Audax Artifex

January, 2012 Daring Baker Challenge: Back to Basics:Scones (Biscuits)

2012-01-27T13:50:00.001+11:00

Introduction: Hi my name is Audax from Audax Artifex (yes this web site). Whenever I visit my sister and her family in S.E. Queensland Australia she always welcomes me with a fresh batch of my favourite baked treat which we devour gleefully with cups of tea while we chat and catch up with the events in our lives.

The treat that I'm talking about is the basic scone (also know as baking powder biscuits in North America) my sister really knows how to make them, they are wondrously light with soft sides and a lovely airy crumb – superb with jam and cream. This month I want the Daring Bakers' to share my delight and I invite you to bake a batch of scones to enjoy with friends and family.

For our North American members I wish to clarify what this challenge is all about and try to avoid any confusions. Scones in North American are nearly always triangular in shape have a slightly crisp crust usually covered in sugar and have a soft interior crumb and sometimes are laced with dried fruit (these baked goods in Australia and England are called “rock cakes” since they are usually made to look like “rocky” cakes not wedges), meanwhile biscuits in North American are a round shaped buttery slightly flaky baked good usually eaten with meals (these items in Australia and England are called “scones” and are eaten with butter and jam usually with cups of tea or coffee as a sweet snack). So this challenge (using the North American name) is to make biscuits. Or using the Australian or English name this challenge is to make scones.

To further clarify for our North American bakers this month's challenge is to make biscuits (also called baking powder biscuits) if you choose to make your biscuits using buttermilk as the liquid you are making what are known as “Southern” Biscuits which are one of the most famous examples of home cooking in the Southern States of America (that is they are a baking powder biscuit made with buttermilk). In Australia and England “Southern” Biscuits would be called buttermilk scones. So restating the above, the challenge is to make scones (using the Australian/English name) or to make biscuits (using the North American name). Incidentally if you use cream as your liquid in the challenge recipe the final baked good would be called a cream biscuit in North America or a cream scone in Australia and England.

Scones (biscuits) contain only a small number of ingredients they are fast to make, quick to bake, only cost cents per batch and most importantly are super FUN to eat. In England and Australia scones are eaten with jam and butter usually with cups of tea or coffee mostly as a sweet snack, while in North America they are usually eaten with meals as a savoury side.

Of course scones (biscuits) have a notorious reputation as being difficult for some people to make comments like “hockey pucks”, “These made great door-stops ” and the like fill the comment sections of most recipe websites. You see scones (can be said as a rhyme with cone and also can be said as a rhyme with gone) are a type of quick bread that is a white flour dough that is raised using chemical agents usually baking powder and/or baking soda. Basic scones contain flour, raising agent(s), butter (or shortening or lard), salt, and milk (or buttermilk or soured milk or cream). Most recipes just say to “rub the fat into the flour” then combine the dry and wet ingredients until “gathered together” and then “lightly knead” the gathered mixture until a soft dough forms, then “roll or pat” out this dough and then “cut” out rounds and bake them in a hot oven. Well how hard could it really be I thought uh-mm as you can see below my first batch wasn't the greatest success … they didn't raise at all and the texture was barely OK I thought … I was left wondered what I had done wrong …

My first attempt at scones (really pretty terrible I thought, no height no tenderness and no flakiness)

So after studying many many (288 websites bookmarked) scone/biscuit recipes and the bakers' comments about these recipes and after doing 16 batches! myself I have acquired a lot of information to help you master the techniques involved I hope that at the end of this challenge that you will be able to make a good if not great scone (biscuit).

After much research and many attempts … finally some scones (the 14th, 15th and 16th batches) that I wouldn't mind sharing with my sister.

The Classic Australian scone ring (Aussie Damper) – the crumb is very similar to bread

Cheese and chives scones – a “sky-high” light and tender scone flavoured with cheese and chives

The classic Southern Biscuit (buttermilk scone) – a superbly flaky scone made with buttermilk and laminated to form distinct layers when baked

Fairy Ring
As I mentioned in the challenge posting in Australia and England scones are usually eaten as a sweet treat (with butter and jam) with cups of tea on that theme while doing my research for this challenge I thought I would do a variation on the sweet side of the scone. Here is one recipe that is suitable for kids and adults when you want something special and sweet yet can be made at a moment's notice.

In Australia one of the most popular children's party food item is fairy bread. This is a variation of fairy bread called Fairy Ring made with an Aussie Scone (Damper) ring laced with 100s and 1000s then iced (with some icing sugar and a touch of lemon juice made into a sticky paste) then sprinkled with more 100s and 1000s (coloured sprinkles). My 9 year old niece went crazy with delight and literally squealed with glee when I showed her this Fairy Ring and say I made it especially for her.

Normal (Damper) Scone Ring

Fairy Ring straight from the oven

Completed Fairy Ring

Hot Dog Buns
Here is a savoury variation, I made hot dog buns using the basic scone recipe. They worked out great I couldn't believe the crumb and they tasted great with the hot dog and relishes and I made them in under 15 minutes (once the oven was hot enough). I was very surprised how well the basic scone dough complimented savoury food.

Touch of Grace Scones
(Click on the title to go to a great posting about this recipe)
Here is the answer to dry biscuits this recipe is called "touch of grace" biscuits which uses a few simple techniques to create a super moist crumb. These scones are all about tenderness everything is designed to obtain the softest and most tender crumb possible. These are very different from the normal bread-like scones that Australians like with jam and cream. These would be perfect with a savoury meal. They were so buttery with a soft creamy crumb that literally melts in your mouth, the mouth feel is like clouds. As one reviewer lovingly opined "They're squat little puffs you'll want to grab, steaming, from a basket passed over fried chicken or bacon and eggs". The way I make them is slightly adapted from the original recipe, I use a lot of very large pieces of butter and all buttermilk with very low gluten cake flour and some resting time in the fridge. Resting the dough after the buttermilk is stirred into the dry ingredients is essential you would never be able to form the soft balls of dough coated in flour that are the "rounds" in this case and keeping everything cold helps the baking process. While baking the large pieces of butter melt into the flour causing large air holes to form in the baked dough and since we use soft flour (6%) which cannot form flaky layers we thus obtain a feather-light creamy tender crumb infused with the maximum amount of butter that the dough can hold.

These scones are made entirely from cake flour (6% gluten), I used 1 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 cup very large-sized butter pieces, about 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. I rubbed in butter making sure most of the fat/flour where large pea sized pieces. I rested the dough after I mixed in the wet ingredients for 10 minutes until cold, during this time the dough "firms" up making it possible to turn it out in one cohesive dough ball onto a lightly floured board. I formed a rectangle of the soft dough floured the top lightly then I stamped out rounds. You could feel the pieces of butter in the formed round The rounds are very soft but can be picked up and placed into the baking dish. Then I place the baking dish with all the formed rounds back in the fridge for 10 minutes until cold then bake. (This procedure is much easier than the original recipe's method and it gives as good results I think). As you can see the crumb is saturated with butter and has masses of large airy pockets to trap your favourite topping. Absolutely delicious.

Raisin Scones

I wanted to make one batch of flavoured scones I went with sweet raisins and some molasses in the dough. I rubbed in the butter until it was like fine sand and I used "OO" cake flour about 7% protein and some cornflour (cornstarch), I was very happy with the look of the baked scones and the crumb was very tender very much like bread which is what I wanted. These were very cute looking but to be honest I like plain scones much better.

The bread like crumb of the scone so so tasty and soft.

As you can see scones (biscuits) are all about technique since the scones pictured above used the same basic recipe.

Recipe Source: The challenge scone (biscuit) recipe has been especially formulated by Audax Artifex after a large amount of research and experimentation. It is designed to help you master the techniques involved in making scones (biscuits) exactly the way you like them.

Blog-checking lines: Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Posting Date: January 27, 2012

Challenge Notes:
The Ingredients – since scones contain only a small number of ingredients each should be of the highest quality
Flour – lower gluten (i.e. soft) flours (about 9% or less protein) produce taller and lighter scones than normal plain (all-purpose) flour (about 10%+ protein). But to be honest it wasn't that great a difference so long you sifted the dry ingredients thoroughly at least three times. That is always triple sift the dry ingredients this will ensure that the flour is well aerated and the raising agents are evenly distributed so resulting in light scones. I found that finely milled soft “OO” flour gave the best results but don't worry you can get excellent results with sifted plain (all-purpose) flour. You can use self-raising flour if you wish (remember to leave out the raising agents and salt) in the recipe below it is important to triple sift the self-raising flour as well I like to add about ½ teaspoon of extra fresh baking powder per cup of self-raising flour to ensure a good lift in my scones. In the northern states of America and most of Canada all-purpose flour is generally very hard (high in protein) you can replace for each cup 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour with cake flour OR for each cup replace 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour with cornflour (cornstarch). Or you can let the scones rest (20 mins) in the fridge before baking.
Fat – unsalted butter gives the best flavour while lard gives the flakiest texture since it has a much higher melting point than butter so promoting a flaky texture in the final scones. The best compromise is to use a combination of the two in equal measure. I usually use all (unsalted) butter for flavour and health reasons. In most recipes the fat is rubbed into the flour using fingers or a pastry cutter (don't use two knives or forks since it takes too long to cut in the fat using this method). It is best to grate the butter using the coarse side of a box-grater and then freeze it until you need it. Freezing the butter prevents the fat from melting into the flour. The idea is to coat the fat particles with the flour. You are looking for a fat/flour combination that looks like very coarse bread crumbs with a few pieces of butter about the size of peas, the finer you make your fat pieces the more tender the crumb of your final scones. If you want very flaky scones then make the fat pieces large like Lima beans and only lightly coat them in the flour. If your kitchen is very hot you can refrigerate your flour so helping to keep the fat from melting. Don't freeze your flour as this will make it too difficult to rub the fat into the flour. (Typical usage about 1 to 8 tablespoons of fat per cup of flour).
Chemical raising agents – always use fresh raising agents, baking powder deteriorates within two months once the jar is opened, typical usage 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup. Baking powder nowadays is double action – there is an initial release of gas once the dry and wet ingredients are combined and there is another release of gas from the high heat of the oven. If you are using acidic ingredients (such as buttermilk, soured milk, honey, citrus juice, yoghurt, tomato sauce etc) then use an additional ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of liquid to help neutralise the acid and make the final baked product raise correctly. Baking soda is much stronger (x4) in raising power than baking powder. You can make you own single action baking powder by triple sifting together one part baking soda and two parts cream of tartar store in an airtight container. To check if your double action baking powder is fresh place 1/4 teaspoon in 1/2 cup of water it should bubble a lot, then microwave it for 30 secs it should bubble it again. To check your baking soda place 1/8 teaspoon into 1 tablespoon of vinegar (or lemon juice) it should bubble a lot.
Liquid – you can use milk (any sort), buttermilk, soured milk, yoghurt, half-and-half, cream, coconut cream, soda water, even lemon-flavoured soda pop (soft drink) or a combination of these as the liquid in your scones. You can sour regular milk with a tablespoon of cider vinegar or lemon juice for every cup. Just stir it in and let it sit for 10 minutes or so to curdle. Typical usage is 1/3 to 1/2 cup of liquid per cup of flour.
Salt – a small amount of salt (about ¼ teaspoon per cup of flour) helps improve the action of the raising agents and enhances the flavour of the scones.

The Equipment
Baking pans – use dark coloured heavy weight baking pans as these have the best heat distribution and really give a great raise to your baked goods. Many people like to use cast iron skillets for best results.
Measuring cups and spoons – try to accurately measure all ingredients especially if this is your first attempt at making scones (biscuits) remember to scoop the ingredient into the measure and level with a knife. If you can weigh the flour using scales even better.
Scone (biscuit) cutters – use a cutter that is made of sharp thin metal with straight sides and is open at both ends this ensures that the scone will raise straight and evenly and ensures the cut scone is easy to remove from the cutter without compressing the dough. Try to avoid using cutters with wavy sides, thick walled cups, glasses, metal lids, small jars or any cutter with only one opening since it is difficult to remove the cut scones from these without compressing the dough therefore leading to 'tougher' scones. If you cannot get a good cutter you can cut out squares or wedges etc using a sharp knife if you wish.
Rolling pins – most scone doughs are very soft (and wet) so can be easily patted out using your fingers. For a large amount of dough you can use a rolling pin remember to use light pressure from the centre outwards to form an even thickness of dough ready to be cut into scones. Avoid rolling back and forth over the same area as this can overwork the dough.

