Big thanks & a very Merry Christmas

Posted on December 15, 2011 by nellie

We are drawing near to the last of the classes for the year. It flew by in a flash but when I think of the growth in 2011, I am pleased to say we accomplished a lot. What an amazing year it has been!
At this time of year, as we are finishing our wonderful Christmas cooking classes, I find it’s the time I like to reflect and give thanks. I cannot go without mentioning my very lovely family . First & foremost, to Michael. Although he is not often seen during a class, Michael is totally involved in this business. He is my sounding board, my dish drier, chief furniture mover (our furniture gets moved around & shoved in to other rooms many times each week ), he is really good at reaching things up high – Ha! (when your wife is 5 ft 2 “, I can tell you, his arms are up a lot). I love him most of all for his patience, love & for the belief he has in me. To our angels, Grace, Ava and Ettie who light up my everyday & who I love & adore so very much. I do know how lucky I am. Thank you for being the happiest helpers in our kitchen! Always eager to help with egg cracking, stirring, flour spilling – I love you!
To the rest of my family – thank you for beautiful childhood memories that inspire many of the recipes in the classes and for being the initial reason why today I adore eating, sharing and the joy of ‘just being’ around a table with others!
To our brilliant guest Chef’s & Cook’s – Silvia, Keshav, Quyen, Carol, Kirsty & Paul. It has been a joy & pleasure to work with you & to offer more variety to our expanding business.
To my friend & co worker Vicki. I am often asked by guests if they can take Vicki home. She does such a super job & it is so lovely to have a friend by your side in the kitchen. Likewise to Ann-Marie, Kirsty & Karen who have filled in when Vicki couldn’t make it. Lucky, lucky me!
To my gorgeous friend of many many years, Tamara Erbacher who has captured the very heart of both Relish Mama and my family and home in her stunning photographs. Our website is all the better for it – apparently my Iphone pics didn’t quite cut it. It is always a joy to spend time with you Tam.
A little thank you to Beachside creative for the new website. You have been utterly professional and a sincere pleasure to work with.
Lastly and most importantly to our guests. I thank all who have attended classes this year and over the past three years. I have had the pleasure of cooking and meeting some wonderful people & I feel truly fortunate to have shared a kitchen and a table with you. This is a very personal business & you all seem to get that. Your support for ‘Relish Mama’ is so wonderful and sincerely heartfelt. I hope to share it all and more again with you in 2012! Thank you for your feedback, compliments and in many cases, the great recommendations to your friends and family.

It’s time to hit the eggnog everyone!
Wishing you & your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

Nellie x

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

My Friday night ‘feel good’ fish

Posted on December 3, 2011 by nellie

You know you’re getting on a bit & happily content when your best imaginable Friday night would be to have no plans and to stay in and enjoy a family dinner on the deck followed by our family show ‘Better Homes & Gardens’. Yes, I said it ‘Better Homes & Gardens’. Our youngest daughter asked upon waking this morning ” Mum, do you have a class tonight”? “No, I don’t actually” was my reply. Her wee little five year old arms were flung around my neck so fast and in one quick breath she blurted out “so does that mean we are altogether for family night tonight ”. You betcha!

It’s busy for everyone I bump in to right now. The craziness seems to start earlier every year. Do you think so too? The busier I get, the bigger point I make to eat really well. I can cope with things so much better when I am well fuelled. As a family, we would eat fish at least two, but usually three, times a week. If I have a Friday night off work, it is my ultimate & without exaggeration, I feel instantly better for throwing that creature from the sea on to my surbuban plate. My fave (at the moment) is to steam a baby snapper and to infuse it with asian flavours and serve it with steamed brown rice and topped with lots of coriander. Tonight however, I cooked a dish that is very much an old faithful. It is a sentimental little number. I think it was the dish that won my husbands heart. Actually, I am hoping it was I that won my husbands heart but this fish dish, well….. it might have been the sealer. I still remember the first time I cooked it for Michael 12 or 13 years ago. He didnt talk (unusual for us over dinner) but his face was everything. I live & breathe food so when you get those expressions (everyone who loves to cook for others will know what I am talking about here) it is everything. This dish is sentimental for another reason also. It was the main meal for the very first Relish Mama cooking class. This class was lovely & it is so nice to remember it now. It was essentially a room filled with friends or friends of friends who were gorgeous enough to come and show their support. I will never forget that night. It was the start of me following my dream. This gorgeous fish dish is still on our ’Sensational Seafood’ menu / cooking class & this is what I write above the recipe for this particular class:

This is a simple recipe and I have cooked this for many years. It is a beautiful dish. It is impressive without dominating and the flavours are so vibrant & the colour so wonderful – you know it is going to be good for you just by looking at it. This dish was the main meal at our very first ‘Relish Mama’ cooking class and I do love that it is still being cooked and enjoyed today. It’s very much an old favourite.

