Weekend Cooking: Everything is Indian by Justin Nararyan

When Justin Narayan's Everything is Indian was announced as the May selection for the Lambs Ear Cook Book Club, I was curious about the book without being convinced that it was one that I needed to buy so I borrowed it from the library. Before the book was even due back at the library, I had already purchased it and had it delivered as I know that we are going to be cooking out of this book in the future!

Justin Narayan was the winner of Masterchef Australia in 2021. He was born and bred in Australia and has a Fijian Indian background and this mixed background is reflected in the ideas and flavours in this book. In the introduction, Narayan ponders on the importance of food in creating connections with other people

When you first look at a recipe or think about cooking, I don't want you to think about how to make it tasty. I want you to think about how to make someone happy. Think about who you are cooking for rather than what you're cooking. Whose that person is they are more important than what you cook. Food is just a way to connect with them and make them feel something That is is how my mum and my parti (grandma) cooked.

He also talks about growing up in Australia

The recipes in this book are about me, my culture and where I come from. Food is how I relate to the world and these recipes are how I've related to the people around me. It starts with the Fijian-Indian recipes I grew up with (traditional and easy versions you can make in around 30 minutes), then it goes into all the dishes I've learned to cook growing up in Australia. It's a melting pot of cultures here - when it comes to food, I think Australia is one of the best places in the world - and that mix of cultures is part of me. It's part of who I am and its inspired me.

The three main recipes sections of the book are titled 

The Family House

Love, Entertainment, Hunger, Pressure: Everything That Made Me a Cook

I Grew Up Very Confused: Maybe We're Not That Different

In The Family House we see a lot of the Fijian Indian recipes so there are a lot curries, but also recipes for roti bread, lolo bread and other dishes. Interestingly, for the Masterchef fans,  Justin has shared two chicken curry recipes related to his appearances on the show. One is what he is calling The OG Chicken Curry and was the dish that he first shared with the judges on the show as his signature dish. The second curry is called The "Chicken Curry" That Got Me a Masterchef Apron. Why the "chicken curry ". Because it is served as a juicy piece of chicken breast with a chicken skin crackling, a curry sauce and cauliflower puree. It's not your normal looking curry.

In the second section we find recipes such as roast chicken, pizza, pork belly as well as Victoria sponge, caramel slice and lots of different sauces

In the final section, we see how everything can come together to make the familiar new. For example, there is a Green Chicken Curry Tacos recipe and a Fried Fish Sando with Curry Tartare. A sando is a sandwich - Australians have a tendency to short words and/or add sounds to the end. In this case it was both. For those with a sweet tooth, there is an amazing looking recipe for Chai Creme Brulee, as well as Dessert Tacos and Tres Leches cake which can be made either with the traditional flavours or by giving it an Indian flavour twist. 

So far we have made 

Curry Roast chicken with marsala roast potato and raita

Prawn Curry

Curried Sausage rolls

We have actually made the roast potato a few times, and this has now become our go-to technique of how to make roast potatoes. We don't always do the spices but the technique is a winner.

Just some of the other recipes we intend to make include

Caramel slice

Fried Eggs with Roti

Egg Curry

Potato Curry


The Caramel Slice is an example of several recipes in the book where you can either use the more traditional recipe or use the with a twist variation.  In this case, the traditional caramel slice recipe of biscuit base, a caramel layer and then covered in chocolate is adapted by adding vanilla, cardamon and grated nutmeg into the caramel mixture. You then sprinkle roasted pistachios on top of the chocolate.

The book is super colourful and easy to use. It has a great table in the front where you can say I need to cook something, let's say cooking for a crowd, and then there are a list of the recipes that you might want to use which includes recipes for tacos, Portuguese chicken, curries, lamb shanks and more

When I was thinking about which recipes to share, it had to be the Curried Sausage Rolls which got a very big thumbs up in our house. One thing I would clarifiy is that in Australia, puff pastry comes in sheets that are around 20cm square, so the size of the rectangles will be about 10 x 20cm. Also, in the recipe the instruction is to bake until GBD which stands for Golden Brown and Delicious. 

I didn't put the seasoning on the ones I made in this picture, just in case you were wondering.

And now, I am craving Curried Sausage Rolls. Good job I have some mince in the fridge!

