Tina’s Foodie Blog

Ok so here is the recipe of my latest attempt at Hot Cross Buns. They were a lot lighter and fluffier this time, and a bit richer due to the extra egg and a bit more butter. I also put them in a really warm place near the cooktop where I was cooking dinner so they rose quite well. I think the softer flour helped too.

Hot Cross Buns

Bun dough
700g (4 2/3 cups) soft plain flour*
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
2 x 8g packets dried yeast
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
120g raisins, soaked^
130g sultanas, soaked^
300ml full cream milk
125g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 eggs, lightly beaten

White paste for cross
50g (1/3 cup) plain flour

Glaze
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Whisk flour, sugar, yeast, allspice, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon sea salt in a bowl until combined. Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until tepid (about 40C, no more or it will kill the yeast. If it gets hotter than this then leave it until it cools to tepid before adding to dry ingredients. 40C is about body temperature if you don’t have a thermometer). Add eggs to milk mixture, whisk. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, add milk mixture and stir until roughly combined. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer such as a kitchenaid or kenwood mixer with dough hook attached and mix for 3-4 minutes until a smooth elastic dough forms. Alternatively you can knead by hand for about 10 minutes.

2. Spray a large bowl with oil spray, place dough inside and cover with cling film. Put bowl in a warm place for 40-50 minutes or until at least doubled in size. If the dough is not bulging out at the top leave it longer, this is crucial for a fluffy dough. Knock back dough by punching lightly and knead in sultanas and raisins. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces, roll into balls and place in a greased rectangular baking tray. Cover with cling film and stand in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.

3. For the cross, preheat oven to 220C. Combine flour and 1/4 cup water and stir to a smooth paste. Spoon into a ziplock bag, cut off the tip of one corner and pipe lines down the centre of each row of buns to form crosses. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 200C and bake for another 10 minutes until golden.

4. For glaze, combine sugar and cinnamon with 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes until glaze has thickened. Transfer buns to a wire rack to cool. Brush glaze over hot buns with a pastry brush and leave to cool.

* Soft flour is also called cake or biscuit flour, with a protein content of about 9g/100g flour. It is available at most large Australian supermarkets. Even at smaller retailers you can normally find a plain flour with a gluten content of about 9.5g/100g.

^Place raisins and sultanas in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak 10-15 minutes then drain and squeeze out excess moisture in a clean tea towel.

If you fall into the category of hot-cross-bun-lover then this post is for you. For all of you who can’t stand fruit in bread stop reading now. You were warned!

I have been amusing my workmates with my current obsession with hot cross buns. I do try to wait until a respectable few weeks out from Easter but that is as long as I can last. Once Davelle’s Bakery at Epping starts making them, all thoughts of low-carb/wheat free etc. go out the window. Not that I really hold strong to any of those theories but I do try to eat a wide variety of grainy breads, sourdoughs, spelt etc. and feel the better for it. But when it comes to hot cross buns there is something akin to the slice of white toast, thinly spread with butter and a smattering of vegemite. It’s a classic and classics sometimes should not be tampered with. Or at least if you’re tampering, prepare yourself for fabulous success or dismal failure.

Knowing all this as wise and true, I still felt the need to make some hot cross buns the other day. Not being able to get to Davelle’s for some reason, I decided I’d have a go at producing those light, spiced, glazed fruity pillows of heaven. Ok so the standard was set high. What I produced tasted pretty darn good, I have to say. I toasted some whole spices and ground them in my new spice grinder, thanks Tom and Mals… and the glaze was lightly spiced with cinnamon too. Even the crosses worked, but the dough was just a little too dense for my preference. And I like dense bread, just not a quality I favour in my hot cross buns.

I think I didn’t let the dough rise for long enough, greedy claws that I was. So next time, I’ll leave the dough a little longer and hope for an airier result.

The recipe I used was adapted from one by Adelaide Lucas available at Gourmet Traveller dot com.

Happy eating or baking if you are feeling like something home-made.

