Recipe - Haloumi, fig & pomegranate salad

On the same page of the Donna Hay cookbook, Seasons, as the Fig & Goats Cheese Tarts, is this recipe for a haloumi, fig & pomegranate salad.

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
250g haloumi, thinly sliced
1 cup mint leaves
100g rocket (or arugula if you're American)
8 green figs, halved (I used ripe lovely brown ones)
1 pomegranate, seeds & juice removed (Warning: wear an apron!! Pomegranate seeds jump further than beetroot)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (I used the fabulously delectable Italian vino cotto)
2 tbsp olive oil, extra

Method

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat.  Cook the haloumi for 2-3 minutes each side or until crispy.  Place the haloumi, mint, rocket, figs, pomegranate seeds & juice in a bowl, drizzle with vinegar and extra olive oil and toss to combine. Serves 4.

Recipe - fig and goats cheese tarts

 I reckon Eve was tempted not by an apple or a pomegranate, but a fig.  If Adam was waving one of those babies at me I'd think that original sin was a good idea too.  I love figs and I love goats cheese, so when I saw this recipe in Donna Hay's beautiful Seasons cookbook I had to make it.

All the ingredients are available at our wonderful farmers markets (bar the frozen pastry). Figs are in season NOW so make the most of their availability, I promise you won't regret it!

Ingredients

2 x 200g sheets store-bought shortcrust pastry.  I used puff and it worked just fine
125g goats cheese
4 black figs, halved
3 eggs
3/4 cup (185ml) single (pouring) cream: next time I will just use organic milk & see what happens
1 tbsp chopped chives
1/4 cup (20g) finely grated good quality parmesan cheese
sea salt & cracked black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (355F).  Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares. Line 8 lightly greased 8cm-round, fluted tart tins with pastry.  I had a pie maker with ceramic tart cases so I used those instead.  If you have them, you should ensure they're dusted with flour so they don't stick.  I had to spear mine out with a sharp knife....

Trim excess pastry and lightly prick bases with a fork.  Divide the goat's curd and fig halves among the cases.  Place the eggs, cream, chives, parmesan, salt & pepper in a bowl and whisk until well combined.

Pour the egg mixture into the cases and bake for 25 minutes or until puffed and set.

 The recipe says to cool to room temperature, but I like them a little warm.  Makes 8.  Serve with rocket, parmesan and pine nut salad.

Recipe - Marshmallow cupcakes "for the kids"

I'm not sure if this recipe exists in its pure form somewhere (I assume it does), however today I achieved two momentous things:

1. I successfully baked; and
2. I created my own recipe, and it not only worked, but was damned delicious!

Nigella Lawson had a theory that you were one of two people: a baker or a cook and never the twain shall meet.  Well, until she mastered the art of baking.  So I figured if an international cook with a swag of cookbooks, TV shows and years of experience can do it, so can I.  Right ?!?!?!

I, like Nigella used to be (before she mastered both), regard myself as a cook.  I can taste something in a restaurant and pick the flavours and sometimes if I'm lucky enough (and the dish isn't too complicated or elaborate), I can cook it at home.

However, give me a shortbread recipe and I develop recipe dyslexia.  Huh?  How many grams of unsalted what?

So today, after having created these incredibly delicious and decadent baby cakes, I was so excited with my efforts I had to blog the recipe immediately.  After all, if I can bake it, anyone can.

I adapted the Taste Basic Cupcake Recipe. Click here for the cupcake recipe.  I also referred to the Exclusively Food Vanilla Cupcake Recipe and adaped the icing recipe. Click here for the icing recipe.

Ingredients
Cupcakes

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3 eggs- I brought them to room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup milk
•  My addition: 1/4 to 1/2 packet marshmallows, quartered (with about 12 aside for icing). I am a cook after all, just throw in as many as you want!

Icing

• 175g (1 1/4 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted
• 5g (1 teaspoon) butter, softened
• 22ml (1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon) boiling water
• My addition: couple of drops of cochineal
• My addition: couple of drops of strawberry essence (entirely optional as it is quite OTT)

Instructions
Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced oven. This is the first time I've seen an alteration for a fan-forced oven.  No wonder I had been going wrong.  Line muffin or mini-muffin pans with paper cases.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla and sugar in a small bowl, starting on low speed and increasing to high once the sugar is mixed in.  Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition (mixture will separate at this stage). Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Stir in half the flour. Stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk until combined.  Add marshmallow pieces.

But don't overmix, just combine.

For 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pans use 2 level tablespoons of mixture. Of course, I was liberal with my spoon measurements. I just kind of plonked it in. Almost to the top but not bursting. More of a respectable fill.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Alternatively, for 1 tablespoon-capacity mini muffin pans use 1 tablespoon mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

If you filled your cupcake cases as much as I did, some of the marshmallow near the top will have oozed out over the edges.  It becomes very sticky and toffee-like, so you should hoik them out of the muffin tins asap.  Try not to squish them too much.  Hoiking them out is a fine art. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. You can see that I am sprung.  I hedged my bets by halving the mix & making choc-chip cupakes as well.

Icing

Stir icing sugar, butter, cochineal, strawberry essence and boiling water together in a small bowl until smooth.  Ice immediately, adding a marshmallow on top.  If you're like me, you'll need to add the occasional extra teaspoon of boiling water if the mixture sets mid-glazing.

Happy baking, from a newly crowned baker ;-)

Recipe - Vietnamese chicken salad

I was watching the Lifestyle Channel the other night & stumbled across one of Bill Grangers cooking shows. It was perfect timing, really.  He made his Vietnamese Chicken Salad which is exactly what me & Mr YourLocalMarkets needed after what seemed like a few too many successive nights of red meat.

The recipe was pretty basic (important for this pretend cook!) so I decided to make it the next night. And the best thing is that there was a lot of food, mostly raw, crunchy & light and I felt great after I ate it. And the next morning I had loads of energy in my spin class. Yey!

Ingredients
Chicken Salad

• 3 pieces 200g chicken breast fillets
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• sea salt
• White pepper use black if that is all you have
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup Vietnamese mint leaf
• 1 cup Asian basil leaf or basil leaves
• 4 cups Chinese cabbages finely shredded (I used about 1/4 chinese cabbage & this was HEAPS)
• 1 cup carrot peeled and finely julienned

I also added some crushed peanuts to sprinkle at the end.

Dressing

• 60 ml Lime juice
• 60 ml Fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons Rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 2 very finely chopped Garlic Cloves optional ( I used 1)
• 3 finely sliced red Asian shallots or 1/2 red onion (I only used 1 shallot)
• 2 small very finely chopped Red chilli's remove the seeds if you don't like the heat (I only used 1 chilli & it was hot enough, but I'm a woos sometimes)

Instructions
Salad

• Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7).
• Heat a frying pan over a high heat, and while the pan is heating, brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the chicken skin-side down and sear for 2 minutes, turn and sear for another minute.
• Put the chicken on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
• Shred the chicken into thin strips with your hands and place in a large bowl.
• Add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine.

Dressing
Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Serves 4.  If making it for 2, don't dress the whole salad, just serve it into bowls or onto plates & dress separately & you'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Recipe - Sage roasted free range pork belly

I bought some free range pork from the delightful folk at Ormiston Free Range Pork who are based in Mudgee but we do have lovely free range meats at Your Local Markets on the Gold Coast in Queensland that you can use for this recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of Donna Hay's beautiful "Seasons" cookbook.  I've also added a homemade apple sauce to go with the pork.

Ingredients

Pork
2 heads of garlic (I used one)
1/4 cup olive oil
2.3 kg pork belly, on the bone (I used a kilo as there were only 2 of us)
1/3 cup sea salt flakes
4 bunches sage

Apple sauce
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thin slices
1 cup water
3 tbs caster sugar
squeeze lemon juice
sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (350F).  Arrange the garlic over the base of a baking dish.  Rub the olive oil all over the pork and rub the salt into the skin.  Place skin side down on top of the garlic and cook for 3 hours.

While the pork is cooking, drop the apples, water, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon into a saucepan.

Simmer over a low heat until water reduces significantly (so that you can just see the water amongst the apple pieces).  Cool and then blend or spoon into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Or you can leave it a little chunky if you like it like that. I blended mine into a smooth apple sauce.

Back to the pork: Increase the heat to 180C (355F).  Turn over the pork, add the sage.  and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the skin is golden and crunchy.

 

This was truly-ruly, voted by 2 roast pork piglets as "the best roast pork ever cooked in our house".

Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry and piggy your guest are ;-)