Curried Sausage Rolls


1 tablespoon light olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Fiji masala powder or garam masala
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) lamb (see tip)
½ cup (30 g) Japanese (panko) breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 puff pastry sheets, thawed if frozen
200 g (7 oz) tasty cheese, grated (optional)

Egg wash

2 tablespoons milk
1 egg


Seasoning

½ teaspoon chilli flakes
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
½ teaspoon cumin seeds

To Serve

Your favourite sauce (there are no rules)




Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is lightly browned. Add all the powdered spices and chilli and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Add the lamb, breadcrumbs, salt and egg to the bowl and massage with your hands or a spatula until you have a smooth uniform mixture. Cut or shape four even rectangles from the puff pastry (if it's store-bought, just cut each sheet in half).

Spoon a quarter of the lamb mixture along one side of a pastry rectangle, about 1 cm (½ inch) from the edge.Scatter the cheese over the lamb mixture, if using. Roll up the pastry, starting from the lamb edge, to enclose the filling. Arrange so the seam (where the pastry edges overlap) sits underneath the sausage roll log. Repeat with the remaining pastry and lamb mixture. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Line a tray with baking paper.

Meanwhile, slice each log into six even pieces for party size or in half for a meal size, then place the sausage rolls on the prepared tray. Mix the egg wash ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Ina separate bowl, combine the seasoning ingredients. Brush each sausage roll with the egg wash, then sprinkle the seasoning over the top. Bake until the sausage rolls are GBD (see page 13), about 30–35 minutes. Serve with sauce.

Tips

You can swap out the lamb mince for any other kind of mince. If you want to make these in bulk and freeze them, place the tray in the freezer after rolling. Once frozen solid, transfer to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F), egg wash the frozen sausage rolls, season and bake from frozen for 35–40 minutes.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away
Sunday - Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Nasi Goreng
Wednesday - Bacon, Vegetable and Risoni Soup
Thursday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Macarons class

Last weekend I had a very French weekend! I made eclairs which I posted about here. We then went and had a French dinner before attending the arena performance of Les Miserables. The performance was amazing, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the meal that we had. It was a fixed price menu and I was a bit worried that it would be underwhelming but every thing we had was delicious and a very generous serving. 

On Saturday, my friend and I went to a 3 hour long class to make macarons. I have made macarons once before. That was during COVID when a couple of friends bought a kit, and we all made them and then had a Zoom afternoon tea. Remember those days! It turns out that this class was from the same people who sold the kit. The pastry chef, Josh, was very excited to hear that we had made them and wanted to see all the photos. I posted about that experience here. 

Thank goodness those days are now gone, and we can do classes in face to face environments now. After a glass of wine to get started, we headed into the professional kitchen which was our classroom for the day!

First we mixed together the almond meal, icing sugar and egg whites. Then Josh showed us how to make Italian meringue and then we all got given the necessary amount from a pre-made batch which we then mixed together to form the macaron mixture! Once our mixture was the right consistency we filled up the piping big and piped what was supposed to be a 20cm size. Mine were probably all a bit bigger and not that consistently sized.  After giving the tray a bit of a wobble on the bench top, they then needed to rest for about an hour until there is a skin formed on the top of the macaron. This is what helps the foot that is such a distinctive part of a well made macaron.

While we waited for our macarons to rest, we were treated to an amazing afternoon tea of quiches sandwiches, and delectable cakes. It was almost like what you would have for afternoon tea. It was way more than I was expecting!

Once the shells came out of the oven, they were all put into the blast freezer as quickly as possible. At home they would need to rest until completely cool.

Then it was time to make the passionfruit and milk chocolate ganache which formed the filling which is made from chocolate, glucose syrup, cream and passionfruit puree. This is another element that normally needs quite some time to cool completely so we got to bring the ganache home and use a pre-made batch for our filling.

Finally, it was time to assemble. After finding all the shells which were similar sizes to each other and putting the ganache in a piping bag it was time to pipe.  A handy hint was to generously pipe the ganache in the middle, when you put the two halves together give it a bit of twist so that the filling goes right to the edges.

I learned a few handy tips from the class:

• Put any food colouring in with the meringue, not in the almond meal mixture. It will blend much better and give you a consistent colour
• When you combine the meringue with the almond mixture, keep on mixing it until the mixture is loose enough to fall back in on itself. It needs more mixing than you might think. This is why my previous attempt looked more like meringue kisses instead of macarons.
• Aim for a 20 cent size when piping the macarons. Mine were bigger but as long as they are consistent sizes it will be fine. Leave to rest for about an hour before baking.
• Once they are baked you want them to still be chewy. They should be able to peel off the baking paper once they are cooked but not just slide off as a meringue kiss would.
• You can freeze filled macaroons. Just take them out of the freezer 24 hours before you want to serve them and thaw them in the fridge. This means you can make big batches
• The flavour is much better if you leave them for a day before you eat them. If you can resist them!

