Week 51

Creamy

Can you hear me sobbing… the cookbook challenge is nearly over.  Week 51!

When I saw that the topic was creamy I knew I wanted to do a creamy pasta dish. I immediately had visions of the luscious, creamy, blue cheese, Gorgonzola. I just needed a recipe to tie it all together for me.  I was flicking through an old “Delicious” magazine when I noticed an interesting pasta dish.  It was Green Pea Tagliatelle by Rick Stein.

The dish looked divine.  I went through the list of ingredients feeling sure it would have a creamy blue cheese in there somewhere.  When it didn’t, I reread the ingredients to determine if the dish would be suitably flavoursome and creamy enough for the challenge without the Gorgonzola I had been planning to use.  To my mind, the answer was no, hence, this is the modified recipe of Rick Steins Tagliatelle, as published in Delicious Magazine September 2010.  So tell me what you think of my amendment, is it a keeper or would you prefer the dish without the cheese and just a little chili as suggested in the Delicious Magazine.

Ingredients:

600gm Frozen Peas

1 Cup vegetable stock

½ cup grated parmesan

2 T/s olive oil

2 cloves garlic

½ cup chopped mint

1 large sprig rosemary

5 sprigs thyme

6 shallot sliced finely

6 cloves garlic chopped finely

3 T/s olive oil

½ cup shaved parmesan

500gm tagiatelle

100gm gorgonzola

Method:

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch peas for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain the peas.

Reserve half of the peas for later.

Place ½ the peas in a food processor with stock, 2 T/s oil, grated parmesan and two cloves of raw garlic.  Blend until you have a paste.

Fry the garlic and shallot in 3 T/s for just 2-3 mins, do not allow the garlic to colour. Turn the heat off.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add pasta.  Cook to the manufacturers specifications.

Chop the mint, thyme and rosemary roughly and add to the reserved whole peas.

Roughly chop the gorgonzola cheese and reserve for later.

Drain the pasta and toss into the sautéed shallot and garlic mixture.  Mix the pea puree though the pasta and then add the reserved whole pea and herb mix.  Stir through the gorgonzola and serve. The remaining shaved parmesan cheese is for serving.

I really enjoyed this dish.  Although it doesn’t have a lot of fat and has no cream it tastes creamy and healthy at the same time.  I served the dish lukewarm. I had photos to take after all. I really liked the dish served at this temperature for summer.

I will definitely make the dish again as it was really simple, quick and tasty.  I also found it really practical because all the herbs came out of my garden (as well as the odd pea). I only had to buy the gorgonzola. I always have peas in the freezer, and pasta about, either in the fridge or pantry, so this is a dish I could make at a moments notice.

In the future I would add more herbs and more garlic. I really felt the dish could stand up to the extra herb flavours with the addition of gorgonzola to the recipe.

Week 49

Ice

I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the “Cookbook Challenge.” Having a set topic that needs to be covered in a particular timeframe has meant that I have been cooking interesting dishes that I wouldn’t have otherwise prepared.

This also means I am learning new techniques, family and friends are enjoying tasty new dishes, (or mishaps that will never be photographed) and I am getting regular use from my mountains of cookbooks.

This week however, I have noticed I have become the ultimate procrastinator.  I have known what recipe I intended to make for at least a month, I have all the ingredients and I have found every reason in the book not to start this challenge. I love ice-cream!! I can eat a bucket of Sara Lea, Homer Hudson, Serendipity and the like, all by myself.  You would think I would have made a selection of flavours for this weeks challenge but yet here I am late submitting my dish of just one flavour of ice-cream.  More to the point, I am still waiting for my ice-cream to set!

Why??? I never procrastinate??? What has happened this week to throw my cooking mojo off balance.

Ice-cream has always eluded me. I am a complete ice-cream failure!  I have spent the last week joining forums and trying to sort out technique issues, but the day of reckoning has come.  I am none the wiser, and I have had no epiphanies as to what I do wrong when I make ice-cream.  So, alas the moment of truth has come and I am biting the bullet and making my ice-cream the “old school” way.

My first ever ice-cream was attempted when I was a teenager.  It was icy and artificial tasting and I made such a mess in the kitchen transferring from freezer to mixer half a dozen times that I wasn’t allowed back into the kitchen for months.

Next time I tried to make ice-cream I chose a recipe with out any essences or distasteful evaporated milk, and went for a yummy sounding “Chocolate Cheesecake Ice-Cream.” I also purchased a soft serve ice-cream machine thinking that would get rid of the mess factor associated with transfer from freezer to mixer for churning.

Nope, it was a bigger failure than I could have ever managed on my own.  I had unset chocolate ice-cream everywhere.  It just didn’t freeze in the machine despite any of my swearing and cursing. Then trying to get it out of the machine to put it in the freezer resulted in a chocolate mess all over the floors and cupboards. That was exactly one year ago.  The soft serve machine has never been given a second chance.  The mess was that monumental!

What has been done this time to ensure success…. Nothing, I just don’t know why I have had such failures so I really don’t know how to correct my issues.  I decided to blame the first mishap on a bad recipe and youth, and the second mishap on the *@# ice-cream machine.

Here is my recipe, and a reviewed technique for ice-cream making.  I decided to make a plain cheesecake ice-cream so that if this one ends up all over the floor, at least it isn’t a chocolate brown mess.

Cheesecake Ice-Cream

Ingredients:

450gm low fat cream cheese

1 can fat free condensed milk

1 cup milk

1 t/s vanilla bean paste

2 t/s lemon juice

lemon rind finely grated (1 whole lemon)

 

Mango Syrup

Ingredients:

500gm mango (fresh, canned or frozen)

¾ cup water

¾ cup sugar

Method:

Add all the ice-cream ingredients to a two litre plastic jug.  Use a stick blender to thoroughly mix the ingredients and fluff the mixture up.

Place the jug in the freezer and freeze until the mixture starts to set.

Use the stick blender to mix the ice-cream again for about 30 seconds. Return the mix to the freezer. Repeat this step again as the ice-cream is setting. Once the mixture has been re-mixed twice, transfer the ice-cream to a deep metal dish and return to the freezer.  Choose a dish which is large enough and has enough space to use the stick blender.  Blend in the metal container twice before allowing to completely freeze.

Place all the mango syrup ingredients in a saucepan and using a stick blender puree the mix.  Heat the syrup and let it boil for 5 minutes stirring regularly.  Reduce the heat slightly and stir for a further two minutes or until the mixture is at a desirable syrup consistently.  It will thicken slightly on cooling.

Pour the cooled syrup over the ice-cream for a delicious Mango Cheesecake Ice-Cream. I can tell you honestly this ice-cream was really easy, absolutely worth the effort, very very yummy, perfect consistancy and so delicious.

I have had my first ice-cream success! Thanks to the “Cookbook Challenge” forcing me to confront my demons!

Now tell me, do any readers have a particular dish they avoid making?  Have you had a cooking disaster that has stopped you making something you love eating??  Let me know in the comments section below.

Week 47

Italian

The theme of my Cookbook challenge this week is Italian.  Immediately I thought about the beautiful gourmet pizza we have been making at home.  We have made so many tasty flavours it was difficult to decide on just a few to make for the challenge.  I need not have worried too much as I have completed this challenge three times without taking any photographs!!  Each time I have made them with different toppings, just as I am ready to photograph the pizza something has happened to stop me.  Either it is well past a meal time and the family is looking for dinner, or I just run out of time. Luckily pizza’s are very easy to make!

I am going to admit that I have been a bit slack.  The dough hasn't been hand kneaded. Making beautiful pizza is simple with a bread maker!  I love my bread maker! It gets used most days.  I make my pizza dough at the start of the day just by throwing the ingredients in and letting it do its’ thing, no kneading or warming and proofing, it is all automatic.

So for my final attempt at making, and photographing my gourmet pizza for the Italian Challenge I was lent this fantastic book by some friends.  It has the best topping suggestions.

 

Finally I have completed the challenge and made the following pizza’s; Pumpkin and Goats Cheese with Thyme, then a  Pesto, Spinach and Feta with Sundried Tomato, a Garlic and Olive Bread and for dessert a sweet Mixed Berry & Mascarpone Calzone.

The pizza were all absolutely delicious… maybe the best yet.  The Mixed Berry Calzone is the nicest dessert I have tasted in a long time! Who would have thought a dessert pizza could be so yummy.

Pizza Dough

500gm Bakers Flour

10gm yeast

5gm sugar

5gm salt

310 ml warm water

20ml oil 

Method:

Throw all the ingredients into a bread maker and come back to it when the machine finishes. Too easy!

Lightly oil 4 pizza trays 2 x 20cm diameter and 2 x 25cm diameter.

Divide the dough into four balls. Two balls should weigh 170gm each and the other two dough balls should weigh 240gm.

Flatten the dough ball into the pizza trays (170gm for 20cm tray) and allow to proof again. Once they have proofed as desired they can be refrigerated for later use or topped with fillings immediately.

Garlic & Olive Bread

1 x 170gm pizza dough ball

20 gm melted butter

3 cloves garlic crushed

¼ Spanish Onion sliced

fresh Rosemary Sprig

6 Olives

Method:

Pre heat oven to 250 degrees with a pizza stone in place.

Using 170gm ball of dough press into a 20cm pizza pan and allow to proof as desired. Brush the dough liberally with melted butter.

Add crushed garlic evenly over the pizza and then add the onion and rosemary.

Dot the pizza with the six olives.

Bake in the oven at 250 degrees for between 7- 10 minutes, checking regularly.

Remove the pizza from the oven and pour remaining butter over the pizza to serve.

