Sunday, July 29, 2018

Weekend Cooking: Lemon Tart

 I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had recently made a couple of Donna Hay recipes when I shared her recipe for Salted Caramel and Vanilla Baked Cheesecake. Donna Hay is probably one of Australia's best known food identity and I have several of her cook books, but I don't tend to cook out of them very often. Indeed the cookbook that I got this recipe out of has languished on my bookshelf unopened for many years. When I did finally look at it I was pleasantly surprised.

At work, we take turns in making birthday cakes for each other. Each person makes the cake for the next person's birthday but in June we have lots. There are about 4 birthdays in two weeks and that typically means lots of chocolate cake. My birthday cake recipient and I had a chat and we agreed that we wanted something different than chocolate cake, and so I thought it was time to finally attempt making a Lemon Tart.

I say finally because I have been saying that I wanted to attempt one for several years now. The main reason is because they taste delicious, but the second thing was that I wanted to make my own pastry which is something I have never done before.

Like so many things that I am making recently it is something of a surprise to find that this form of pastry wasn't particularly difficult, which is lucky because I ended up making it twice. I didn't have to make it again because it wasn't right (although the second time I made it I rolled it a lot a lot thinner which I think was better.

I had to ditch the first lot of pastry because I made a rookie mistake. The pastry was blind baking in the oven and it was time to remove the baking beans. All good so far. But here's a hint. If you are using a loose bottomed tart tray it is best not to carry it from the bottom because what ends up happening it that you end up putting your hand through the base, ruining your pastry, and burning your arm as the outer ring slides down. Won't do that again any time soon I hope.

Anyway, I was really, really pleased with how the lemon tart came out. The pastry was beautiful and the tart very lemonny. I think I am going to make it again next week.


 Lemon Tart

 

Pastry Base

1½ cups (225g) plain (all-purpose) flour
125g chilled butter, cut into cubes
½ cup (80g) icing (confectioner’s) sugar, plus extra, for dusting
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon iced water 

Filling
1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream
2 eggs
3 egg yolks, extra
½ cup (110g) caster (superfine) sugar
½ cup (125ml) lemon juice



Place the flour, butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add the egg yolks and process to combine. Add the iced water and process until the dough just comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently bring together to form a ball. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
 

Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Roll the pastry out between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper to 3mm-thick. Line an 11cm x 34cm lightly greased loose-bottomed tart tin with the pastry, trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking weights. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is light golden. Reduce temperature to 140ºC (275ºF).
 

To make the lemon filling, place the cream, eggs, extra yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk to combine. Strain through a sieve and pour into the tart shell. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until just set. Allow to cool and refrigerate until completely set. Dust with icing sugar to serve. Serves 4–6.

 

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, July 21, 2018

Weekend Cooking: Brioche buns

My sous chef and I enjoy cooking together, and we have been experimenting with making bread over the last year or so. We are big fans of the no knead bread recipe that I have previously posted

The other week we were watching Masterchef Australia(which we never miss) and in one of the team challenges they made a  Smoked Salmon on Brioche dish. We haven't done the smoked salmon part, but we have now made the brioche a couple of times, and it's really delicious and not too difficult given that most of the kneading is done in the stand mixer. We also haven't put the sesame seeds on, but we will one day I'm sure.


Brioche Buns


400g 00 flour, plus extra to dust (we are just using normal plain flour)
35g caster sugar
14g / 2 sachets dried instant yeast
3 eggs
40ml olive oil
1 tsp fine salt
3 tsp black sesame seeds
3 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp salt flakes
30g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C.

Place the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix briefly. Add 2 eggs, oil and 185ml water. Mix on high speed for 6 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add fine salt and beat for a further 1 minute to make a smooth but sticky dough. Portion dough into 6 balls and place on a lightly floured work surface.

Knock the air from each ball of dough and gently roll to form a smooth ball. Place balls on a paper lined tray, leaving space between each. Lightly dust a large sheet of cling film and place over the balls to cover completely. Set aside, in a warm place, to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

For the egg wash, place black and white sesame seeds in a small bowl, mix to combine and set aside. Place remaining egg and salt flakes together in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Brush the risen balls of dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with mixed sesame seeds. Place in oven and bake until the surface of the buns are golden, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and while buns are still hot, brush lightly with melted butter. Set aside to cool until serving.

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, July 14, 2018

Weekend Cooking: Dinner with Friends

One of the things that I am gradually learning with the sous chef* is that cooking for others need not be too stressful now that there are two of us to take care of things. Previously if I knew that others were coming for a meal I would get stressed about what to cook, about what time to start, about what would happen if they didn't like it, if the food was going to be at an acceptable standard and so much more. I don't think I have too many disasters so I am not sure why I think like that, but I always have done.

Last week we invited some of our friends around to have dinner with us. Maybe part of the reason for not feeling too stressed about it was that I knew weeks ago what I was going to cook for dessert so it was really only what we would have for mains that was undecided. In fact, what we were having for dessert came even before I knew they were coming. It was probably more that I knew I wanted to cook the next Bake It Box and therefore I invited people around!!

We were a bit undecided about what to cook during the week leading up to the meal. We debated about beef ribs, or some version of American barbecue but in the end we decided to go with pork belly. Now this meant there were some firsts for me. I've never actually cooked with pork belly before, let alone with kalettes or fennel which form part of the cooked vegetables in this dish. In fact, I'd never heard of kalettes until we watched Masterchef recently and they were included in a recipe. Part of the reason for choosing this recipe was because I had picked up the supermarket magazine for July and this was the cover recipe. It seemed like as good a recipe to try as any.

I will say that we do look forward to picking up the Coles magazine every month. There are always lots of recipes that we think we might try. Not bad for a free supermarket magazine. You can also find some of the recipes on Taste.

We did change the vegies from brussel sprouts (bleugh) to broccoli but other than that we kept pretty much to the recipe. In addition, we made some brioche buns to have with dinner (recipe coming soon). This dish was very, very tasty, although I'm not really sure about pork belly because there just isn't that much meat. I think if we were going to do this recipe again, we would use a normal pork roast but use the herb rub which was absolutely delicious.

Crispy Skin Pork Belly with Caramelised Apples


1.3kg Pork Belly Roast Boneless
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 brown onion, cut into wedges
1 fennel, trimmed, cut into wedges
1 cup (250ml) salt-reduced chicken stock
200g pkt Kalettes, trimmed
200g brussels sprouts, halved (we substituted broccoli cut into florets)
3 teaspoons brown sugar
3 small red apples, halved

Preheat oven to 140°C. Place pork on a clean work surface. Pat rind dry with paper towel. Brush rind with half the oil. Sprinkle with salt, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. Place the onion and fennel wedges in the base of a roasting pan. Place pork, rind-side up, over the onion mixture. Pour stock around the pork in the pan. Cover and roast for 2 hours or until pork is very tender.
Increase oven to 230°C. Uncover and roast for 30 mins or until rind is crackled. Cover and set aside for 15 mins to rest.
Meanwhile, combine the kalettes, brussels sprout, 1 teaspoon of the sugar and remaining oil in a roasting pan. Season. Sprinkle cut side of apple with remaining sugar. Add to kalette mixture in the pan. Roast at 230°C with pork, turning occasionally, for 20 mins or until tender.
Arrange the pork, onion mixture and kalette mixture on a large serving platter. Thickly slice the pork to serve.

So for dessert I made the April Bake it Box which was a Vanilla Custard Cake. This was a pretty clever cake. You make a single cake batter, but the magic is that the cake separates into a sponge top layer, a soft custard inside and a firm custard base. Very tasty! I am keen to try making it again at some point and maybe making it a chocolate flavoured custard cake.

We went from this:



To this:




This was when cake making felt a little bit like craft



The finished product


I'm very happy with how it turned out. Even my wafer paper flower didn't look too wonky, and it tasted great!

All in all a very successful evening.

* My boyfriend/partner/man have several things we enjoy doing together (no,.,I wasn't talking about anything like that!!). We enjoy cooking together. He is a much more organised cook than I am, but even so he doesn't mind cleaning up after me as I cook. He shall henceforth be known as the sous chef.

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, July 07, 2018

Weekend Cooking: Salted Caramel and Vanilla Baked Cheesecake

I mentioned last week that I made salted caramel sauce for the first time ever and it was so delicious that now I am looking for any excuse to use it. In the end, my excuse came in the form of a dinner party with friends where I was nominated to bring dessert. After looking through many recipes trying to decide what to make I settled on Donna Hay's Salted Caramel and Vanilla Baked Cheesecake. This recipe met two criteria for me. The first was the salted caramel element but the second was that I have been wanting to make a baked cheesecake for a long time - something I have never done before.

I did get in a bit of trouble from my friends. I decided to make this because I wanted to push myself to make something new and to learn a new technique. My friends expected that I would bring my go-to cheesecake which is a White Chocolate Cheesecake. There was some vocalised disappointment. I think they almost forgave me when they tasted this one. Almost, but not quite.

This was the second Donna Hay dessert I had made over a couple of weeks. The first was a lemon tart that I will post about soon. It was kind of funny really. I have several Donna Hay cookbooks here, but there was at least one that I bought years ago and hadn't looked at ever since. I ended up being quite impressed by the recipes in the cookbook. I was left wondering why I hadn't cooked from it. before. This recipe, however, came from her website.

Anyway, I digress.

This recipe took a bit of time, but it wasn't too difficult. I ended with way too much of the base but I'm not sure why. If I had of used all of it, the base would have been way too thick.  As it was the filling went to the top of the tin rather than how the picture on the website showed, but I just put the cream on top when it was time to serve, Everyone was impressed. I thought it was totally delicious, and was impressed with how smooth the filling was. Sometimes baked cheesecake can be a bit stodgy and a bit dry, but this one wasn't at all. One of my friends even said that she was surprised that it was a baked cheesecake at all

Salted Caramel and Vanilla Baked Cheesecake


Base 
500g plain sweet shortbread biscuits
½ cup (60g) almond meal (ground almonds)
150g butter, melted

Filling
350g ricotta
500g cream cheese
1 cup (175g) brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream layer
1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream
1 cup (240g) sour cream
1 tablespoon icing (confectioner’s) sugar, sifted
sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

Caramel sauce
1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream
60g butter, chopped
1 cup (175g) brown sugar

To make the caramel sauce, place the cream, butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 5–7 minutes or until thickened. Set aside and allow to cool. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). \

Place the biscuits and almond meal in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add the butter and process to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of a lightly greased 22cm springform cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Place the ricotta and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5–6 minutes or until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for 3–4 minutes or until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the golden syrup, table salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat until well combined. 
 
Spoon the mixture into the biscuit shell. Place the tin in a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the tin. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove cheesecake from the baking dish and allow to cool in the tin. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set. 

Place the cream, sour cream, icing sugar and remaining vanilla in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Top the cheesecake with the cream, drizzle with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt flakes to serve. Serves 8–10

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.

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