I explained to a recent class that I was about to pull the dish as I wanted to do the snapper. A lovely lady at the class asked me to thank Michael for putting his foot down and for keeping this on the menu. She loved it & she loved what it meant to us. Sometimes you dont need to move from a good thing. The fish & the marriage ….well…………I’m glad to say, they are here to stay!

Salmon fillets with lime, ginger & soy
Serves 4

4 Salmon fillets
2 teaspoons of finely grated or finely sliced ginger
2 teaspoons of lime zest
1 red capsicum, seeded & thinly sliced
4 or 5 spring onions finely chopped
2 limes cut & the juice squeezed on to the fish
4-6 teaspoons of soy sauce
4 tablespoons of port or muscat
Cracked black pepper & a small pinch of Murray river salt

Preheat your oven to 180 C. Line the fish fillets in dish. Evenly distribute the ginger, lime rind, capsicum & spring onions on top of the fish fillets. Squeeze the juice of the 2 limes on top. Pour the soy sauce & port on top also.
Bake for approx 15 minutes. Halfway through the cooking, spoon sauces over the fish to help keep it all lovely & moist.

If I were to have this in the cooler months, I would enjoy it on a bed of creamy mash and add some lime zest to tie it all intogether and really make it sing. In the warmer months, it is lovely to serve this with ‘al dente’ asparagus or a lovely crisp green salad. A delicious yoghurt sauce is what I would serve it on top of. To make this, simply combine natural yoghurt with lemon juice, sea salt & cracked black pepper, to taste.

Posted in Fish, Main meals, Seafood | 2 Comments

Salted caramel Ice cream

Posted on November 23, 2011 by nellie

Salted caramel Ice cream - scoops ready!

A lady told me on the weekend that she could take this Ice cream to bed. Read in to that what you will but I am thinking it is for it’s comfort, it’s silky texture and the fact that if she snuck off quietly enough, she might not have to share it with anyone else. I hear you. I feel that way too. 

Many have been enjoying this ice cream as a little bonus at the end of our classes of late. Never intended as part of the course material so no recipe to offer at the time but there has been much demand since and lots & lots of lovely emails. A great lady, named Joanne, came to one of our classes earlier this month. I got a very funny email from her on the weekend. Joanne’s email was completely dedicated to her first mouthful / taste of this Ice cream. I have even been informed by a few guests that they have since purchased an ice cream machine after experiencing the joys of this wonderful frozen custard. Hurrah! You will not look back if you buy an ice cream machine (except perhaps if you go through the stage, like I did, when my backside seemed to extend a little further than desirable). Nothing beats the texture of a freshly churned silky ice cream.

My flavour obsession lately might just be the queen of all ice creams. For some of our class guests lately, I have been making this salted caramel ice cream. It started with our Vietnamese class a month or so ago. In this class we don’t usually serve a typical dessert but late in the day, at the usual time that I have a yearning for sugar, I decided it was the perfect class to share this obsession with our guests / students. In case I have lost you and you are asking yourself what salted caramel Ice cream has to do with Vietnamese cookery, please stick with me. Due to the French colonization of Vietnam, which began in the 16th century and ended in the middle of the 20th century, the French have had a deep influence on Vietnamese cuisine. As a result, caramel dishes (mainly savoury) are often cooked and are a wonderful inclusion to a Vietnamese banquet. My other reason was all about restraint. If I knew I was preparing and then serving this Ice cream for dessert, it wouldnt be looked upon as a good thing to eat a litre of ice cream, on my own, pre class. No really, this salted caramel ice cream is too lethal to enjoy on ones own so yes, our customers have been enjoying the results of the afternoon churning activities of ‘Relish Mama’ as a little unexpected bonus.

They say that love and happiness is the key to a happy heart! I love this ice cream and man, does it make me happy! Please just make this and ignore the bathroom scales. It’s enevitable with Christmas coming so start early with the blowout this year. This ice cream is worth every pound!

Tip – For the caramel, you need to cook it far enough so it’s very-slightly burnt; otherwise it will just taste like a sugar syrup.

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream
Recipe from David Lebovitz ‘The Perfect Scoop’
Makes approximately 1 litre

For the caramel praline (mix-in):

½ cup (100 gr) sugar
¾ teaspoon sea salt (do not use table salt. I used Murray River but you can use another good quality salt)

For the ice cream custard :

2 cups (500 ml) whole milk, divided
1½ cups (300 gr) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 gr) salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cups (250 ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the caramel praline, spread the ½ cup (100 gr) of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or brush or spray it sparingly with unflavored oil.

