Saturday, March 18, 2017

Weekend Cooking: Double choc zucchini bread

I'm not sure how you use your blog when it comes to sharing recipes Some times I use it to post recipes that I want to try, or food experiences I have had, but most of the time I use it to post recipes that I have tried and liked and want to make again, so want a place I can go where I can easily find the recipe that I am looking for.

A couple of weeks ago we had a morning tea, That wasn't all that unusual because if there is one thing we do in our department is eat well. Afterwards though, we were talking about recipes and I mentioned making chocolate zucchini bread and then came here to find the recipe and .....nada. It wasn't here. It didn't take me long to remember who had posted the recipe. It was the gracious and inspiring host, Beth Fish Reads, so here, with her permission is that recipe, this time saved on my blog so that I can find it again when I want to make it again in the, hopefully, near future.

I will say that I don't use the pecans because of the nut allergy we have in our house.

Double Choc Zucchini Bread


1 medium zucchini
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa (Dutch process is best)
½ teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan.

Grate or shred the zucchini; you should have a generous cup of squash. By hand, squeeze the squash to get out the excess liquid. (No need to go crazy here, it shouldn't be completely dry.)

Whisk the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a medium bowl. Add the zucchini. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa , espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just until incorporated; do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and about ¾ cup of the nuts.

Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and top with the remaining nuts. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes. Then remove from the pan and let cool completely before slicing.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Weekend Cooking: Apfelkuchen

I think I mentioned a couple of months ago that I have been watching a lot of UK chef Rick Stein's TV shows at the moment. I first bought one of his cook books back in the 1990s when I lived in the UK, so I guess I have been a fan for a while, but I have been particularly enjoying the combination of travel, culture, history and food that have been features of his most recent series.

One of those recent series has been the Long Weekends series, where he has visiting cities that are within a short flying distance from the UK, and not necessarily some of the better known places like Paris or Rome. Instead he has visiting places like Reykjavik, Vienna and Bordeaux.  In fact, the visit to Vienna had me craving really good weiner schnitzel for weeks, a craving I only just satisfied this week with an Italian version which was delicious.

This recipe comes from the episode where he visited Berlin. As soon as I saw this I knew that I wanted to try it. I should also have known that my son was not going to want to try it no matter how delicious it was, and that was confirmed in due course. I was, however, a little surprised when the reason why he wouldn't try it was because you shouldn't put fruit in cake. Since when? Guess my work mates are going to get a big chunk of cake tomorrow. Luckily, they are generally an appreciative audience!

So what is Apfelkuchen? It sounds so much more exotic than apple cake, but that is pretty much what it is! I definitely would make it again, but it won't be just for home because otherwise I will end up having to eat it all myself. I could easily do that, but I probably shouldn't!

Apfelkuchen (German Apple Cake)



2 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges
1 tbsp lemon juice
125g/4½oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
140g/5oz golden caster sugar
3 free-range eggs, at room temperature, beaten
225g/8oz plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
5 tbsp full-fat milk

For the topping

1½ tbsp demerara sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3. Butter and line a 23cm/9in round cake tin.

Coat the apple wedges in the lemon juice and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, using an electric hand mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Slowly add the milk, mixing well after each addition, until you have a smooth batter.

Transfer the batter to the cake tin. Arrange the apple slices, flat-side down, on the batter in a spiral pattern.

For the topping, mix together the demerara sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the batter.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean and the top is golden-brown. Leave to cool for 15 minutes in the tin. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and turn it out of the tin onto a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.


Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

David Hockney: Current

I'm not really much of an art aficionado. I often don't get what makes popular art popular, especially when it comes to contemporary art. Having said that, I am always interested in learning more and expanding the limited knowledge I do have.

I am very lucky to live in a city where large exhibitions happen on a regular basis, whether it be in art galleries or museums, so I do try to take advantage of those with the hope that I will find something I like and may be learn something along the way.

A couple of weeks ago I headed into the National Gallery of Victoria to see the David Hockney: Current exhibition which focuses on the British artist's works from the last 10 years. I guess I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised because I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition.

I particularly enjoy seeing the way that the artist uses technology. A lot of his work is done on iPads or iPhones, and in a lot of cases he has recorded the artistic processes so that you can  sit and watch the art being created from initial strokes, to redesign, to completion.

One of the series is called 82 Portraits and a Still Life because, well, there are 82 portraits and a still life. I liked that the people being featured in the portraits varied from famous friends to his hairdresser. I

I came out of the exhibition feeling like I had enjoyed it rather than having to still try and work out exactly what the heck was going on in a lot of the pieces. I would definitely go and see another exhibition by this artist, without hesitation.

The exhibition finishes this weekend, ready to make way for the next big exhibition, which I am sure I will visit at some point

And of course, no visit to the NGV is complete without the obligatory feast of scones and jam and cream.




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