The Techniques
Triple sift the dry ingredients – sift your dry ingredients from a height this permits plenty of air to be incorporated into the mixture which allows for maximum lightness in your scones and ensures even distribution of all the raising agents and other ingredients.
Rubbing in the fat – this is the stage where you can control how tender or flaky your final scone crumb will be. The more you coat your fat with flour and the smaller the particles of the final mixture, the more tender the end product because you’re retarding gluten formation in the flour (unfortunately the price you pay for this tenderness is that the final dough will be soft and might not raise very well since the gluten isn't developed enough to form a stable structure to trap the gases that are released when the dough is baked). Conversely the larger you leave the pieces of fat (the infamous "pea-sized" direction you always see in scone/biscuit recipes), the flakier the final scones will be (that is the gluten in this case is more developed but you might find that the final baked product is dry and the mouth feel of crumb could be too firm i.e. tough). So summarising the tenderness/flakiness of your scone is achieved in this stage by manipulating the size of the fat particles and how much of the flour is used to coat the fat (the more flour used to coat the fat promotes more tenderness while larger fat pieces promote more flakiness). Either way quickly rub in the grated frozen fat into the dry ingredients using
1)your finger tips – as you lightly rub and pinch the fat into the flour, lift it up high and let it fall back down into the bowl, this means that air is being incorporated all the time, and air is what makes scones light, continue this until you have the desired sized flour/fat particles in the mixture, or
2)a cold pastry cutter – begin by rocking the pastry cutter into the fat and flour mixture continue rocking until all the fat is coated in flour and the desired sized flour/fat particles are obtained.
Moistening and bringing the dough together - add nearly all of the liquid at once to the rubbed-in dry ingredients. When mixing the dough (I use a soft plastic spatula, my sister uses a knife), stir with some vigour from the bottom to the top and mix just until the dough is well-moistened and begins to just come together it will be wet (and sticky). And remember the old saying – the wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits)!
Handling the dough – as most people know it is important not to overwork the dough but what isn't appreciated is that under-working is almost as common a mistake as overworking. Look at my first attempt (the first photo in this article) at making the challenge recipe it is crumbly and a bit leaden and the crumb isn't flaky at all this is due to under-working the dough and making the flour/fat particles too small, it took me about six batches to understand this and not be afraid to handle the dough so the scone (biscuit) would raise correctly. Under-working causes as many problems as overworking. Overworking leads to tough, dry and heavy scones while under-working leads to crumbly leaden ones. If you are not happy with your baked goods look carefully at your final scones (biscuits) and decide if you have under- or over-worked your dough.
Kneading or folding/turning the dough – this is the stage where you can control whether or not your scone has distinct layers by 1) only kneading the dough (for no layering effect) or 2) only turning and folding the dough (for a layering effect). As mentioned above given the same amounts of flour and fat, leaving larger pieces of fat equals more gluten formation and, therefore, flakiness. Leaving smaller pieces of fat equals less gluten formation and, therefore, tenderness. Your dough at this stage of the recipe will be a mixture of different gluten strengths since it is almost impossible to make a totally homogeneous dough at home. The major idea at this stage of the process is to exploit these gluten differences to achieve a desired degree of lamination (layering) in the final baked good. That is at this stage your dough (after you have added the liquid and mixed it until it just holds together), will have different layers of relatively gluten-rich (tougher) dough (the more floury parts of the dough), and layers of relatively gluten-free (tender-er) dough with small pieces of fat (the more fatty parts of the dough). So at this point if we only lightly knead the dough these layers will become less distinct which means the dough will become more homogeneous so producing a more even and more tender crumb when baked. But if at this stage you only fold and turn the dough (as shown below in pictures) over itself, these different layers will remain intact but will get thinner and thinner with each fold and turn, so when the fat melts and the liquid turns to steam in the oven, this steam pushes the tougher layers apart, leading to an overall flakiness and a layering effect in the scone crumb (see picture of the buttermilk biscuit above). So if you want an even more tender crumb just lightly knead (much like you would knead bread but with a very very light touch) the turned-out dough a few times until it looks smooth. If you want to form layers (laminations) in your final baked goods do a few folds and turns until it looks smooth. Always do at least one light knead to make the final dough structurally strong enough to raise and hold its shape whether you are aiming for a smooth tender crumb or a flaky layered crumb.
Pat or roll out the dough – since most scone (biscuit) doughs are soft (and sticky) it is best to use your fingers to gently pat out the dough once it has been kneaded or folded and turned. Use a very light touch with little pressure while forming the dough rectangle to be cut into rounds for the scones. If you want tall scones then pat out the dough tall, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch (2 cm to 2½ cm) thick is about right.
Cutting out your scones – use a well-floured scone (biscuit) cutter for each round that you stamp out from the dough. That is dip your cleaned cutter into fresh plain flour before each separate cut. Do not twist the cutter while stamping out the scone, push down firmly until you can feel the board then lift the cutter the round should stay inside the cutter then gently remove it from the cutter and place the round onto the baking dish. You can use a sharp knife to cut out other shapes if you wish from the dough, also the knife should be floured before each cut as well.
Baking your scones – always preheat your oven when baking scones. Place each scone almost touching onto the baking dish this encourages the scones to raise and also keeps the sides soft and moist. If you want crisp sides widely space your scones on the baking dish. Don’t over-bake your scones. Over-baking for even a minute or two will dry your scones out. As soon as the sides begin to turn brown and are set, remove them from the oven. Immediately, place the scones on a wire rack—the hot pan will continue to dry the scones.
Extra comments about resting the dough – I found in my researches that a number of respected sources mentioned resting the dough in various stages in the recipe. Surprisingly this advice is sound. I found that if you rested the just mixed dough (in the fridge) for 20 minutes there was a huge improvement in the dough's handling qualities and the final scones height, lightness and crumb were outstanding. Also I found that if you rest your patted out dough covered in plastic for 10 minutes in the fridge that the rounds are easier to stamp out and the final baked goods raise higher and have a better crumb. Also you can rest your stamped out rounds in the fridge for a couple of hours without harm so you can make your scones place them into the fridge and then at your leisure bake them later great for dinner parties etc. This is possible because modern baking powder is double action, i.e. there is another release of gas when you bake the rounds in the heat of the oven.

Troubleshooting
Problems with bitter after-taste or dry chalky mouth-feel

The biggest problem that scone/biscuits can sometimes have is an after-taste (sometimes described as metallic or a salty chemical taste) or the mouthfeel is dry and chalky (i.e. the crumb is tough and doesn't have enough moisture).

If the problem is the after-taste try these tips

use freshly opened raising agents, many people claim old baking powder has a stronger taste
look for a single action baking powder (that only uses baking soda and cream of tar tar with a little cornflour) or make your own, since some double action baking powders can have metallic salts in them which some people can taste even in small quantities. Also keep in mind that homemade baking powder works faster and at a lower temperature, so put your recipe together quickly
look for a double action baking powder that uses non-metallic ingredients in it, check the ingredients listing on the packet.
use less baking powder
if you used an acidic liquid (buttermilk etc) and did not use some baking soda with the normal baking powder then some of the acid in the liquid wouldn't have been neutralised so leaving some salts behind causing the salty aftertase, that is make sure you are using the correct combination of agents for the liquids that you use, see the link below for full details about this.
use only baking soda and an acidic liquid (buttermilk) like in the famous Irish Soda bread which very few people complain about having an aftertaste
use bakers' ammonium (available from King Arthur's flour) it was one of the most common chemical raising agents in the old days before modern baking powder, it smells like ammonia when baking but the ammonia smell totally dissipates and this chemical leaves nothing behind. I use it a lot in my baking it really gives baked goods that old-fashioned taste that people really can pick up on also it gives cookies extra crispness when baked.

See here for a comprehensive posting on baking powder/baking soda and how to use them in recipes.
See here for the most interesting discussion on the use of baking soda and baking powder

If the problem is the mouthfeel try these tips

try smaller sized scones and bake them quickly in a very hot oven and make the dough wetter since large sized scones using a drier dough baked in a moderate oven will give you a dryer crumb therefore a dry chalky mouthfeel
over-handled dough will lead to a dry mouth
eat them immediately fresh out of the oven, scones do really suffer (they become dry and tough) when stored for any length of time
try using more fat about 1/4 cup+ per cup of flour - more fat gives moister crumb. Also try using all shortening, since shortening contains no water or milk solids it gives a very tender crumb.
use this great recipe they are called "a touch of grace" biscuits they are the most tender and moist biscuits (scones) that I have had.
some people claim that a very hot oven is best to start the baking process then lower the temperature to moderate to finish baking the scones

The problem lopsided scones
About lop-sided scones this is usually caused by uneven cutting out of the scone. Some hints
1. Clean and flour the scone cutter (by rubbing off any wet dough and then dipping the cutter into fresh flour the entire height of the cutter) every time you stamp out each round. Remember not to twist when you are stamping out the scones. If you are using a knife remember to clean and flour it for each cut.
2. Try to pat out or roll out the dough as evenly as possible.
3. Did you sift the dry ingredients three times? (uneven distribution of ingredients can lead to uneven scones).
4. Try to get the scone out of the cutter by applying gentle even pressure on the entire scone circumference that way you do not compress just one place so making that area less tender so raising less when cooked.
5. Turn the cut scone upside down onto the baking dish, since this side will be flatter than the patted out top surface.
6. Only glaze the tops of the scone, a small amount of liquid on the sides will inhibit raise in that area.
7. Some people like to use a fork and prick some holes in the top of the unbaked scones supposedly this helps the scone raise evenly.
8. Also some people like to use their thumb and press a small hollow into the top of the scone supposedly this helps the scone raise evenly.
9. A good article about "making the perfect scone" see here it goes through a lot of the best scone recipes by master bakers.
10. Try this recipe and its method from Bakers' 911 which seems to make straight-sided scones even from wavy-sided cutters

How to test baking soda
1. Place a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda into a tablespoon of vinegar it should bubble a lot.

How to test your single action baking powder
1. Place a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup, add 1/4 cup room temperature water it should bubble a lot.

How to test your double action baking powder
1. Place a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup, add 1/4 cup room temperature water it should bubble a lot.
2. Wait 30 secs and then place your cup into the microwave heat for about 30 secs until about 180F it should bubble again.
3. If it doesn't then discard and buy a new jar.

How to test your self-raising flour - add one tablespoon of S.R. flour into some hot water it should bubble a bit. Or try adding some vinegar and see if it bubbles. Usually SR flour is only good for about three months.

The problem an unreliable oven
1. Try and use heavy grade dark metal baking dishes which give the best heat distribution.
2. If your oven heating cycle is unreliable (varies the temperature a lot) lower the temperature to hot 220C (430F), preheat the oven along with a heavy metal baking dish for a good 20 mins then bake the scones on the baking dish which acts as a heat sink helping to bake the scones more evenly. Try to bake smaller sized scones which helps with a constantly varying temperature.
3. If your oven has hot spots which mine does just rotate the dish at about 3/4 of the total baking time.

The problem my dairy-free margarine doesn't do a good job of cutting in
1. Just melt the margarine and add it to the liquid and proceed as normal (this is the best you can do if the margarine is "bad for cutting-in or just bad for scones" in the first place).

Mandatory Items: You must make one batch of basic scones (i.e. basic biscuits using the North American name). The challenge recipe has been designed to be fast, very cheap and easy to follow so allowing for multiple attempts to be made until you can achieve your desired result. I encourage you to make a couple of batches to see how small changes in technique can obtain vastly different final baked products. I estimate all of my 16 experimental batches cost less than $4 and took about four hours, so please do take this opportunity to explore the possibilities of the different techniques and advice that have been presented here in this challenge. I have included a number of links to the most popular scone (biscuit) recipes (and variations) in a number of countries feel free to use these if you can make a good basic scone (biscuit) already.

Variations allowed: A number of variations (cheese and chives, herb, etc) on the basic challenge recipe are included use them if you wish.

Preparation time: Scones: Preparation time less than 10 minutes. Baking time about 10 minutes.

Equipment required:
Large mixing bowl
Baking dish
Measuring cups and spoons (optional)
Flour Sifter (optional)
Board (optional)
Scone (biscuit) cutter (optional) or knife (optional)
Dough scraper (optional)
Spatula (optional)
Weighing scale (optional)
Cooling rack (optional)
Pastry brush (optional)

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

Variations on the Basic recipe
Buttermilk – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with buttermilk, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, increase the fat to 4 tablespoons, in Step 3 aim of pea-sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 fold and turn the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with buttermilk.
Australian Scone Ring (Damper Ring) – follow the Basic recipe above but decrease the fat to 1 tablespoon, in Step 3 aim of fine beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, in Step 7 form seven rounds into a ring shape with the eighth round as the centre, glaze with milk.
Cream – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with cream, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with cream.
Cheese and Chive – follow the Basic recipe above but add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, after Step 2 add ½ teaspoon sifted mustard powder, ¼ teaspoon sifted cayenne pepper (optional), ½ cup (60 gm/2 oz) grated cheese and 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives into the sifted ingredients, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are widely spaced in the baking dish, sprinkle the rounds with cracked pepper.
Fresh Herb – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (such as parsley, dill, chives etc).
Sweet Fruit – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries etc) and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.
Wholemeal – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour.
Wholemeal and date – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour and after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) chopped dates and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Pictorial guide to the challenge recipe
I was at my brother's house and we had a hankering for a baked treat so I decided to make the challenge recipe also I needed some photos of the challenge recipe being made for this posting. My brother isn't a cook, all he had to hand as equipment was concerned was a mixing bowl,a thin walled 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin and a knife, he didn't even have a cup measure only mugs so I improvised.

As you can see in the collage below I roughly chopped some butter (I eye-balled about 2 tablespoons) and froze it. Then I throw the frozen cubed butter onto one mug of cold self-raising flour I couldn't sift the flour since my brother doesn't own a sifter. Then I proceeded to rub in the butter with my fingers until I got pea-sized fat pieces coated in flour.

I added the liquid (½ mug of cold lite-milk) to the rubbed-in fat/flour mixture until I got a sticky dough I turned this out onto a floured board, I lightly floured the top of the sticky dough then I kneaded it once then I patted it out into a rectangular shape then I proceeded to fold and turn the dough. Notice that you fold 1/3 of the dough over itself then the other 1/3 over that and turn it 90° degrees. Notice the lines on the broad this will help you understand how to do the folding and the turning.

I did a couple more folds and turns and used a well-floured knife to cut out squares of prepared dough.

Here is a close-up of the finish patted-out dough notice how you can see the fat particles in the dough this is what causes flakiness in the final baked scone.

I used the inverted cake tin as my baking dish and baked the scones in a very hot oven for 10 minutes they worked out really well I thought. Notice the nice central lamination in the scone and the great crumb and how well they rose in height.

I placed two unbaked scones in the fridge to test whether resting them for 20 minutes helped improve the raise of the final baked product. As you can see the left scone and the middle scone are taller than the right scone which was baked immediately after it was cut out from the dough. So don't worry if you cannot bake the scones straight away they do better with a little resting time.

Videos of my sister making scones (baking powder biscuits) – using a very popular Australian recipe
(http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8163/basic+scones)
Part 1 – my sister making the scones (baking powder biscuits)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9YJiHZ1K0)
Part 2 – my sister showing off her scones (baking powder biscuits)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorStLKSoMo)
Pictures of my sister's scones

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
Scones are best eaten warm. Scones (biscuits) are really easy to store – bag the cooked and cooled scones and freeze until needed then reheat in a moderate hot for a few minutes.

Additional Information:
Australia’s most popular scone recipe uses lemon-flavoured soda pop and cream as the liquid
(http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2010/08/08/lemonade-scones/)
A great English scone recipe this uses more sugar and fat and has an egg
(http://www.instructables.com/id/Perfect-English-Scones/)
Classic Southern Buttermilk Biscuits recipe by Alton Brown
(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/southern-biscuits-recipe/index.html)
An index of North American recipes
(http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Bread/Biscuits-and-Scones/Biscuits/Top.aspx)
Another index of North American recipes
(http://www.breadexperience.com/biscuit-recipes.html)
Three great Australian recipes
(http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/homestyle/blogs/tried-and-tasted/how-to-bake-the-perfect-scone-20110504-1e7xn.html)
An index of Irish recipes
(http://www.littleshamrocks.com/Irish-Bread-Scone-Recipes.html)
An interesting discussion on “what makes a scone a scone”
(http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/810928)
Videos of Alton Brown making biscuits (scones) with his granny (super cute to watch)
Episode one ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3QuQSdjMVE)
Episode two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcz4JQUwY9Q)
Links to advice about chemical raising agents
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/what-is-the-difference-between-baking-powder-and-baking-soda-in-pancakes.html
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/quick-bread-primer.html

Disclaimer:
The Daring Kitchen and its members in no way suggest we are medical professionals and therefore are NOT responsible for any error in reporting of “alternate baking/cooking”. If you have issues with digesting gluten, then it is YOUR responsibility to research the ingredient before using it. If you have allergies, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are lactose intolerant, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. The responsibility is YOURS regardless of what health issue you’re dealing with. Please consult your physician with any questions before using an ingredient you are not familiar with. Thank you! :)[/quote]

Dec 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Sourdough

2011-12-30T19:36:00.000+11:00

Sorry for posting late but I'm on holidays away from my normal computer setup and this is the first chance I've had to get onto my blog.

This month's Daring Bakers' challenge was sourdough, yes sourdough and yes we were asked to make a fresh starter for the challenge.

French Country Sourdough Picnic Loaf

I have a decade old starter called Boris (100% hydration i.e. equal weights of water and plain bread flour) so I decided to use that to make the French Country Loaf recipe. I started the process at Day 4 in the instructions. Since I had Boris already made up I saved four days. I have started a new sourdough starter to use in a few days time. In Sydney Australia it is the start of summer so I made a stuffed picnic loaf with the baked bread one of my favourite summer picnic foods.

I used "OO" finely steel-milled bread flour and "OO" finely cold-steel-milled whole wheat flour with some stabilised wheat germ (since I couldn't find my stone ground flour).

Boris my (100% hydration) starter, before I fed it to make the Leaven Starter, notice how Boris is burping gas

Boris feeding on the extra flour and water, notice the condensation on the top of the plastic lid which indicates that the yeastie beasties and bacteria are very active making lots of gas and tasty flavour for the sourdough

Boris full of tiny active bubbles after feeding

Comparison of Boris (left) when he is made into the leaven for the sourdough (right) in the French country loaf. Notice how wet and soft the leaven is for this recipe!

The loaf proofing for the final raise in a greased pan (I didn't want flour on the outside of the picnic loaf) before it is tipped out and slashed. The unbaked loaf is very soft and needs a mould.

The baked loaf (the unbaked loaf is very wet and soft and forms a great shape when baked) the final loaf shape is formed by squeezing (the soft out-turned unbaked loaf) with your hands, then you quickly slash it and place immediately into a very hot oven and turn the temperature to hot for 10 mins and then to the recipe temperature for the rest of the time.

Making the picnic loaf
Hollow out the loaf, notice how moist the interior is and the 'greyish' colour which is a indication of the sourdough starter. The crumb (the texture of the interior) of the loaf is like dense sponge really good I thought, notice the dense spongy crumb in the hollowed out top of the loaf (bottom piece in the photo below).

Line the hollow with several layers of thin ham, and then fill with a combination of ricotta cheese, chopped charred-grilled red capsicums (fire-roasted red bell peppers), spinach, basil, finely chopped spicy smoked French sausage, grated sharp cheese and lots for black pepper. The filling ingredients can be varied to suit your own tastes a great version is the famous Muffuletta sandwich (the filling is an olive paste with various cheeses and sliced meats).

Wrap tightly with plastic film and place into the fridge with a light weight on top of the loaf for a few hours (up to two days)

The finished picnic loaf

Close-up of a slice of the picnic loaf yum yum

The verdict - this recipe produces a sourdough unlike anything I have done before the crumb of the loaf is very moist almost sponge-like which I really really liked and it is a perfect foil for the pressed filling ingredients since they almost have the same texture which is what you want in a picnic loaf. Also the picnic loaf slices cleanly and thinly. I bet for an extra special treat slices of this picnic loaf would fry up beautifully. I will be using this recipe from now on to make picnic loaves.

What to do with the leftover starter
You can make a lot of recipes with the leftover starter examples pancakes, cakes, scones etc. In this case I made crumpets with the leftover starter (To make the batter - to one cup of starter, sprinkle over the surface 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (or 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder), stir well, the mixture will double in volume. Dry fry 1/4 cup scoops of the batter in well greased 3" (7-1/2 cm) metal rings on a medium-low heated griddle (or fry pan) for 4-6 minutes on the bottom and optionally 30 seconds on the top if you like colour on both top and bottom of your crumpets.) These crumpets were so good I love how the holes form and the moist texture of the crumb so much better than the store bought version. You can freeze the leftover starter/leaven and the cooked crumpets.


Comments and notes
1. This recipe is unusual in that you knead the leaven into the dough.
2. The leaven is very wet and soft more like soft putty so when you form the disk of dough and place the leaven onto it and knead it, the final dough-making is incredibly messy and the final dough is very very soft and spreads out very slowly (takes about 20 mins) if left on the counter. I had to add about 3 tablespoons of extra flour to make it a little stiffer.
3. The final interior of the loaf is very moist, as compared to my normal sourdough. I really liked the final interior and the loaf. The crumb (the texture) of the interior was like soft dense sponge even slightly doughy which I really liked. The weight of the loaf feels very heavy for its size.
4. What to make with the leftover starter make crumpets see links below for the recipe.
What to do with the discarded starter (use to make crumpets)
And what to do with a neglected starter
5. A plain flour starter seems to work very well for this recipe.

French Country Sour Dough Open-faced sandwiches with home-made pesto, tomatoes and cured Italian ham

I made the French country loaf its starter was very easy to make and look after until it was active it only took three days for the starter to become super active since I feed it twice a day and the starter was in a moist warm environment for the entire 'brewing' time. I made up the loaf has per the recipe I used very coarse stone ground whole meal bread flour and "OO" finely milled bread flour. The dough rose in about 2 hours (really quick for a sour dough) and to twice it original volume and when baked stayed exactly the same size. Since I used such coarse flour the final texture of the crumb was very grainy. My dough was so wet and soft it really needed a mould but that was no problem.

I wanted perfectly shaped sandwiches which means the crust has to be very smooth with crisp edges, so I went for a 'brick-shape' loaf that could be cut thinly and cleanly while having the strength so the bread slice wouldn't break or bend when the sandwich is being eaten.

The final texture of the loaf was like a Rye European sour dough bread, not dense at all in fact, the loaf could be cut very thinly and cleanly - perfect for open-faced sandwiches.

I had the most beautiful tomatoes and basil so I had to use them as the topping for my sandwiches.

This summer in Sydney Australia has been the coldest in the last fifty-one years, so I took special precautions in keeping the starter warm that is by enclosing the plastic container in several tea-towels on the counter on the spot that is above the hot water system. The temperature was gorgeously warmish at all times, so after three days the starter was full of energy and going for it. If you feed the starter once in the morning and in the evening it shortens the time for the starter to become active.

The starter covered in many tea towels over a warm spot on the counter, it is toasty in there:)

I wanted to make thin open-faced sandwiches so I coated my pan with oil-spray and then with wheat germ flakes which produces a thin smooth crust on the loaf

Notice the nice straight edges and smooth faces on the loaf, it looks like a brick! Perfect for open-faced sandwiches.

Close up of the crust of the loaf

Some more photos of the loaf and the thin slices that can be cut from it

I really like how thin you could slice the loaf

To make the open-faced sandwiches

Finished sandwiches with home made pesto, tomatoes and cured Italian ham and a piece of tangy goat's cheese

The verdict - a very tasty open-face sandwich bread wonderful with the tomatoes and pesto. And so filling only a couple of quarter slices where enough. Just like the old fashioned country breads I had in my childhood.

Some notes
1. You can speed up the 'brewing' time of the starter by twice feeding it a day and making sure that the starter is in a moist warm place.
2. My starter was super active it rose the dough in about two hours which is very quick.
3. The final dough was too soft to be shaped into a free-form loaf it really needs a mould.
4. The final crumb is very much like the classic black bread style of Northern Europe.

Cornmeal sourdough loaf

I used the French Country starter to make a cornmeal soudough loaf that was more traditionally shaped. I replaced the whole meal flour with corn meal (polenta) I added some pure gluten flour to replace the missing gluten from the corn meal and raised the dough in a bowl lined with linen that was covered in flour and cornmeal.

This is the largest loaf of bread I have made it was 12 inches (30 cms) in diameter and weighed almost 2-1/2 kgs (5-1/2 lbs)! It took about an hour and a quarter to bake.

The dough is very wet and soft

The dough raising in the lined bowl

How to raise the dough during cold weather, place a plastic bag over the bowl and place that over a saucepan 3/4 filled with warm water also you can wrap the saucepan in tea towels this will keep your dough warm for many hours even overnight.

The final baked loaf

The underside of the baked loaf a wonderful yellow colour

I will use the loaf tomorrow after it has cooled down and the flavours have settled.

I love the look of this loaf so rustic with lots of character in the crust and the yellow colour is stunning.

Cornmeal Sourdough Loaf part II

I use my cornmeal sourdough loaf today I was extremely pleased with the look, taste and texture of the slices. I had some beautiful beet(root) and mint on hand so I made a spicy beetroot mint dip to serve with the cornmeal bread.

Lovely beet(root) and mint

The yellow cornmeal bread sliced into wedges so colourful and tasty

The beet(root) and mint dip served on the cornmeal sourdough slices

Another photo of the delicious bread

Gorgeous White Sourdough

One thing about sourdoughs is that they can look so beautiful as compared to the store bought loaves. I made another loaf using the French Country starter but using all white flour for the loaf. I had to add about 1/4 cup of extra flour to the dough so that the shaped loaf would hold its shape and be slashed. I double egg-washed the loaf which really gave the baked loaf a lovely shiny gloss finish. I will use it tomorrow after the loaf has had time to settle and mellow. I cannot wait.

I used a five cup "flower-pot" shaped container which gives a nice visual proportion to the loaf

Some gorgeous photos of the final loaf

White Sourdough Loaf
I made tandoori roast chicken to serve with the white sourdough loaf I had made yesterday. The crumb of the sourdough was very smooth and its hue was a light sand colour which was unexpected since I used a very white flour for the dough. The thinly sliced chicken was lovely on the sourdough sandwich. The crumb of the loaf was very similar to white wonder bread a wonderful bread for sandwiches.

The white sourdough loaf being sliced

The tandoori roast chicken I adore the vibrant colour of the chicken

The final tandoori chicken sandwich

White sourdough loaf

I repeated making a white flour sourdough but this time I added some more flour in the final stage so that the loaf would spread out so much and would hold it shape when slashed. I needed about 1 cup of extra flour to achieve the correct consistency. I was very pleased with the final result. The loaf expanded about three times it was incredible to watch it grow and bake in the oven.

More things to make with the leftover starter part II
Wholesome banana and date sourdough bread

I had a cup of very sour active starter left so I thought I would make my favourite banana/date bread with it, I make this recipe about once a fortnight during the summer. The recipe is easy -

Wholesome banana and date sourdough bread
1 cup starter (the starter doesn't need to be active)
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil (or melted butter)
3 tablespoons dried milk powder (or buttermilk powder)
3 tablespoons wheat-germ
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup of dates finely chopped, soaked in orange juice until soft
(Optional 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, milk powder and salt, form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour into the well the sourdough starter, oil, wheat-germ, egg, brown sugar, banana and dates (and the nuts if using). Whisk the ingredients together until a normal "cake" batter consistency is formed you can add more water if you need to loosen the batter. Bake in a moderate oven 160C/320F/gas mark 3 for 1-1/2 hours until a skewer comes out clean, check at 1 hour and then every 10 mins until done. Best if left for one day before slicing, but can be sliced when completely cooled. The bread will last for 2 weeks (at least! I have always eaten it before this) in the fridge covered in foil and plastic wrap and it gets better and better with time, fabulous toasted and served with butter. The slices are super moist and not too sweet. The sourdough and bananas really makes for a moist bread.

White sourdough loaf

I decided to make a treat for this delicious bread that is meatloaf which I really really like a lot in Australia it isn't that common basically nobody I know makes meatloaf but every time I make it the meatloaf gets rave reviews.

For a super special treat I baked the meatloaf on two slices of the white bread these slices therefore get toasted and are dripping with gorgeous flavour I'm sure that they aren't not that healthy but once in while it is such a flavoursome treat.

The meatloaf notice the two slices of white sourdough bread that acts as a soak of all the juices

The delicious slices of bread that have been baked and basted throughout the cooking of the meatloaf

The cut meatloaf. My meatloaf contains grilled red capsicums (the red pieces), shredded seaweed (the black pieces) and lots of herbs and a mixture of pork and veal with some BBQ duck and the glaze is a mixture of tomato pesto, black sugar and balsamic vinegar.

December 2011 Daring Cooks' Challenge - Steamed Buns

2011-12-14T15:37:00.002+11:00

December 2011 Daring Cooks' Challenge - Yum Char Steam buns and baked buns

This month's challenge was a beauty - steam buns and baked - something that I love having at yum char (dim sum) so I was looking forward to the results. And WOW what stunning results I have to say the steamed and baked bun dough are perfection itself. The steamed/baked bun dough is extra soft, moist and so delicate I LOVED them. And the marinade for the pork is so delicious. Our hostess Sara has done a marvellous job on this challenge. Thank you so much Sara for all the work you did on this challenge.

Recipe Source: I looked at quite a few blogs and various websites as well as referring to various cook books. Through trial and error my recipes are a slight variation. My recipe for marinade using maltose was based on Blue Apocalypse's recipe. My char sui bao filling variations was based on quite a few various sites I visited, one of those was Chinatown Connection which I used the dough recipe for the steamed buns.

Blog-checking lines: Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!

Click here for a PDF of the recipes.

Savoury chicken tofu bao steam buns

This is one of the easiest and most delicious challenges so far for me, I never would of tried this so another fabulous recipe to add to my regular rotation. Thank you so much Sara for the recipes.

Well what can I say except …. perfection … The steam bun recipe is perfect every stage of the process was effortless. The dough was a dream to work with, the kneaded dough (about 8 minutes) expanded three times in an hour, it looked so smooth and shiny and it felt so soft, slightly tacky and elastic. The dough rolled out without flour using a rolling pin. I used 1½ tablespoons of filling for each 55 gram (2 ounce) dough round that was about 7 cm (2-3/4 inch) diameter and about 5 mm (1/5 inch) thick. Sealing of the filled dough ball was easy just press the two edges together and gather the edges and twist together to seal the bun. The balls expand dramatically in the streamer so leave a lot of space between the uncooked buns. And the taste was spot-on a delicious contrast of the salty, spicy, sweet, sour, bitter and savoury filling with the super soft and moist bun. These steamed buns were even better (better shaped with a much better tasting filling also the bun bread was much softer with a lovely moistness) than the ones in my favourite yum cha (dim sum) restaurant, these home-made buns cost about 15 cents each to make as compared to $1.50 in the restaurant. The buns were super soft and the filling was spicy and moist, and the ratio of dough to filling was exactly right. Everything was perfect I really love this recipe. I even loved the shape of the steamed buns so round and smooth.

I located some bun flour in the Asian shop but I decided I didn't want to use chlorinated (bleached) flour so I used a finely milled "OO" Italian bread flour that was naturally very white. In Australia it is almost impossible to find bleached flour except in Asian shops.

Since my oven is still out I had to the do the steamed bun recipe (which is what I wanted anyway), for the filling I used chopped chicken leg meat (leftovers from the night before) and home-made overnight marinated (hoisin, rice wine and chilli mushroom soya sauce) savoury tofu as the protein source then I added shallots, fresh chillies, chilli powder, Kepas Manis- (Sweet soya Sauce), home made tomato sauce, rice wine, soya sauce, fish sauce, hoisin, sugar, fresh lime juice, smoked paprika, lots of Szechuan pepper, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and some shredded lime leaves super yum yum. I thickened the filling with corn flour until it was almost a paste. I really liked how the filling gleamed with vibrant colours and on tasting the filling it was packed with a punchy flavour profile real yummy.

I made a half batch (10 buns) perfect for 4 people, total cost about $1.50.

The finished bun had the perfect ratio of dough to filling, also I got an even layer of bread covering the filling (I was very pleased about the look of the interior) also notice the perfect bread texture of the bun layer so soft and moist

The 55 gram (2 ounce) dough balls waiting to be rolled out and filled

Savoury chicken tofu filling gleaming with unctuous deliciousness

The 1½ tablespoon of filling in the centre of the round waiting to be formed into a bun

The un-steamed buns

The finished steam buns notice how much they expand in the streamer and the fabulous shape they have

Close-up of the steamed bun

Hints and tips
1. Knead the dough until its pliable about 8-10 minutes and let the dough raise until it has doubled (or more) in volume.
2. The buns expand a lot when steamed so leave a lot of room I did a batch of three and they expanded even more than the ones in the photo! since they had room to really grow. Remember to use parchment paper for the bases of the buns this makes removing the buns very easy.
3. I used plain "OO" flour (11.5% protein) which is a finely milled flour which produces very soft textured pastries and breads.
4. I left out the sugar in the dough since the filling had the correct balance of hot/spicy/sweet/sour and umami (savoury).
5. The filling should be at room temperature (or fridge temperature) since a hot filling will cook the dough.
6. Seal the edges well or the filling will leak out while steaming.
7. Make the filling very flavoursome so a little goes a long way.
8. One thing I did notice was that after about 8 minutes the buns had expanded to maximum size with a beautiful smooth surface but after 12 minutes of steaming the buns had got a little smaller with a slightly roughen surface. So next time I will steam them for about 9 minutes.
9. Follow the rolling out instructions as provided they really do work. That is leave the centre of the dough round a little thicker than the edges so when the roll expands the top will not tear open.

Cantonese Hot Dog Buns

At last my oven is working again!

I thought I would do baked hot dog buns, I charred-grilled good quality organic hot dogs using the challenge recipe for the marinade. When making the buns I added extra caramelised onions, tomato sauce and mustard along with the central hot dog. The baked bun recipe provides enough dough for six buns. I really love how the hot dog and its relishes are all contained in the bun. The sweetness of the buns contrasts well with the salty/savoury filling. These are really delicious, an interesting version of the traditional open hot dog bun. My tasters were delighted with this concept. And they taste great cold also, I think I will add these to my picnic food rotation from now on.

I have posted this photo to yeastspotting .

Oct 2011 Daring Bakers Challenge - Povitica

2011-10-27T22:28:00.000+11:00

A tale of two povitica loaves

This month's challenge was to make povitica (a type of nut roll.

Blog-checking lines: The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

This is my first time ever making this sort of recipe so I had absolutely no idea what to expect from the recipe. Well after doing some interesting internet research and ringing a pastry chef mate of mine whose mum is from Croatia and another friend's mum who is from Poland. I have some (little) understanding of the process and what to expect.

When comparing my notes with the information from my friends and their mums I found that povitica (or nut rolls) seems to be made by two slightly different methods that lead to two very dissimilar results; it seems that the “Northern European“ version (my name) is dense and moist like a firm bread-and-butter pudding, while the “Southern European” version is a well risen roll slightly less dense than the Northern version.

One major difference between the two versions is an hour of rising time before the final baking. Our challenge recipe only has ¼ hour of rising time before the final baking like a lot of Northern recipes while a typical Southern recipe has an hour of rising time before the final bake.

During my internet research I found that there are other differences; the Northern version uses a soft dough that is rolled out fairly thickly while the filling has a firmish consistency, while the Southern version uses a firmer dough that is rolled out very thinly while its filling has a consistency of thick honey. Since I was making two loaves (½ batch) anyway I thought I would do one loaf using the challenge instructions (which are very Northern) and do the other loaf using the Southern method. For both versions you make the dough layer as thin as possible.

A (Northern) povitica is meant to be dense and moist, it is important not to let the shaped roll rise too much before baking (in our challenge recipe you only let it rest for 15 minutes) in the other version you let the unbaked roll rise until doubled in volume then bake it.

I found that if you refrigerate the loaf until cold, it will slice thinly and cleanly, remember to serve it at room temperature. Also let the povitica rest for a few hours (a day is better) before cutting it this will help it set better so it can be sliced cleanly.

The biggest tip - If you find the dough is too springy let it rest.

Uhmmm, I don't know why but every stage of this recipe was an uphill battle.I used “00” soft flour (finely milled white flour 8% protein) for the recipe since I had it to hand and I thought it would make the stretching of the dough easier since “lower gluten” means “easier handling”.

For the nut filling I used about 300 grams (10½ ounces) walnuts and 250 grams (9 ounces) of mixed nuts, also I added 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder I wanted a chocolate hit from the Povitica. I used ¾ cup of white sugar and ¼ cup of dark brown sugar in the filling. And I used an unsalted “European” styled butter 87% fat since it had to used.

Dough – Firstly the size of the dough is amazing when you stretch it out, you will need to do it on a large table with a floured tablecloth. I found that the dough was very very hard to stretch it wanted to go back to its original shape that is every time I rolled it or stretched it out it would spring right back. From experience I know what to do in this situation I let the partially stretched out dough rest for about 15 minutes covered in plastic so the gluten strands in the dough would relax so making stretching a lot easier so after resting the dough I then proceeded to make a very thin layer of it … that is … after a lot of time doing guarded stretching and gentle man-handling … finally … I could see magazine print through the dough but this process took about 45 minutes. I think the problem was that I added too much flour while forming the dough, next time I will just have the dough a little tacky which will make it easier to stretch out. Also I will add ½ teaspoon lemon juice (for a ¼ batch) next time since the acidity helps to tenderise the dough so making it easier to stretch out. The second dough was a lot easier to roll out since by this time it had a lot more resting than the first dough it only took 15 minutes to roll out to phyllo (filo) sheet thinness. Looking back I should of added about 3 tablespoons of milk to get the correct consistency.

Filling - Firstly the filling seems like a huge amount but you need it all for the ½ batch its volume is almost 1 litres almost 4 cups. I found that the filling was much too stiff to spread out (I was using very dry nuts that could of been the problem?) on the thin dough layer without tearing it I had to add 4 tablespoons of warm milk and micro-wave to get it to the right consistency (like very thick honey). It is best to place tablespoon dollops of the filling evenly over the dough then spread these dollops evenly across the thin dough. After 20 minutes! of careful and methodical spreading the nut filling it was done. Of course the second version was a breeze to spread again I think resting time really helps the nut filling with spreading it over the thin dough sheet.I trimmed the edges and placed it into the baking pan such that the roll was coiled on itself I egg washed just after forming the unbaked loaf and once again just before baking.

I had given away for the long weekend my baking pans to a friend so I used my high loaf tin.I let one loaf rest for 15 mins then I baked it and the other loaf I let rise until doubled in volume then I bake it both were baked the same way (same temperatures and times). I'm sure that there is nothing wrong with the recipe I think I didn't let the dough rest enough for the first version and I added too much flour at the start.I have to say after all the troubles they both looked good, the loaf using the challenge instructions expanded about x2, the other version expanded about x2½ both had great colour and the crust dough layer for both was very thin so thin you could see the nut filling through it. And the colour was great so brown and shiny. Since the final baked loaf rises so much take this into account when you are shaping the loaf into the baking pan. I had a little trouble getting it out of the pan, so I recommend using parchment paper or butter and flour your baking pan well.

The dough starting to be mixed notice the foamy yeast mixture

How to tell if your dough is kneaded enough if you poke an indentation into the dough it should spring back I realise now that I should of added more liquid it should be tacky

The huge amount of nut filling I used my food processor to make it this is the first time I used the machine since I bought it two years LOL LOL ago in this instance I thought it was worth the effort to clean the machine after the task

Stretching the dough to size … a pain to do in every sense of the word

The baked Northern povitica

The southern povitica

If you want to do the recipe over two days I would do the nut filling and the challenge recipe up to step 7. that is make the dough and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator. Then the next day return the dough to room temperature (a couple of hours) and make the povitica as per the recipe. This sort of recipe freezes very well, freeze the baked loaf and thaw in the fridge overnight loosely covered in paper towels then cover in plastic wrap this stop the povitica from becoming soggy from condensation.

The verdict – the challenge (Northern) povitica is a really delicious nut roll with a very dramatic interior appearance, the texture of it is very similar to bread-and-butter pudding, very moist and 'firm-ish” to the tooth. While the “Southern” had great height it was a lot lighter in texture than the challenge recipe version still good. But I liked the challenge version much more the interior looked better and tasted better also. Overall I was very pleased though it was a frustrating process for the first version, though the second version was a breeze.

Comparison of the two loaves – on the left is the challenge version (which I call Northern) and on the right is the Southern version. As you can see very different looking results.

Tips and hints (some of these are from the other bakers' experiences with this recipe I will add extra tips and hints during the month when others have posted their results)
1. It is very important to get the correct consistency for the dough and the nut filling if you do the process is a breeze. Remember when it comes to making bread -- recipes are guidelines, since flour absorbs moisture from the air so it is not unusual to add extra liquid or flour to get the correct consistency for the dough (in our case it should be slightly sticky) and depending on how old the nuts are and how the nuts are ground (this is highly variable for each baker) determines how the nuts absorb the liquid so again look at the consistency and adjust the liquid for the nut filling you want it to be like thick honey. I think this is the real lesson of this challenge, don't be afraid to adjust the liquid amounts to suit what you find in front of you in the mixing bowl!
2. Use plain (all purpose) flour. Use the flour sparingly when you mix the initial dough, it should be sticky don't be afraid to add liquid to get the correct consistency if you used too much flour. When you start mixing the dough it looks like that there isn't enough flour avoid adding any extra at this stage. It is best to mix the dough up (reserving some of the flour) and really give it a good working over it will be sticky (slap it down on the counter a few times and use a scraper to scoop it off the counter and knead it hard) it will be become less sticky while you knead it, that way you will use the least amount of flour.
3. Let the dough rise then punch it down and let it rest until it's pliable, if it is too springy let it rest longer.
4. Always check if your nuts are fresh and are not bitter tasting, ground nuts in a packet easily can be a year old. Fresh nuts give the best result leading to a lovely moist filling. Grind or process the nuts very finely if the nut pieces are too large they will break and tear the dough layer when you roll it up.
5. The consistency of the nut filling is like thick honey don't be afraid to add some liquid to get the correct consistency, micro-waving really helps make it spreadable.
6. The amount of time you let the roll rise just before baking leads to different results for the final baked povitica.
7. Roll up the povitica fairly tightly (using the floured sheet as your guide) so the final baked loaf will not fall apart and the layers will have a good pattern with no voids between the layers.
8. To check if the loaf is ready lightly knock the top of the roll it should sound hollow, or insert a skewer (or small thin knife) into the loaf for a slow count of three it should come out dryish and feel warmish if the skewer is wet or feels cool bake for a longer time don't over-bake since the filling will dry out making the final loaf dry so making the layers fall apart when the roll is cut into slices.
9. Leave the roll in the tin until it has cooled this helps firm it up so the roll will not collapse when you take it out of the pan recall the loaf weighs over 1 kg (2 lbs).
10. Let the roll rest for a few hours (better for a day) until completely cooled and set before cutting, if you refrigerate the loaf it will cut thinly and cleanly without crumbs, remember to serve the slices at room temperature. Makes great toast or even better French toast yum yum.
11. The loaf gets better and better the longer it matures in the refrigerator.

A few more tips and hints from Wolf who has made povitica every Christmas for many years, I put these here so they can be found easily by the forum members
A. Don't spread the filling right to the edges of the dough. You want to stay within at least 1/2 inch of the sides. This way, you can seal the filling inside and won't have leakage.
B. I use a stoneware bread pan to bake mine in. The one in the photo had the ends tucked underneath to the center, so it presented a smooth top. It was also rolled to the center from BOTH ends. That's how I got 4 distinct swirls. (See her exquisite povitica here)
C. Definitely cool the loaf in whatever you bake it in, until you can handle it with your bare hands, before turning it out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. It slices cleaner when completely cooled or refrigerated.
D. Roll the dough tighter than you think you need to. Yes, some filling will squeeze out the ends, but you'll get a neater swirl in the center, less voids and gaps and it'll stay together better, as well as make it a nicer sliced bread for toasting or even french toast- which is awesome with this type of bread.
E. It will freeze well, especially if well wrapped- I've done one upwards of a month before. It does ship very well- I ship one loaf to my parents every Christmas and one to my In Laws, my recipe makes 3 full sized loaves and will last upwards of a week on the counter at room temp. - if it lasts that long in your house }:P

Wolf graciously included instructions to obtain her exquisite swirl patterned povitica for the method.

I have drawn some diagrams of the method

The stretched out dough layer covered with filling

Then roll each long edge to the center thus forming two swirls

Then take each end and fold them towards the middle of the roll (the brown line is where the ends finish up when folded) thus forming a double height roll

Then turn the loaf over and place into the pan so the seam ends are at the bottom of the pan which means the top is smooth and has no cut seams or edges

Txfarmer a very experienced and superb baker posted some great tips also
1) At first glance, since we need to stretch the dough to very thin, it seems to make sense not to knead the dough too much. Kneading == strong gluten == too elastic == hard to roll out/stretch. However, what we really need is a dough that can be stretched out WITHOUT BREAKING, that actually requires the dough to have strong gluten. I make breads a lot, from my past experience, I think the solution here is to have a wet (as wet as one can handle) dough that's kneaded fairly thoroughly. Wet doughs are more extensible, despite being kneaded very well. I kept the dough so wet that it was sticking to the mixer bowl at the end of kneading, however, a large transparent strong "windowpane" can be stretched out, which is the indication of strong gluten.
2) With the right dough, stretching out was easy, < 10mins of work. The dough was tough enough not to break, yet wet enough to be stretched out. I made quarter-size (i.e. one loaf), but the dough was stretched out to cover almost all of my coffee table. The tip of using a sheet underneath was very good. I used a plastic table cloth (lightly floured). In fact the dough was stretched so large that the filling was barely enough to cover it.3) I proofed the dough longer than the formula suggests to get more volume, and the loaf less dense. I understand the authentic version is quite dense, but my family tends to like lighter fluffier loaves when it comes to sweet breads.4) Since the dough was kneaded well, the final loaf had very good volume. Rose well above the rim in my 8.5X4.5inch pan.Poviticas for morning tea
I needed to make a treat for nibbles at a morning tea. So I decided to make two poviticas – one povitica filled with tea infused figs and almonds and the other filled with coffee infused dates, cocoa and hazelnuts. I wanted a strong contrast in the flavours between the two loaves. The tea/fig/almond filling was a lovely 'camel' colour its flavour was like caramelised fig on the palate each element was present I really liked how the tea melded with the fig and the almond this povitica was additively GOOD with tea. The other loaf had a very strong coffee/date base flavour while the cocoa and hazelnut added a lovely lingering after taste the winner for me. I was very very pleased with the filling flavours and how they tasted with tea or coffee. (Apart from the coffee infused date povitica looking like a baked chicken LOL LOL.) Those loaves were moist, very dense and incredible rich, perfect (when thinly sliced) with a cuppa. Feeds a lot of people! There were like very moist, ultra dense fruit cakes I thought hence the reason for very thin slices to be served with your choice of tea or coffee. Not recommended for children too much caffeine!

For this attempt I was careful about adding the flour and made sure that the finished dough was a little sticky, this time I found it a lot easier to stretch though the consistency wasn't exactly right I felt and I need to better understand how do to the spreading out of the filling and I haven't still mastered how the amount of filling as compared to the amount of stretched out dough needs to be in ratio, and also how to form a good pattern of swirls needs some thought so a lot of little things to practice for me over the next few weeks.

I will give this recipe another go since I want to perfect the process (making pretty interior patterns and getting the texture right) since these loaves would be a great Christmas present.

Tea infused figs with almonds

Coffee infused dates with hazelnuts (the finished loaf looks a little like a roasted chicken LOL)

Tea infused figs with almonds
375 grams (13 ounces) finely chopped dried figs
¾ cup of very very strong tea (I used 4 teabags of Earl Grey tea)
¾ cup of vanilla sugar
1 cup (120 grams) (4¼ ounces) ground almonds
2 large egg
½ cup clotting cream (66% butter fat)
Method – combine all the ingredients (except eggs and cream) in a small saucepan bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Beat eggs and pour slowly into mixture, stirring constantly and simmer gently 5 minutes more. This mixture scorches easily, so heat must not be too high. Cool mixture add clotting cream. Place filling into a container and let rest overnight before using.

Coffee infused dates with hazelnuts
375 grams (13 ounces) of finely chopped dried dates
¼ cup (55 gm) (2 oz) unsalted butter, fried until nut brown
¾ cup of very very strong coffee (I used 1½ tablespoons of instant coffee)
½ cup of dark brown sugar
¼ cup of cocoa powder
1 cup (120 grams) (4¼ ounces) ground hazelnuts
2 large egg
¼ cup clotting cream (66% butter fat)
Method – combine all the ingredients (expect eggs and cream) in a small saucepan bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Beat eggs and pour slowly into mixture, stirring constantly and simmer gently 5 minutes more. This mixture scorches easily, so heat must not be too high. Cool mixture add clotting cream. Place filling into a container and let rest overnight before using.

Sep 2011 DB challenge - Croissants

2011-09-27T00:49:00.006+10:00

I have placed the first croissants into yeastspotting http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Blog-checking lines: The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Recipe Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two. Julia Child and Simone Beck.

See here for a PDF of the recipe (it has 57 steps LOL LOL)

Wow this month's challenge was so interesting making croissants, croissant pastry is intriguing it is a mixture of "puff pastry" and "yeast bread dough", technically croissant pastry is a laminated dough, that is you basically make a yeast bread dough and then you make a butter puff pastry with it, using four turns and folds. Very interesting.

We were very lucky to have a wonderful member txfarmer she had experimented with croissant over a two month period and her postings in the "The Fresh Loaf" web site were invaluable well worth a look see these links link one, link two and link three.

1457 layered sourdough croissants

Croissants making is all about technique and practice practice and more practice.

I have made croissants a large number of times so I thought I would push myself on this challenge. I wanted to try some new techniques and methods. So I did sourdough croissants using a HUGE amount of butter using six turns in as little time as possible.

Luckily Sydney Australia is having perfect weather for making laminated dough cold cold and more cold. So I could do two turns (almost three!) every 45 mins (chilling the dough in the freezer between turns). The final proof took a long time.

I had some very active sourdough dough on the rise ready to be shaped when the challenge was announced so I used that to make my croissant dough (sorry I didn't use the challenge recipe for this attempt). I used 500 grams of AP (plain) flour (Australian plain flour is about 10% protein) in the final pastry dough and a 500 gram butter-block (since I had to use up the butter today). Using a high ratio of flour to butter makes it much easier to make the laminations in the pastry. Since I have made laminated doughs before and I was using sourdough (which gives good structural strength to the crumb with plenty of tenderness) I did six 'letter' folds (which produces 728 layers of butter and 729 layers of dough or 1457 different layers in total!) and double egg-washed the croissants. Using sourdough makes for a very tender dough (much softer than normal bread dough). I had to chill the dough after each two turns for 45 mins.

The croissants increase in volume about 3½ times. They smell fabulous when baking.

A very long process, but well worth it.

I was very pleased with these 'quick' croissants since the sourdough really helped tenderise the dough and the many turns seemed to work out fine and the HUGE amount of butter stayed in the rolls when baked so overall a very good result.

My list of characteristics of a good croissant
1. good layering of the butter and dough
2. the exterior crust is deeply coloured all over, the crust should be shiny thin and crisp with a slight crackle (the crust should almost shatter) when bitten into
3. the interior colour is even (slightly yellow or creamy white it depends on the colour of your butter) with an open crumb (lots of holes), the interior dough should be moist and soft with a 'pull' when your tear it apart, and the
4. butter flavour should be strong but not overpowering.

A Sunday article in “le Figaro magazine” referred to the nine pillars of pleasure (volupté) for appreciating a croissant. The author of the article asked two well-known Parisian pâtissiers, Pierre Hermé and Laurent Duchêne to “analyze what makes the heart of the croissant beat”

The nine pillars of volupté (pleasure) from "le Figaro magazine" are:
1. The layers (le feuilletage) – look for the layers, lots of space, not flat and smooth; crusty exterior, soft inside
2. The soft interior (la mie) – is light and agreeably honeycombed. When you eat it, it should have crumbs. When you tear off the cornered end, the soft interior should resist a bit. It should not be doughy.
3. What you hear (à l’oreille) – Ideally you should hear the crunch of the crust. It should crackle the whole while you are biting into it. As Pierre Hermé says: “you should hear the croissant suffer!” («On doit entendre la souffrance du croissant!»)
4. What you taste (en bouche) – You should taste the amount of butter rather than the sugar. However, the subtle taste of salt is the crowning point of a good croissant.
5. What makes a bad croissant (et un mauvais croissant?) – Look to see if the bottom of the croissant is whitish; it was not cooked long enough or was poorly baked. Is the croissant flat in appearance and doesn’t seem to breathe or is it oozing butter?
6. The smell (l’odeur) – This can be a giveaway, if the croissant smells of yeast or the metal baking sheet. It should give off an agreeable smell of creamy butter.
7. Shelf life (sa durée de vie) – The croissant has a very short shelf life: five or six hours; outside of this, it becomes stale. Don’t eat the croissant too hot, it loses its taste, its heart, it fades.
8. The ingredients (les ingredients) – The choice of butter is first and foremost. Pierre Hermé uses Viron flour, fleur de sel de Guérande, butter from the Viette (Charente) region, course sugar and of course water. But, mineral water.
9. The season (la saison) – Does the croissant have a season? From the end of October to the beginning of November (this is for the Northern Hemisphere) is not a good time to buy a croissant. At this point the wheat harvests are blended (the old with the newly harvested). The dough is more difficult to control.

When ordering, ask for the croissant made with butter (croissant au buerre). And although winter might be the croissants’ most popular season, they are available all year round.

The sourdough croissant dough has increased three times in volume, it is full of flavour and bubbles

The sour dough punched down

The butter block - I shape the butter block as perfectly as possible

Locking-in the butter into the dough

Use rubber bands on your rolling pin to get thin even layers in your laminated doughs

After the first turn and fold (notice after the 1st turn & fold the dough is the same size as the butter block)

Trimming the final croissant dough after six turns and fold - keeping the dough neat and even is essential

Unbaked croissants

Baked croissants

Close up of the laminations in the overlapping sections

Tips and hints
1. One “letter” (also called a 'simple') fold (i.e folding the dough like a letter taking the top 2/3 of the way down and then taking the bottom 2/3 of the way up to form a rectangle), produces 2 layers of fat encased by 3 layers of dough, so two letter folds produces 6 layers of fat and 7 layers of dough, three letter folds produces 26 layers of fat and 27 layers of dough, four letter folds (typical of croissants) produces 80 layers of fat and 81 layers of dough (this type of pastry dough can increase in volume about three times when baked), five letter folds produces 242 layers of fat and 243 layers of dough and six letter folds (typical of puff pastry which can expand eight times in volume when baked) produces 728 layers of butter and 729 layers of dough that is 1457 different layers in total! (this type of pastry dough can increase in volume about eight times when baked)
2. About the type of flour (low or high gluten) to use – I have checked a lot of websites and my extensive collection of cookery books and there seems to be two camps; the high gluten camp that uses bread flour (high gluten 13%+ protein), and the low(er) gluten camp that uses some (or all!) cake flour (low gluten about 8% protein). Oddly French recipes seem to about 3/4 bread and 1/4 cake on which flour to use. High gluten strengthens the structure of the bread but also toughens the crumb and can be hard to roll out, while low gluten gives a tender crumb but with compromised strength. In the end it is a juggling act between tenderness versus strength. Low gluten flour gives a light open textured crumb but there is a tendency for the croissant structure to collapse, while high gluten flour gives a tighter crumb more like normal bread but the croissant structure is much firmer. My 10% protein sour dough produced a light open crumb with good volume increase I think this was due to the chemical/baking effects of the sour dough and not so much about the amount of protein in the flour. I think a lot of the bread flour recipes are really for machines and not the home baker.
3. Sour dough takes a very long time to proof as compared to normal bread.
4. Here are the major pitfalls for this recipe; warm butter, warm dough, the butter and dough aren't the same consistency which encourages the butter to run out or crack in the laminated layers, untrimmed laminations, uneven final sheeting (the layers of alternating dough and butter should be even).
5. Make paper cut-outs (templates) of the rolled-out dough shapes, the butter-block and the croissants the templates really makes rolling out the dough so much faster and easier.
6. I like to add ½ teaspoon of fresh lemon (or lime) juice per three of cups flour, the acid helps to tenderise the dough's gluten, also the juice intensifies the taste of the butter I feel. Be careful too much lemon juice will result in a dough that is too soft therefore hindering oven spring (the amount the dough springs up in the first few minutes of baking).
7. Use a “French” rolling pin if possible (French rolling pins have no handles and are the same width over the length of the pin they look like a large dowel length) or a very long traditionally shaped rolling pin.
8. Try to use the best quality butter you can afford for your croissants. “European” butter styles have a lower water content (<10%) than normal supermarket brands (about 16%) also top quality brands of butter are more pliable (than low cost butters) when cold. That is low-water/ high-fat content butters make for the highest quality croissants. In France you can buy 'dry' butter (i.e. extra low water content and extra high fat content butter) especially made to be used in croissant making. I used a Belgian butter called Lurpak $16/kg. I was surprised how easy the dough was to layer with the butter block. After each turn and fold I let the dough rest in the refrigerator for about 1½ hours. I have found Aldi's unsalted butter about $6/kg works fine. You can buy butter sheets (butter spread out in thin sheets wrapped in plastic) these make the layering of the dough and butter a lot easier, but they are hard to find try good foodie shops and suppliers to major hotels and restaurants.
9. Most recipes use 45% butter to flour weight I find for the home cook using a lot more butter makes the rolling and turning much easier, increase the butter to about 55-65% flour weight. I did 100% butter to flour weight since I needed to use the butter up and I wanted to experiment what would happen. No leakage at all since I proved the rolls for a long time!
10. To use unsalted or salted butter? I like using unsalted butters since they have a higher fat content than salted butter and I feel that unsalted butter tastes better. But I think it is a matter of personal preference.
11. The butter block has to be made cold and kept cold. You want pliability, NOT softness.
12. The optimal temperature for the butter is 60°F (15½°C) at this temperature it will be pliable and not break into pieces when rolled out.
13. Make sure that the butter block and the dough have the same consistency especially for the first 2 turns, leave the cold dough out on the counter until the butter is the same consistency as the dough. A dough that is softer than the butter will be forced to the sides by the firmer butter; a dough that is too firm will force the butter out the sides.
14. After four turns the dough is beautiful and silky.
15. Remember to let the dough warm up a little (a few minutes) if it has been in the fridge for a long time (over 2 hours) recall you want the butter and the dough to be the same consistency when you roll out the laminated dough.
16. Laminating takes a little practice. Mainly, using the rolling pin as evenly as possible for the turns, keeping the dough rectangle so that the laminations are tight and even, and finally trimming the ends.
17. When rolling out the dough. Always roll in a square or rectangular shape regardless of the final shape. Roll in one direction. Begin with your pin on the edge closest to you and roll toward the far end; do not roll sideways. Do not press down when rolling or the layers may stick together and the recipe will not rise properly. Decrease the pressure as you roll toward the edges to avoid flattening them and compressing the layers. Evenness of rolling is essential so there is even rising. The upper part tends to lengthen faster than the bottom, so turn the dough over occasionally to keep the seams and edges even. Make sure you place the dough so when you resume rolling you do so over the previous rolls and in the same direction. Be neat. Don’t roll it side-ways. Always roll it length-wise. Use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough so that the dough doesn’t get too tough. Roll it thinly and evenly so that the layers are even when baked. The straighter your rolled dough, the more uniform your puff pastry.
18. Make sure the corners are at a 90-degree angle. This is so the layers are lined up properly for the greatest puff during baking.
19. Rolling to 1/8-inch thick is good for most pastries. For tartlets, roll to 1/16-inch thick, and for larger pastries, such as the Gateau St.-Honore, 3/16-inch thick.
20. Unless you are a professional puff pastry maker and have a home sheeter (a machine that rolls out pastry sheets – a dream of mine) then limit the number of turns for croissants to a maximum of four. For the normal home baker (three or) four turns will produce the maximum lift, further turns will result in smaller and denser croissants. I did six turns since I was using sourdough and I have been making laminated doughs for a long time and can make a good dough with even thin layers that are aligned very closely to 90° to the dough edges. Usually I do four turns but since this is a challenge I thought I would do six to experiment.
21. If some butter escapes you can add a very thin layer of flour to the butter and proceed as normal.
22. You can place thick rubber bands on the edges of the rolling pin the bands make rolling out even thickness dough's much easier. Or you can use flat thin bars of metal laid out on the table as your rolling guide for your rolling pin.
23. Trim the parts that do not expose laminations (like the long edges of the dough.) You do not want 'dead' areas in the laminated dough these dead areas will not rise and bake correctly, so be neat and keep straight edges on your dough when rolling it out. DO NOT put the trimmings in the dough
24. Always brush off the excess flour after turning and folding, this unincorporated flour can cause toughness in your final baked croissants.
25. Get the dough out and back into the fridge as soon as possible between lamination steps.
26. Proving the shaped croissants takes much longer than normal bread...2 to 2.5 hours (even longer if using sour dough) until they are fully puffed-up and jiggle when they are done. It is this final proofing that produces large light puffy croissants and stop the butter from running out of the rolls.
27. The melting point of butter is very low (90°F/32°C) and it has a spreading consistency at room temperature. So if the ambient room temperature is well above 77°F/25°C proof your unbaked croissants in the fridge (this will take about 8-10 hours).
28. Egg washing immediately after forming the croissants keeps them moist! Egg wash again just before baking. This double egg washing produces a lovely deep shine on your croissants.
29. Remember to egg wash the tops of the laminated dough (not the edges that have the laminations) in the shaped croissant, since the egg wash will stop the croissant laminations from rising correctly.
30. Remember the croissants will increase in volume about three times so arrange the unbaked rolls on your baking sheet with plenty of space between them.
31. Rotate your baking sheets half way through the bake.
32. Add a little steam (an ice cube or two in a shallow pan in the oven with the croissants is fine) when starting to bake the croissants this moisture produces thin crisp crusts.
33. The oven temperature is very hot (475°F/240°C/gas mark 9) for this recipe I baked mine for 15 mins and the colour on the croissants was perfect. Remember to preheat the oven for about 20 mins at the correct baking temperature, this long preheating ensures marvellous oven spring and a deep colour on the croissants.
34. The colour of the croissant should be brown all over even where the pastry overlaps.
35. If after 15 mins in the very hot oven you need more colour reduce the temperature to moderately hot (400°F/200°C/gas mark 6) and bake until you get the colour you want.
36. To see some WONDERFUL croissants (with loads of tips and hints) see these links from Txfarmer's postings in The Fresh Loaf website. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24534/double-chocolate-croissant-sourdough-starter-can-bread-be-mysteries-and-sexy http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22677/poolish-croissant-pursuit-perfection http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23342/croissant-sourdough-starter-txfarmer-vs-tx-summer

Butter Croissants

I did another batch using the new updated challenge recipe, I used plain (AP) flour (10% protein), I double egg-washed the rolls and I made sure that I proofed them until soft and wobbly (about 4 hours since it was cold here). The interior crumb was a marvellous honeycomb.

A nice honeycomb pattern

A crisp shiny crust yum yum

Comparison of the crumb from my first batch (sourdough croissants) and this batch, the final proofing is very important to get a light airy interior in your croissants.

Pain Au Chocolat Noir
The shiny lacquered crusts of the pain au chocolat noir

I made up some dark chocolate dough (by replacing 4 tablespoons of flour with dark Dutch processed cocoa powder in the challenge recipe) to make pain au chocolat noir, I used dark chocolate chips in the rolls to give an extra chocolate hit. This shape for the rolls minimizes waste and also you can place some extra chocolate along the entire width of the pastry. These where a smash hit with my guests also I really like these a lot not too sweet with a great mouth feel, the best ones so far (it is hard to beat chocolate).

The layered chocolate and butter layers in the croissant dough, this is after three turns and folds

Loads of pain au chocolat noir

Interior shot of the chocolate crumb and dark chocolate filling

A small stack of pain au chocolat noir

Cherry Ripe Croissant Bread Pudding
I love how it looks like a lava explosion rippling with chocolate yum yum!

I love the flavour of cherry ripe (that is a combination of cherry, coconut and chocolate) so I thought I would make a bread pudding from the 'leftover' chocolate croissants I had from yesterday. (To be honest they weren't leftover I stashed them away (LOL LOL) so I could make a bread pudding from them today.) This dessert is rich, decadent with a lusciousness that boarders on the sublime, and it looks so tempting and inviting. The topping is oozing with dark chocolate goodness while the interior is soft melt-in-your-mouth coconut egg yolk custard which is full of hidden ruby red treasures of cherries. Too good to share really this amount feeds 12 people with ice cream.

Bread pudding is basically ripped stale buttered and jammed bread that is baked in an egg/milk/cream custard usually along with soaked dried fruit like raisins etc.

So for this decadent croissant bread pudding I used this recipe

The unbaked cherry ripe croissant bread pudding (this had soaked overnight)

The baked croissant pudding

Cherry Ripe Croissant Bread Pudding
For each two medium-sized chocolate croissants ripped into 1 inch (2½ cm) inches pieces use; one cup of custard liquid (¼ cup coconut cream, ½ cup cream and ¼ cup milk) whisked with 2 egg yolks, and the filling ingredients of ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup dried cherries soaked overnight in rum or cherry brandy or orange juice, ¼ cup dark chocolate chips. Line a baking dish with the ripped croissant pieces, add the custard liquid and the other ingredients stir gently. Cover with plastic and place a light weight on top and let soak for at least one hour (or overnight is better). Preheat an oven to moderate 180°C/350°F/gas 4, remove the plastic from the pudding add some more chocolate chips (do not add soaked fruit they will burn) and place the baking dish into a larger baking pan place enough boiling water to reach about half way up the pudding dish and bake for an hour. The centre should be slightly wobbly. Let cool to warm (about 45 minutes) and serve with vanilla ice cream. Marvellous warm but better at room temperature the next day.

So oozy with deliciousness

What to do with the left over trimmings of the croissant dough?

After so many batches of croissants I have lots of trimmings, (a lot of long trimmings and short trimmings) so I thought I would share what I make these them. Scrolls are always good to make with the long lengths of trimmings, Danish pastries and pain au chocolat are great when you have a lot of shot trimmings just roll out and fill as normal.

Scrolls made with the long lengths of trimmings - on the left the filling is soaked raisins and the other is filled with stewed apple pieces

Danish pastry

Crumb of the pain au chocolat roll

Sep 2011 DC challenge - stock to soup to consommé

2011-09-14T18:56:00.004+10:00

This month's challenge was hosted by Peta it was to make stock then to make soup and if we wanted we could make consommé. This was so much fun I really liked how easy it was to make consommé using egg whites the traditional method and the modern gelatine method is slow but extremely simple.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Blog-checking lines: Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!

See HERE for a printable PDF of the challenge recipes and techniques a massive 27 pages

Pea and bacon vegetable soup with high rise white top bread

Sydney Australia is having the perfect weather (cold and very wet) to have wholesome, hearty (main-meal-type) soups and stew.

I have to say using Peta instructions the stock worked out marvellous so clear and flavoursome.

I used a ham hock bone stock and made pea soup (using 'blue' boiling peas (i.e. dried peas soaked overnight and simmered for 1 hour)) topped with crispy fried bacon pieces I added fresh peas, beans, corn and broccoli in the last ten minutes. The high rise white top bread had a great texture and went superbly with the pea and bacon vegetable soup.

High rise white top bread

Pea and bacon vegetable soup

Golden Chicken broth with chicken wontons

Again using Peta's excellent step-by-step instructions the broth was very clear and so full of taste. I made chicken wontons to serve with the delicious broth a spot-on flavour combination.

Roasted Carrot, Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup with Smoked Lime Avocado

I went to the local deluxe fruit & vegetable shop and looked for the best produce that they had, on the "peak-of-season" table I spied whole bunches of beautiful baby carrots surrounded by navel oranges and fennel bulbs and above these were avocados and ginger. Well I thought carrot, orange, fennel and ginger soup would be perfect and since it is winter here in Australia I knew it had to be a roasted version and that my accompaniment to the soup would be smoked lime avocado slices.

This was such a pleasure to make (the smells while making the last few stages of the soup are amazing) and to eat (since the flavours are so well balanced). The soup's flavour profile is bright (due to the fresh orange juice) with a strong base taste of carrot, fennel and ginger (due to the stock, the veggie roasting and simmering) but the thing I loved the most was the texture of the smoked lime avocado which really enhances the mouth feel of the soup. And the colour is so orange it even stained my plastic hand blender!

Roasted Carrot, Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup with Smoked Lime Avocado
Serves 6. Times; prep 1/4 hr, roasting 1 hr, simmering 1/2 hr
1½ pounds (700 grams) baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise
1 large fennel bulb, washed, trimmed and cut in half
1 large onion, sliced in half, leave the skin on the onion, cut off base
1 whole small head of garlic, leave the paper on the head
6 cups (1½ litres) vegetable or chicken stock, or a combination of the two
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (it must be fresh juice), or more
fresh orange peel from one organic orange, remove all of the white pith from the peel
1 thumb (2½ cm/1") fresh ginger, freshly grated
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon freshly ground dry-roasted coriander seeds
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, or to taste
about 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 ripe avocados, sliced, add 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice to stop browning
(a great garnish would be small crispy fried bacon pieces)

Roast on a lightly oil baking pan the carrots, fennel, onion and garlic in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/380°F/gas mark 5) until browned about 50 minutes to an hour (the garlic will take about 40 minutes remove when soft). Squeeze out the garlic paste from the roasted head, remove the skin from the roasted onion. In a pot add the stock, garlic paste, roasted vegetables, orange peel, bay leaf, coriander powder, salt and the grated ginger. Simmer gently until the vegetables are soft about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and 3/4 of the orange peel (a little peel gives a lovely 'bitter/sour' sub-note to the taste of the soup). Process the soup (with a hand blender or machine) until smooth, add the freshly squeezed orange juice, taste adjust the amount of juice to obtain a balance with the carrot and ginger. The soup is meant to be thick. Add the additional spices to taste. Top with limed avocado slices (½ avocado per serve) add a couple of good dashes of smoked paprika on the slices. Serve immediately. (The soup is fantastic cold).

The soup was REALLY orange!

I made a consommé from the golden chicken broth using the gelatine method it was amazing so clear

Herb Brioche

August DB 2011 challenge - Candylicious, Tempering Chocolate

2011-08-27T19:56:00.003+10:00

This month's challenge was to temper chocolate and make bonbons.

This was a a great challenge I have always wanted to temper chocolate and luckily I got into a great chocolate making class and I made these lovely bonbons.

Also I was extra excited since the challenge was co-hosted by Lisa one of my favourite bloggers and we a special joint project coming soon.

Since I made my chocolate at school they worked out very well I thought. The other forum members really went all out the creativity was amazing.

I have to make this a short-and-sweet posting since I'm writing a "short novel" that needs my full attention at the moment.

Blog-checking lines:
The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Chocolate School results
I was in Balmain and I saw that a shop was having "chocolate" classes and I was lucky enough to get the last place for the very expensive course. These are the results of the classes (over two days), I made six kinds of bon bons. I have to admit that I got better and better at tempering chocolate some of the bon bons came out very shiny, since the moulds where brand new. The class was very informative and entertaining well worth it I thought! I'm not sure if these count for the challenge since I made these in class using their fancy moulds and top quality equipment but I loved learning so many new processes and techniques. (Sorry I wasn't allow to take photos in the class).

I did learn that you can only get very shiny chocolate coatings by using a mould and the better the quality of the surface of the mould the better the final shine of the coating.

Dolphin - blue/grey coloured choc mould filled with choc truffle marzipan mousse filling
Pink heart - pink choc coating with white choc cream & strawberry jam filling
Heart with dark red swirl - swirled dark red choc coating with chilli choc cream filling
Mint Leaf - dark choc coating with mint choc cream filling
Box with bow - shiny tempered choc coating with praline filling
Oblong topped with orange peel - dark choc coating with orange choc cream filling

Assorted bons bons

August DC 2011 challenge - Appams & Curries

2011-08-15T06:44:00.004+10:00

This month's Daring Cooks' challenge hosted by Mary, from Mary Mary Culinary was to make appams with a curry. Appams are thin crisp pancake made with ground rice and coconut milk that has fermented. Appam come out like a cross between a crêpe and a crumpet, with a thin, lacy, crisp edge and a thicker spongy middle. Appams are part of the culinary traditional of South India.

Blog-checking lines: Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.

I have to say I was happily surprised that appams are easy to make and are super tasty! I love how in the Daring Cooks' we try so many different types of foods from around the world. I can totally recommend the appam recipe to one and all.

Curried vegetables with appams

This is such a great challenge the appam batter is simple to make and to cook. I tried various cooking methods with the fermented batter and I like my appams crisp, thin and very brown. I made a vegetable coconut curry (made with broccoli, carrots and potatoes and a home made curry paste with sour tamarind pulp and curry leaves) to serve with the appams. Thank you so much for the fabulous challenge the appam really has a nice delicate "sour" rice flavour.

I don't have a powerful blender so the appam batter was a little gritty but it cooked up fabulously, I got about 13 appams from the recipe. They must be served immediately since appams don't store well.

Mary thank you for the marvellous challenge, I will be trying some more curry recipes during the month.

Soaked rice

Yeast mixture

Batter after overnight fermentation

Cooking batter into a appam

I like my appams to be thin crisp and brown

Appam with vegetable curry

July 2011 Daring Cooks' Challenge - Pasta

2011-07-15T16:39:00.004+10:00

Sorry for the short posting but I'm on holiday so I don't have proper internet connections.

This month's wonderful challenge was home-made pasta. I really enjoyed this challenge a lot I really liked the way the pasta looked when dried so yellow and so tasty when cooked.

Blog-checking lines: Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

Here is a PDF file of the challenge recipes.

Ravioli filled with basil pesto

I bought a pasta machine yesterday for only $10 and I have a dozen egg yolks in the fridge so this challenge was perfect timing. It is great to have such a quick, simple yet delicious and versatile challenge like noodles it took no time at all to complete this recipe. I like making ravioli so I decided to make a pesto filling using fresh basil, pine nuts, crushed garlic, grated Pecorino cheese and extra virgin olive oil (see here for the recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basil-pesto-recipe2/index.html). I used 2 cups of “OO” flour (a finely-milled high-gluten flour) that is good for making pasta and 6 egg yolks instead of the 3 whole eggs since I like how yellow the pasta becomes also I found I had to add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to get the correct consistency. I kneaded the dough by hand about 10 minutes until smooth it is important that the dough is not sticky so it can be rolled through the pasta machine without clogging and let it rest about 15 minutes. A little trick is to laminate your dough when you start to roll it to the thinnest setting in the machine, that is you roll the dough at the widest setting and fold it over itself a couple of times like an envelope and roll it repeat this procedure six to eight times this improves the quality of the dough and makes the subsequent rolling much easier (see tip #8 below). I have a set of ravioli cutters I used the smallest to cut out the rounds from the rolled out pasta dough. I filled them with 1 teaspoon of pesto and formed the completed ravioli. I like this ravioli served with butter and a little salt.

New $10 pasta machine

The ravioli cutter and the cut-out rounds of pasta

How the filling is placed into the cut-out dough rounds

The finished ravioli

Home-made onion and garlic fettuccine and spaghetti made with “OO” Semolina Flour
I made a 6 egg yolk and 2 cups “OO” semolina flour pasta dough with 3 tablespoons of powdered onion and 3 tablespoons of powdered garlic, Semolina is a granular flour with a light yellow colour. It is produced from durum wheat, which is used almost exclusively for making pasta. Durum wheat has the ideal properties for making the best pasta. It is high in protein and gluten, which are necessary components for pasta making. Semolina flour is available coarsely ground or ground twice “OO” for a fine texture.

I wanted to make use of the new pasta machine and the cutters it came with so I made fettuccine and spaghetti. I made sure that the dough was very dry after kneading (10 minutes) and resting (15 minutes) so it would dry out very quickly. I laminated (i.e. folded the dough like an envelope and rolled it at the widest setting) eight times initially to condition the dough then I rolled it to the thinnest setting and then I cut half the dough into fettuccine and the other half into spaghetti it is important to lightly flour the dough just before cutting it flouring gives you very clean edges to your noodles. I hung these on broom handles (wrapped in plastic wrap) and let them dry for approximately 45 minutes to obtain touch dry noddles. My laundry is a proper drying room it has a duct in the floor and roof that allows a warm draft to always be present it really works well. I have to say the drying pasta smelt wonderful and the taste of the finished pasta was flavoursome. Also the look of the pasta is so beautiful its colour is so vibrant and yellow this is due to the use of egg yolks and semolina. I have a dinner to go to tomorrow and I will decide then what sauce to have with the finish fettuccine and spaghetti.

Notice how yellow the pasta dough is if you use egg yolks and semolina, the flour is normal white flour

The fettuccine and spaghetti hanging to dry

How much pasta I obtained from a full batch of dough

A cool picture of hanging pasta

After 3/4 hour of air drying the pasta is touch dry

Home-made pasta looks so beautiful

Close up of pasta

Tips and hints
1. The traditional recipe for pasta dough – for each whole large egg use 100grams of flour (2/3 cup flour).
2. For a vegan version you can use 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon water to make pasta.
3. Let the dough rest before rolling it out.
4. It is best to laminate 6-8 times your dough when you make pasta. That is fold the dough like an envelope and rolled it at the widest setting and repeat 6-8 timees until the dough is smooth.
5. The dough should not be sticky so it can be rolled without clogging the machine.
6. Remember to lightly flour the dough just before cutting this will give you clean edges to your noodles.
7. You can flavour and colour your pasta see point 12 below for a link.
8. A great page for preparing pasta by machine and hand is here http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--792/making-homemade-pasta.asp
9. A great page for cutting and shaping noodles by hand is here http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--793/cutting-and-shaping-pasta-by-hand.asp
10. A great page for drying pasta is here http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--528/drying-pasta.asp
11. A great page for shaping stuffed pasta shapes is here http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--523/stuffed-pasta-preparation.asp
12. A great guide for coloured and flavoured pasta is here http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--526/flavored-and-colored-pasta.asp
13. Here is a guide to 150 pasta shapes very interesting http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html

Thank you so much Steph for a wonderful challenge it was so much fun to do and your recipe for the egg fettuccine is perfect. I can't wait to do some more versions.

Basil pesto filled ravioli with herb cheese sauce

I made a simple herb and cheese sauce to serve with the basil filled ravioli I made the other day. Ravioli is best when it has rested for a day so it will not explode when cooked. I made sure I sealed the ravioli with water and crimped the edges well. Not a single one fell apart. This is was intensely flavoured of basil pesto and very filling even a small serve was enough for me.

The ravioli cooking on a heat that was almost a boil

The finished dish

Home-made fettuccine and spaghetti

Fettuccine with red semi-dried tomato pesto sauce and Provolone cheese

I made a semi-dried tomato pesto sauce to serve with the onion/garlic fettuccine I made also I sprinkled some Provolone cheese on top. I liked how the sauce coloured and flavoured the fettuccine.

Spaghetti with a fresh green herb sauce and finely sliced semi-dried tomatoes

For the spaghetti I made a fresh green herb sauce using finely chopped parsley, basil, fennel tips, dill tips and a little basil with a load of good extra virgin olive oil the sauce was so refreshing and I topped the dish with finely sliced strips of semi-dried tomato for colour and flavour.

Baked four cheese sweet potato gnocchi

Today is the winter solstice, or the shortest day of the year I wanted something filling and tasty. Gnocchi is a special treat for me so I decided to make sweet potato gnocchi and for a extra indulgence I thought I would bake the gnocchi with a four cheese sauce. I made up the recipe on the fly I like to make very light airy gnocchi so I only use 20% by weight of flour to 100% potato. This ratio is for very experienced cooks most likely a first time cook will need about 30% flour, also normal potato is easier to make gnocchi with than sweet potato.

I just adored the colour of the gnocchi and the taste of the sweet potato came out strongly while the cheese sauce nicely balanced the final recipe.

Riced sweet potato rolled and waiting to be cut and formed into gnocchi

Freshly made sweet potato gnocchi

Finished dish

Baked four cheese sweet potato gnocchi
Sweet potato gnocchi
1 kg (2¼ lbs) sweet potatoes
200 gm (1⅓ cups) “OO” flour, may need up to 300 grams (2 cups) “OO” flour
1 large egg, lighten beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon brown sugar
optional 2 teaspoons of baking powder mixed into the flour
optional ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Four cheese sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
5 tablespoons of cream
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup of grated cheeses; parmesan, Taleggio, blue, gorgonzola
Finely chopped herbs to garnish

Method
1. Bake, steam, boil or microwave the whole potatoes (or sweet potatoes) with their skins on until fork tender. I find microwaving or baking is best since it gives the driest mixture.
2. Peel and rice the potatoes. The hotter the potatoes are when they are peeled and riced, the lighter the gnocchi will be. A ricer makes fluffier potatoes and therefore lighter gnocchi. If you don't have a ricer pass the cooked potato through a fine metal sieve using a metal spoon to push the potato make sure that the mixture is light and airy do not compact the potato mixture.
3. Spread the riced potatoes into a thin, even layer on the work surface, without pressing them or compacting them. Let them cool completely.
4. In a small bowl, beat the egg, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar together. Gather the cold riced potatoes into a mound and form a well in the centre. Pour the egg mixture (and optional cheese if using) into the well.
5. Lightly knead the potato and egg mixture together with both hands (or a plastic dough scraper), gradually adding enough of the flour, to form a soft smooth but slightly sticky dough (it should stick to your hands, but stick to itself more...if that makes sense). It should take no longer than 1-2 minutes to work the flour into the potato mixture; remember, the longer the dough is kneaded, the more flour it will require and the heavier it will become. As you knead the dough, it will stick to your hands and to the work surface: Repeatedly rub this rough dough from your hands and scrape it with a knife or dough scraper from the work surface back into the dough as you knead.
6. Wash and dry your hands. Dust the dough, your hands, and the work surface lightly with some flour. Cut the dough into six equal pieces and set off to one side of the work surface. Place one piece of dough in front of you and pat it into a rough oblong. Using both hands, in a smooth back-and-forth motion and exerting light downward pressure, roll the dough into a rope 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick, flouring the dough if necessary as you roll to keep it from sticking. (When you first begin making gnocchi, until your hands get the feel of the dough, you may find it easier to cut each piece of dough in half to roll it). You can if you wish place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe out the ropes.
7. Slice the ropes into 1/2-inch-thick (12 mm) rounds. Sprinkle the rounds lightly with flour and roll each piece quickly between your palms into a rough ball, flouring the dough and your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Hold the tines of a fork at a 45-degree angle to the table with the concave part facing up. Dip the tip of your thumb in flour. Take one ball of dough and with the tip of your thumb, press the dough lightly against the tines of the fork as you roll it downward toward the tips of the tines. As the dough wraps around the tip of your thumb, it will form into a dumpling with a deep indentation on one side and a ridged surface on the other. Set on a baking sheet lined with a floured kitchen towel and continue forming gnocchi from the remaining dough balls. Repeat the whole process with the remaining pieces of dough. At this point the gnocchi must be cooked immediately or frozen.
8. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil add the gnocchi and cook for about 3 minutes until the gnoccchi float to the surface.
9. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, cream, nutmeg and mustard until well combined.
10. Add the cooked gnocchi to a baking dish cover with the oil/cream/nutmeg/mustard mixture then sprinkle with the cheese bake at 180ºC (350ºF/gas 4) until the cheese is melted and browned about 15 minutes. Garnish with finely chopped herbs.

June 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge Baklava

2011-06-27T10:04:00.006+10:00

This month's challenge is baklava with home made phyllo pastry (yeah!!!). A wonderful challenge and so much fun. My neighbours who had over 120 years of experience give me an enormous amount of help thank you so much.The baklava's I made are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high since several people have asked me how tall they are.

A marvellous challenge thank you Erica for the recipes and the opportunity to make phyllo pastry.

Blog-checking lines: Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

See here for a PDF for the challenge recipe.

Spicy coconut chocolate cherry pistachio baklava

Wow what a fabulous challenge I have always wanted to make baklava because it is so delicious and more-ish. My neighbours love the start of the month since they know they will be having some of my challenge results and when I mentioned that it was baklava there was extra excitement since most of my neighbours are Greek and Turkish and they have a lot of experience with this dish. It was “decided” that I would attend a tutorial held by two of the ladies (one Greek lady 84 y.o. and one Turkish lady 80 y.o.) who have 120 years of experience in total with this recipe. This tutorial was to “pay-me-back” for all the dishes that I have provided them over the last couple of years. Well I had absolutely no choice about the situation and I didn't mind at all, and I have to admit it was wonderful fun to learn about this ancient dessert. The ladies and I had such a great time together they really enjoyed teaching me all the “tricks of the trade”.

The two ladies came to my kitchen and we started they were amazed that the Daring Bakers' recipe was (almost) the same as their recipe which was a good sign. I made up the dough the ladies advised me to use “OO” flour (i.e. pizza flour – a finely milled flour) since the resulting dough will be easier to stretch than if I had used normal all-purpose (plain) flour the dough was rested for two hours. Coincidentally the phyllo recipe is exactly the same as the strudel challenge that the Daring Bakers' did a while ago. After two hours I stretched out the dough to paper-thinness as I had done for the strudel challenge. The ladies said it was best to flour a clean sheet and stretch the dough on the sheet, this is the procedure I used for the strudel challenge and it works really well, also having the pastry on the sheet helps when you need to move the pastry from the table to the baking dish.

Then we made up the clarified butter and olive oil mixture for the phyllo pastry. The ladies insisted that clarified butter was better to use than normal butter since removing the milk solids gives a very crisp crust to the baklava. Also butter and olive oil (mostly butter and a couple of tablespoons of oil) was better than all butter since the pastry can get to a higher temperature which is important when we add the syrup.

And now to the filling I used a mixture of desiccated coconut, pistachios, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, brown sugar, cherry extract and cocoa powder with a heaped tablespoon of ras el hanout I LOVED the taste of the filling it was superb so intriguing and taste bud stimulating. The ladies were a little amused with the filling flavour profile but they said they liked it especially the coconut/cocoa/cherry and the spicy over note. Coconut, pistachios, cherry and cocoa with a hint of spice really go well together I feel.

Using scissors the phyllo was cut to suit the 9" (23 cm) circular pan that was used. Every second layer of phyllo was buttered. The construction of the finished baklava was:-
8 layers of phyllo then 1/4 of the spicy filling, then
6 layers of phyllo then 1/4 filling, then
6 layers of phyllo then 1/4 filling, then
6 layers of phyllo then 1/4 filling, and then to finish
6 layers of phyllo. The ladies said it was best to use a very light hand and just sweep the butter/oil mixture over the phyllo pastry.

The ladies suggested a baking procedure that was a little different to the challenge method – bake for 30 minutes at 390°F (200°C/gas mark 6), then for 30 minutes at 300°F (150°C/gas mark 2), then for 30 minutes at 210°F (100°C/gas mark ¼). Finally, turn the heat back up to 390°F (200°C/gas mark 6) at the end to give the top a good dark golden colour. It really worked a wonder the baklava had an amazing colour and the phyllo was extra crispy.

Then I made the syrup I'm not a big honey fan so I used golden syrup and brown sugar with lime juice (to make the syrup less sweet) and ras el hanout I ADORED this also it was so so tasty I could have this on toasted bread and be a very happy camper. Since I was using dessicated coconut I used almost twice as much syrup as stated since the coconut absorbs the extra liquid. If you use golden syrup and brown sugar the syrup will be dark and if the baklava is stored the pastry will go dark.

What was very interesting and not mentioned in the write-up of the recipe was the amazing sound that was produced when the cold syrup was poured onto the hot pastry it really sizzled and the pastry absorbed the syrup very quickly.

WOW the baklava is so moist and juicy and not that sweet which is what I wanted, it is so intriguing that the main taste was pistachio with chocolate then coconut then cherry and then a spicy lime finish yum yum.

After an overnight rest I tried a thin slice of the baklava the flavours had melded together beautifully and the texture was stunning and the cut slice looked like a layered chocolate cake! I love how the coconut holds the syrup and the baklava wasn't too sweet at all, using brown sugar, golden syrup and lime juice really helped keep the sweetness in check. When the slice was bitten into it oozed a lovely thick juice that really made the baklava a joy to eat. I sometime find baklava too sweet, too dry and has a too strong honey over tone but this was so moist, juicy and had a lovely flavour profile that was so unlike normal baklava.