This is one of those freaky photo's where you can see something more. Is it just me or is that sugar smiling? Maybe it too has heard how delectable salted caramel really is!

Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved (or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later).

Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn. It won’t take long.

Without hesitation, sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring (don’t even pause to scratch your nose), then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.

Caramel Praline swirled & twirled & set aside to harden

To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

Spread 1½ cups (300 gr) sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, as per method above.

Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go.

The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk.

Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).

Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

Caramel custard

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits. You could use a mortar and pestle or you could also use a rolling pin to belt around a little.

Crushed caramel praline

Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.

Note: As the ice cream sits, the little bits of caramel may liquefy and get runny and gooey, which is what they’re intended to do.

Salted caramel Ice cream - scoops ready!

Posted in Dairy, Desserts, Ice creams and sorbets | 1 Comment

Chocolate and raspberry brownies

Posted on November 14, 2011 by nellie

Chocolate and raspberry brownies

Most of you would know the love affair that I have with a good brownie. I also know a young girl who could possibly ‘pip me at the post’ with her adoration for the perfect brownie. This lovely girl usually comes to our home and shares afternoon tea with our children at the start of each week. On the day that she comes, they have all taken to chanting (very loudly, I might add) ‘BRROOOOWWWWNNIEEE’! I often question why I find myself whipping up a brownie, pre school pick up, in a mad rush on these particular days when it is all so busy (even without the brownie cook up!). The answer is simple. I truly do love cooking for people and I especially love cooking them the things that I know they will really truly love. Can you imagine the reaction I would get after their deafening ‘BRROOOOWWWWNNIEEE’ chant if I presented them with an empty brownie tin and just the fruit platter ? I’d be stoned! Of course, I do insist they eat the fruit platter also but then this often back fires with “I ate 3 pieces of fruit so does this mean I can now have 3 brownies”? ! 
Last week I risked the stoning. They like familiarity these kids. They all sat up at the bench & before they could let it rip with their deafening brownie call, I presented them with this platter (above). One of my daughters looked gob smacked and said ”Ooohhh, that’s brave Mum! She’s here for her Monday brownie”.  So funny! After the initial shock and dismay, they added one of these foreign treats to their plates (poor deprived children aren’t they!). Silence….. chewing….. more silence and then finally….. their eyes took in each others and…..da-dah!  ……………Big smiles! Really big big big smiles! 

I hardly dared to be that different. It was a version of a brownie after all but just that little bit different to the one they were all now fixated on. They had another… and another and then I was aksed by one of my own ” so does this mean I can skip the fruit platter today given these had raspberries in them”!  – Close my little friend but no cigar this time!

I wonder how many weeks I will find myself making these little treasures before I dare mix it up for them again?

Chocolate & Raspberry brownies

Makes 30 mini brownies

100g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
220g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
110g plain flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
25g cocoa powder
100g frozen raspberries
100g dark chocolate, cut in chunks
Icing sugar to dust / serve

Preheat the oven to 160o C. Grease your mini muffin trays.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and then add the chocolate. Stir continuosly until the chocolate has melted and combined with the butter. Set aside to cool.

Place sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture. Grab a metal spoon now and gently fold in the flour, baking powder, cocoa, raspberries and chocolate chunks. You need to use a folding action here rather than to stir.

Spoon the mixture in to the mini muffin holes until about ¾ full. Try to make them all fairly even in size. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until just set when the top is pressed lightly. The brownies will still be a little bit wobbly. This is okay. The melted chocolate will set and firm as the brownie cools. Leave in muffin tins for 10-15 minutes and then place on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar, to serve.

Please note, frozen raspberries are definitely best here as fresh will go end up a little mushy.

I’d so love to hear what you think of these. Give them a go at home. They are definitely just that little bit addictive! Enjoy!

Posted in Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Snacks, Sweet things | 1 Comment

Preserved lemons

Posted on November 2, 2011 by nellie

Nellie's Preserved lemons

Preserved lemons are a really lovely and super easy thing to make.  They add a fantastic freshness and zing to dishes. Preserved lemons can be added to rice dishes, tagines & slow cooked stews as well as salads and dressings. Delightful added to fish or poultry too (I love them with with a good roast chook). Play around a little! I think you will love them too!

1 large sterilized preserving jar
10 small lemons (use 5 to preserve and the juice of the other 5)
Sea salt
2 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon quill
5 coriander seeds
5 black peppercorns
Boiling water

Firstly ensure your jar is sterilized.

