Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Mulberries Poached in Red Vermouth and Honey.

I have a question: do kids today still keep silkworms as pets?

I remember my first batch as if it were yesterday.

For one dollar, I received twelve delicate white grubs, a bag of mulberry leaves for them to munch on, and a shoebox with holes poked in the top – for shelter and ease of transport. 

Bargain.

Mudgee Part 2: Whole Orange and Duck Egg Cake

Hi everyone! I am poking my head out from under the mountain of assignments that are crushing my social and blogging life to bring you a continuation of my trip to Mudgee.  This one promises to be a goodie...Why? Because we have ducks.

The mere sight of these creatures makes my heart sing. To me, they are hilarious to watch and I wish could have taken one of them home with me.

I like to imagine them wearing tiny cowboy hats. 

In my opinion these ducks need names. Creatures that could potentially wear a tiny cowboy hats definitely need to have names. I need to set aside my assignments and do some brainstorming on this. 

Mudgee: Part 1

A couple of weeks ago I took a little trip to Mudgee to hang out with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins for the weekend . Some of my best childhood memories come from spending the summer holidays with them. I love that we have remained close all these years and still have a blast even now that we are older. 

One of my cousins (and one of my best friends) Ed, is an amazing cook and gardener. She has the whole locavore vibe going on and owns it! 

Not only does she grow all her own veggies, she recently ethically reared a couple of pigs for eating, they were delicious by the way. 

She showed me around the greenhouse which is full of seedlings ready for planting this summer. She also taught me about hot composting and worm farms with the kind of passion that this city girl might reserve for a Dirty Martini on a Friday night.

Recently, Ed has acquired three Indian Running Ducks (yes, like the one from Babe!)that swim around in a dam and gift her with eggs every day. Ah, I love the life that my extended family leads and I can't wait to get back there.

I have two posts to follow this one where Ed and I (mainly Ed, I took the photos and passed ingredients) do some cooking with duck eggs and wild asparagus which we snagged from around the property. See you soon!

Gorgeous garden maintained by my aunt and uncle - loads of happy bees live here.

Blood Orange Ice Cream

You know that song; "Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"? I apply that song to blood orange season. In my opinion, there are enough Christmas songs to go around. I also apply it to peach and fig season, but predominately - blood orange season. I have already made a massive batch of blood orange cordial to tide me over after the very short season ends. I think it will last me until I start to focus on peaches. 

This ice cream didn't last very long (hence the need to make cordial) - who am I kidding, it was never meant to last very long.  

Something I have discovered (in my blood orange experience) is that if you nab the ones with the darkest skins, or the ones with deep slashes of crimson across them, you will find that they contain juice which is the deepest in colour. Make sure you wear an apron or an old top. I have lost too many nice clothes to blood oranges. It's sort of worth it... but not really.

There is something so fantastically indulgent about doing a little zesting while listening to a favourite podcast on a Saturday afternoon. I highly recommend it, the zesting and the podcast...

I am on the hunt for a good, long ice cream container. The loaf tin just isn't cutting it for me anymore. Can you see my hand print? I didn't realise that it was there when I took the photo. 

It makes me smile to see it there. I like that there is some imperfection going on. My personality is in this photo. I am the sort of person that takes photos without noticing a handprint because I am too worried about what is happening in the tin.  

And what was happening in the tin was pretty perfect indeed.

Blood Orange Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups double cream
1 1/2 cups full fat milk
3/4 cup sugar, divided
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
Seeds from one vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of sugar - for the blood orange syrup
3/4 cup blood orange juice
2 tablespoons finely grated blood orange zest 

In a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, whisk together the milk, cream, half the sugar, salt and the scraped vanilla bean (including the pod) . Bring the mixture just to a boil - do not boil. 
2. While the milk/cream mixture is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer on low speed or whisk, beat until mixture is pale and thick. 
3. Once the mixture has come to a slight boil, whisk about 1∕3 of the hot mixture into the yolk/sugar mixture. Add another 1∕3 of the mixture, then return the combined mixture to the saucepan. Using a wooden 
spoon, stir the mixture constantly over low heat until it thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Take special care that this does not over boil as you might scramble the eggs!
4. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer (discard the vanilla pod) and bring to room temperature. Stir in the vanilla extract. Store in the fridge for a couple of hours to cool down.
5. Meanwhile, add the 1/2 cup of sugar to the blood orange juice along with the zest in a medium saucepan. 
6. Bring the mixture to the boil and boil (swirling the pot occasionally) until you have about 1/2 a cup of syrup. It should be an even more intense blood colour than before. Make sure you don't strain out the pieces of zest! That is the best part.
7. Set this aside to chill in the fridge.
8. When the custard and the syrup are both cold, mix the syrup through the custard and freeze the blood orange custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions. I have one of these that I love. 

Sunday Spatchcocks with Fragrant Butter and Honey, served with Parsnips and Kipfler Potatoes.

“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” – Oscar Wilde.

Fair call, Oscar. Fair call.

Even though you didn’t come to this page to read about whether it is hot or cold, I am still going to talk about it. However, I can acknowledge that it is not the most exciting topic at the best of times. Maybe my imagination has been channeled into the pile of assignments (for my graphic design course) that I have been chipping away at these days. 

My study and assignments feed my creativity in much the same way that cooking and blogging seem to - but I miss blogging regularly.

Sometimes the assignments on my desk cause my eyes to wander, until I am gazing out on a day where the sun is shining and the air is sweet. My senses are confused – it’s meant to be cold and wintry! I can’t concentrate on what is happening on my laptop. I can’t work under these conditions!

One Saturday, about a week ago, I succumbed to the call of the sun and ventured out to my local farmers markets where I spent a slightly embarrassing amount on 3 fat little spatchcocks.  To make myself feel better about my expensive purchase, I decided to call them by their French name, poussins - so much cuter.

I made a butter with lavender, thyme and lemon zest and stuffed it under the skins of my little poussins. 

I then drizzled them (along with some parsnips and kipfler potatoes) with my current favourite honey and roasted them for a late lunch with friends/procrastination from assignments/I need to cook again meal.

We ate our individual birds with a beautiful rosé that one of my friends brought along. The label on the bottle made me feel as happy as the contents.

Winter and assignments were far from my mind as the sweet, floral scent of the lavender, thyme and lemon filled the sunny dining room at my friend’s house. We ate, laughed and talked about how happy the weather was making us – and for me, talking about the weather was a completely perfect and inspiring topic of conversation.
I like to think Oscar would have agreed.  

Sunday Spatchcocks with Fragrant Butter and Honey, served with Parsnips and Kipfler Potatoes. 

Serves 3

3 400 - 500g spatchcocks.
100g butter at room temperature.
1 tbsp food grade lavender.
Bunch of thyme
3 lemons and zest from 2.
1 garlic bulb.
Parsnips.
Kipfler potatoes.
Olive oil. 
About 2 tablespoons honey for drizzling.

Pre-heat oven to 180-190C.
Put a pot of water on and bring to the boil. Peel the parsnips and slice into thin strips - in quarters, lengthways. Half the potatoes, lengthways. Add the potatoes and parsnips to the pot and and par boil them for about 10 to 12 minutes or until they yield but are still firm when poked with a knife. Drain the veggies before tossing in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and set aside. 
Mix the lemon zest, leaves from about 3 sprigs of thyme and lavender through the butter and set aside.
Rinse the spatchcocks and pat dry thoroughly with kitchen towel. 
Gently separate the skin from the flesh and work the fragrant butter under the skin. Make incisions in the skin on the drumsticks and push butter under the skin there too. 
Rub any leftover butter over the outside of the spatchcocks.
Season the spatchcocks with salt and pepper and a tiny bit of lavender. Stuff the cavity of each spatchcock with half a lemon, a few sprigs of thyme and a couple of garlic cloves. 
Place the spatchcocks in a large roasting pan and scatter the veggies between the birds. Add lemon quarters and the leftover garlic cloves to the pan. Drizzle honey over the birds and the veggies. 
Roast for around 45 minutes or until the birds are golden brown, slightly burnished and the juice runs clear when poked with a knife. Serve with fresh greens and a glass of rose.

Cumquat Bourbon Sour: A Video

Here is something I can add to the list of "Things I Can Make With Cumquats". It comes right after cumquat marmalade - which my Mum makes, incidentally, not me. I think I am going to have to make it my personal business to add to that list - they are just so endearing to look at and so deliciously tart. There is a lot of promise to be found in one of those golden orbs. 
Enter this cocktail -  a riff on a traditional Whiskey Sour. It is the perfect addition to anyone's "Things I Can Make With Cumquats" list - in my humble opinion. 
A big thank- you to my mate Brendan who not only taught me how to shoot video on my camera, but shot, edited and helped me drink the subject. It was a fun afternoon.


Cumquat Bourbon Sour
45ml Bourbon – I used Makers Mark
60ml Cumquat sour mix - see recipe below
1 egg white - optional*
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice cubes. 
Shake vigorously! 
Strain into a coupe glass. 
Wait a bit for the egg white to form a frothy head. 
Garnish with a slice of cumquat.  

*If you choose to use raw eggs in this recipe, please do so at your own risk. I only used the freshest of eggs and take no responsibility for any outcome from using raw eggs in cooking. Head here for more information about consuming raw eggs.

Cumquat Sour Mix
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Approx 15 cumquats, stems removed
Juice from 1 lemon

In a saucepan, add the water and sugar and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. 
Add the cumquats and boil for around 7 minutes. 
Ladle the cumquats and the syrup into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Pass the mix through a sieve and add the lemon juice. 
Leave to cool.  
Store in an air-tight jar the fridge for cumquat-related beverage emergencies. 

Salted Almond Brittle - The Sweet Swap

One of the wonderful surprises that came with starting a food blog is the community that I became a part of - I didn't expect it. 
I didn't expect to meet such great, like-minded people - let alone expect to make such wonderful friends from this community. Inspiring, creative and such talented people that remind me why I do this and why I must continue - despite things happening in my life that make me feel less than my best.

Two talented and creative ladies, that I have come to know and love, decided to start something to tighten the Australian food blogging community - and raise money for ChildFund Australia.

They organised this great initiative called The Sweet Swap - and that's the name of the game.  Participants are allocated three people to send a package of homemade sweets to - and in an act of sugar-laden karma, you then receive three different treats in return.

How cool is that?! 

After what had been a less than perfect week, the packages started to arrive. First, came a beautiful box of salted caramel, popping candy dark chocolate truffles. They were beautifully packaged and sealed with wax from Billy at A Table For Two. I was in awe of this gentleman’s chocolate tempering abilities, these were some special choccies.

Next came a box of one of my favourite treats to eat: Turkish delight from Angie at Angie Eats and Cooks. I have always wanted to make Turkish delight and the bar has now been set high for me! It was sprinkled with chopped pistachios and included was the added touch of some peppermint tea to enjoy with the delight - heaven. 

Finally, Simon from The Heart of Food sent me a box of the most decadent and beautiful lamingtons I have ever eaten in my life. These were not your run of the mill "lamington drive" lamingtons - these were Pannacotta Lamington Bites. I have no idea how he did it but I look forward to reading his post and I am wishing he would send me more ...

I received these treats during what was shaping up to be a pretty terrible week. There is something about getting homemade treats in the post to make things seem just a little bit better. Thank you for making my week guys!

This was my contribution. I made some of this brittle as part of an upcoming recipe (next week!) and then took the leftovers to my book-club where it was polished off during (by the book club) and then afterwards by my friends husband. I had some decent feedback from it – hopefully my recipients liked it too. 

It was dead easy to make - with maximum salted caramel flavour. The almonds are chewy and the toffee is buttery and crunchy. I loved the textures in this brittle. 

Thanks to Sara and Amanda, without you two, I would never have had the pleasure of tasting Angie, Billy and Simon's treats. You did a great thing for the food blogging community and you helped me to get out of my comfort zone. You also helped me to re-kindle my love of butter, sugar, salt, nuts and washi-tape. 

Thank-you.

Salted Almond Brittle
Makes one batch
100g toasted, flaked almonds
50g butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
100g castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Grease a lipped baking tray with butter.
Scatter the almonds evenly over the tray, tapping the tray lightly on the bench to distribute them.
Add the butter, sugar,salt and 2 tablespoons of water to a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan and turn the heat to medium/low. Gently dissolve the sugar and salt into the melted butter. Turn the heat up to high and boil for around 5 minutes. Stir occasionally if patches caramelise faster than others. Keep an eye on it. It should not be too dark but a nice rich colour. Carefully tip the caramel over the almonds and move it around with a spatula to distribute. Leave to cool completely. 
Using a sharp knife, slice giant shards and store in a cool, dry place for up to 3 days.
Great crumbled over desserts or on it's own.

Welsh Rarebit Gougères

Hello! It’s been a while.

I feel as if I am putting on my favourite, hole-ridden, woolly jumper and settling back into this space. 
I missed this place and I am glad that I'm here. It’s nice to feel glad about things...

Another thing to feel glad about is the combination of stout beer, Gruyere and mustard. Have you ever had Welsh Rarebit? It’s perfect comfort food – and it’s also essentially cheese on toast. Which is fine  - and to be perfectly frank, a necessity in life sometimes.

And while cheese on toast is welcome in almost any situation - let's fancy things up a little. Gougères are savoury choux-pastry bites filled with cheese and herbs. Using stout in place of water and adding mustard powder gives the Welsh Rarebit angle. I think these would be fantastic as hors d'oeuvres for some sort of winter solstice party. 

Ah, it's a little late for that...sorry.

Knowing what I know about these little beauties, you might feel a tiny bit resentful if you have to share these with guests. They keep in a container for a week or so and you can just quickly heat them up in the oven to bring them back to life. Make them for a party, make them whenever - just make them. 

Welsh Rarebit Gougères 
125ml milk - full fat
125ml beer - I used stout but any beer that you love will be awesome. 
100g cubed butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon mustard powder
170g plain flour
75g mature hard or semi-hard cheese, grated - I used a mixture of gruyere and aged cheddar
2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C and line several baking trays with baking paper.
Pour the milk and beer into a large saucepan and add the butter, salt, sugar and mustard powder. Put the pan over a high heat until the butter melts. Turn the heat down to low and add all the flour. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is the consistency of lumpy mashed potato. Add the cheese and chives and continue to beat until you have a smooth paste that does not stick to the sides of the pan. 

Take the pan off the heat and continue to beat until the mix has cooled enough to touch. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in before adding the next. The pastry will go lumpy when you add the eggs, but consistent beating will smooth it out. Once smooth, spoon the pastry into a piping bag with a 5mm nozzle and pipe the pastry into walnut sized balls, taking care to flick the nozzle up to release. Pipe the gougères 2 cm apart on the tray. To prevent burning on any that have points, dip your finger in some water and gently pat them down. 
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Best eaten immediately but will keep in an airtight container for a few days. To warm and crisp up, bake in at 150C for around 5 minutes.

Two Colourful, Seasonal Salads

When asked if I can bring a plate to a Barbecue or Pot-Luck (not including hors d'oeuvres,  which, as you can see, I am obsessed with) I will more often than not volunteer myself for salad duty.

Sure, bringing a main dish or dessert might be seen as the more glamorous task – one where you can really flex your culinary muscle – but I think salad duty comes with its own merits, specifically creativity and ease of transportation.

What better way to get as much seasonal produce into one plate than via a salad?  You can also be the one responsible for the table decorations if you make a salad colourful enough.

It’s a double-duty that will make your heart sing.

I chose to make these two salads simply because the weather was grey and I needed to get some colour in my life. 

Let us first draw our attention to this roast beetroot and sweet potato creation.  Let’s imagine you are eating it: at first bite you have a cube each of earthy rosemary scented beetroot and sweet potato.  You are drawn to this morsel because the colours remind you of a sunset – especially as the beetroot has tie-dyed some of the sweet potato. You drag these veggies through some of the goat’s curd that happens to have a streak of extra virgin olive oil and caramelised balsamic vinegar slashed across it. You close your eyes and sigh. Next bite is a juicy segment of orange that has a shiny caramelised walnut perched on top. The mint that you spear with it on its way to your mouth creates a herbal foil for the burnt sugar crunching between your teeth.  And of course, there are the greens, peppery rocket in this case. Each bite you take is different and yet you never have a bite that does not seem so perfectly right. 

Now, on to the slaw. I was drawn to this after seeing Jamie Oliver make it on Jamie At Home years ago when it was on TV. He had a food processor with an attachment into which he just fed beautiful, raw, seasonal veggies – like a wood chipper. Next he made a tangy dressing using yogurt and mustard; I wanted a little sweetness in my adaptation and added a little honey. I don’t have a big food processor to churn out this slaw in five minutes flat, and instead it took me somewhere in the vicinity of forty minutes to julienne everything via my new mandolin. There was something rather Zen about this exercise that required utter concentration to avoid losing a finger and yet it was as rhythmic and soothing as (I imagine)Tai Chi would be.

I have had this with fish – eh, it’s not the best combination. But try it with some slow roasted chicken or pork, or a medium rare steak, and you will be glad you underwent such rigorous discipline to get to this point. 

A note about the below recipes: When I make a salad, I don't use specific weights or measurements for most ingredients. I have indicated quantities and a method for certain components such as the candied walnuts or for the cooking time of the beetroot and sweet potato. Adjust things to suit your taste and try to use seasonal ingredients. Most components of each salad can be adapted to suit the season. 

Beetroot, Sweet Potato, Candied Walnuts, Orange and Goats Curd Salad

Sweet Potato

Beetroot

Fresh Rosemary – finely chopped

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup raw Walnut halves

½ cup Caster sugar

Rocket (Arugula)

Orange – segmented – here is a good tutorial if you want to learn how to do this

Fresh mint leaves – roughly torn

Goat’s curd

Caramelised balsamic – I used a chocolate balsamic here which was sublime, but regular caramelised balsamic works a treat too.

Candied Walnuts

In a dry pan over a low to medium flame, lightly toast the walnuts for a few minutes, constantly tossing to ensure they don’t burn. Once you can smell them and see a little brown on them, quickly transfer them to a bowl. 

Now add the sugar to the pan over a medium flame. Stir the sugar until it has melted and become the colour of amber. Quickly add the nuts and stir to coat them in the toffee. Quickly transfer the nuts to a baking tray lined with baking paper and separate them using two forks. Leave to cool completely.

Roasted Beetroot and Sweet Potato with Rosemary

Peel and cube the sweet potato and rosemary. Mine were about 2cm and they shrank once roasted. Cut the veggies into whatever size you like but note that the larger you cut them, the longer the cooking time. I usually cut them on the smaller side because I am extremely impatient.

Preheat the oven to 180C and either oil or line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper. Toss the sweet potato and beetroot with a little EVOO and the chopped rosemary, and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are done.  The corners might be slightly caramelised – this is a very good thing, go with this.

Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Building the salad

Arrange the Rocket (Arugula) on a flat serving platter, top with the roasted veggies, orange segments, walnuts, mint leaves and dollops of goat’s curd. Finally, drizzle with EVOO and caramelised balsamic right before serving. 

Autumn or Winter Slaw

Adapted from this Jamie Oliver Recipe

Note: it is highly recommended you use either a mandolin with a julienne attachment or a food processor with the julienne attachment. I would never put myself through the task of chopping this all by hand. Life is way too short. 

1 Celeriac

4 Radishes

2 Granny Smith Apples

1 Red Cabbage – finely sliced

3 Carrots

1 large Fennel bulb with fronds

4 Shallots, finely sliced

Chervil

Parsley

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

250ml Greek Yogurt

Honey – about a tablespoon

Mustard to taste – about 1½ tablespoons

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – about a tablespoon

Salt and Pepper

Using your tool of choice, julienne the celeriac, radishes, apples, carrots and fennel bulb and add them to a large salad or mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss to coat. This will prevent the celeriac and apple from going brown. Add the shredded cabbage and shallots.

Finely chop the chervil, parsley and fennel fronds and toss them through the salad along with the lemon zest.

In a jar, add the yogurt, honey, mustard, EVOO, salt, and pepper and screw the lid on tight. Shake the dressing until fully incorporated. Taste and adjust your ingredients to suit.

Pour over the slaw up to an hour before serving. Toss to coat.

Perfect with any meat – especially pork. 

Backyard Negronis: A Video

Sometimes it's fun to change things up, and this week my friends and I made a video! This ties in with previously posted classic cocktails such as The French 75, The Avenue and The Bloody Mary - and now The Negroni joins the party.
We had loads of fun making this and even more fun drinking the finished product. 
Thanks guys for a fun afternoon and Bowie and Peaches for all the amazing editing.
Oh, and I almost forgot! The Littlest Anchovy turns two this Wednesday!

Backyard Negronis

Traditionally this drink does not contain Angostura Bitters, but I added it and loved the taste - so it stayed.

1 part Campari 30 ml
1 part Gin 30 ml
1 part Sweet Red Vermouth 30 ml
Angostura Bitters (optional)
Orange peel as a garnish

Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled glass, stir and strain over ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with orange peel.