This was the first time they had run this class so I think that it was an experiment to make sure that they had the timings right etc. The ladies who were part of the group also had lots of suggestions for other classes that they would love to do. I would definitely go again.

In addition to the macarons, I also bought home the tub of passionfruit and milk chocolate ganache which I then had to figure out how to use. In the end, I used it to top some of the eclairs that I had previously made and then filled with chocolate cream. We still have a lot left. One of the chefs who was working with us suggested you could have it on ice cream or toast. I could do ice cream, but I am not sure that I could do toast! All suggestions for how to use it gratefully accepted!

A while ago, I bought a kit to make salted caramel macaroons and now, having done the class, I feel much more confident to give them a go than I did previously. I think I will probably do them in a couple of weeks time!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Spicy Prawn Curry with rice and roti (new)
Sunday - Steak, baked potato, carrot and broccoli
Monday - Pea and ham soup with artisan bread (new)
Tuesday - Zucchini, mushroom and tomato pasta
Wednesday - Normandy Pork and mash
Thursday - Takeaway
Friday - French Onion Casserole

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Airplane Club by Helen Simonson

 

It seems impossible to me that it has been more than 14 years since I read Helen Simonson's first book Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which I reviewed here. I know that there has been another book since, which I haven't read, but as soon as I heard about this book I knew that I wanted to read it, so when it was chosen as the April/May selection for Cook the Books, it was serendipitous. 

The year is 1919 and Britain is returning to normal after the end of WWI, whatever normal means. 

During the war, Constance Haverhill ran a country estate. Now that the men are back from war, she has been asked to give up that role and the cottage that comes with it. Her employer, Lady Mercer, who was also sort of kind of a lifelong friend of her mother, is suggesting that she might become a governess, a thought that Constance dreads. She hopes to find a role as a bookkeeper or something similar. However, before that she has been asked to perform one last role - accompany Lady Mercer's mother, Mrs Fog, to holiday in Hazelbourne-by-the-Sea. What neither Constance or Lady Mercer know is that Mrs Fog has her own reasons for visiting the town, one that is bound to cause upset in due course.

There Constance meets Poppy Wirrall, daughter of local gentry, and they become firm friends. Poppy runs a taxi and delivery service where the drivers are all local women. She also runs a motorcycle club for women and wants to add a flying club. Like Constance, many of her drivers are facing the loss of their jobs due to the fact that they are seen as men's roles.

Constance also meet's Poppy's brother, Harris. He too is struggling with what the future looks like. He has friends who own an airfield but they won't allow him to fly due to his war injuries. The estate that he has now inherited is struggling, and the way of life that he would have expected to live before the war are pretty much gone. However, no-one seems to have told his mother who still lives extravagantly.

Harris struggles to adapt back to normal life, or as normal as it can be when you have lost part of your leg, but also the mental challenges, the shellshock and the survivors guilt. I am not normally someone who takes notice and shares quotes but there were two in this book from Harris that really stopped me in my reading tracks and take notice.

The CO was still with them at the forward base in Saint-Omer. By the time he disappeared during the Third Battle of Ypres, the numbers of dead had become numbing, the grief briefer.

Brief grief: always there was the moment of turning away, of giving up on straining to hear another engine coming home behind the hill. A sandwich or a hot pie chewed in silence and a cup of strong tea burning the throat. Then a quick wash and maybe a sleep. Because in the Flying Corps, the ritual was clear. To honour the men who did not come home in the evening, the dawn flight would go out uninterrupted. 

In this second passage, Harris is speaking to Constance.

"It would be nice to think that something good might come out of all these years of misery," she said. "World peace is all very well, but for the average person - let us say the average woman - it would be nice to think there might be some enduring changes. Some additional respect, some freedom, some scope for a larger life."

and then a bit later

"What would you like to see come from these shadowed years of misery?" she asked as gently as she could. "You who have given the greatest sacrifice should design our future."

He laughed sharply, but his eyes, when he looked up from his cocoa, did not blaze with contempt. He took a moment to consider her question, turning it in his mind as if it was a think of many facets. 

"Those who have given the greatest sacrifice are not here to speak," he said, his voice hoarse. "Those of us who are - Well, I must rack my brain every day to discover if I am a coward. If I made some decision to save myself. Because why else am I here and better men are gone?" He buried his head in his hands and made a low animal moan of pain.

Once again Helen Simonson has given us a book which feels lighthearted, and yet covers many serious topics including racism, the effects of war, class differences and social change, and asks questions like how should the end of WWI, or indeed any war, be commemorated the year after it ended. She does it with a gentle humour and wry observations about society and class. Now I need to go and find her last book, The Summer Before the War because I really have enjoyed both of her other books. 

To be honest, I was a bit surprised when this book was announced as the Cook the Books selection because nothing on the cover, or in the blurb, suggests that it is foodie book. I mean, if the title had of been the the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Fly Club Cafe, yes, but it wasn't. However, I needn't have worried because while it isn't foodie like a book about a cafe would be, there is plenty of food throughout the pages. I was keeping notes as I read through the book every time food was mentioned, and there were a lot, ranging from bacon and onion sandwiches to anchovy toast to blancmange. However, it was around half way through the book when I found what I was going to make.

The characters are sitting on the Palm Terrace of the hotel eating chocolate eclairs and drinking hot chocolate, waiting for the German submarine which has been left stranded on the beach to be destroyed.

"Ah yes, we are to be assaulted with the noise of that dreadful submarine on the beach being blown to pieces," said Lady Mercer as Klaus approached with a bouillon cup on a saucer. "But the young man assured us we only need cover our ears briefly. "

"Yes, madam," said the waiter. "I believe they expect to slice it in two with a single cannon blast. You will enjoy a front row view from here." 

"Extraordinary," said Lady Mercer, in a voice that carried to all the neighbouring tables. "I can't imagine such a thing passing as entertainment in Brighton or in St-Tropez." Constance suppressed a grin, having never personally seen Lady Mercer leave her gardens in Surrey to visit the seaside either at home or abroad.

"I suppose it's entirely safe," said Mrs Fog. "Perhaps we should move away from the windows?"

"Nonsense, Mother, the view is in obvious demand." Indeed, there were more hotel guests and others crowding at the door and Klaus moved away to assist the undermanager in finding seats for the new arrivals.

Needless to say, things don't quite go to plan.

My husband has been asking me to make eclairs for the longest time, but I have been putting it off as I was a little bit intimidated at the thought. I have made choux pastry once before, but not eclairs, but now is the time for it to happen. I should mention that a bit further along in the passage, Lady Mercer swallows a piece of eclair awkwardly and nearly chokes. I hope that doesn't happen with hubby!

To make the eclairs I used Masterchef Australia winner Emelia Jackson's recipe from her book First, Cream the Butter and Sugar. On Masterchef she is known as the Choux Queen! I have posted about this book before here. I then used stabilised cream and chocolate ganache recipes that I have used in other recipes before to make the filling and topping.

I tried to make these as perfectly as I could, but as you probably recall I have said before, I am better at baking things that taste good rather than looking pretty. I tried to put lines on the baking tray so that I could pipe exactly 10cm long eclairs, but I couldn't see the lines against my tray so I ended up having to freehand them! Straight lines are not my forte!

This recipe made a LOT of eclair shells, way too many for 2 people, so I ended up freezing a lot of them. Maybe I will experiment with some other flavour combinations over the coming weeks. Watch this space. I suspect I will be asked to make the chantilly cream in that same way again. Robert, my husband, is very happy with all of it, but especially the cream! Happy husband!

Chocolate Eclairs

Choux Pastry

225g water
100g unsalted butter
1tspn caster sugar
1tspn salt
140g plain flour
265g whole eggs (about 5 large eggs), weight without shells


Preheat the oven to 150C (no fan). Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.

To make the dough, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rapid boil before adding the plain flour. Cook this roux stirring rapidly for 5-7 minutes or until a thick crust forms at the base of the saucepan - this ensures the flour is well hydrated and you achieve the most consistent results.

Transfer the hot roux to the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed until all of the steam dissipates – this helps to evaporate off any excess moisture that could weigh down the choux, leaving you with the lightest possible pastry.

Start adding the eggs, a little bit at a time, and mix until the dough comes together to a silky, shiny batter. The dough should be firm enough to hold its shape, falling off your scraper when you lift it out of the bowl.

Transfer the choux to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (approx 1.5cm diameter) and pipe each eclair around 10cm long, leaving ample space between them so they can spread and rise.

Bake the choux for at least 45 minutes before opening the oven door. Cook until a deep-golden, caramelised brown colour all over. Remove from the oven and cool at room temperature.

Cut the eclairs in half then dip the top halves in the chocolate glaze. Cool in the fridge before filling with whipped cream using a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle.

Chocolate Glaze

Finely chop 100g of dark chocolate. Heat 2/3 cup of cream and 3 teaspoons of glucose syrup until hot and then pour over the chocolate. Leave for 1 minute and then stir until thick and glossy.

Chantilly cream

Whip 3 cups of whipped cream, 1 cup of mascarpone, 1 and 2/3 cups of icing sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste until stiff peaks form.

I am sharing this review with the Foodies Read challenge hosted at Based on a True Story, with the other participants in Cook the Books and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host! 

I am very excited about the next selection which is Aimie K Runyan's A Bakery in Paris. At this stage I am planning to post about this book some time in July as part of Paris in July

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away
Sunday - Away
Monday - Nasi Goreng
Tuesday - Sausages, mash, gravy and broccolini
Wednesday - Spicy Beef Noodles (new)
Thursday - Zucchin, Tomato and Parmesan Risotto
Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Sift: The Elements of Great Baking by Nicola Lamb

 

When Jamie Oliver announced this book as the November selection for his Cook Book club, my initial reaction was do I really want another baking book to sit on the shelves. To be fair, I think that most months and then I end up buying the book anyway, which is what happened with this one. It turns out that this is a baking book that I needed! Not just wanted...needed.

The structure of this book is quite unusual. The first third of the book is all about techniques and ingredients, and really gets into the details. Then there is a chapter which is the base recipes, and then we get to recipes at around page 140.

You may wonder what on earth there is to talk about in 140 pages before you get to recipes. I promise you, there's a lot. For example, in the chapter about flour, Lamb gives us an explanation about what a wheat kernel consists of, about the development of gluten, about the role of starch and more. Similarly, in the section about sugar, we get descriptions of the role of sugar and what happens when you add sugar and water together and then about adding salt to the equation. There are also chapters about eggs, fats, how things rise (for example in pastry) and so much more. It's often said that baking is a scientific and this is where we have the opportunity to learn the science.

The base recipes provided including meringues, choux, craquelin, brioche and so much more. 

When it comes to the recipes, I love how the author not only gives you the recipe but she also points you back to the reference section. For example, in the recipe I have shared below, she points us to the base choux bun recipe for the technique of making the choux. She also tells us that the techniques we are using are Starch Gelatinisation and Egg Coagulation, along with the page numbers where we can find the information. In other words, she is always pointing us back to the science. It's very clever and I've never seen a book laid out in exactly this way.

Even the way that the recipes are grouped together is different. They are sorted into 3 different sections. The first is recipes that you can make in an afternoon. The next group can be made in a day and the final group are recipes that are more complicated and that you can make in a weekend, including a wide range of different viennoiserie. An example of a recipe that could be made in the weekend is Tiramichoux, which is choux buns with craquelin that is then filled with mascarpone custard, salted brown butter coffee sauce and even has a savoirdi biscuit in it. There is a summary which talks about what you can do on Day 1 and how long it should take, and then what you should on Day 2.

When I went through the recipes there were many which I wanted to make but the four that stood out the most were:

Brown Sugar Custard Tart

Rhubarb and Custard Crumb Cake

Secret Chocolate Cake

Mango Shortcake with Candied Lime. 

Oh, and there are some savoury recipes as well.

One of the cool things in the book is right at the back where there is something called the Matrix of Joy. The idea is that it is a table with various techniques on the vertical and other recipes from the book on the horizontal, and that by looking at the various intersections tells you how you can combine the two to come up with something new. For example, by combining choux buns with a pastry cream, you now have Custard Choux Buns or by combining Puff Pastry with Frangipane, then you now can create Galette des Rois.

The one recipe that I kept coming back to over and over was the Plum and Mascarpone Karpatka, which is also known as a Polish Mountain Cake so that is what I have been making today. All the components are now cooling and once I have put it all together I will add a picture. 

I will say that I had to use canned whole plums, as it is not plum season here.

Update - this was so delicious! Thumbs up from the husband.

Plum and Mascarpone Karpatka (Polish Mountain Cake)

Choux base

65g whole milk
65g water
65g butter
15g caster sugar

90g self-raising flour or 90g plain flour with 4g baking powder

150g–175g whole eggs (about 3)

3g flaky sea salt (about 1 tsp)

Stewed plums

250g plums, stoned
70g water
60g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, spent (optional)
5g cornflour (about 1½ tsp)


Mascarpone custard

300g whole milk
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk (75g total)
60g caster sugar
30g cornflour
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
250g mascarpone, at room temp

Instructions:

For the choux, preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan. Make the choux according to the master choux method on page 136, (traditional choux method) adding the baking powder in with the flour if using plain flour.

Line the two tins with baking paper at the bottom only. Spread 200–225g of choux paste in each tin, leaving the top slightly rough and wavy and using a palette knife to help. If you only have one tin, bake one at a time.

Bake for 35–40 minutes until well peaked, golden and crisp. Leave to cool completely in the tins on a cooling rack, then remove.

For the plums, cut the plums into six. In a small saucepan, combine the plums with 50g of the water, the sugar and vanilla. Heat over a medium heat, occasionally stirring so the plums are well coated. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan with a lid. Steam for 4–5 minutes. If the plums are still firm, cook for a further 2 minutes. Mix the cornflour with the remaining water to create a slurry, then stir into the hot liquid. Bring to a bubble so it thickens. Pour into a clean container and leave to cool.

For the mascarpone custard, heat the milk until simmering. Meanwhile, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, sugar, cornflour and vanilla. Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly to temper, then return the custard to the stovetop. Cook for 3–4 minutes over a medium heat until boiling, whisking the whole time. Pour into a clean container, then set aside to cool and gelatinise – make sure you put clingfilm or baking paper on the surface so it doesn't form a skin. You want it to be totally cold and firm before continuing with this recipe.

Beat the mascarpone until smooth – it does have a tendency to be a bit lumpy, so you just have to be prepared to work it. Once that’s ready, set aside and beat the custard until smooth and no longer jelly-like. The easiest way to do this is in a stand mixer bowl if you have one.

Now, fold/mix the two together - it should make a very thick cream. You can also do this in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Leave it in the fridge until ready to join.

To assemble, line one of the cake tins with acetate or baking paper. This will help you get a smooth edge. Place your less cute choux disc in the base. Pile in half of the mascarpone custard, then spread the stewed plums on top. Top with the other half of the custard. Place the most mountainous choux disc on top. All the cake to settle/reset by resting it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Before serving, remove the cake from the tin and dust with icing sugar. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days and will get softer over time.

Note from the author

You can also use your favourite jam in the middle of this! Thanks to Marta Beimin, who makes the most stunning Karpatkas, for inspiring the juicy stewed plums in this recipe!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Butter chicken
Sunday - 
Monday - Honey Pepper Chicken (new)
Tuesday -
Wednesday -Pork Nachos
Thursday -Pork chops, mash, broccoli and gravy
Friday - Leftovers

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Figolli (Take 2)

On the Easter weekend I attempted to share a post about my experience of going to a cooking class to make a Maltese Easter treat called Figolli. We were away that weekend. Unfortunately I was about 45 minutes away from home when I realised that I hadn't even thought about taking my laptop with me. I had been so tired on the Thursday night that I didn't just finish off my Saturday post so I thought I would just use the Blogger app to just do the last bit. That was a mistake. That removed all the photos and added in about 50 paragraph lines for each time I wanted a break which made it unreadable. I am therefore reposting it this week!


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Recently my friend and I attended a cooking class run by the Maltese Community Council of Victoria. The class was to make a traditional Easter treat called Figolli which consists of a layer of marzipan sandwiched between pastry and cut into various shapes. In our case we made rabbit shaped figolli!

We started with all of our pre-measured ingredients

We were then shown how to make the pastry. The recipe we were given includes the instructions on how to make it using a mixer but for this occasion we made it using the time honoured technique of using our fingers to mix the flour and butter until it became like breadcrumbs and then adding in the extra ingredients to form a dough

From there, we rolled out our pastry and cut out the rabbit shape. One handy tip we were given was to cut the dough into halves, and then cutting out the shape. When re-rolling, take a bit of the second half of dough so that it helps keep it more pliable.

We then made the almond filling using a mixture of ground almonds, caster sugar, egg whites and almond essence

The figolli is formed with a layer of pastry, the almond paste, another layer of pastry and milk wash.

And then off to cook in the professional kitchen ovens

Once the creation was baked and cooled it is time to ice. We used the biggest batch of royal icing I have ever seen as a base, and then we coloured small amounts of icing and used various decorations that we were supplied to decorate. You can also use melted chocolate to decorate

Given that I had never even seen figolli, let alone knew what they tasted like, I tried to stay pretty close to the shapes and decoration that was suggested. Other people in the group obviously have more experience and so there were a variety of other shapes and decorations being used. 

The class was held in a a cooking school kitchen, so there were proper commercial ovens, all the equipment you could possibly need, stainless steel benches!

It was very cool and a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Oh, and it tasted delicious!!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Pizza 

Sunday -  Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake

Monday - Tomato and Rice Soup

Tuesday - Pepper Beef Stew with rice

Wednesday - Spaghetti Bolognaise

Thursday - Green Curry Chicken Pie

Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

This book the current selection for Cook the Books. It's not one I remember hearing about before but I read it while I was on holidays and I thoroughly enjoyed it. With some books you know from the first chapter that it is your kind of book, and this was one of those books.

Olivia Rawlings is a talented pastry chef, but she does have other talents too, specifically for getting herself into troublesome situations that she then runs away from. The book opens when she accidentally sets fire to the restaurant she works at while carrying a Bombe Alaska.  Thankfully she knows that she can run to her friend's home in a small town in Vermont, which will allow her lay low until the dust settles.

Once there she begins working at the Sugar Maple Inn, where her boss, Margaret, is a very opinionated woman with extremely high standards and very little warmth. Livvy needs the work and a place to live so she accepts the role regardless of the challenges that she knows she will face. Fortunately, other people in the town are more welcoming.

The food descriptions in this book were amazing! I often found myself wishing I was able to eat the food that was being described. It's not only about food though. There is lots of music, a story of found family, and yes, a touch of romance!  One of the things that surprised me was the reference to a version of square dancing which took me back to my childhood years. My parents were square dance callers and they ran clubs. As an aside, I can't quite believe that it has taken me 18 years of blogging to mention that! 

Livvy was a good character despite her tendency to run whenever the going got tough. I love the relationships that she build with some of the older characters in the novel.

This was Louise Miller's first novel and I am excited to read more from her, especially if the future books have a foodie feel to them too!

One of the big components of the book is that the owner of the inn, Margaret, wants to her pastry chef to be able to bake the perfect apple pie so that she can win the local baking competition, especially in the face of her lifelong feud with one of the other contestants.

When I was thinking about what to make it seems obvious that the best recipe to cook would be apple pie, but that wasn't really ap-peel-ing to me (see what I did there!). There was even a recipe for apple pie included in the book. I did, however, still intend to do something inspired by apple pie so I went looking for some recipes using that as my search term. I did look at some really very fancy Apple Pie Cakes but I must confess I have lost my confidence in making really complicated cakes. I should challenge myself to do something complicated again but not when I just got off a plane. It needed to be something simple this time.

 If you break down the components of an apple pie, there is pastry, apple filling with cinnamon notes and then it is served with cream. So instead of apple pies, I bring you Apple Turnovers. I sort of took inspiration from a few different recipes for making this

Apple Turnovers

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and dices into small cubes

2 tsp cornflour
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt
2 square puff pastry sheets 

1 egg , whisked

Put apples in a large saucepan and then toss with cornflour and the add the rest of the filling ingredients. Cook on medium to medium-high heat, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes. Apple should be softened and the sauce slightly thickened.

Spread the filling on a large plate then let it cool completely

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan).

Line a large cutting board  with baking paper.

Allow the pastry sheets to thaw slightly and then cut into 4 squares (approximiately 12.5cm). Brush 2 edges with egg, then pile filling on the egg brushed side. 

Fold over, seal with fork dipped in flour (prevents sticking to pastry) and then place on the paper lined cutting board.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes 

Slide the paper with the turnovers on it onto a large baking tray. Brush turnovers with egg. Pierce a couple of times with a knife and then bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

Serve warm with whipped cream or fill with stabilised whip cream once cool, if you can wait that long.

These were delicious. The only thing was that my frozen pastry was a bit old and so there were parts that were a bit dry. Next time we buy some pastry I will make some of these again with fresh pastry.

The next selection for Cook the Books is Under Cooked by Dan Ahdoot. I will also be sharing this review with Foodie Reads hosted at Based on a True Story.

Weekly meals

Saturday -  

Sunday -  Apple Turnovers

Monday - 

Tuesday - Mexican Chicken and Rice

Wednesday - One Pan Butter Chicken
Thursday - Out

Friday -Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Our visit to Lune Lab

 

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to be able to attend Lune Lab.

What, you may ask, is Lune Lab? Lune is a foodie haunt which focuses on croissants and pastries. Lune started here in Melbourne around 10 years ago. On the weekends, there is always a queue out the door of people who want to try both the traditional and non-traditional flavours which change on a monthly basis. Based on the flavours we tried, we will definitely be trying to go back to try the flavours in future months. The founder, Kate Reid, was a former Formula 1 Aerodynamicist who decided that she wanted to do something completely different. Her scientific background translates to making croissants, working and reworking recipes until it is perfect using scientific thinking and methodology.

Lune Lab is a degustation menu where you pay a set amount and are treated to a three course menu which changes each couple of months to use the best of seasonal ingredients. 

The first course is a traditional croissant, served whilst still warm after being out of the oven for 10 minutes. The outer shell is so crispy and flaky whilst the inside is soft and buttery! The chef who came out to speak to us even used the word juicy, which I must confess is not a word I would normally associate with a pastry but was apt.

The second course is a savoury course. These menus are not pastries that you would pick up from a normal bakery. Our menu had large vol au vent filled with twice cooked lamb shoulder with an avocado mint puree and micro herbs along with lettuce. The lettuce was actually really zingy and was on the plate to cut through the richness of the lamb. This was absolutely delicious.

The third course was a sweet course and featured a Japanese flower shaped pastry filled with sesame seed frangipane style filling, with a tonka bean cream topping.

It isn't only about the food you eat while you are there. The Lune we went to is the one which makes all the croissants for Melbourne and features a cube inside the building which is temperature controlled to the perfect conditions for making croissants. Inside the cube there is a team of pastry chefs who are rolling out the pastry and then making the different shapes.. It is absolutely mesmerising watching every baker preforming their role in such a precise way.  We watched them making hundreds of perfect croissants, and then using some of the offcuts to create cronuts. There is very little waste, with anything that isn't being used immediately being stored for reuse.  It was really interesting as the process for making a perfect croissant takes 3 days! If I remember correctly the first day the pastry is made. The second day the pastry is shaped and then the third day it is baked to perfection.

Whilst I don't think we will do Lune Lab every time the menu changes because it is not a cheap experience to do, but it was fascinating and delicious! We will do it again at some point I am sure.

 Weekly meals

Saturday - Takeaway

Sunday -  Pork Stir fry

Monday - Char Siu Chicken

Tuesday - Family dinner

Wednesday - Fried Chicken, mash and broccoli

Thursday - Takeaway

Friday - Lasagne

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked (In My Kitchen) in June

The first Saturday of the month is when I share all the things that I made in the previous month. I say all the things, but I haven't been baking as much as I had been, but I do have a couple of things to share.  I also share any other things that might have been happening in my kitchen!

The first thing to share is a Burnt Basque Cheesecake which I served up as a dessert at a family dinner. Because it has been cold here, we had a soup and dessert night. The soups that we served were Pea and Ham Soup and also Bacon, Vegetable and Risoni soup (recipe here) which my husband likes to pimp up a bit by adding little pork meatballs. Make two big pots, put out lots of bread rolls, and dinner is soup!

Then for dessert, I made Burnt Basque Cheesecake (recipe here) and served it with roasted raspberries. Everyone loved it and I had a couple of requests for the recipe. It is super easy to make and tastes oh so good!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a passage from A Wedding in Tuscany by Sandy Barker which talked about the traditional Tuscan celebration cake called Millefoglie. It's only right that I should try to make it right?

I will confess that I cheated and used store bought puff pastry. I also should have made the creme diplomat a bit thicker. I would also have liked to have piped that in rather than just splodging it, but all my baking stuff is in the shed somewhere in anticipation of moving. Again, this wasn't too difficult. It is a case of making the creme diplomat and baking the puff pastry and then assembling and decorating. 

I was very excited this month as my husband bought me a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday! The first year we were together he bought me an el cheapo stand mixer, which has done the job for the last five years, but now I have the real deal. I think he was future prooffing gift ideas to make his own life a bit easier too, as now he can buy me the accompanying accessories for the next few birthdays and Christmas gifts.

I know it's an obvious name but I am calling her Ruby!

It's looking like our house will be ready soon so it won't be too long before these posts are all about what I have cooked from this kitchen! When it is finished that is.

I am sharing this post at Sherry's Pickings as part of her In My Kitchen monthly event.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Prawn Nasi Goreng

Sunday - French Onion Casserole

Monday - Fried Chicken

Tuesday - Enchiladas

Wednesday - Pressure cooker spaghetti bolognaise

Thursday - 

Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page