As if there wasn’t enough sourdough floating around at home at the moment! I was at Brasserie Bread in Botany the other day and just had to buy a sour cherry loaf. The occasion was a farewell for some dear friends who are sojourning in Darwin for a little while. Actually not so little, but let’s not get into that, I might need another slice or two if we do.
This is a wholemeal spelt sourdough using an organic white flour starter culture as the only raising agent. The shape of these loaves is called a ‘batard’.
This is a light rye loaf made with a blend of organic white and organic rye sourdough starters plus a little additional fresh yeast for a lighter texture. Also, I used a loaf tin to try to create a more easily toastable bread. The little slices of the first loaf were hard to get out of the toaster!
Tricks:
1. One of the most prized parts of sourdough is the chewy crust and to create this you need steam in the oven. To create this I crank up the oven (I did about 220C fan-forced) with a tray of water sitting on the bottom of the oven. By the time the oven heats up and is ready for the bread to go in the water is normally bubbling and you have your steam to create your nice crust.
Julia Child has a different method, she uses a piping hot brick which she adds to the tray of water to create a real burst of steam.
2. I find that the loaves burn quite quickly in my oven so I put the racks as low as possible and turn the heat down to 200 or 190 if the bread starts to brown too much. If it looks like it is going to go very brown you can cover the loaf with alfoil.
3. Bourke St Bakery’s cookbook recommends using filtered water and organic unbleached flour.
4. There is a trick that I haven’t used yet but am keen to try. Julia suggests using a terracotta tile to bake your bread on which you pre-heat, like when making pizzas the Italian way. This is meant to give an extra push from the heat underneath the loaf and help give a higher loaf.
Next step is to try some raisin bread, and some lighter fluffier loaves too…
I have been experimenting with Sourdough starters or ‘ferments’ for a while. A while because for months now I have been feeding flour and water to ‘the baby’as it has come to be known and have only just made my first successful sourdough loaves. November and December were a little busier than expected which is why I’ve been so quiet.
My first attempt at making sourdough last year was very dense as I ignored the suggested rising times and this is not the time to be making up the rules! Once you are proficient, sure, but in the meantime I am taking advice from the Bourke St Bakery cookbook for good notes on making a successful starter culture using just flour and water and Julia Child’s very detailed notes on troubleshooting when baking. Very helpful.
So I made some wholemeal spelt loaves, which were nutty and delicious, though still a little dense so I think I may have under-proved them, but I am looking forward to today’s batch of light rye which in addition to the traditional sourdough starter also employs some fresh (compressed) yeast to make for a tasty bread with a lighter texture. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find fresh yeast but I bought some at the deli in Carlingford Court!
A home oven is not ideal for making bread, but with some tricks you can have success. I am only just finding my way at the moment but I promise to post some pictures if these ones turn out decent 
More soon,
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
The biggest challenge with having an African dinner party was which region’s cuisine to choose, so we didn’t! We just left it quite open and this is what we ended up with…
Clockwise: In the large white square dish is doro wat chicken, injera bread, bobotie, rice, bulgar salad, tomato salad.
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Dissolve yeast in warm milk in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except all-purpose flour. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes.
Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise until double, about 1 hour. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
Punch dough down; divide into halves. Shape each half into an 8-inch long loaf. Place loaves into two greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Cover; let rise until double — 40 to 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 190 C or 375 F.
Cut lengthwise slash in top of each loaf. Bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped — 35 to 40 minutes; remove from pans. Cool on wire racks.
serves: 4
ready in: 1 hour (15 mins Prep – 40 mins Cook)
Serve this beautifully vibrant dip with chargrilled pita toasts for a casual start to a barbecue, or use it as a scrumptious sandwich filler.
ingredients
5 red beetroot (1 kg)
1¼ cups (325 g) plain low-fat yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon paprika
pepper to taste
preparation method
Cut off the beetroot stems 1 cm from the roots (no closer). Scrub the roots very gently but thoroughly, being careful not to nick the skin.
Cook the beetroot in a large pot of simmering, salted water for 40–60 minutes until tender. Drain. Allow to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, cool slightly and rub off the skins. It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves when doing this to prevent your hands from becoming stained.
Finely chop, grate or process the beetroot in a food processor, then transfer the flesh to a serving bowl.
Add the yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, oil, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and paprika to the beetroot and mix well. Season to taste with pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until required. Serve with warm crusty bread.
500g or 9 Baby red capsicums
90g or 3 long red hot chillies
30g or 7 small red hot or habanera* chillies
2 tbsp vegetable oil
75g sugar
75 ml white vinegar
1 tsp salt
Olive oil
*If replacing the 7 small hot chillies (with habanera chillies) you must remove the seeds and veins before blanching them in boiling
Method
A good kosayi should be not too hot, you can just feel the heat. The mixture will keep for about 6 months in the refrigerator – the older it gets the better it tastes.
