Kitchen Therapy

Tag Archives: cooking


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Apple Upside Down Chiffon Cake

I really enjoyed making this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe.

Life is usually chaotic.
Running from place to place.
Rushing through as many things as possible.
Thinking about what needs to be done next.

My 15 year old daughter came home from a week at the snow…
So a week’s worth of washing is what needs to be done next!
(And fixing a washing machine that broke the night she arrived home!)

Grand finals week…
So extra training sessions, gifts for coaches and managers, end of season get togethers were next!

My friend’s 50th birthday…
What to wear? Buy something new or grab something from the closet? What present to give? Working out what time I will realistically be able to get to party as the kids need to be fed and showered and ready for bed to make life easy for their grandparents who will be at home with them before I even think abut getting myself ready is next!

It’s all little things.
There’s just a never ending stream of ‘little things’!
And planning for ‘what’s next’ takes up a lot of ‘what’s actually happening now’ time!

I decided I didn’t want to rush through another recipe (or life!)
So every time I had a few moments to myself, instead of planning for what’s next, I decided to get familiar with this week’s recipe.
I read the entire recipe, from beginning to end. I read all the incredibly useful comments under the P&Q section. I took on board all the advice and experiences that other group members generously took the time to share. I found this invaluable.
I got my baking tins out and since I didn’t have a 10-inch pan I decided to use my 8-inch tube pan and used the excess mixture to make another 6-inch Apple Upside-Down Chiffon Cake (I even googled the volume of different pans to help me make this decision!)
I also googled upside down chiffon cakes to decide on a topping. The original recipe uses nectarines which are not in season here in Sydney, so I decided on Granny Smith apples.

This cake turned out amazing.
We had a BBQ for Father’s Day and this cake was the perfect ending to an amazing spring day.
(I gave the 6 inch version to my mum to take home in the pan so I have no photo!)

This cake wasn’t a chore.
It wasn’t another recipe to rush through.
It was a delightful break from the constant chatter of my monkey brain.
It reminded me why I started this blog and joined these wonderful groups.

Marlise of The Double Trouble Kitchen and Susan of The Little French Bakery are this week’s hosts and have the full recipe on their websites if you are interested in having a look…

 


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Zucchini Vermicelli with Cucumber and Lemon

 

It’s Father’s Day in Australia the first Sunday of every September.
I spent the day madly shopping for presents.
(I have a terrible habit of leaving everything till the last minute).

I couldn’t imagine going home and cooking.
I honestly gave up any hope of completing this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe.
I was tired and truth be told… it wasn’t a recipe that appealed to me in any way!

 

Raw zucchini? Umm… no thanks.
If I saw this on dish on a menu, I would skim right over it!

I decided I would stop by the Foodhall at David Jones (it’s pretty fancy in there) and splurge on dinner.
I couldn’t go past the Chunky Beef Pie by Simmone Logue Fine Food Company.

 

 

Pies are about as Aussie as you can get.
But I’ve always struggled with what to serve alongside a meat pie (other than tomato sauce that is!)
I felt I needed to serve it with a salad, I don’t know why, maybe it’s a mum thing?
You know, making sure the kids get their vegetables and stuff…
But a salad doesn’t really go with a meat pie.
(It’s just my opinion!)

Then it occurred to me, Dorie’s zucchini salad wasn’t your typical salad…
I started to toy with the idea of serving it alongside the pie.
I started to get excited!
Imagine finding a salad that would go with a meat pie!

 

This salad is very easy to make.
The zucchini was meant to be cut into long thin strips that resemble tagliatelle.
I just couldn’t imagine eating wide strips of raw zucchini!
So I used my magic slicing machine (that’s what I call this contraption cos I don’t know it’s real name! Sorry!) to cut my zucchini into thin spaghetti shaped strips.
Obstacle overcome!
I was feeling pretty happy with myself! (Yes it really is the little things!)

 

This salad tasted great on it’s own and went surprisingly well with the pie.
The acidity from the lemon complimented the chunky beef filling in an oddly similar way to our traditional side of tomato sauce!
I was surprised!
And very, very pleased with myself!
(Honestly you’d think I had just invented the meat pie itself!)

The salad also tasted good on it’s own, I’d make it again, probably with grilled chicken next time!

The recipe has been published on Bon Appetit if you’d like to see it for yourself!
And to see more reviews and thoughts on this dish, head over to French Fridays with Dorie.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

Winter is on it’s way out here in Sydney.
The days are getting longer and the temperatures are starting to average in the 20’s (degrees celsius that is).


I’m looking forward to summer fruits.
Peaches, nectarines and sweet juicy mangoes.
In the meantime, I’ve been using up left over bananas any chance I get to make banana bread.

I’ve experimented with recipes from Joy the Baker Cookbook, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, Home Baked Comfort William Sonoma and the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook to name just a few.

 

What can I say… we’ve eaten our way through a lot of banana bread!
We’ve had heated debates about which one is the best, we all have a favourite.
I’ve even gone as far as making each version a variety of ways, with nuts, with choc-chips, with both and even with bourbon (thanks to Joy the Baker)!

I’m going to go off an a tangent here so bear with me… I do have an important point!

Lately I’ve found myself with the usual crazy schedule of kid related events, like the book parade at my son’s school.

 

However, in addition to all the running around I’ve also had a string of frequent visitors stopping by for cups of tea and coffee! And because I’ve been running around more than usual, I’ve taken to stopping by a cupcake bakery store that’s just opened at our mall to grab something sweet for my guests and I to share while we chat!

Aren’t they just soooo pretty!

Now these are tasty cupcakes. Some more than others. But tasty nevertheless!

 

But as I was chatting away I couldn’t help but think how much I’d prefer to be eating the Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins that I had made the night before.

I went through a phase of making these on a very regular basis a few months ago, my daughter took them to school and she and her friends were absolutely obsessed with these and kept asking me to make more!

 

They come from one of my most flicked through books, Baked ‘New Frontiers in Baking’ by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

I cannot recommend these enough…

 

BANANA ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS 

 

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (sometimes I put up to 3 teaspoons, other times I just leave it out)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I use Cadbury Baking Chips and I can’t help wonder if this is what takes them to the next level irresistibility!)

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 180 degrees Celsius).
Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk and egg.

In a another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack.

 

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

These are honestly amazing!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Popovers – TWD: Baking with Julia

I lost track of time and realised my only opportunity to make this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe was going to be Monday morning, before school. Definitely not an ideal time!

I read the recipe and realised all I had to do was put some flour, milk, eggs, a little bit of melted butter and a touch of salt in a blender and process! Once I wrapped my head around what I needed to do to make this happen, I was ready! I could actually pull this off!

I made these in my mini muffin pan and they were soooo cute!

Popovers are not Aussie thing (or at least I don’t think so!).
I’m glad I made them, they’re ridiculously cute!
But I don’t really “get” them.
They tasted a bit eggy and custardy inside.
I liked the crispy exterior.
I tried them with butter, honey and even jam.
They were ok… But I just didn’t ‘get’ them… I’m not even sure what I mean by that!!!
The kids tried them, one wrinkled her nose and the other said he’d rather eat his Weet-Bix.

I’m glad I made them but I don’t think I’ll be making them again.
Despite their cuteness!

I’m keen to check out what the rest of the TWD group thought!

If you’d like to try them for yourself Paula of Vintage Kitchen Notes and Amy of Bake with Amy are this week’s hosts and have the recipe posted on their sites.


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Donna Hay’s Ham, Cheddar and Leek Pie with Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad

Winter sports are winding up here in Australia, with semi finals and finals either already played or being played on upcoming weekends. Last week was busy with both school and weekend sports being played in extremely unpleasant conditions! It was freezing cold, windy and rainy!

My son’s (last kid on the right!) school soccer team won another badge to sew on their shorts!
(The rain and wind came in wild spurts during the game, then a brief flash of sunlight came out while I took this photo. Within minutes we were all running to our cars as the rain poured down on us again!)
The following day his weekend soccer team played in more rain and wind to secure a place in the semi finals.

My daughter’s netball team also secured a spot in the semi finals on the same day (she’s fourth from the right). The horrible weather forgotten after a close win!

Oh, I forgot the long, long day at the state futsal championships …

Between trips to training sessions and games (and parties, sleepovers, get togethers and so on)
I would pick up one of my beloved cookbooks and longingly, lovingly caress the pages.
Seriously, I did that.
Making a mental list of what I would make as soon as I had the time gave me butterflies.
These stolen moments of pleasure fed me.
So while I dreamed of spending hours playing in the kitchen.
I was relieved to see that this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe was a quick and simple cafe style grated carrot salad.
I served this salad with Donna Hay’s equally quick and easy Ham, Leek and Cheddar ‘Impossible’ Pie.

The saltiness of the pie contrasted beautifully with the sweetness of the carrot side salad.

I made Dorie’s carrot salad with all the extra options. I added the raisins, walnuts and parsley.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was simple, light and delicious. Just what we needed!

I made a greek salad for the kids (it was too long a week to be fighting over what sort of salad would have raisins and nuts in it!). However they asked if they could add the vinaigrette to the greek salad! A compromise was reached and we were all happy!

To check out what the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group thought of this carrot salad, click here!

 

Donna Hay’s Ham, Leek and Cheddar ‘Impossible’ Pie
from her annual kid’s issue, number 9
(I made double the recipe)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
sea salt and cracked black pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup self raising flour sifted
1 1/2 cups milk
150g double smoked ham, shredded
1 cup grated cheddar

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the leek and garlic and cook 5-7 minutes until golden and softened. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Place the eggs and flour in a bowl and whisk well to combine.
4. Gradually add the milk and whisk to combine.
5. Place the leek, ham and cheese in a lightly greased 24 cm round ovenproof  baking dish.
6. Pour over the milk mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover loosely with aluminium foil.
7. Cook for 30 minutes, uncover and cook for a further 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.


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Apple Galette and Redemption

Last week I decided Blueberry Pie was going to bring me unparallelled blissful happiness! 
(remember?!)
Well… it didn’t.
I begrudgingly knew that life didn’t work that way.
I’ve even read all the research that clearly states that all the stuff we think will make us happy such as money, posessions, social status and blueberry pie…
(yes, pie is a legitimate category!)
((ok, maybe I made that last bit up, but it should be up there with the rest!))
… they don’t necessarily lead to happiness.

So this week I was prepared.
I wasn’t going to let any doe-eyed Kristen Stewart, gazing longingly at me from the supermarket magazine stands, foil my galette!

I turned my back on scientific research (and logic of any kind) last week and there were consequences! I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice (at least not in such a short time!)

So what does psychological research on happiness tell us?

Finding joy in the present moment increases life satisfaction.

So this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was approached with curiosity, openness and independent of judgement or expectations.

Disappointment was not an option under these circumstances!

I also decided to work with the seasons rather than against them, so I used apples to make my galette since it’s winter here in Australia.

The result was pure delight and delicious pleasure!

The recipe is incredible easy and can be found by visiting Lisa at Tomato Thymes in the Kitchen or Andrea at The Kitchen Lioness!


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Tomato and Bocconcini Tartlets

 


About a year or so ago, I went to my friend’s house and as the kids ran around and jumped in and out of the pool we sat in her back yard, chatted and caught up on each other’s lives.

She laughed at me because I had grabbed my Amazon package the postman has just delivered and was opening it at her house.

While I ripped at the box, she went inside and brought out little tomato tarts she had made from a recipe in the  latest Donna Hay magazine. They we bite size squares of golden puff pastry topped with olive tapenade, a slice of tomato and fresh bocconcini cheese.

They were so incredibly simple and delicious we ate the entire tray as we flicked through my new book, Dorie Greenspan’s ‘Around My French Table’ and she listened to my plans about joining an online cooking blog I had read about.

 

The next day, I bought the magazine, and the ingredients, and I made the delicious little tarts for my family.
They were a huge hit and I’ve been making them on a regular basis since then.
They are a great after school snack!

 


When I saw this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe it brought back my memories of that lazy afternoon.

 

So much so, that I kind of went on automatic pilot mode.
I didn’t follow Dorie’s instructions. They seemed a little bit complicated for something so simple.
I just cut the puff pastry sheets into little squares.
Smeared a dollop of black olive tapenade and put a slice of tomato on top.
I baked these in the oven until golden brown.
I then took them out of the oven and topped them with fresh slices of bocconcini cheese and basil leaves.

I followed Dorie’s suggestion and sprinkled some balsamic vinegar on top of some of the squares and I have to admit, I loved the taste.

 

Simple and Perfect!

I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group thought of this week’s recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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How a Cheating Kristen Stewart ruined my Blueberry Pie

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was Blueberry Nectarine Pie.
It’s winter here in Australia, so there are no nectarines to be found.
I replaced them with strawberries.
What could go wrong…?

Now please indulge me for a second as I digress…
While buying the ingredients for the pie I saw this magazine sitting on the shelves as I sat in the grocery line waiting to pay. The look on Kristen Stewart’s face caught my attention.

I’ve come across that look many times in my career.
Reason and caution go out the window.
You are fully immersed in your drama and all your senses are alive!
Ideally people would be striving to achieving this mental state in a healthy way by identifying what is missing in their lives and setting goals that would satisfy these needs.
Unfortunately, through my work,  I’ve come to understand achieving this in a healthy way  is really hard work!
So the distractions of choice are usually affairs and drugs!
(Or in my case, food!)
So with this all going through my mind, I somehow decided that this pie would be so mind blowingly great I too would lose sense and reason!
Yes, in hindsight I can see it’s bonkers and what was I thinking!
But I wanted the pie to be that good!!!

My husband and kids enjoyed it.
I thought it looked good, but I really didn’t like it at all!
My husband thought I was crazy until I told him of my expectations.
After he stopped laughing, he assured me no pie was going to live up to those expectations and to try it with ice cream! We need someone sane in the family!

To check out the recipe visit Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake or Hilary at Manchego’s Kitchen.


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The Pioneer Woman’s Knock You Naked Brownies

Every three or so months my husband and I book flights to Melbourne and run away for the weekend.


The first time we went was about 2 years ago.
I spent the first trip tormenting myself for leaving the kids with their grandparents.
The two nights however went by quickly and we were home before I knew it.
I rushed home to find three very happy kids who had clearly spent a great weekend being over indulged by their doting grandparents.
Hmmm….
Clearly I needed to get a more realistic perspective on my kids’ resilience.
So when my husband and I booked our next trip to Melbourne, I was in a much better place and ready to actually  give relaxing a go!
This time I did start to relax… on the day we were scheduled to fly back home to Sydney.
It’s many trips down the track now and I can honestly say these day I switch into ‘Melbourne’ mode the minute we start our drive to the airport. By the time we land in Melbourne, I can feel the tension leaving my body and as we sit down to lunch at our favourite restaurant, Movida, I’m feeling giddy with joy!

We are like two teenagers as we choose dishes we want to eat!
We don’t have to try and find things that the kids might like, we can actually choose dishes with chillies and strange sounding names and ingredients! We giggle with excitement!

We then walk over to my favourite cake shop for dessert…

Before heading out to the sea-side town of St Kilda to check into our hotel. I open the curtains, we take in the views and do absolutely nothing! Nothing! We talk, read and relax until dinner.
Then we get dressed and walk down to St Kilda’s main street for dinner.
And we get to walk past Luna Park without arguments and tears about why we can’t go inside!

So. What does all this have to do with brownies?

The thing about living in Australia is that there are many recipes I see online or in books that have ingredients I can’t find here. I’ve found some after a lot of searching in specialty shops and I’ve managed to substitute others with what we have available here. However, in the back of my mind is a list of ingredients I’m always on the lookout for.

Melbourne is known for it’s shopping and it’s amazing restaurants. So I’ve always thought if I’m going to find these ingredients anywhere, it will be here in Melbourne.

And I was right!!!

A few months ago, I was looking for a brownie recipe to use up my stock of chocolate I had built up over time.
I came across The Pioneer Woman’s Knock You Naked Brownies.
Now these weren’t going to solve my chocolate stock problems as they were made with a German Chocolate Cake Mix, but they looked so good I couldn’t get them out of my mind. I went straight to our local Woolworths supermarket, and of course, there was no German Chocolate Cake Mix. I was tempted to substitute with a plain chocolate cake mix but I remembered Ree Drummond emphasising the importance of using the German Chocolate Mix.
Aghhhh!
So another ingredient went on my list of things to keep a lookout for.

Until last weekend that is!
I have now crossed German Cake Mix off my list! Yay!
I found it in Melbourne and couldn’t wait to come home and make Ree’s brownies!
I had my son and four of his friends running in and out of the house with skateboards and soccer balls.
Then my daughter  sent me an SMS on her way home from school asking if 5 of her friends could come over and hang out at our house since it was Friday.
Sure! Yeah! Whatever!!
I was making Knock You Naked Brownies!

I really wanted the kids to enjoy these so I left the nuts out of the recipe.
And I have to say these really are a knock out.

My husband ate them hot out of the oven. He ate them cold out of the fridge before I had the chance to dust them with icing sugar and cut them. And as we ran the kids to soccer, netball, umpiring duties, parties and get togethers he sent me texts to tell me he just ducked home and ate more brownies and that I was never, EVER allowed to make these again because he can’t stop eating them!

I cut them into bite size pieces and I left them on the kitchen bench. I have to say I like them best at room temperature. The plate is almost empty now. Less than 24 hours since I made them.

I think that says it all!

If you want to check out The Pioneer Woman’s photos (which are way better than mine!) and the recipe, just click here!


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Cherry Mascarpone Roulade

It has been far too long since my last French Fridays with Dorie post.

We moved house.
I slipped a disc in my back (because of the move).
Spent way too long on a crazy cocktail of drugs to just get through each day!
And just when things were coming together…
Bam! School holidays!
There’s always something… right?

When I saw this week’s recipe I knew it was time to return to the group.
And I knew that I would replace the blueberries in Dorie’s recipe with a jar of Morello Cherries.
I contemplated strawberries.
However my daughter and I crave Black Forest Cake, loaded with juicy, plump, sour cherries… pretty much… all  the time!

School holidays are pretty crazy times around here.
I turned my back for a minute at the cinema and a movie poster became a prop!

So amidst all the chaos it was pure bliss carve out a little time to bake.
It felt indulgent.
Soothing.
Pretty!

Dorie’s Roulade recipe was simple and delicious.
We loved the cherry filling.
And I think strawberries would have been amazing.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group thought!
(We are off to Melbourne for the weekend so I posted a day early!)