 

Pumpkin & Goats Cheese with Thyme

1 x 240gm pizza dough ball

1 T/s tomato paste

50 gm grated cheese

15 x 2 cm cubes of roasted pumpkin

45 gm goats cheese

¼ Spanish onion slices

5 thyme sprigs

Method:

Pre heat oven to 250 degrees with a pizza stone in place.

Line a baking tray with paper. Chop the pumpkin into 2 cm cubes and spray with oil, place on tray and bake until just soft.

Using 240gm ball of dough press into a 25cm pizza pan and allow to proof as desired.

Spread the tomato paste over the pizza leaving a 1cm rim around the edge without paste or fillings.

Add the grated cheese evenly to the pizza.

Dot the pizza with the roasted pumpkin and spanish onion slices. Break the goats cheese into even little pieces and scatter evenly over the pizza.  Top the pizza with sprigs of thyme, ensuring any woody stems are removed.

Bake in the oven at 250 degrees for between 8- 10 minutes, checking regularly.

Remove the pizza from the oven and serve immediately.

Pesto Spinach & Feta with Sundried Tomato

1 x 240gm pizza dough ball

1 T/s tomato paste

50 gm grated cheese

3 small silver beet leaves chopped

¼ Spanish onion

50 gm feta cubed

10 x semi dried tomato

40 gm pesto

Method:

Pre heat oven to 250 degrees with a pizza stone in place.

Using 240gm ball of dough press into a 25cm pizza pan and allow to proof as desired.

Spread the tomato paste over the pizza leaving a 1cm rim around the edge without paste or fillings.

Add the chopped raw spinach to the sauce and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the spinach. Continue to add the onion, feta and sundried tomato to the pizza ensuring the toppings are evenly distributed.

With a teaspoon dot the pesto in little dollops over the pizza.

Bake in the oven at 250 degrees for between 8- 10 minutes, checking regularly.

Remove the pizza from the oven and serve immediately.

Mixed Berry & Mascarpone Calzone

1 x 170gm pizza dough ball

50gm mascarpone

2 t/s icing sugar

10 gm melted butter

½ t/s vanilla bean paste

30gm raspberry

30gm chopped strawberry

30gm blueberry

2 ½ t/s sugar

icing sugar to dust

Method:

Pre heat oven to 230 degrees with a pizza stone in place.

Combine the mascarpone with vanilla and icing sugar.  Set aside for later use.

Using 170gm ball of dough press into a 20cm pizza pan and allow to proof as desired. Brush the dough with melted butter.

On a semi circle of the pizza place the three types of berries and sprinkle 2 t/s of sugar over the whole calzone.

Add the mascarpone in dollops evenly over the fruit.

Fold the Calzone over and seal the join by pressing edges firmly together.  Go around the edges with a fork and press again.

Use the remaining ½ t/s sugar to dust over the finished calzone.

Bake in the oven at 230 degrees for ten minutes, checking regularly.

Remove the calzone from the oven and dust with generous amounts of icing sugar.

Pizza has become part of our outdoor way of life.  I am looking forward to the Spring and Summer weather when enjoy sitting outside with a bottle of wine in the company of friends.  Instead of these get together being all about the BBQ, our family is starting to alternate a bit more, and gourmet pizza’s have been added to the menu.

With this in mind I have been looking at pizza ovens lately and wondering what people have thought of theirs??? What do you like about an outdoor pizza oven? Would you buy one? Let me know?

Week 45

Raw

This weeks challenge of “Raw” was a little difficult.  All the dishes I wanted to make had a cooked element, and I didn’t really want to do Sashimi or a salad.  The Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls which I ended up making don’t really comply to the theme “Raw” as tofu is cooked and I presume the rice paper has been cooked too at some point, but they are however very tasty, and the closest I can come to raw.

 I have to thank Jackie for the recipe.  I was still hesitating over what to make when she suggested these little gems and sent me the recipe, Thanks heaps, the dipping sauce is magic.

Another sub challenge I had this week is to make a dish that my new sister in law can make for my brother.  All my dishes are either meat, or very indulgent, and he is the healthy one in the family so I wanted to make my “raw” dish, a recipe which would be suitable for him.

Ingredients:

1 medium carrot cut into matchsticks

50 gm bean sprouts

50 gm snow pea sprouts

½ cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves

1 cos lettuce, leaves separated

½ T/s finely grated fresh ginger

100gm tofu, cut into 6 slices

6 x 21 cm rice paper rounds

 

Dipping sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon grated palm sugar

1 fresh small red thai chilli, chopped finely

Method:

Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Prepare vegetables and tofu as shown in picture below.  Trim lettuce so that it is smaller than the rice paper rolls.

Dip one rice paper round into a bowl of warm water until soft, place it on a damp clean cloth.

Top the rice paper with one lettuce leaf, add a slice of tofu and then the remaining salad items.

Roll the ingredients tightly in the lettuce and then enclose in the rice paper roll.

Serve with dipping sauce.