P.s. Note to the wise, Davelle’s sells out very quickly of hot cross buns so unless you get there before lunchtime head to Martelli’s Fruit and Veg at Carlingford so you won’t be disappointed. They buy them by the pallet it seems. I hate to think what time the bakers at Davelle’s have to wake up to make them fresh every day! A big thankyou for feeding my addiction

Does anyone have any favourite places to get hot cross buns?

A clumsy ode to Spice Temple’s heavenly facing chilli and sichuan peppercorn dish.

Since eating at Spice Temple a month ago I haven’t been able to stop thinking about those feisty little peppercorns. I was chatting to a friend of mine on the phone the other night while cooking this so it got a little more crispy than intended but it just added to the intensity of flavour on the skin. Tongue numbing, aromatic, mouth watering.

I have seen Kylie Kwong toast sichuan peppercorns with sea salt in a hot pan until aromatic and then grind them up to a powder in a mortar and pestle. This is essentially what I did and then added a little smoky paprika and sugar and rubbed it into the skin of an organic chicken, added a little oil to the bird with a few cloves of unpeeled garlic inside and whacked it in a hot oven. Oh, and I threw in a few dutch cream potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks. I normally go for 220°C fan forced, 20 minutes each on its side, on its other side and on its back. I sound like Samantha from SATC.

The end result is a moist chicken with a crispy skin, with potatoes that taste more like wedges as they have absorbed all the chickeny goodness and are lightly flavoured with sichuan.

Next step is to try this with quail, or maybe duck…and I don’t think it needs the smoky paprika or sugar.

Just to stress the point, this is a roast that takes just an hour to cook, plus preparation time. So maybe realistic for a weeknight when you don’t get home too late.

Just for a little bit of Meta-blogging…

I managed to persuade Dave to see Julie & Julia the movie last night. I’d read the book which wasn’t all that well written (in my opinion) but still enjoyable for the food factor. The movie however, was highly entertaining, with several moments when I realised I was probably laughing a little too loud. The best bit was when I looked over and realised Dave was enjoying it almost as much as I was.

I was aware of Julia Child’s book ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’, but hadn’t actually seen any of Julia Child’s shows before. So I didn’t fully appreciate Meryl Streep’s brilliant work until I watched a few YouTube clips of Julia’s cooking shows. Streep nails her voice and mannerisms perfectly. I highly recommend watching the movie, if not for the chick flick factor then definitely for the food porn.

Julia Child is a wonderful teacher and such an eccentric person, she’s a pleasure to watch.

Last week I made a big lasagne for dinner.  Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try it.

Note, this is big enough for eight people. For us it is just two hungry people, then leftovers for the next night and the rest in the freezer, in portions which microwave really well.

I used to use a 27cm x 18cm (10.5″ x 7″) base, ceramic oven-proof baking dish and only used 700g mince and a few less vegetables. For this bigger version I am using a new dish that my sister gave me for Christmas (33cm x 23cm (13″ x 9″)).

The Bolognese sauce

A thick Bechamel with cheese melted in at the end

Madly boiling lasagne sheets in salted water in my largest pot

It’s best to cut it into portions or else you’ll eat it all at once

A small salad of ripe tomatoes and avocado with fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic completes the meal

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (40mL) extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter (20g)

1 brown onion, peeled and finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

3 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped very finely

3 field mushrooms, stalk removed, diced (you can use button or swiss brown)

1kg lean beef mince (from the butcher if you can)

1 tbsp tomato paste

700mL bottle passata (Italian pureed tomatoes. Get one with just tomatoes and salt)

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt & pepper

1 packet dried lasagne sheets

60g butter

3 tablespoons plain flour

3 cups milk

1/4 cup parmesan, grated finely

1/2 cup smoked cheddar

1/2 cup freshly grated mozzarella

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

S & P

Method

Bolognese Sauce

1. Heat oil a large heavy-based saucepan then add butter. Once butter has melted add onion, carrot and celery and stir to coat. Stir in garlic and mushrooms. Cook for 5-10 mins over medium heat until vegetables have softened but not browned. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Turn heat to medium-high, add mince to pan and press down with a wooden spoon breaking up any lumps as you go. Cook until brown.  Add tomato paste to pan and stir. Add passata, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper and add cooked vegetables.  Stir and bring to the boil. Turn heat down to very low, cover and leave for 30-60 minutes depending on how much time you have. It will be nice in 30 mins, but better in 1 hr.

N.B. Check from time to time if you need a little water. Some water to rinse out the passata bottle makes good use of any passata left in the bottle.

Lasagne Sheets

I have found a brand of dried sheets at my local green grocer that I love so much that I don’t mind cooking them in salted, rolling-boiling water for 8 minutes. It is a bit fiddly getting them out in one piece and not stuck together though, so if you are at all doubtful or in more of a rush, use fresh sheets, or at a pinch, use instant.

For instant sheets make sure your bolognese sauce is ‘watery’ enough to wet the sheets so they don’t dry out. For fresh lasagne sheets, or dried, which you pre-cook, your bolognese sauce can be quite thick.

Cheese Sauce

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan, add flour and stir continuously until it forms a paste. Cook for one minute while stirring.

2. Remove pan from the heat and add a splash of milk and stir, it will absorb quickly. Add a bigger splash and stir until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and stir well, place back on the heat and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. It will thicken more on cooling and with the addition of the cheese.

3. Add nutmeg and all of the cheddar and mozzarella and just half of the parmesan (Reserve the other half for sprinkling on top) and stir until starting to melt. Remove from heat and leave until required for assembly.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F)

1. Grease 33 x 23cm baking dish with butter or olive oil to prevent the lasagne sticking to the dish and help you wash up later. Spread 1 cup of bolognese sauce evenly over the base of the dish. Place lasagne sheets evenly over the base. They can sit side by side or overlap slightly. You can break or trim the pieces to fit your dish.

2. Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce evenly over the lasagne sheets. Top with 1-2 cups bolognese sauce, spread evenly.

3. Place another layer of lasagne sheets, then cheese sauce, then bolognese sauce. Repeat this order until bolognese sauce is used up. Be sparing with the cheese sauce as you want the last layer to be lasagne sheets then a thick layer of cheese sauce and then a sprinkling of parmesan (the half left over from before).

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling and top is golden brown. Rotate lasagne in oven if one side is getting brown before the other.

N.B. Australian standard measurements are used: 1 tsp = 5mL, 1tbsp = 20mL

Wine: I often cook this dish with red wine if we are having some for dinner, but didn’t for this one. If you want, you can add 1/2 cup (125mL) once the mince is browned and let the alcohol cook off for a minute or two.

Bacon: Bacon or pancetta is also usually a staple in my lasagne, but this time I had a lot of vegetables in the fridge I wanted to use and no bacon and it was a nice alternative. If you want, try 3-4 rashers, diced, and add in with celery/onion/carrots.

This is a yummy little dessert made last night after being inspired by my good friend Malini’s blog.

chilliwalter.blogspot.com/2009/05/golden-syrup-puddings.html

I used an assortment of pots, two of the small ones as in the picture, normally used for olives etc. and three larger 250mL capacity pillyvut porcelain dishes I somehow managed to inherit from Grandma. That lovely lady had good taste. So all of these went into a large baking dish half filled with hot water. For the recipe see the link above.

The puddings are buttery and light with a sticky golden syrup base that you can tuck into or avoid, depending on how much sweetness you feel like. I haven’t turned them out as they looked so pretty as is. I did test one though and with a quick whip around the edge with a blunt knife, and an inversion onto a plate came out very easily.

This is a Jill Dupleix recipe from ‘Old Food’, and a very nice one at that.

Bistro heaven. Professional service, but not layed on too thick, the food arrives quickly but with enough time between courses for conversation and anticipation. Food so good we order the cheese platter after we have had dessert, because judging by the previous courses, we know it won’t disappoint. We’re right.

Simple, beautiful salmon

Three pairs of greedy eyes all with menu remorse

N.B. I have since gone back to Damien Pignolet’s French book and made his basic double baked souffle. The recipe is written with such helpful detail you are much more confident of success. It is utterly delicious, however be warned if you don’t normally eat cream and cheese in copious quantities you may find it rather rich. I choose to put this in the ‘once a year’ file.

Phoebe tries to convince us that Joel has made the best choice with his crab souffle, but we all know it a ploy to keep us from the French Onion Souffle and crispy melting gruyere around the edges

Pasta may seem like a strange choice to order at Bistro Moncur, but it was perfectly salty and addictive with anchovy, ripe tomato, fresh basil and a herb sauce.

This is going to sound sacriligious but the crackling on top was so light it was like the ones in a chip packet. I forget the name, anyone, anyone, Bueller? The Berkshire pork was tender and flavoursome and tasted like it had been cooked with many herbs.

N.B. I have since had to go to the butcher in search of pork and crackling and even made apple sauce to go with it. I stuffed it with a silly amount of fresh herbs and learnt that pork can handle it and my overgrown herb pots have had a nice pruning in the process. I also used a new method for the crackling where you go over the scores that the butcher makes for you so they are really separated and then pour boiling water over it in a colander in the sink which helps open up the scores and then rub the top with sea salt. Made all the difference, didn’t have to remove the crackling so the pork underneath stayed nice and moist.

The figs were juicy and ripe with a gorgeous raspberry coulis

White nectarine souffle with creme anglaise

Two types of cheese with more fresh figs and some wonderfully crisp lavosh

Satisfied Customers? I think so.

Think I’m in a food coma

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.

Coriander Bread (Pain Nord Africain au Coriandre) Recipe

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.

Egyptian beetroot dip

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.

Kosayi (African Dipping Sauce)

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.

bobotie

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).

rice

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!

chef kurt linsi’s queen of sheba salad

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.

bulgar salad

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.

doro wat chicken

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…

injera bread

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.

m’hanncha (the snake) with caramelised fig

* 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.

Wine

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.

Another wonderful cookbook received at Christmas was called Ottolenghi. They have a few shops/cafes in London and are known for delicious salads, breads, desserts and exciting flavours. I tried one of the eggplant recipes the other night.  Marinated aubergine with tahini and oregano. I’d run out of tahini so just made it with what I had- the lemon, garlic, chilli, herbs and olive oil with the richness of roasted eggplant was so good.

The two founders of Ottolenghi are both from Jerusalem, Sami from the Arab east and Yotam from the Jewish west. Their story is unusual and moving. They say much of their flavour inspiration is drawn from memories of childhood and streetfood. This is such an interesting book, keep an eye out for it and if anyone sees it in Sydney let me know as I have friends wanting to steal my copy kindly sent from the UK. Apparently it has been spotted in Melbourne…

I believe there may end up being many posts with a similar title, but for my friends who requested the recipe for the Chocolate Buttermilk Cake enjoyed on a Friday night a few weeks ago, here it is. Thought we should also take a pic before it is all demolished.

This is a really easy recipe, similar in method to making brownies and the buttermilk adds such a lovely flavour to the cake that makes it moist and moreish and not at all sickly.

Just type in Chocolate Buttermilk Cake, at the Australian Women’s Weekly Website: http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/

Notes:

1. I used my grandma’s old springform tin which is 23cm (so a little bigger than the recommended 22cm)  and I checked the cake along the way but didn’t put a skewer in until 7 minutes before the end of the cooking time and it was definitely cooked by then. It was still moist, but I like my cakes on the cooked but gooey side. So next time I will pull it out after 1 hour, instead of the recommended 1 hour 15. My new oven is a strong beast and I am still getting used to it!

2. As you are using so much chocolate in the recipe it has a tendency to go black on top if you are not careful. Burnt chocolate is not nice. A few tips: one is when you line the base and sides of the tin with baking paper make the baking paper wider so it sits an inch or two above the pan so that it provides a little extra protection from over browning, or you can also keep an eye on it and towards the last 20-30 minutes put a piece of foil or baking paper on top to stop the browning process. This is easier if you are not using fan-forced as it will blow around a bit!

Icing

The Chocolate Ganache icing was made based on a recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion and I used Lindt Intense Orange chocolate  (a pantry staple, well there is always some chocolate, it just happened to be this one yesterday) which gave the icing a Jaffa flavour, yum.

Buttermilk

Link below for those wanting a bit more info on buttermilk. It is also nice in muffins or pancakes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk