Cheese & Herb Bread

Hi there! I'm taking a little break to share with you this scrumptious 'bread' that I made for lunch with some girlfriends on the weekend. The recipe is from my beloved Belinda Jeffery Mix & Bake cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups (335 g) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
60 g freshly grated parmesan
60 g chedder or good tasty cheese, grated
1/2 cup (75 g) stuffed olives, sliced
1/4 cup snipped chives
2 tsp thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 eggs
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cups (310 ml) buttermilk
egg wash (optional), made from 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tsp of water
extra thyme sprigs and sea salt, for topping

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Butter a large loaf tin (about 23 x 13 x 6 cm) and dust it with flour, then set aside.

2. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, pepper and mustard powder into a large bowl. Whisk together using a balloon whisk for 1 min. Add both of the cheeses, the olives, chives and thyme and stir them thoroughly together.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the oil and buttermilk until well combined. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir together until they form a thick, sticky batter. Scrape this into the prepared tin and smooth it out evenly. Optional: brush over the top with egg wash, then sprinkle some small thyme sprigs and sea salt onto the loaf.

4. Bake for 40-45 min or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 min then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

5. Best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature with soup. Any left over can be tighly wrapped and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

It was quite tasty and the best part was I was able to use chives and thyme from my new herb garden. Here it is sitting happily on my window sill. Enjoy!

My birthday 2009

So I turned 27 on Tuesday this week. I celebrated early on Sunday with my brothers and sisters who slaved away in the kitchen making me a wonderful dinner - thanks guys! I was still sick on my actual birthday but I managed to drag myself out of bed to come into uni to supervise my student taking their skills test. It was a 5 hour ordeal and I do hope none of them fail. Anyways after that hubby came to pick me up and took me out for dinner. It meant to be a suprise but as soon as we headed north crossing the Harbour Bridge I knew where we were going - Moby's Whale Beach where he propsed to me over 3 years ago. Dinner was so lovely thanks Honey! apparently there were whales jumping in the ocean outside our window. Wednesday night at bible study, Diana made us chocolate and hazelnut cupcakes (above) and they were melt-in-your-mouth oh-so-good! Thanks Diana!

It's just another manic Monday...not!

Despite being sick since last Thursday I had quite an eventful weekend - will blog about it later I promise. Mondays are usually slow for me at uni, with trying to remember what I did last week and planning what I'm going to do this week. It's morning tea right now and I'm enjoying my first cuppa ('Marvin' was a gift from my big little brother who thinks I like all things alien) with a strange Halloween looking muffin baked by my Supervisor (yeah he caught the baking bug alright). Hope you're having a good start to the week :o)

Rhubarb & apple sponge pudding

On the Labour Day long weekend, we went with a few friends out to Cobbity to taste wine. On the way there we stopped by the Cobbity Village Markets to have a wander. That's when I discovered my love for country markets! There were so many stalls selling craft, fresh organic produce, gourmet food and one antique stall. We scored an antique key holder, a jar of chutney, various organic veggies as well as an orange and hazelnut loaf (above).

If you noticed in our loot there is a bunch of ruby red rhubarb. Even though I'm a big fan of rhubarb I've never baked with it before. So feeling adventurous and inspired by the countryside I decided to finally try it out. Nothing fancy just an easy rhubarb and apple sponge pudding. To my surprise it is not as difficult to bake with rhubarb as I previously thought.

chopped rhubarb and apple coated in sugar ready to be baked

I got the recipe from a Sydney Markets brochure:
Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Combine 350g trimmed chopped rhubarb, 2 peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples (I used Pink Lady) and 1/4 cup castor sugar in a greased 6-cup shallow baking dish. Using electric beaters, beat 125g butter, 1/2 cup castor sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract in a bowl until light and creamy. Beat in eggs (you'll need 2) one at a time. Fold in 3/4 cup sifted self-raising flour and 1 tsp baking powder. Spoon batter over rhubrab and apple. Bake for about 55 min until golden (if top browns cover with a sheet of foil). Serve warm with ice cream.

Result: mmm so delicious!

School holiday fun with the girls

It's the school holiday here in Sydney and the girls - my 13yo sister and 7yo SIL came to stay with us for a few days. We watched the Disney Pixar animation 'Up' and I absolutely loved it! I esp. love Dug the talking dog "I hid under your porch because I love you" awww. We also baked sickeningly sweet black bottom cupcakes which I will post the recipe soon but here's a pic:

Black-bottom cupcakes

1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1 cup (220g) castor sugar
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup (35g) Dutch-processed cocoa
1 cup (250mL) warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80mL) light olive oil
1 tsp white vinegar

Topping
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup (75g) castor sugar
1 egg
1 cup (200g) good-quality dark chocolate chopped into small chunks

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degree C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases.

2. For the topping, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese and sugar for 2 min or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until it's thoroughly mixed in, then stir in the chocolate and set the bowl aside.

3. Tip the flour, sugar, bicarb of soda and salt into a bowl, then sift in the cocoa and whisk everything together with a balloon whisk for 1 min. In another bowl, whisk together the warm water, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ones and stir them thoroughly together (don't overdo this as the supcakes will be a bit chewy).

4. Spoon this batter into the cupcake cases, so they're about 2/3 full. Top with cream cheese mixture.

5. Bake the cupcakes for 30-35 min on until the darl chocolate part springs back when pressed (or a skewer inserted into this part comes out clean). Cool the cupcakes in the tin on a wire rack for a couple of min, then lift them out and leave them on the rack to cool completely.

Zucchini, feta & dill pie

A great way to eat healthy and save some money is by making 2-3 of your weekly meals vegetarian. I made this zucchini, feta and dill pie a few weeks ago and it was delish!

Ingredients:

Fine polenta, for dusting
700g zucchini, coarsely grated
5 eggs
1/2 cup (125mL) extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for brushing
1 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped dill
220g feta
150g Parmesan
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
8-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degree C. Butter a 22cm square tin and line with buttered baking paper. Dust tin with fine polenta, tap out excess and set aside

2. Pile grated zucchini into large colander and put some weight using heavy plate on top to drain

3. Meanwhile break eggs into large bowl and whisk together

4. Press down firmly on plate over zucchini to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Stir grated zucchini into egg mixture. Crumble in most of feta (reserving a little for the top of the pie) along with Parmesan then season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the flour and mix it in until combined. Spread batter into prepared tin and sprinkle the reserved feta over the top. Gently press cherry tomato halves cut side up into the surface.

5. Bake for 45-50 min or until top of pie is springy when pressed (it should be quite bouncy if it's cooked, to double check insert the tip of a fine knife down into the middle and press the two sides of the cut apart - it should look quite set).

6. Take out the pie from the oven and cool in tin for 10-15 min. Put wire rack on top and invert the pie onto this. Peel away the paper then sit serving platter on top of pie and invert it again onto this. Tidy up staggly bits and brush the tomatoes with little extra olive oil. Best eaten at room temperature

Another sticky one!

This is what I baked for labchat (our weekly lab meeting) today. We have this roster whereby the person who presented either their research progress or journal club one week has to bring in baked goods the following week. This ensure that there is always baked goods at labchat (not that we don't consume baked goods on the other weekdays e.g. just this Tues we had choc fondue and profiterol cake for Mia/Vicky's birthdays!).

Sticky banana, pecan and date loaf

1 1/4 cup (185g) plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
120g roasted pecan, roughly chopped
220g pitted dates, roughly chopped
1 cup (220g) castor sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c (125mL) light olive oil
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 310mL)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sunflower seed or pepitas (pumpkin seed) or both for topping

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Butter a large loaf tin (23x13x6cm) and dust with flour. Set aside.

2. Put flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt into medium mixing bowl and whisk together for 45 sec. Add nuts and dates and toss them about to thoroughly coat in flour mixture.

3. Put the sugar, eggs and oil into another bowl and whisk together for 1-2 min or until light and creamy. Add mashed banana and vanilla extract and whisk together until mixture is fairly smooth (it's ok to still have lumpy banana bits).

4. Stir the dry ingredients into banana mixture until it form a sloppy batter. Scrape into the prepared tin and sprinkle some seeds on top.

5. Bake for 1 hr or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool loaf in tin on wire rack for 10 min before turning out onto rack to cool completely. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days otherwise freeze well for up to 3 months.

Result: Everyone enjoyed it and some had seconds - way to gladden a cook's heart! For me personally it was too sweet, will cut back the sugar next time but I guess it's still pretty healthy stuff!

Have a great weekend!

Mini sticky date puddings & smelly undergrads

This is what my sisters and I baked on the weekend. It was a nice day just hanging out with them shopping, baking and crafting. My brothers contributed by playing loud music and making me sew up loose buttons on their jackets. Not that I minded of course! I love them all dearly :o)

Mini Sticky Date Puddings with Hot Butterscotch Sauce

1 1/4 cups chopped stoned dates
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 tablespoons softened butter (60g)
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup self-raising flour

Sauce
1/2 cup cream
100g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Lightly grease a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin (or regular 12-cup tin).

2. Place the dates and water in a saucepan and bring to boil, simmering for ~5min or until the dates are softened. Remove from heat and stir in bicarbonate of soda.

3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating after each addition to make a smooth batter. Fold in the sifted flour and then stir in the date-and-water mixture until well combined.

4. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups and bake for ~20min (~15min for 12-cup tin) or until firm and springy to touch.

5. To make the butterscotch sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted. Simmer for ~10min or until thickened. Turn the puddings out and serve warm on individual plates with hot butterscotch sauce poured over the top.

Results: mmm we all quite enjoyed it but be warned that it is sickeningly sweet! Enjoy!

I'm supposed to be writing my paper right now but I'm stuck! I'm about halfway and the draft is due to my Supervisor by the end of this month! Keep me accountable? On top of writing and lab work I've got teaching this semester - a 5 hour prac class every second week...

Will you help me eat my corn?

Ok so there's no real corn in this post just cornbread. I got the title from this Disney cartoon that my siblings and I watched (over and over again) when we were little..."Peter Pig is strong and big, he'll help me eat my corn!" hehehe I suppose you have to be one of my brothers or sisters to get what I'm on about. Moving along...
A couple of weeks ago I made a funny little pumpkin cornbread (above) from my Belinda Jeffery cookbook Mix & Bake. Apart from the girls in my lab, she's one of my baking heros. Well the cornbread turned out good (I've made it once before). It's quite lovely with chicken and veg soup or any soup for that matter. It also makes a nice breakfast in the morning, warmed with a bit of ricotta cheese and honey or maple syrup.

Recipe - as requested by Tim & Ash :o)

375g pumpkin (use jap or butternut) cut into 3cm pieces
150g cornmeal aka maizemeal or finely ground polenta
1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (or less - I used 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
45g butter
3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
1 egg lightly beaten

Steam the pumpkin for 15-20min, drain and let liquid evaporate. Mash up pumpkin using potato masher (you can do this the day before or about an hour before baking). Preheat oven to 200 degree C. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, bicarb, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl and whisk for 40sec. Put butter in 20x20cm square tin and place in oven to melt. Mix together buttermilk, egg and mashed pumpkin in separate bowl until well combined. Once butter is melted, take tin out of oven and swirl butter around so that it coat base and sides. Tip excess butter into pumpkin mixture while beating. Add liquid mixture to dry mixture and mix lightly until just combined (it should look shaggy). Pour batter into prepared tin and shake to smooth out. Sprinkle on some pepitas (if using). Bake for 25min or until skewer inserted come out clean. Take out of oven and stand for 10min before transferring onto wire rack to cool. You can eat it at room temp or slightly warmed, it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Here is a slice on its own:

In other craft related news, I finally managed to get my hands on some crochet cotton to make this:

I've had the tea towel for some time now but look at what a revamp can do to it! Green is my favourite colour in case you haven't notcied :o) I didn't get a pattern from anywhere I just copied this other crochet-topped tea towel I bought at the markets a while ago. I also made another one with a brand new tea towel as a birthday gift for a friend because these things are just so useful!

Food for the soul

I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately hence the food posts :o)
This week I baked some almond biscotti for my church bible study group. Biscotti always remind me of this cute little Italian patisserie in Footscray, Melbourne - they have the best biscotti actually. Anyways I've lost count of how many times I have made biscotti from this recipe - it's just super easy!

Ingredients:

300g plain flour
200g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
100-115g whole blanched or roasted almond

Preheat oven to 150 degree C. Grease and flour 2 baking tray or just line with baking paper (I love this stuff!). Mix dry ingrediants together in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and vanilla essence together in separate bowl then stir into dry ingredients. Add the almonds and stir into dough. The dough should be quite sticky. Divide the dough between the 2 trays and shape into flat loaves about 25 cm long and 5 cm wide. Bake for 35-40min until pale golden. Remove from oven and place on chopping board. immediately slice into thin pieces about 1 cm wide. Lay slices back onto trays and bake for 10-15min. turn over and bake for another 10-15min. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack. When cool store in airtight container and it will keep for 2 weeks.

This week I also tried something new - potato and leek soup!

I used this recipe here. It turned out really well! very tasty indeed mmm... nothing like a bowl of hot steaming soup to warm your soul on a cold night! I love comfort food.
It's the weekend (almost) and I'm really looking forward to Women's Equip Conference tomorrow!
Have a lovely weekend!

Peanut butter cookies

This post is for Jos - hi Jos!

So last week we (my labmates & I) discover that the big jar of crunchy peanut butter that Kim brought in has a best before date due in a few days. I suggested baking some peanut butter cookies - me: "all in favour say I" them: " I!". This resulted in 3 batches of cookies (it was a big 750g jar) being baked by moi. Here is the recipe:

200g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
115g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
1 egg
225g crunchy peanut butter
pinch of salt

Sift flour and bicarb together. In separate bowl, beat butter and sugars until soft and creamy. Combine egg, flour mixture, peanut butter and salt. Add butter and sugar mixture and mix until smooth. Wrap dough in foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight (overnight is better). Preheat oven to 160 degree C. Shape dough into 3cm balls (or smaller) and place 5cm apart on baking paper-lined trays. Flattern slightly with a fork. Bake for 15min or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to harden, transfer to cool on wire rack. Eat or store in airtight container for up to 5 days.
This recipe makes 2 dozen plus cookies so I ended up with a whole heap of cookies. This may or may not suprise you but they were all gone (eaten by various people big and small) in a week. Phew!

Banana bread & Wolverine

I baked some 'gourmet' banana bread on Friday night and it turned out pretty good. This is the second time I made banana bread from the same recipe (email me if you would like the recipe). I love it because it gives you the option of adding walnuts to the bread. What I did once the bread was cool was sliced it up and put it in the freezer (just like with brioche) so we can have it toasted for breakfast or anytime we want a quick snack. For me, there is something quite therapeutic about baking or cooking for that matter. I also enjoy cooking for friends and family.
Well the rest of our weekend involved a little picnic for two at Bicentennial Park before watching Wolverine (great movie I might add) and a catch up session with some friends at Erciyes.

Wedding & Sweetness mania

I had such a nice weekend. A couple friends of ours just got married on Saturday. Their wedding was small and intimate - I love weddings especially the Christian wedding ceremony which is always so much more meaningful. Congratulations to Khoa & Michelle!

One thing that caught my eyes at the wedding were these marshmallows given out as wedding favours (photo from Lyn):

In between the ceremony and reception I hung out with Diana (both of our hubbies were on wedding duties). She took me to her friend's patisserie 'Sweetness The Patisserie' who was behind those yummy sweet mallows. I love everything about the place! The shabby chic decor, the soothing pastel 'green' paint...

...and best of all the homemade baked goods galore!

It was especially nice to meet Gena in person as Diana has already filled me in on her inspirational journey to success and what a story it is. Now I have Sweetness-mania! Thanks Diana for a great afternoon :o)