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.

Sticky Roasted Figs on Goats Cheese Bruschetta

Look, figs!

This is my way of apologising to you (person who has stuck around in my absence) and to The Littlest Anchovy: my little home on the web, my inspiration and my neglected offspring (of sorts).

Amongst other things, I recently started studying at night. The last time I was a student (apart from a semester of basic  Spanish six years ago) we were all freaking out about technology turning on us and Cher taught us to believe in life after love with her innovative voice manipulating skills. The Blair Witch Project was (and remains) the scariest movie I have ever seen and I was drinking Midori with lemonade - I also thought Gin tasted like poison.

If I haven’t painted a vivid enough picture, let’s just say that it was a long time ago.

I have had some teething problems trying to fit everything together in my life. I was somewhat prepared for it but I was not ready for the fear of losing something dear to me by not visiting here as often as I would like.

To that end, I have brought you some figs that I manipulated like Cher’s voice in that 1999 anthem that I loved back in the day.

Like Cher’s voice in the song, the flavours twist and turn but there is no mistaking that they are a celebration of the original.

I am dead-set certain that these figs would not have come to be if it were not for The Littlest Anchovy.

If I had never started this blog, I would not have developed the intuition to know that resting sliced figs on a bed of rosemary and thyme before cooking them would ensure that the flavour of the herbs would softly infuse the figs.

I would never have had the inclination to generously drizzle them with honey and balsamic vinegar and gently roast them until they were caramelised yet still held their shape. I would never have thought of figs as something that could be savoury and can be at home on a cheese board or rested upon goat’s cheese and toasted baguette.

And I absolutely would never have volunteered to make something for a friend’s cocktail party – which is where these figs were devoured.

The Littlest Anchovy has developed my intuition in the kitchen and in other areas of my life; it has given me confidence and an arsenal of go-to recipes. In a roundabout way, it has inspired me to better myself by going back to study something that I have wanted to do in a long time.

So I am prepared to juggle – I might drop the ball now and then but I promise that I will never be far away - and I will never mention Midori and Lemonade again.

But there will be Gin.

Sticky Roasted Figs on Goats Cheese Bruschetta

These figs are also perfect paired with a blue or goats cheese as part of a cheese board.

Makes 32 pieces of bruschetta

8 large, ripe figs quartered lengthwise.

1 bunch rosemary

1 bunch thyme

Balsamic vinegar

Honey of your choice

1 log of goats cheese

1.5 baguettes cut into rounds about 1cm thick.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Truffle salt or sea salt - optional

Preheat oven to 150C

Layer the rosemary and thyme over the base of a large baking tray. Place the figs, cut side up onto the herbs in once layer.

Drizzle the honey and balsamic vinegar over the figs – do not drench the figs.

Bake for around an hour before transferring the figs to a plate and bringing them to room temperature. Make sure you spoon some of the syrup that has collected under the herbs over the figs!

Toast the bread lightly on both sides and spread about a teaspoon of goat’s cheese on each piece. Top each bruschetta with a fig and top the figs with a few droplets of extra virgin olive oil and a small pinch of salt.

Triple Stuffed Mushroom Canapés

Sometimes I wish I lived in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of the year; I have never had a white Christmas, never worn a daggy Christmas themed jumper while sipping on egg nog... Um, I think I might have been watching too many Christmas movies.

Time to focus on reality. What is my reality at this time of the year in Australia?

My reality is that it’s summer and I have just over a week of work left until Christmas! It's warm and the sky is blue (mostly), and it's time for swimming and daylight savings. 

There are also mozzies (mosquitoes) and cricket blaring on the T.V. (summer has its down side). But it’s also a time to catch up with friends and family and go to Christmas parties! It's the time to have a cold beer or glass of bubbles in one hand and a tasty bite in the other.

Orange and Sage Duck Liver Parfait

Ugh! 

I have to be honest here with you all: dealing with raw duck liver really churned my stomach.

Firstly, the texture reminded me of Ghostbusters slime. The liver kept slipping out of my hands, and when combined in a bowl, formed one great quivering mass of super-liver.

Secondly, the aroma was incredibly strong, and to me, nasty. I can only describe it as metallic and fleshy.

To quote D:Ream: Things can only get better.

Salmon Rillettes

This was going to be a soup post.

Sometimes things don't happen the way you plan them to. I saw this recipe and it got me craving salmon (not soup) even though soup would be the more appropriate thing to make at this time of the year.

But who cares about appropriate, really? Not when it comes to making something that tastes so lovely and makes you dream of longer days, chilled wine and lighter clothing. 

Lamb, Mint, Feta and Baby Spinach Gozleme

Whenever I go to a fete (fair) they are there. Whenever I go to the markets, they are there. Yes, those ladies in white, deftly rolling out the dough and topping it with spicy meat and other fillings before slapping it beside fifteen others on a searing hot plate. They are always there for you when you need it most, usually after spending way too much money on handmade jewellery and fisherman pants. It can be a juggling act to eat them; you are usually standing up because there are no tables or chairs to be seen and you have to hold the plate, hold your bag and your market haul and (here's the best bit) squeeze lemon over it. The lemon is a must. 

Those nimble fingered ladies are skilled in the art of gozleme; I want to be skilled in the art of gozleme! 

Let's see how I went with it...