Quarter your lemons and roll each in a little sea salt before adding them to the jar. As a general rule, you would use 1+ teaspoon of salt per lemon and 1 for the jar. Add your extra teaspoon of salt to the jar as well as the bay leaves, cinnamon quill, coriander seeds, peppercorns and then pour in the lemon juice. Top right up with boiling water and put the lid on lid while the water is still hot. Leave for 40 days in a cool dark place, giving the jar a gentle shake every few days to move the salt around.

If you are anywhere near as forgetful as I am, it’s a really good idea to note on your jar the date they were bottled and or the date they will be ready to use.

To use the lemons, remove a wedge from the jar, scrape off the flesh, rinse well (remember it is very salty) and cut the peel into fine strips or dice. Once your jar is opened, your preserved lemons need to be kept in the refrigerator.

We had a really wonderful Moroccan cooking class here a couple of weeks ago and we whipped these little babies up in no time. We then added preserved lemons in our two tagines and they really do make the world of difference. I hope you enjoy experimenting with yours.

Posted in Lemons | Leave a comment

Egg facts and a ‘schmancy’ Spanish omelette

Posted on October 23, 2011 by nellie

Spanish omelette with seasonal greens

I love a good egg! My husband is a damn fine egg but I do also love the edible free range variety! Eggs are my answer to mid week dinner madness or for the Sunday night ‘let’s keep it simple’ dinner. If you have an egg in the house you have a great meal. A glass of wine and a good egg – I get excited just writing about it! The options are many when it comes to how they might be cooked and enjoyed. This week, I cooked up a lovely Spanish omelette with a green salad and some gorgeous seasonal asparagus. Easy, nutritious and delicious and for a non cricket loving girl, this is my idea of a hat-trick!

Before we get to the tasty omelette, let’s first cover some ‘egg-y’ facts:

1) When cooking with eggs, naturally fresh eggs are best. To tell if an egg is fresh, submerge it in cold water -if it is fresh, it will sink to the bottom. This is because the air cell within the egg is very small. As the egg ages, more air enters the egg (the shell is porous) and this means it starts to loose its freshness. An older egg, if submerged in water, will begin to float and stand upright.

2) Given the shell of an egg is porous,  eggs can absorb strong odours. To avoid this, eggs are best stored in the cardboard egg carton you bought them in.

3) Eggs need to be stored in the refrigerator (not in the door but in the main body of the fridge). An egg stored at room temperature will deteriorate more in one day at room temperature than if it had been refrigerated for one week.  

4) Take eggs out of the refrigerator ahead of time, before cooking commences. It may take 30-60 minutes for an egg to reach room temperature. If you use an egg when it is still too cold, the shell will likely crack when placed in boiling water. Cold egg whites also do not whisk well and cold egg yolks will not blend well in sauces and mayonnaise. If you need to speed up the process of getting an egg to room temperature before using, you can place the egg in luke warm water for approximately 10 minutes.

5) The color of the eggshell (brown or white) is determined by the breed of hens and not their nutritional value. Their nutritional value is the same.

6) Leftover egg whites can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for approximately 7 days. They may also be frozen for up to one month. I like to freeze my leftover egg whites in ice cube trays. Zip lock bags are also great. Always label how many egg whites in each package. It just makes life a lot easier when a recipe might call for 5 egg whites. For the record, 1 large egg white = approximately 2 tablespoons or approximately 25 grams.
Leftover egg yolks, can be stored in the refrigerator, covered and with a small amount of cold water, for a couple of days.

We are looking at getting some Bantam chooks for our back yard but this is another post entirely. If you are my husband and you are reading this (hello), I admit that myself & the ‘apples of your eye’ might not yet have included you in these discussions (there’s an apology in there somewhere). This is the ‘surprise’ our youngest keeps tempting you about. I know it wont be the a Ha fabulous & lucky me surprise which you might be anticipating but does it help that I started this blog post with ‘my husband is a damn fine egg?’ Okay, so we’ll chat about this but fyi – I promise to make you this Spanish omelette that you soooo loved this week, any time your heart so desires! 

A delicious and satisfying Spanish omelette

TORTILLA DE PATATAS ~ SPANISH POTATO OMELETTE

 

I love eggs as a main meal. You just have to think a little outside the square sometimes for that extra ‘wow’ factor. This is a dish that developed in lean times when the need to cook using whatever ingredients you had on hand was essential.

Don’t skimp on the quality of the eggs here. A really great quality egg makes all the difference as to how great your tortilla can be and trust me, it really can be great. This has my family going back for more but if your family aren’t quite as greedy as mine are, this is super delicious the next day. Just wrap your leftover tortilla in some greaseproof paper and voila, you have a little slice of Spain in your lunch box!

I have added some lovely Sherry vinegar and just a touch of brown sugar to this dish which gives the dish a beautiful depth and richness. You can leave both these out if you prefer a more authentic dish.  

4 tablespoons of olive oil
250g floury potatoes
1 brown onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed or very finely chopped
1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar (substitute for balsamic if need be)
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
8 eggs
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat your grill to high.

Cut the potatoes into very thin slices using a mandolin or a very sharp knife. Gently whisk the eggs and season with salt and pepper and set aside. Place a large non stick frying pan over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the potatoes, stirring from time to time, for approximately 5 minutes. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the potatoes are slightly golden. Add the sherry vinegar and sugar and stir for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and gently mix the potato and onion mixture in to the eggs.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan over medium heat. Add the egg, potato and onion mixture and as it starts to cook, gently agitate the pan. After 1-2 minutes , cover the pan with a large oiled dinner plate, flip the pan and turn the tortilla out on to the plate. Gently slide the tortilla back in to the pan but this time with the uncooked side down. Turn heat down to low.  After  a minute, transfer the tortilla to under the hot grill and cook for approximately 2 minutes or until the top is set. It is fine for the tortilla to still have a little wobble to it. Keep in the pan for approximately 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Stunning on it’s own or served with a green salad and some seasonal asparagus with parmesan and lemon.

For the ASPARAGUS WITH LEMON AND PARMESAN : Bend each asparagus at the base of the spear until it snaps. This is a natural way of removing the woody end that you want to discard. Heat a barbecue or griddle pan on high. Put the asparagus in a bowl and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to coat the asparagus well. Cook the asparagus for a few minutes until they are cooked through and lightly charred. Remove from the heat, drizzle with a little more olive oil and pour over the juice and zest of 1 lemon as well as shavings of parmesan before serving.

Posted in Asparagus, Eggs, Potaotes, Spring, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Making butter (and buttermilk) at home

Posted on October 8, 2011 by nellie
Butter me up

Butter me up

Some of you may remember making butter when you were a child and most likely, during a home economics class at school. I remember it so well (some things just stay with you)! I think I have always been obsessed with food! I thought it was utterly magical to see that I had made butter with nothing more than some cream and a little fancy shaking. 

This week, we had some wonderful children and teens come through our door for some school holiday cooking fun. We cooked up lots of delicious treats but one that really stood out was the whipped honeycomb butter (we enjoyed this for dessert and it worked it’s magic on top of some warm and delightfully fluffy ricotta pancakes). In the teens class, they made the butter themselves, just as I had done, way back when!  By the beautiful looks of amazement on some of their faces, I hope too, they will remember it for a long time to come!

Making your own butter at home is easy and so much fun. The only ingredient you need is thickened cream or double cream. Really fresh cream takes longer to turn in to butter so better to use cream that has been in your fridge for a couple of days.

Take the cream out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature. Pour the cream in to a jar about 1/3 of the way up the sides. You need to have plenty of space left in the jar to shake the cream around. Screw the lid on tight or you will be incorporating a spring clean into this process! Now get to it………………shake it, shake it, shake it! It is important not to stop shaking until the butter starts to form. You might be looking at 10 minutes or so here so a little dancing and creative thinking helps to pass the time nicely! Firstly you will hear a slopping sound, then after a while, the slopping goes silent. Right now, you have whipped cream in your jar – amazing isn’t it? Keep shaking. After another while, the sound will change again. Take a peep – you will likely have a lump of butter sloshing around in what looks like milk. Da daaahhhhh! The lump is in fact butter and the liquid is buttermilk. This buttermilk treat finally delivers the full meaning to its name. One small sip and I do believe that like me, you too might become a homemade buttermilk junkie! It is extremely difficult to show restrain and leave enough for buttermilk pancakes or muffins! It is soooo much better than the one you might buy at your supermarket.

Voila - some nice shaking produces some very nice butter and buttermilk

Voila - some nice shaking produces some very nice butter and buttermilk

Now you need to separate the butter from the buttermilk by straining it. A colander or piece of muslin would be a great help here.

Seperating the butter from the splendid buttermilk

Seperating the butter from the splendid buttermilk

Rinse the butter with cold water, gently turning the butter while the cold water runs over it. Repeat this until the water runs clear. It is so important that there is no buttermilk left. Right now, you could mix in a little bit of salt, to taste or leave the butter unsalted if you prefer. You can also add crushed garlic or some freshly chopped herbs to make flavoured butter if you wish at this stage.

To keep your butter the freshest tasting, you don’t want any air trapped around the butter. When all the butter is smoothed into your storage dish or jar, top it off with cold water and cover or screw on the lid. This water layer is not 100% essential (and to be truthful, I don’t often do it) but what it does is keep your butter air free – which preserves its fresh taste longer. Pour off the water each time you use your butter and top it off with a new cool layer when done. Homemade butter can also be stored for at least three months in a freezer. Pretty impressive to be serving your very own flavoured homemade butter at your next dinner party alongside some ‘knock out’ bread!

Learning what goes in to making some of our everyday foods, is fantastic and a lot of fun. Keep in mind that the shaking process might take a while but using room temperature cream does reduce the time it takes to turn the cream in to butter. Please be patient – it is all so worth it and definitely fun if you add some of that dancing and creative thinking I spoke of a little earlier!

Here is where I let you in on a little secret – of course all of this can be done using electric beaters or a stand mixer. Of course it can! This is the way I do it these days and fun to really see the different stages occuring before your eyes (hard to really see the stages when you are shaking and dancing in time to the beat and you are doing everything to tune out from the concerned faces your children are throwing your way!) but PLEASE do it at least once, with the jar, especially with kids as this is where the real memories come from. A great achievement to know you have made it yourself! Have fun!

Posted in Breakfast and Brunch, Childrens school holiday cooking classes, Dairy | 2 Comments

Green pea soup – Spring has sprung

Posted on September 24, 2011 by nellie

Our fridge & freezer recently died and naturally, this happened on a day that wasn’t particularly convenient. Then again, is there ever a convenient time for your refrigerator to decide to call it a day? I think not! Anyway, on the day that ours decided to go, I was hosting a lunch in honour of my lovely Sister with twenty five or so of her closest friends. We were celebrating her 40th birthday. It was a gorgeous get together with good friends and no one, was any the wiser of the wee little nightmare unfolding in my kitchen.

I thank the heavens that by some freaky miracle, the menu I had chosen included an enormous piece of beef that had to come to room temperature before I threw it over the flames. This takes a good few hours. No fridge required – check! Another of the dishes was a scrumptious chicken dish, already in the oven and to be slow cooked for several hours (this was the dish of the day apparently). This dish definitely benefits from the lengthy cooking time and you are left with melt in your mouth meat infused with lots of my favourite heady spices. The remainder of the menu involved salad after salad after salad. I discovered that a group of women certainly eat very differently to the way food is generally whoopped down by the family and friends at our table. A mental note to self was made that for the next ‘female only’ gathering at home, simply fill a table with a delicious variety of salads and not worry so much about the spectacular cow you have resting in the wings! I was thankful too for the presence of alcohol (always). It meant that there were already plenty of ice buckets scattered across the house – refrigerator doors were not constantly opening and closing and I held a glimmer of hope for some of the precious gems trapped inside our dying fridge!  Then of course, there was Mum’s beautiful Zuppa Inglese birthday cake. Anyone who knows of this cake is well aware that it needs serious refrigeration. This cake balanced quite spectacularly on top of many a beverage on ice to maintain it’s cool until it’s big moment to razzle dazzle – and razzle dazzle it did! We have always adored this little treasure of our Mum’s and it was so lovely to see so many ladies quite literally ingest it. It was quite the party, lots of noise, chatter, laughter and even tears! Yes, these were mine but I promise you, not over the fridge but rather at the moment I had to stand up and talk about the amazing woman I am proud to call my Sister.  

So where am I going with all of this you might ask? I am getting to the pea soup……I promise you!

After a great day and with the last of the goodbye’s to our guests, my family returned home and it was time to go in for refrigerator battle. Truly the last thing I felt like was rolling up the sleeves to empty and salvage any goodies before the loan refrigerator arrived shortly. It was time for me to quite possibly weep over the perishables one might have to say goodbye to. You can imagine the bounty that is in our fridge and why there might be cause for my tears but to my utter elation, most could be saved in the refrigerator and all freezer items were still perfectly frozen. I was advised by our trusty serviceman that this was thanks to the fact that the freezer hadn’t been opened all day. Yay!!!  and yes, finally……here enters the delicious pea soup! It was the hero of my day. 

I would hazard a guess that most people would have frozen peas in their freezer and there mine were top of the pack, beaming up at me. They would not be overlooked and what I had in store for them was suddenly and overwhelmingly exactly what I felt like sitting down to enjoy that night. The loan fridge arrived, we swapped the contents over (not as breezy as it might sound here) and a very smart husband poured his wife a glass of wine and I got cracking with the soup. 

I share all of this with you now because a) one must unburden themselves of all kitchen disasters in order to move on in life (that is a lie – I keep so many a secret!) and more importantly b) because beautiful spring has sprung and it is well and truly time to celebrate the humble green pea! I absolutely adore fresh peas! I love them in salads, in soups, as a jazzed up side dish, as smashed fritters…..the list goes on. They look stunning in the veggie patch and are easy to grow but sometimes not so easy to bring indoors – it would appear the birds enjoy eating the peas fresh from the pod like I! If it is not pea season or they are simply still too expensive to buy, a frozen packet of peas is a brilliant substitute. I think they are possibly the best frozen vegetable product, you can purchase. Nutritionally because they are picked and frozen in around 2 hours from field to packet and although not as good as the fresh / unfrozen pea, they remain surprisingly comparable. A peas vibrant colour will brighten any day and they certainly did mine. What could have been quite disastrous was instead celebrated. A house filled with your Sister, Mother and lovely friends and then later, your precious family, a glass of wine and a delicious bowl of soup – there is no use crying over warm and curdled milk! Hurrah for Spring - long live the green pea!

Green pea soup

Green pea soup  
Serves 6 as an entrée  

I love to enjoy this soup with home made croutons (recipe below). You could skip these altogether but trust me, they are worth it! Toasted olive bread is a good substitute if you simply can’t be bothered & we all have those days!

¼ of a bunch of thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
30 gm, butter, coarsely chopped
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
6 shallots, thinly sliced (or substitute for 1 finely chopped onion)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 litre of good quality chicken stock
1kg frozen peas
100ml pouring cream
Sea salt & cracked black pepper
25ml of sherry vinegar (optional) or substitute for red wine vinegar

Adding oomph to the soup

Tie the thyme leaves and bay leaves together with kitchen string. Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until butter begins to foam. Add shallots, garlic and the tied thyme and bay leaves. Sautee for approx 5 minutes or until the shallots are soft. Add the stock and bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peas and simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until the peas are tender.  Add cream, return to the boil and then take off heat. The tied herbs are no longer required so discard. Process the soup using a hand held or regular blender until smooth . Season to taste and add 25ml of sherry vinegar, if using. Stir to combine. Serve warm with the croutons and grated parmesan. 

For the Croutons:
1-2 thick slices coarsely torn sourdough bread
1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs
1 teaspoon of grated or finely crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan

Place all the ingredients in a bowl, except the parmesan and ‘dry fry’ in a pre heated frying pan until each side is crisp and lightly golden. Lastly sprinkle over the parmesan evenly, and shake them around in the pan. Set aside to cool, uncovered.

I can only apologise for the lack of brilliant photography of the finished dish (says the highly unskilled dufus behind the camera!). If you read the above, you will appreciate it had been a big day! No photo’s of mine, at that point, do the soup justice and although I think it is quite a skill to take such a bad shot, I wont put you through it! Just cook the soup PLEASE – I promise it is good!

n.b – I’d love to get your comments so please do post them here. It gets lonely here you know!

 

Posted in Peas, soups, Spring | 7 Comments

An ode to Brownies

Posted on September 2, 2011 by nellie

An ode to Brownies

My addiction is officially out of control! My brownie tin has been on ridiculously fast rotation of late! I thought that putting pen to paper would be like some sort of admission, the start of my therapy, so to speak……sadly, it’s having the opposite effect. Damn! I think I might be one step away from hypnotherapy.

When I write up a recipe or post, there is of course, the cooking, the tasting and the time spent tweaking. Then, there are the cooked goods sprawled across my benchtop – they are luring me in! These brownies look so beautiful to me. So delicious – are they angling for a little centrefold spread?

So I am at my desk now. The models have had their photo shoot and I now do my best to stop myself from making anymore of a dent through the photographed platter of chocolate ‘centrefold’ bliss. I need to knuckle down and write! Focus Nellie! All I can do is think of is brownie. I think of a fudgey chocolate sophistication that is begging me for more! I love a brownie almost as one loves their own child! They are my weakness, well and truly.

So, let’s cut to the chase – do you like yours fudgey or cakey? I will not be swayed! If I want cakey, I’ll eat cake! In a brownie, I want fudgey and I want an outer layer that is almost meringue like – with a crumbly and yet chewy exterior! I love that once a brownie cools, what’s left (hmmmnn!) gets portioned and stored. A brownie is ‘on the ready’- how easy and efficient! Sometimes there just isnt the time to drag out that gorgeous cake, tucked away in the fridge or pantry, slice it & plate it up! Heaven forbid – this might take all of a minute – too hard! Brownie – easy! “Too easy” my thighs would say, if only they could talk!

Over the past few weeks, I have used every excuse under the sun to make a brownie – these range from the likes of releasing squeals of delight from my girls, to a lovely friend who has just had a baby or the really nice computer guy who commented they were delish and so I baked him his own batch and thrust them upon him the very next morning. I also love to enjoy them as the star of a humble dessert. They can be ‘tarted up’ to beat the best of them! One of my faves is to enjoy them as part of a wonderful ice cream sandwich – home made ice cream, fudgey middle of the brownie…………………off now for another piece. Avert your eyes! I think it’s time now for another ‘photo break’ . Boring elevator music playing for you, in the background as I gorge myself on yet another piece of brownie. The nausea will not set in for a little while. There is still time! Look away now people! !!

Fudgey Brownie

A few little but important tips for a good brownie : Use the best quality dark chocolate you can afford, use room temperature eggs, I don’t believe a baking agent should be added (I don’t want to lighten this load), whisk the mixture for a full minute until glossy and smooth and pulling away from the sides of the saucepan – this explained in the method but I cannot stress enough how crucial it is.

Nellie’s Brownies

150g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
250g of the best quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
60g plain flour, sifted
A pinch of salt
1 cup (about 135 g) walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
(My children, although nut lovers, will not touch a brownie with a little nuttiness. I add 40g of roasted cocoa nibs instead – which is insanely good btw!)

Preheat oven 175° C. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking paper or 2 layers of foil. Lightly grease the baking paper or foil and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla and sugar and whisk until well combined.
Whisk in the eggs one at a time, until smooth, before each new addition. Sift in the flour and salt. Now this part is really important : Whisk the mixture with gusto for 1 full minute. The batter will loose its graininess and becomes smooth and glossy. It will start to pull away from the sides of the saucepan. Please don’t stop whisking until this happens – crucial for a spectacular brownie!
Add the chopped nuts and or cocoa nibs and stir with a wooden spoon to gently combine.

Pour mixture into prepared baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until the centre feels almost set, do not over-bake. Test with a skewer – it should come out sticky, but not coated with raw mixture.Let cool completely in the tin before lifting out the baking paper to remove the brownies. An alternative method and a great result is to prepare a roasting tin of iced water. When the brownies are ready, remove the tin from the oven and place in the cold water bath. Leave to cool for an hour before cutting into squares. Store in an air-tight container – should you have any left to store!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Father’s day made easy September 2011

Posted on August 23, 2011 by nellie

Little ham and egg tarts


Only 11 more sleeps until Father’s Day I am told !! This told to me by my husband and not our three children I’ll have you know! I find this so lovely and really quite funny. When I met Michael, his idea of a celebration, of any kind, was all very casual (a lot like himself) and much to my horror, it didn’t involve a lot of fan fare. Now, after all these years living with someone who has ‘festivities’ in their very blood, he has well and truly caught, what I like to call my families ‘celebration bug’! Counting down sleeps! Who would have thought?

When thinking of a delicious Father’s day recipe to post, so many ideas and choices came to mind. In my ‘recipe head’, I had curries, I had steaks, I had seafood on the barbecue, I had delicious rhubarb and custard filled muffins, I had pancakes, I had a knock out fish and chips, I had visions of families, sitting outside, sharing a gorgeous Spanish Paella and then……I scrapped the lot! As much as my husband loves a tasty dish as much as the next guy, he also loves simplicity. He would love to enjoy something cooked with oodles of love by me and our three gorgeous girls, without it taking away from spending some precious time together and surely, this is what days like these are all about. Our children, definitely have to be involved when it comes to the preparations so I went back to basics and very much an ‘old love’. An ‘old love’ that Michael would happily eat for the rest of his days and never tire of! I’m talking simplicity at it’s best – the freshest free range eggs, a tasty free range ham, a little parmesan here, a dot of cream there, some freshly chopped herbs and cherry tomatoes – thrown in for good measure, if that’s what you crave! This is the perfect example of how using the best ingredients make a simple recipe something quite magical!

This post is a special tribute to all of the amazing Dad’s out there! We hope your Father’s Day is wonderful! We hope it is filled with love, laughter and all the little and big people you adore and whom adore you! We hope that you too, catch the ‘celebration bug’. It is only 11 more sleeps after all!

Little ham and egg tarts for Father's day

Little Ham & egg tarts
Makes 12

12 thin slices of free range ham
12 organic or free range eggs
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons of cream
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
2-3 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

Heat the oven to 180 o C. Lightly grease each mould of a muffin tray. Line the base and sides of each mould with a slice of ham. Break an egg into each hollow and top each with a halved cherry tomato. Drizzle with the cream, scatter with sea salt, pepper, parsley and parmesan. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the egg is just set and starting to shrink away from sides of pan. Remove from oven & cool for 5 minutes. Run a blunt edged knife or pallette knife around each mould to loosen the ham and egg tarts and transfer them to a wire rack (if you can wait that long!).
Eat warm or at room temperature.

n.b – If you have stored in the fridge, reheat on a very low oven for a few minutes.

Posted in Eggs, Father's day | Leave a comment