Place the chillies and the whole capsicums in a large pot of cold water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 25 min or until soft. Cover, turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
Drain and seed both chilli and capsicum, then peel the capsicum. Place in a food processor and blend to a creamy paste.
Press mixture through a fine strainer to remove any remaining skin.
Stir in sugar, oil, salt and white vinegar then place in a jar and allow at least 2 days to mature.
1 kg beef mince
1 large brown onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp ginger, grated or chopped
2 slices white bread
1 tbs jam
2 tbs chutney (Mrs Ball’s is the authentic safe chutney)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tbs vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup raisins (variation is 1/4 cup raisins + 1/4 cup grated apple)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbs curry powder (Indian spice mix)
2-4 bay leaves (fresh or dry doesn’t matter!)
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Oil in pan, saute onions, ginger and garlic and remove from pan.
Saute curry powder in oil to develop flavour then add mince. Cook mince until brown and crumbly, remove from heat.
Soak bread in milk, squeeze dry and shred. Add to mince along with onion mix.
Add salt, pepper, tumeric, cloves, vinegar, raisins, jam and chutney and mix through.
Place in baking dish, press down and top with bay leaves.
Bake for about 50 minutes @ 180 degrees. After 30 min in the oven, beat the egg and milk together and carefully pour over mince in the dish, return to oven.
Remove from oven when topping is cooked (may not need the extra 20 minutes).
2 cups white rice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs margarine
1/2 cup raisins
Boil saucepan of water. Add all ingredients except raisins to boiling water and top up water as required during cooking. About 5 min before rice is cooked, add raisins and simmer until rice is tender. Drain and serve!
700g ripe tomatoes, cut into small wedges with seeds removed. Nicole used ‘kumatoes’.
1 red onion, finely chopped.
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce or ketchup
Few drops tabasco sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup medium dry sherry
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
grind of black pepper
In a bowl Combine salad ingredients. Combine sauce ingredients. Marinate the tomato mixture in the sauce. Serve in sauce dishes without lettuce or drain well and place in the center of the Injera bread.
225g (8 oz) bulgur wheat
285mL (1/2 pint) boiling water
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
salt
pepper
1 red capsicum, grilled, peeled and sliced
1 bunch of plump spring onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped
115 g (4 oz) feta cheese, crumbled
lime wedges, to serve
oil-cured black olives, optional
Place the bulgur wheat in a large bowl, add the boiling water and leave to soak for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork, until the water has been absorbed. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice and seasoning. Pour oil mixture over the bulgur wheat, add the herbs and mix well. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Cover and chill until required. Serve garnished with lime wedges.
Feeds 10-20
Wat
1 whole chicken, plus an extra couple of chicken breasts or thighs
3 lemons
500ml of white vinegar
5 kg brown onions
50g finely ground cardamom seeds
100ml olive oil
100ml Nit’r Qibe (spiced clarified butter)
6 tbsp berbere spice mix (chilli powder)
4 tbsp tomato paste
Mixed spice
2 tbsp cardamom seeds
2 tbsp nigella seeds
2 tbsp ajwain (or fennel seeds)
1 tbsp African basil leaves, seed and leaves
2 tsp black pepper corns
3 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper
12 hard boiled eggs
Remove the skin completely from the chicken and cut into 21 portions. (This is the traditional Ethiopian way.) Any excess blood or fat on the chicken needs to be removed, as it will affect the flavour of the sauce. After the chicken has been cleaned, soak it in the vinegar and some wedges of lemon in a non metallic bowl.
Finely dice the onions and place them in a large pot with the lid on over a medium heat. Do not add oil or liquid. Cook the onions until they have reduced by at least half. This process usually takes about an hour.
Once the onions have reduced, add the olive oil cook for 30 mins. Then add the spiced ghee (nit’r qibe) and berbere and stir into the mixture. Add the 21 portions of chicken. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the temperature and allow the chicken to cook through, making sure the onions do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Grind together the mixed spice ingredients and once the chicken is partially cooked, add the mixed spice and stir through. Add salt. Allow the mixture to simmer slowly and stir occasionally.
While the mixture is cooking, prepare the eggs. Bring water to the boil, add salt and hard-boil the eggs. Once cooked, peel the eggs and allow to cool.
Cut vertical groves into the eggs to ensure flavour seeps in. Spoon out some of the excess oil that settles on top of the mixture. Add the eggs when you are about to turn off the heat.
This is better the next day and even better the day after that. Just make sure you reheat thoroughly.
N.B. A berbere spice mix is available from Herbie’s spice shop in Rozelle and it includes many of the spices mentioned in the ‘mixed spice’ section of the recipe and not so much chilli, so I used 6 tablespoons of Herbie’s berbere mix and added the tomato paste to round out the flavour and add a redder colour as it was bit dull brown and too clovey. The heat seems to come more from the pepper than the chilli so add some more chilli if your spice mix is not hot and you like spicy food.
Serve with Injera bread. Here is the recipe for it below…
makes 8-10
1 cup amaranth flour (available at health food shops, you could also try buckwheat or wholemeal for a nutty flavour)
2 cups plain flour
3 cups water
pinch salt
Mix flours with water until smooth in a bowl, cover. Leave to sit for 2-3 days (even overnight will do if you don’t have time, it just won’t be as sour) until it starts to bubble. During this time you can mix it a few times with a spoon but otherwise just leave it covered. You want crepe batter consistency so if too thin you can pour off some of the liquid that has risen to the top before you mix and cook the batter.
Stir in the salt. Heat a large frypan until when a few drops of water are added the water dances on the surface and evaporates. Quickly wipe the surface of the pan with a paper towel dipped in oil. Add a ladle of the mixture and cook slowly until air bubbles rise to the top. Do not let it brown, and make sure that it is not too thick. You can tip the pan so that excess batter runs to the edges. Do not turn over, only one side gets cooked, just wait until it is cooked through then slide off to a large plate. Repeat until the batter is used up.
Cover with clingfilm once cooled until ready to serve. You can cover the plate with one injera and use it to mop up sauce, by breaking off a piece with your fingers and any extra injera can be rolled up into a ‘cigar’ and cut in half and used to dip into sauces.
* 150g chopped almonds
* 75g granulated (raw) sugar
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 2 teaspoons orange flower water
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 8 sheets filo pastry
* 40g butter
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup icing sugar
* 8 fresh figs
* 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Put the sugar, butter, orange flower water, almonds and cinnamon in a blender and blend until smooth.
Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and place each lengthways down the side of one piece of filo pastry. Roll the pastry around the mixture. The finished thing should resemble a sausage shape.
Coil it into a kind of snail’s shell then set aside and cover with a damp tea towel. Repeat this with all 8 pieces.
Heat the butter in a large pan and then fry the pastries until they are browned on both sides.
Sprinkle the pastries with cinnamon and icing sugar and serve. They can be left to cool if you wish to eat them cold.
Figs: Depending on the quality of the figs, they can be sliced or quartered and eaten fresh if very juicy or if a little dry then cut in half from top to bottom, lay cut side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake in a 180C oven for 5-10 minutes until the tops start to caramelise. Keep an eye on them as they burn quickly.
A dollop of thick sweetened yoghurt flavoured with a little cinnamon and honey would be a delicious addition.
We had a couple of bottles of South African red wine, called Pinotage, which were so different to each other you would have sworn they were different types of grapes. Nice to try though.
Last year I got given a Rancilio Silvia coffee machine for my birthday. I did a lot of research online and went shopping around for a while to find a good one but not quite something that you could trade in for a car. The Rancilio was a compromise, not quite the glossy beast with a double boiler where you can make espresso and steam milk at the same time, cafe style, but also not your run of the mill cheap model which will die in a few years.
Now I don’t own a coffee van (although think this could be a fun job) but somehow got it into my head that we could create a little cafe at a friends house. So we had a big breakfast and I brought Silvia. There are a lot of coffee nerds out there, sorry, I mean experts, maestros. Forgive me. They call ‘her’ ‘Miss Silvia’ and the way they describe her can be rather exciting. See for yourself. Check out Coffee Snobs for some good info and a friendly place to ask those questions you think are silly. You will get useful answers.
I do not consider myself a coffee expert, just a fan who knows what she likes and is trying to recreate this at home. May I just also add that the person who bought this machine ‘as a present’ has done very well with this proverbial ‘chicken’ as it lays golden cappucinos every morning. Hmmm…
At The Spot in Randwick, opposite Arthurs’ Pizza is a small Turkish restaurant serving delicious fresh food at very reasonable prices. It was one of the few places in the area open on Christmas eve so we booked and hoped for the best. Warm and relaxed service is perfect for this cosy restaurant and is a nice change from the proliferation of Thai food in Randwick (as good as it is!).
Chunks of Turkish bread, drizzled lightly with olive oil and baked until hot and crisp on the outside but still tender and moist in the middle. Perfect for mopping up the four dips that we have ordered, there are seven to choose from, but why choose?
Hummous, Beetroot dip, Jajik, Babbaganoush
Zucchini fritters drizzled with yoghurt
Dolmades, these little rice filled vine leaves are yummy
The Lamb Pide (pea-deh) is my favourite, the flavours are clean and moreish. We have it without cheese, and add mushroom to it.
This one is called the Spot Special and came with the recommendation that ‘everyone orders it’, but although tasty I found there to be too much going on and I didn’t like it as much as the Lamb.
The lone piece of rose and almond Turkish delight didn’t last long enough to be photographed.
The Eveleigh Market Saturday 13th December 8am-1pm
243 Wilson St, Eveleigh
Next market is in February 2009.
This was a wonderful market held yesterday, in an open-sided but undercover hanger on a true Sydney summer day-humid, hot and windy. The restrooms inside the old carraige works just opposite provided a moment of coolness before the hunt began.
Highlights were cherry jam from Bird Cow Fish, goat’s cheese from Jannei Dairy, eggplant, zucchini flowers, apples and less common herbs from organic suppliers. Bread from Iggy’s, Olive oil from Alto and brunch from Eumundi Smokehouse: Bacon and egg roll with homemade BBQ sauce, and a chorizo roll with tomato and basil salsa. I didn’t eat both, three of us shared them, but I could have easily scoffed them myself.
My sister was searching for the perfect Kris Kringle present for $15 and bought the last jar of cherry jam from Bird Cow Fish ($10 but it is a large jar) and then topped up the gift with a jar of Apricot jam from Rowan Farm for $5, so mission completed on budget! The cheeky little bugger even managed to find some bread for her supper after everyone had sold out as the guys at Jannei took pity on her puppy eyes and sold her their second last loaf used for tastings for a token $2. Always the negotiator
Marinated creamy goat’s fetta at Jannei Dairy. I have been missing their presence at the Good Living Grower’s Markets- bring them back please!
Went home with a small white mould cheese, similar to Camembert, called ‘Miette’. Perfectly ripe for sale, the edge was devoured and it is already developing a creamy oozy layer but is still a little chalky in the middle so I’ll leave it for another day or two.
Fruity, buttery Stöllen from Pastisse
Organic Fuji apples, basil and garlic
Eumundi Smokehouse chorizo. I bought some of the small spicy ‘beer sticks’ as owner David calls them, you really need one to handle the heat and delicious intensity.
Nice review here of Eumundi: http://www.notquitenigella.com/2007/12/27/eumundi-smokehouse-at-dulwich-hill/
Delicious olive oil and marinated olives from Alto, with the Robust premium a favourite. Got talked into getting the large bottle very easily ‘are you sure you don’t want the larger bottle?’ No, I’m not, how silly of me, of course it is better value 
I am quite happy to be persuaded.
Another delicious oil is the Pepperberry and Salt Bush olive oil by the Yaama Dhiyaan Cafe, also a lovely place for breakfast located just next to the markets on Wilson St.
Crusty sourdough, a quarter is plenty for us and costs just $3.25 from Iggy’s Bread (49 Belgrave St, Bronte. Corner of Murray St)
Can’t wait for the regular market next year…
It’s a gorgeous morning to be catching up with friends and a good coffee is all I want, with something tasty to eat a bonus. We are all happy to go to the usual place at the beach but one dissenter craves something new. You can’t say no to that so I look up the opening hours for Allpress and Campos- both closed on Sundays. Then my sister reminds me about Bourke St Bakery, how could I forget, we did a fantastic sourdough bread making course here last year as part of good food month. It was so popular that it was already booked out the day after Good Living had released the hands on courses for good food month. Luckily they put on an extra course for those of us a bit slow to decide which course to choose!
So to the Alexandria shop we go, on Gardeners Rd. It’s Sunday morning at about 10:30am and I’m expecting a queue, so am surprised to find half of the large wooden communal table free. Perhaps it’s the long weekend, or that it is beautiful weather and everyone’s at the beach, or maybe I’m just used to the tight squeeze at the Crown St shop, but in any case it is nice to have time for a leisurely chat and breakfast before the next lot crowd in around the counter.
Crisp buttery croissants with jam and ricotta, pan au chocolat, rhubard danish and currant studded snails… it’s too hard to choose. The ham and cheese croissants have sold out already so pain au chocolat it is. The filling is nice and moist and makes me wish I’d bought two.
Our coffees arrive and my cappucino is full flavoured but still smooth and creamy. I could have another, but instead I try a sip of my friend’s bottle of Bourke St Bakery’s homemade lemonade from the self service fridge. It is tart, refreshing and delicious. I buy a large bottle of my own along with two slices of pizza to take home: mushroom on one and pancetta, peppers, chilli and ricotta on the other. Ten minutes in the oven at home and they make a satisfying lunch.
Could still squeeze in another pain au chocolat though.
Lamb, Harissa & Almond Sausage Roll
