The 5-2 Challenge. A Fast Day Roast. Frenched Rack of Lamb With Dijon Mustard and Mint.

Posted on May 17, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Roast Rack of Lamb

What to serve when you have unexpected company for dinner on a fast day? This is the dilemma I faced yesterday. With the end of the week looming and a full diary I didn’t have the luxury of swapping my fast day for another day of the week. The solution? A fast day roast.

Here is a rather impressive, even if I do say so myself, 380 calorie dinner party menu:

Frenched Rack of Lamb With Dijon Mustard and Mint
Smashed Pea and Rocket Purée 
Tzatziki

The secret is in portion control and the selection of a lean cut of meat. Frenched racks of lamb, trimmed of fat and sliced into double rib cutlets when roasted, lent themselves perfectly to this particular challenge. Big on flavour they didn’t need any fancy preparation. Just a lick of mustard and a coating of fresh herbs. Of course there were seconds for my appreciative guests.

I may have exceeded my 500 calorie limit for the day but only by a little. Another fast day. More improvisation and innovation.

Breakfast
1 cup  tea
2
Lunch
Soft Boiled Egg and Slice of Toast
135
Dinner
Roasted Frenched Rack of Lamb
272
Smashed Pea and Rocket Puree
88
1 tablespoon Tzatziki
20
1 cup tea
2
Total Calories
519

Frenched Rack of Lamb With Dijon Mustard and Mint

 Serves 4-6 (272 calories per 2 ribs)

2 racks of lamb (6 ribs per rack), frenched (135 calories per rib)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped (2 calories)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (12 calories)

PREHEAT oven to 220 C.
HEAT a cast-iron griddle pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Season lamb with with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides until golden brown.  Remove from heat and stand until cool, about 20 minutes.
SMEAR the fleshy side of the rack of lamb with Dijon mustard making sure the entire surface is covered. Press finely chopped mint over the mustard in an even layer. Return rack of lamb to the griddle pan and roast in a hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before carving into individual chops.

Smashed Pea and Rocket Purée 

 Serves 6 (88 calories per serve)

1/2 tablespoon olive oil (60 calories)
250g frozen peas (425 calories)
50g rocket leaves (12 calories)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (15 calories)
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock (20 calories)
sea salt and pepper

HEAT the oil in a medium  saucepan over medium heat.
ADD onion and cook until transparent and soft, about 5 minutes.
ADD peas and rocket, cook until rocket has wilted.
ADD the stock, bring to the boil.
REDUCE heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
COOL slightly, then pulse to a chunky puree using a stick blender or food processor.
SEASON with sea salt and pepper.

Tzatziki

Makes approx 6 tablespoons (20 calories per tablespoon)

1/2 cup thick Greek yoghurt, strained (70 calories)
1 lebanese cucumber, grated and excess moisture squeezed out(45 calories)
1/2 clove garlic, grated (2 calories)
1/2 teaspoon salt

PLACE yoghurt, cucumber, garlic and salt in a small bowl. Stir well to combine.

To Strain Yoghurt

LINE a colander or strainer with a brand new dish cloth ( chux superwipes or similar), and place over a bowl
ADD 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Makes approximately half a cup.

Posted in Lamb, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

A Big Beautiful Bowl of Pasta. Authentic. Unadulterated. Fettuccine Alla Carbonara.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Fettucine Carbonara

In my books nothing beats a big, beautiful bowl of pasta. Midweek I like to use up the contents of my fridge. This week I was in luck. On hand following my weekend deli splurge? Egg fettuccine, pancetta and  parmigiano-reggiano.  What to make? A simple Fettuccine alla carbonara. My Nona’s version. Authentic. Unadulterated  No cream. No ham. No overcooked scrambled eggs. Just simple ingredients beautifully combined at the very last minute to produce a stunning result. Try it. You’ll see.

Fettuccine Alla Carbonara

120 g pancetta, sliced into small strips
2 large cloves garlic minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup freshly grated reggiano parmigiano cheese or pecorino romano
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
500 g fettuccine
Freshly ground black pepper

BRING a large pot of water to the boil for the pasta. When the water comes to the boil, add a good pinch of salt and cook the fettuccine until al dente. Drain well and place in a serving bowl.
MEANWHILE place the olive oil and pancetta in a saucepan on a very low heat for 5 minutes.
ADD the garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes on low heat stirring occasionally until the pancetta is crisp.
IN a separate bowl beat together the eggs, parsley and a little salt.
ADD the pancetta, garlic and pan juices to the pasta and toss.
FINALLY add the egg mixture, cheese and some freshly grated pepper and toss quickly. Serve immediately.

Posted in Cheese, Eggs, Pasta, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The 5-2 Challenge. A Glass of Wine. Spicy Mediterranean Seafood Soup

Posted on May 14, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Spicy Mediterranean Seafood Soup

Seven weeks into the 5-2 challenge and I’m still exploring new ways to add flavour to my low calorie meals. This week the spotlight is shining on wine.  One glass of dry white wine yields 121 calories. Incorporated into a recipe that feeds four, a glass of wine will boost the calorie value of any meal by a manageable 30 or so calories per serve.

Today’s 5-2 offering is a Spicy Mediterranean Seafood Soup. Incredibly fragrant and delicious at only 270 calories per serve. My family raved about it. Of course they ate their soup with toasted ciabatta. A luxury that was not afforded to me. I’m not complaining though. I was able to enjoy half a glass of white wine. A fast day first.

Here is the breakdown of my latest fast day on a plate.

Breakfast
1 cup  tea
2
Lunch
2 egg omelette
170
Dinner
Spicy Mediterranean Seafood Soup
270
½ glass white wine
61
1 cup tea
2
Total Calories

505

Spicy Mediterranean Seafood Soup

Serves 4 (270 Calories per serve)

1 tablespoon olive oil (120 calories)
1 leek, white part only, finely sliced and washed (27 calories)
2 sticks celery, sliced (17 calories)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (8 calories)
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced (33 calories)
1 teaspoon dried chillies (1 calorie)
1 x 400 grams tin chopped tomato (32 calories)
1 glass dry white wine (121 calories)
2 cups fish stock or chicken stock (40 calories)
500 grams white fish fillets, blueye, flathead or snapper, sliced into 3 cm chunks (41o calories)
300 grams green king prawns, deveined with tails intact (246 calories)
1/3 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf (italian) parsley (10 calories)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon and 2 tablespoons juice (8 calories)

HEAT oil in a heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Add leek  celery, garlic and fennel and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add died chillies, tomato, wine and stock and bring to the boil.
REDUCE heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add fish and prawns. Simmer for a further 10 minutes until seafood is just cooked.
GENTLY stir through parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice, reserving a little parsley and zest to garnish, if desired. Season to taste.

Posted in Seafood, Soup, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Effortless Entertaining. Assembling the Ultimate Antipasto Platter.

Posted on May 13, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Antipasto Platter

One of my all time favourite activities is to visit a fabulous delicatessen or providore and chat to the counter staff about their offerings. Usually the conversation runs along the lines of this. I’m looking for [insert ingredient of the moment], what do you recommend? Best available? New to market? Nine times out of ten the response is more than enthusiastic and a graze fest commences as I am handed samples of small goods, cheeses and dips to sample.  Invariably I come away with beautifully wrapped packages of sliced cured meats, wedges of cheese, marinated olives and other tasty bits and pieces.

Needless to say this is exactly what happened when I paid an unscheduled visit to one of my favourite delis on Saturday. Teamed with loaves of wood-fired bread I had the makings of a gorgeous antipasto platter. One of the  easiest and most relaxing ways to throw together a meal. To feed as few or as many people as required. Effortless entertaining at its best.

Antipasto literally means “before the meal”. The traditional first course of an Italian formal meal. Small bites of tasty food served with wine to stimulate the appetite before the main meal. In our house a substantial antipasto platter becomes the main meal. This way of eating is ideally suited to our casual lifestyle.

With antipasto I find it’s always best to narrow your choices and keep things simple. We eat with our senses so when assembling a platter I like to think about how different flavours, aromas and colours complement each other. Needless to say every platter is different depending on my conversations at the deli, the seasons and any particular whims on the day. The ultimate antipasto platter? Whatever you or your guests fancy most. There are no hard and fast rules and I always try to include something special to accommodate my guest’s preferences.  All beautifully presented. Of course.

On my rather rustic inspired platter this weekend:

Prosciutto di Parma and Sopressa della Nona

A soft creamy Asiago,  a sharp sheep’s milk Pecorino studded with peppercorns, chilli marinated Feta, and Mozzarella di Bufala

Marinated artichokes, kalamata olives with balsamic, grilled zucchini and oven roasted baby tomatoes

Wood Fired Italian Ciabatta

There was only minimal cooking involved. Little dishes of cherry tomatoes roasted in the oven in a little passata. Fresh zucchini  sliced thinly lengthwise on a mandoline, brushed with a little olive oil and griddled.  Garnished with crumbled chilli feta and a grating of lemon zest. Chunks of  fresh mozzarella wrapped in wafer thin slices of prosciutto. I sliced the ciabatta and briefly considered toasting it on the griddle pan and rubbing it with garlic cloves bruschetta style. But not today. Perhaps next time. This platter looked far too appetising.

Posted in Cheese, Small Bites, To Serve with Drinks, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Baking With Herbs. Cream Cheese Pound Cake With Lemon Thyme and Gin.

Posted on May 11, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Cream Cheese Pound Cake With Lemon, Thyme and Gin

One of the most loved cakes in our house is a simple lemon scented cream cheese pound cake. Baked in a loaf tin and sliced and eaten unadorned. A school lunchbox staple. Drizzled with a gin infused lemon syrup it transforms beautifully into a delicious dessert. Today I decided to experiment a little with this tried and true recipe to see if I could come up with something just a little different.

I have always been fascinated with the use of fresh herbs in baking. I use herbs liberally in my savoury cooking and every now or then use herbs to enhance the flavour of fruit. With the exception of a rather gorgeous batch of lavender scones, however,  I have never really explored incorporating herbs into my baking. With a beautifully fragrant bunch of lemon thyme, a bowl full of lemons and the last dregs of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin on hand that was all about to change.

A little finely minced fresh lemon thyme and a tablespoon of gin added to the batter lifted this cake to a whole new level. Baked in a bundt tin the original loaf style cake was almost unrecognisable. The result? A gorgeously fluffy yet moist cake with a subtle clean lemony, almost herbal, taste.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake With Lemon Thyme and Gin

Cream Cheese Pound Cake With Lemon Thyme and Gin

185g butter, softened
185g cream cheese, softened
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 small bunch of fresh lemon thyme
1 tablespoon gin
1 1/2 cups (330g) sugar
3 eggs
1 cup (150g) self raising flour
2/3 cup (100g) plain flour
a generous pinch of salt

icing sugar, lemon thyme and strips of lemon zest to garnish.

PREHEAT oven to 170 C. Grease a large bundt or ring tin. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
PICK 2 teaspoons small sprigs from tops of lemon thyme sprigs. Scatter evenly over the bottom of the greased tin. Set aside.
STRIP the remaining lemon thyme leaves from their stems and coarsely chop  to make 2 tablespoons.
COMBINE chopped lemon thyme,flour, salt and lemon zest in a small bowl. Set aside.
BEAT butter and cream cheese together in a medium bowl until pale. Add sugar and continue to beat mixture until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about 3 minutes.
STIR in gin. Then add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition; mix until smooth.
ADD flour, herb and lemon mixture in two batches on low speed, mixing until just combined.
SPOON batter into prepared tin. Bake in moderate oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Turn cake onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar and garnish with a scattering of lemon thyme leaves and long strips of lemon zest.

Posted in Baked, Sweet Treats, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The 5-2 Challenge. Some Like It Hot. Shakshuka. Moroccan Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce.

Posted on May 10, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Shakshuka Eggs

Hot spicy food seems to satisfy me most on fast days. When I’m distracted by a rumbling stomach I also know I can  count on the protein hit of a humble egg to keep my hunger pangs at bay. After six weeks I think I may have stumbled across the perfect 5-2 fasting meal. Shakshuka. A Moroccan institution. Eggs cooked in a rich and spicy harissa infused  tomato sauce. Deliciously filling. Incredibly versatile and easy to prepare.  It can be eaten at any time of day. Breakfast, lunch or dinner and any time between.

For a quick fast day meal the spicy tomato sauce can be prepared in advance. All that remains to do  is to apportion the sauce into individual ramekins, add cracked eggs and bake in an oven. When served, the eggs should still be runny so that the yolks mingle with the spicy sauce. I must confess that mine were a little overcooked as I became engrossed in a telephone conversation and lost track of the time. No matter they still were delicious. Unbelievably rich and satisfying for a mere 165 calories.  To be honest I would gladly demolish the spicy tomato sauce on its own.

Which is exactly what I did for dinner. With a few slices of pan-fried chorizo on the side. All within my fast day 500 calorie allowance. Meanwhile my family were treated to a more substantial meal. An impromptu spicy chorizo and tomato pasta. The star of the show? That amazing spicy tomato sauce.

Breakfast
1 cup  tea
2
Lunch
Moroccan Shakshuka With Egg
165
Mid Afternoon
2 small mandarins
80
Dinner
Moroccan Shakshuka Sauce
91
50 g Grilled Chorizo
156
1 cup tea
2
Total Calories
496

Shakshuka

Shakshuka. Moroccan Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce
Serves 6 (165 calories per serve -91 calories for sauce add 75 calories for each egg)

3 red capsicums, roasted in a hot oven until skin blistered and charred, deseeded, peeled and sliced  when cool (180 calories)
1 tablespoon olive oil (120 calories)
1 onion, diced (30 calories)
400g canned tomatoes, chopped (32 calories)
2 tomatoes, peeled and diced (44 calories)
1 tablespoon tomato paste (13 calories)
1 tablespoon fresh harissa  paste  (recipe follows) (65 calories)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (8 calories)
1 teaspoon paprika (8 calories)
1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, grated (3 calories)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (2 calories)
2 tablespoons fresh coriander or mint or a combination of both, chopped (2 calories)
2 teaspoons honey (40 calories)
1 tablespoon red wine or cider vinegar (1 calorie)
sea salt and black pepper

6 free range eggs
coriander and mint leaves, to serve

To Make the Sauce

IN A WOK or wide frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
ADD the onions and cook for 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
ADD the  harissa and tomato pastes, ginger, cumin and paprika. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
DEGLAZE the pan a little with the honey and vinegar.
STIR through the  roasted and sliced capsicum and fresh chopped herbs.
ADD both the  canned and fresh tomatoes and 150 mls water. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until thick and saucy. Add more water if necessary to achieve a good consistency.  Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

When Ready to Serve

PREHEAT oven to 180 C.
DIVIDE the sauce among 6 oven-proof ramekins. Set the ramekins on a baking tray.
CRACK an egg into the center of each ramekin. It helps to use the back of a wooden spoon to make an indentation in the sauce as you do this.
BAKE until the eggs are cooked to your liking, basting the whites with some of the sauce midway during baking, about 10 to 15 minutes.
SERVE hot straight out of the oven with a scattering of fresh herbs.

Fresh Harissa Paste

Makes 2-3 tablespoons (approximately 65 calories per tablespoon)

4 long fresh red chillies (16 calories)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (8 calories)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin (8 calories)
1 teaspoon ground coriander (8 calories)
1 tablespoon olive oil (120 calories)

HALVE chillies and finely chop.
COMBINE chilli, garlic, salt, cumin, coriander, and olive oil in a mortar and use a pestle to pound until a smooth paste forms.

Posted in Breakfast, Eggs, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A Mothers Day Brunch Suggestion. Breakfast Panini With Scrambled Eggs, Prosciutto and Rocket.

Posted on May 8, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Panini With Scrambled Eggs, Proscuitto and Rocket

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. This Sunday 12th May. Here is an easy breakfast in bed suggestion for all those husbands and children who may be contemplating cooking up a storm in the kitchen on Sunday morning. Breakfast panini. Filled with Bill Granger’s divinely creamy scrambled eggs, crispy flash fried prosciutto and peppery rocket.

These scrambled eggs have what can only be described as a cult following in Sydney. I remember falling in love with them a lifetime ago at Bill’s iconic Darlinghurst cafe. For many years, before the demands of family life took over, my husband and I would religiously decamp to Bills  on a Saturday morning with our newspaper and order plates of scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes to share. We still visit that original cafe but sadly not as often as we would like.

Years later Bill published his first cookbook Sydney Food. The secret was out. Those scrambled eggs were laden with cream! No wonder they were so luscious. What could be more fitting for a very special Mothers Day treat than a breakfast panini filled with those scandalously delicious eggs?

 Breakfast Panini With Scrambled Eggs, Prosciutto and Rocket.

Once made up these panini can be served toasted or untoasted. To toast simply preheat a sandwich press and grill the panini for three minutes or so before serving.

For each panino

One good Italian bread roll or two slices ciabatta or sourdough bread
One serving Bill Granger’s Iconic Scrambled Eggs
Two thin slices of prosciutto, crisped in a hot fry pan
Rocket leaves

SPLIT bread roll in half. Prepare scrambled eggs and crisped prosciutto. Fill the roll with rocket, scrambled eggs and prosciutto.  Serve fresh or toast in a preheated sandwich press for three minutes.

Bill Granger’s Iconic Scrambled Eggs
Serves 1

2 Eggs
1/3 cup Cream
1 Pinch of Salt
10 g Butter

PLACE eggs, cream and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
MELT butter in a non-stick frying pan over high heat, taking care not to burn the butter.
POUR in egg mixture and cook for 20 seconds, or until gently set around the edge.
STIR the eggs with a wooden spoon, gently bringing the egg mixture on the outside of the pan to the centre. The idea is to fold the eggs rather than to scramble them.
LEAVE to cook for 20 seconds longer and repeat the folding process.
WHEN the eggs are just set (remembering that they will continue cooking as they rest) turn out onto a plate.

Posted in Breakfast, Eggs, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The 5-2 Challenge. On Trend. Gourmet Popcorn with Nori Gomashio. A Japanese Sesame Seed, Seaweed and Salt Seasoning.

Posted on May 7, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie
Popcorn With Nori Gomashio Seasoning

 

Fast days seem to roll around quite quickly and continue to take me by surprise. In my refrigerator for dinner tonight. Beautifully fresh line-caught salmon fillets. I adore salmon but with one 180 gram fillet accounting for over half my 500 calorie allowance on a fast day, that means its slim pickings for my remaining food choices today.

Miso soup, at a mere 35 calories a cup, is the obvious solution for lunch but my rumbling stomach has other ideas. Rummaging through my pantry I chance upon a jar of popcorn kernels. Problem solved. High in fibre popcorn is a faster’s dream, helping you feel fuller longer, keeping pesky cravings at bay. The all important proviso being – as long as you stay away from the temptation of high fat, high calorie toppings.

Gourmet popcorn toppings are very much on trend at the moment. A world apart from the generic, artificial butter flavoured offerings available at any cinema megaplex, today’s popcorn is seriously upmarket. Decadently flavoured with anything and everything from black truffles to wasabi. So here it is. The perfect opportunity to combine two on trend fads. A 5-2 fasting day version of gourmet popcorn.

With my solitary  mug of miso in hand, I popped corn kernels in the microwave and contemplated Japanese themed topping possibilities to complement my soup. Ordinarily I have a jar of Shichimi Togarashi ( a spicy Japanese seven flavour seasoning) in my pantry. A delicious blend of chillies, orange peel, black and white toasted sesame seeds, ginger, Szechuan pepper and nori. The Japanese table equivalent of salt and pepper. To my mind, the  perfect seasoning for a low calorie popcorn fix. Alas, as luck would have it, today that jar was empty.

Another option? The equally delicious Nori Gomashio. A Japanese seaweed, sesame seed and sea salt seasoning. Incredibly easy to recreate at home with just three ingredients. So here it is. My version of gourmet popcorn with Nori Gomashio. Complete with a very easy method of popping corn kernels in the microwave using a  brown paper lunch bag. At only 62 calories a cup it makes for a very tasty, fast day treat. Had I been able to exercise a little self control over the popcorn I would have been able to remain well within my 500 calorie limit.

Breakfast
2 cups  tea
4
Lunch
1 Cup Home-Made Miso Soup
35
Mid Afternoon
Gourmet Popcorn with  Nori Gomashio
124
Dinner
180 g Salmon, grilled
Cauliflower and Cannellini Bean Mash
263
88
2 cups tea
4
Total Calories
518

 

Gourmet Popcorn with Nori Gomashio. A Japanese Sesame Seed, Seaweed and Salt Seasoning.

Makes approximately 5 cups popped popcorn (30 calories per cup unseasoned/ 62 calories per cup seasoned)

1/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (131 calories)
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil (20 calories)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt,
3  tablespoons Nori Gomashio Seasoning  (recipe follows) (156 calories)

IN A CUP mix together the unpopped kernels and oil. Pour the coated corn into a brown paper bag  sprinkle in sea salt. Fold the top of the bag over twice to seal in the ingredients.
PLACE the bag in the microwave – standing upright on the carousel. Cook at full power for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, or until you hear pauses of about 2 seconds between pops.
CAREFULLY open the bag and immediately shake 3 tablespoons of the nori gomashio  seasoning onto the popcorn. The moisture from the steam should help the seasoning adhere to the popcorn.
POUR into a serving bowl, discarding any unpopped kernels of corn. Season to taste, remembering that any additional Nori Gomashio added to the bowl increases the calorie count.

Footnote: Heating half a tablespoon of oil and drizzling it onto the popcorn before adding the seasoning helps the seasoning to adhere to the popcorn more easily. This adds another 60 calories to the whole bowl of popcorn or an additional 12 calories per cup. A feast day variation perhaps.

Nori Gomashio (Japanese Sesame Seed, Seaweed and Salt Seasoning)

Makes 8 tablespoons / 24 teaspoons
52 calories per tablespoon / 18 calories per teaspoon

1/2 cup unhulled sesame seeds (405 calories)
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
1 sheet nori (10 calories)

HEAT a wok over medium heat.
ADD sesame seeds and sea salt. Dry roast in the hot wok, stirring constantly, until the sesame seeds begin to pop and smell toasty. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Be careful not to burn the sesame seeds as you will need to start again.
REMOVE from heat and keep stirring occasionally to make sure the seeds don’t burn from the residual heat.
MEANWHILE, using tongs, toast 1 side of the nori over an open flame until it turns bright green and shrivels a little. Crumble over the sesame seeds
IMMEDIATELY transfer the warm mixture to a mortar and pestle, spice grinder or food processor. Grind or pulse coarsely, leaving some of the sesame seeds whole.
WHEN cool transfer seasoning to an airtight container for storage.

Posted in Marinades, Pastes and Dressings, Small Bites, To Serve with Drinks, Vegetarian, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Science Experiment in My Kitchen. Honey Snaps With a Chocolate Ganache.

Posted on May 6, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Honey Snaps

Sometimes a great recipe just happens to find you. These Honey Snaps with a Chocolate Ganache were baked by my daughters this weekend. As part of their chemistry homework. One hundred girls were given the recipe and told to bake the biscuits over the weekend. The accompanying blurb went something like this. Helping out in the kitchen teaches some of the basic skills of chemistry. A kitchen is like a home laboratory the perfect place to perform experiments. Cooking recipe versus scientific report. How is cooking like science?

To be perfectly frank when I cast my eye over the recipe I was a little dubious about what the end result would be. And more than happy to leave the girls to their own devices. In my mind’s eye I was imagining chaos. Oven racks overflowing with a sticky, heaving mess of  spreading biscuit dough. Melted chocolate seizing in a bowl. One advantage of twins with the same homework assignment, I rationalised, was that only one batch of those biscuits would need to be baked.

What a difference a day makes. Those biscuits were light and crisp and delicious. A huge hit in our house. Particularly with our resident baking connoisseur. My teenage son. There was loads of ganache so instead of dolloping just a little on top of each biscuit the girls sandwiched them together. So much easier to transport to school. And a much prettier presentation.

I’ll be baking these biscuits myself one day soon. For posterity here is the recipe. I’ve deviated from the original just  a little. Padding out some of the instructions in the method. I know. I just couldn’t help myself

 Honey Snaps With a Chocolate Ganache

Makes 30 biscuits (15 sandwiched with ganache) 

125g butter
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 cups plain flour
¾ cup caster sugar

PREHEAT the oven to 180°C
PLACE the butter and honey in a saucepan over low heat and stir to melt.
ADD the bicarbonate soda and remove from heat.
PLACE the flour and sugar in a bowl; add the butter mixture and mix to combine.
ROLL level teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on lined oven trays. Allow enough room for the biscuits to spread.
SLIGHTLY flatten the balls with damp hands.
BAKE for 10-12 minutes or until golden.  Cool slightly before transferring to wire racks. As they cool the biscuits will harden.
WHEN cool place a little ganache on the smooth side of half the biscuits. Sandwich together with the remaining half.

Chocolate Ganache

1/3 cup cream
200g dark  chocolate, chopped

COMBINE chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Remove bowl from heat.
SET aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until ganache is thick and spreadable.

Posted in Baked, Sweet Treats, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Deliciously Decadent. Chocolate Brownies With Cherries and Almonds.

Posted on May 4, 2013 by thepaddingtonfoodie

Cherry and Almond Brownies

These brownies are rich, soft and crumbly. Delicate. Deliciously decadent. Perfect as dessert. They truly need no other introduction.

Chocolate Brownies With Cherries and Almonds.

125g unsalted butter, cubed
100g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste.
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
125g slivered almonds
100g cherries, pitted

PREHEAT oven to 180C. Butter and line a 20cm square baking tin.
MELT butter in a saucepan over low heat. When half melted add chocolate, stirring until it has melted and the mixture is smooth.
REMOVE from heat and allow to cool. Stir in honey and vanilla.
IN A SEPARATE bowl beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
FOLD IN cooled chocolate mixture, then flour, salt and slivered almonds.
POUR into the prepared baking tin. Scatter pitted cherries evenly over the top of the batter.
BAKE for 30 minutes in centre rack position. When cool cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar. Serve with ice cream if using as dessert.

Posted in Baked, Chocolate, Sweet Treats, What I Love to Cook | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments