until smooth. Mix the peach puree and custard together and then process in your ice cream maker. Freeze until ready to serve.

Blondies
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes 12 blondies

• 115g unsalted butter
• 1 cup (140g flour)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (215g) packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 175g white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Butter a 20cm square cake pan and cut a square of non-stick baking paper to fit the bottom.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and then let it cool to room temperature.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking sugar and salt.
4. Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the melted butter, then stir in egg. Stir the melted butter into the dry ingredients and then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly puffed in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Serve with peach and ginger ice cream.

The Craving

I am a little bit obsessed with Mexican food at the moment. I’m tempted to put guacamole and black beans with almost everything I eat and I’ve been to the Guzman Y Gomez store in Australia Square so many times in the last few weeks that the staff have practically memorised my order. I’ve initiated ‘Taco Tuesday’, a Mexican dinner with a gaggle of food bloggers for the near future, and I’m planning to cook up a Mexican feast when I’m in Perth later this month. Phases like this come and go quite often for me but I try to make the most of it while I’ve got the craving.

Which is why, when I saw the Mexican Corn Soup recipe in January’s Gourmet Traveller, two hours later I was shopping for ingredients. Sweet corn is in season right now, and I managed to pick up nine cobs from my local greengrocer for only $3. I do love a bargain! There is quite a bit of prep involved in this recipe – first the husks and stringy bits need to be removed from each cob, and then the kernels dislodged from the cob. I did this with a knife, cutting each cob in half horizontally first. Also the peppers have to be char-grilled and peeled. I did this on the BBQ, but you could use a frying pan or grill if you like.

I changed the recipe a fair bit from how it is written in the magazine, purely because I felt it didn’t taste quite right to me. Even with four red chillies, there wasn’t even a hint of spice, so I added in some dried chilli flakes. To me, the soup tasted a little watery and bland so I added a little butter and cream. Dad suggested adding chicken, mostly because he didn’t think it looked very filling and some protein wouldn’t go astray. In the end, I was very pleased with how it came out, and it was a really great meal, though I’m not sure how traditional it is after my tinkering and tweaking of the recipe. I especially liked the avocado and cherry tomato on top for a bit of colour and flavour.

I would highly recommend making this soup while fresh corn is at its seasonal peak. Chose cobs sold still in their husk, which are fresh and green, with no signs of yellowing or browning.

Mexican Corn Soup with Crushed Avocado
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 4 – 6

• 4 yellow or red banana capsicum
• 4 long red chillies
• 1 head garlic, halved horizontally
• 90ml olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1.2kg corn kernels (from about 8-9 cobs, cobs reserved)
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup cream
• 50g salted butter
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and cut into small cubes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Dried chilli flakes, to taste

Crushed Avocado
• 1 or 2 scallions (spring onions), sliced thinly
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (or to taste)
• 2 avocados, coarsely chopped
• 120g cherry tomatoes, quartered (about ½ punnet)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat a grill or BBQ to high. Cut the capsicum, chillies and head of garlic in half and brush both sides with olive oil. Wrap the garlic in aluminium foil. Place cut side up on BBQ plate, or on a baking tray under the grill. Grill until starting to blacken. When cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic from skins, finely chop and set aside. Peel capsicum and chilli, coarsely chop flesh and set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery, sauté until very tender. Add spices and sauté until fragrant, then add corn (reserve 2 cups), reserved corn cobs, grilled garlic, capsicum and chilli and stir to combine.
3. Add stock and 250ml water, bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until corn is tender. Discard cobs, and process mixture in batches in a food processor or blender until very smooth.
4. In the meantime, cook reserved corn kernels in boiling, salted water until tender. Drain.
5. Return pureed soup to saucepan over medium heat, add butter and cream and stir until combined. Add cooked corn kernels and chicken, if using and season with chilli, salt and pepper.
6. For crushed avocado, combine shallot and lime juice in a bowl and stand for 5 minutes until shallot is tender. Stir in avocado, tomato, olive oil and coriander and season to taste. Serve dolloped into corn soup.

Lazy Lunch

I love long, lazy lunches – preferably on Sundays, and definitely with wine. There’s something about them that appeals to me in the nicest way, and it sure makes a good change from scoffing down a sandwich at my desk! One of my favourite places for lunch that never disappoints is Gazebo Wine Garden in Elizabeth Bay, the original of the “Gazebos” after the recent addition of the Winery in Surry Hills and the soon-to-open Manly Wine.

I decided to treat my Mum to a nice lunch for her birthday back in December. It was meant to be a surprise, but I couldn’t keep it a secret and hinted like crazy until I eventually told her. Every Sunday, Gazebo has $15 jugs of sangria, as well as a Sunday Roast special. We had the red wine sangria, which is infused for a week with cognac, oranges, apples, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and topped with lemonade. It tasted like mulled wine, complex with spices yet ice cold, refreshing and completely moreish.



Our meals came out soon after, my sister went for the delicious sounding Confit Duck salad with watercress, orange and warm hazelnut dressing. We’re still not sure what the crispy ribbons on top were, but they added a satisfying crunch to the salad. The orange was a zingy contrast to the tender duck meat, which just melted in your mouth.



My Mum had the Pine Nut & Mint Lamb Burger with onion jam, roasted veggies and crinkle cut fries, which I liked so much on my first visit to Gazebo. Mum loved it as well, especially the presentation. The tender lamb patty was served on a lightly toasted panini and served with a little bucket of crunchy crinkle cut chips. It’s not the easiest thing to eat – there are far too many fillings for it to be picked up and bitten into like a normal burger, and it’s also quite difficult to portion up and share, but it is still absolutely delicious.



I couldn’t go past the grilled sirloin, with café de Paris butter and shoestring fries. These days, I don’t often order the same thing at a restaurant twice but after I had it at The Winery and loved it, I had to have it again. Served rare, it was perfectly cooked and I was very happy with my carnivorous meal, though the serving is large and I couldn’t finish it by myself.

While it was tempting to order dessert, we settled for coffee instead because Mum was contemplating gelato and I was about to head off to the Food Bloggers’ Picnic in Hyde Park. It’s always amusing to dine at my work’s venues because I see my work design all over the place, including the little comment cards that came with the bill at Gazebo. Happy Birthday Mummy!