If you want a light well-risen baklava with crisp separate phyllo layers, lightly butter each second or third sheet of phyllo and don't make too many cuts into the baklava and don't use too much syrup and serve after 3 or 4 hours.

If you want a dense moist baklava that cuts cleanly, heavily butter each phyllo sheet make a lot of cuts into the baklava and use the maximum amount of syrup and store before serving.

The ladies give me a 8/10 for the baklava I made and I was very very happy with that they said I lost points for the non-traditional filling (which they liked) and I didn't do the cuts that well since I used a serrated knife instead of a normal knife LOL LOL I thought this was a fair assessment <3<3<3 Their work is 10/10 so I was glad that I had done so well. They are such lovely and giving ladies. A big thank you to Eleni and Afet for your advice and for the wonderful knowledge that you shared so willingly with me. I had a great time. I'm sure that the other members of the forums will appreciate your tips and hints.

Phyllo dough

How thin should you make the phyllo – so that you can see news print through it

Coconut, pistachios, hazelnut, pumpkin, cocoa powder, brown sugar, cherry extract and cocoa powder with a heaping tablespoon of ras el hanout, this is so tasty I LOVED it

Clarified butter and olive oil used for layering the phyllo pastry, clarified butter gives a crispier result than using normal butter

The filling on the phyllo layers

The unbaked baklava

The baked baklava

I made one large circular baklava and one small test rectangular which I cut to show you the layering pattern notice how even the different layers are, this slice was cut after a couple of hours

Close up of the slice after overnight resting notice the even layers of filling and phyllo

Tips and hints
1. Use a finely milled flour like “OO” or pizza flour since this will make stretching the phyllo easier.
2. Rest the dough at room temperature for at least two hours longer is better. Oil spray and cover well with plastic wrap when storing.
3. Carefully measure the vinegar in the recipe since the acid in the vinegar softens the gluten in the flour and too much will make the dough too soft and difficult to handle.
4. When you are stretching the dough do it slowly with occasional rests if you are too quick you will tear the gluten strands thereby making holes in the phyllo. Don't worry about a few small holes that is normal.
5. Use clarified butter (ghee) this will enhance the crispiness of the final baklava. You can use a mixture of clarified butter and olive oil (mostly clarified butter with a couple of tablespoons of oil) if you wish, the ladies suggested that the butter/oil mixture helps heat up the baklava better than butter alone so the syrup really sizzles when it is poured on it.
6. Only butter the phyllo sheets lightly with the butter, use a light hand and sweep the butter over the sheet you don't need to coat all of the surface of the sheet. This will give the crispiest phyllo layers also you will achieve maximum raise to your baklava. If you heavily butter each layer the baklava will hold together better and slice more cleanly this method is recommended if you are storing the baklava for any length of time. (If you want maximum lift and separation for the phyllo just butter every second sheet this is good to do for the top-most layer of phyllo which will give you a very crisp top layer for your individual baklava pieces.)
7. Cut the phyllo sheets to the shape of the container, butter and stack the phyllo sheets outside the container and then place the stack on the nut filling in the baking dish. This is the easiest method to do the construction of the baklava this helps give even layers in the final dish. Make sure you firmly push down the phyllo sheet stack onto the filling so there are no air bubbles.
8. For special celebration baklava only slice half way down when making the cuts for the individual pieces then bake this ensures only the top parts will rise and the baklava base will have a slightly denser texture that will not fall apart when picked up with fingers. This gives a better look to the finished individual pieces when served. When the baklava is 3/4 baked you can cut all the way through.
9. Pour firstly (using a jug with a thin nozzle or similar) most of the syrup into the cuts then a little syrup on the tops of the individual pieces this technique ensures optimal flaky crisp pastry tops.
10.You can use other sweeteners apart from honey for example agave nectar, golden syrup, molasses (blackstrap or barbados), sucanat, brown rice syrup, fruit nectars, fruit juice, herbal teas, black tea, green tea and barley malt. Add spices and herbs into the cooling syrup (high temperature syrup can dull the flavours of spices and herbs).
11. Taste the syrup you can add lime/lemon juice to cut back the sweetness. It is important to add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar or lime or lemon juice to the syrup this will stop the syrup crystallising in the baklava. Do not refrigerate the syrup if it is too cold it will crystallise inside the baklava. The more syrup you use the easier the finished baklava is to handle and cut since the syrup helps bind the layers together keeping it moist and chewy.
12. It was suggested the best baking procedure was – bake for 30 minutes at 390°F (200°C/gas mark 6), then for 30 minutes at 300°F (150°C/gas mark 2), then for 30 minutes at 210°F (100°C/gas mark ¼). Finally, turn the heat back up to 390°F (200°C/gas mark 6) at the end to give the top a good dark golden colour. It is best to use straight-sided baking trays, if the tray is dark coloured line with foil which will stop over-browning of the baklava edges. Remember to rotate the tray throughout the baking time.
13. Make sure the baklava is hot straight from the oven when you add the cooled syrup wait for the sizzle this shows the syrup is being absorbed by the pastry. The hot baklava and the room temperature syrup ensures that the phyllo sheets will be crispy in the finished dish. It will look like too much syrup but it will be absorbed over time. Pour most of the syrup into the cuts then pour the rest evenly over the tops of the pieces.
14. Let the baklava cool to room temperature (this will take a few hours) before covering for storage.

Filling Recipe
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup hazel nuts
1/4 cup pumpkin nuts
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cherry extract
4 teaspoons ras el hanout (see recipe below)
1 teaspoon chilli powder

Syrup
1 cup golden syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons bottled lime juice
2 teaspoons ras el hanout

Ras el Hanout
“Ras el Hanout” ("top of the shop" ) is a spice mixture from Morocco that can contain anywhere from 10-100 different spices. There is no definitive set combination of spices that makes up Ras el hanout. Each shop, company, person have their own secret combination containing over a dozen spices. Typically they would include cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ground chilli peppers, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn, and turmeric.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground ginger powder
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
2 teaspoons ground mustard seeds
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried Damascan rose petals (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Method:
1. Mix all the spices together.
2. Store in an airtight container.

Clarified butter (or ghee as it is called in India) is very easy to make. Just melt the butter slowly. Let it sit for a bit to separate it will form three layers
1. foam on top (there is only a little of this)
2. clarified butter layer (this is thickest layer it is coloured light yellow) and
3. whey (milk solids) on the bottom ( a smallish layer of white liquid).
Skim off the foam that rises to the top, and gently pour the butter off of the milk solids, which have settled to the bottom. A stick (8 tablespoons) of butter will produce about 6 tablespoons of clarified butter.

Apricot, peach, orange and white chocolate baklava

I had to do a baklava based on apricots and peaches with white chocolate which is a classic flavour combination. I added dill and cardamom to the filling to add some flavoursome zing also I used some apricot and peach fruit leather cut to size to layer the filling since I had it to hand. If you are doing a nut free baklava it is best just to do phyllo pastry for the base and the top which I did about 12 layers each. For the syrup I used a combination of Chardonnay infused with black tea and orange marmalade with dill seeds and cardamom.

The filling of apricot and white chocolate with freshly-made citrus peel

The freshly baked baklava

The syrup poured onto the freshly baked baklava

The finished baklava

A close-up of the cut baklava, notice the layers of fruit layers

Filling
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup of freshly-made lemon and orange peel, peel boiled three times and finely chopped
apricot and peach fruit leather cut to the size of the baking tray I did three layers (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh dill tips, finely chopped
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, toasted and ground
2 drops of rose extract OR 1/4 teaspoon rose water

Syrup
1 cup orange marmalade
1 cup hot Chardonnay infused with 2 teabags of black tea
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon dill seeds

Macadamia Baklava with Pineapple Ginger Syrup

I love macadamia, pineapple and ginger cake so I thought would do a baklava based on this flavour profile.

This baklava is filled with macadamia nuts which have a buttery flavour and a creamy texture this is paired with tangy home-made candied pineapple and some freshly grated ginger. The syrup is made from pineapple juice, freshly grated ginger and white sugar.

I wanted to experiment with the buttering technique for the phyllo layers in this baklava since I wanted the baklava pieces to have even layers and to have a fine finish to the cut edges, I heavily buttered each phyllo sheet for the bottom layer and then for the middle layers I lightly buttered each sheet of phyllo and for the top layer I only lightly buttered every second sheet. I thought this would produce a baklava piece that could be sliced thinly and cleanly and have a slightly denser base that wouldn't fall apart when picked up to be eaten. Also I used a board and a small tin can about 1/2 pound (250 grams) to weigh down the baklava while it was resting overnight this helped keep the layers nice and tight and helped make the slicing easier.

I only cut half way through the baklava at the start of the baking process and when 3/4 baked I cut all the way through.

I made sure that I poured the syrup mostly into the cuts using a jug with a fine nozzle and used a little on top of the individual pieces.

I really liked how this baklava looked when I sliced it after it had soaked overnight. I could slice the big pieces that I had baked in the original baklava into very fine thin slices that had perfectly straight edges and a nice clean tip. Also the texture of the phyllo layers gradually changed from the bottom (most dense and moist) to the top (crisp separate layers) of the slice.

I was most pleased with the flavour profile since macadamina add a lovely base taste of butter while the pineapple and ginger add a nice zingy after-taste to the slice. Overall a good result.

As can be seen you can manipulate the texture of the baklava phyllo layers by using different buttering techniques.

Buttery and creamy macadamia nuts with home-made candied pineapple

The baked baklava

Notice the well separated layers of the phyllo on the top of the baklava

The pouring jug I used

About 10 minutes after I poured the syrup into the cuts and some on the tops

The baklava after overnight soaking

The cut baklava

Notice the difference between the different layers of phyllo

Filling
1½ cups macadamia nuts, lightly roasted and finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted rolled oats
1/4 cup candied pineapple, finely chopped
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 knob of fresh ginger, grated

Syrup
1½ cups pineapple juice
1/2 knob of fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup of white sugar

Jaffa Blossom Baklava

I wanted to make a baklava that consisted of individual pieces where the filling is exposed. The pieces are easy to make, take 1½ tablespoons of Jaffa filling place onto a square of stacked phyllo sheet and fold the phyllo around the filling. The filling is cocoa powder/crystallised orange peel, I adore orange and chocolate (this combination is called Jaffa in Australia) I really like how this worked out, the individual pieces are delicious I like the ratio of crisp phyllo to filling, I used about a dozen layers for the stacked phyllo. The syrup was golden syrup, brown sugar, orange juice and orange blossom water.

Unbaked baklava

Baked baklava

I cut through a piece of the baklava so you can see the ratio of filling to phyllo

June 2011 Daring Cooks' Challenge Potato Salad

2011-06-14T09:41:00.002+10:00

This month's challenge was healthy potato salad also if we wanted we could enter our potato salad into a competition held by the U.S. Potato Board.

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Faux Gras Bleu Fromage Potato Salad
Faux Full Fat Blue Cheese Potato Salad

I will share with you one of my favourite potato salads – I have experimented, tweaked and thoroughly researched this recipe over nine years to obtain (I think) the ultimate light and healthy yet unctuously delicious potato salad.

This toothsome potato salad is dressed with a lusciously tangy and deep flavoured Roquefort-like (blue) cheese dressing that is amazingly made from only non-fat yoghurt, light sour cream, crumbled cottage cheese, roasted garlic paste and a few herbs and spices – astonishingly these few ingredients when combined with bite-sized coloured potato pieces that have been oven roasted with a small amount of ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil, grainy mustard and sea salt crystals – produce a final dish that has all the mouth feel (tactile properties), taste (gustatorial sensations) and satiety (full belly feeling) of a high fat Roquefort (blue) cheese dressed potato salad!

Roquefort cheese is known as the “King of cheese” it is a ewe's milk blue cheese with a magnificent tingly pungent taste. The cheese is white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist, with distinctive veins of green mould. It has a characteristic odour and flavour with a notable taste of butyric acid. Roquefort has the highest level of glutamates (feel good chemicals) of any naturally produced food. The overall flavour sensation of Roquefort cheese begins slightly mild, then waxes sweet, then smoky, and fades to a salty finish. These tastes and textures are replicated in this recipe by using synergistic ingredients that work together (because they have the same flavour components and mouth feel as blue cheese) to create a near perfect faux Roquefort dressing, these ingredients are; roasted garlic (for its tingle and deep mellow flavour base which waxes sweet then smoky), grainy mustard (for its vinegar tang and its grainy texture), non-fat yoghurt (which has the same base flavour components as Roquefort cheese and is rich in butyric acid the major flavour sensation in blue cheese), light sour cream (for its tang and mouth feel), cottage cheese (for its crumbly texture and it is rich in butyric acid), ghee (rich in butyric acid and its buttery taste) or olive oil (has a many of the same taste sensations as blue cheese), sea salt crystals which add lovely salty flavour bursts like Roquefort cheese, chopped spinach and parsley (for their green colour and they are a rich source of glutamates), chopped mint which contains a number of the same flavour components as blue cheese, a small amount of optional Scotch Whiskey (which contains a lot of the same olfactory components as Roquefort) which greatly enhances the flavour profile of the blue cheese taste sensation, some optional chopped roasted walnuts (or walnut oil) which are a rich source of glutamates and the oils in these nuts contain a lot of the same taste sensations as Roquefort which greatly enhances the blue cheese flavour of the finished dish and finally some optional creamy cow's milk blue cheese to intensify the overall flavour profile of the final dish.

Don't worry roasted garlic has a very mellow 'earthy' flavour that is totally different from raw harsh garlic.

I have served this a large number of times at parties and BBQs while watching TV sports with spicy hot buffalo (chicken) wings (since the wings can be made in the same oven because they need to be baked at the same temperature and time as the potatoes and garlic) it always receives rave reviews so no need to have a high-fat blue cheese dip or an unhealthy potato salad.

Some of the potato salad ingredients – I adore the blue potatoes they look so pretty

The process of roasting the whole garlic head and making the garlic paste

The coloured potato pieces oven roasted with ghee and grainy mustard

Finished Faux Gras Bleu Fromage Potato Salad – garnished with chopped roasted red bell pepper (capsicum) and finely chopped garlic chives

Faux Gras Bleu Fromage Potato Salad
Faux Full Fat Blue Cheese Potato Salad
Serves eight
A colourful and scrumptious potato that is dressed in a light and healthy Roquefort-like dressing, this salad is low in fat and salt but high in essential nutrients that lifts the spirit and nourishes the body.

Roasting Ingredients
3 lbs (1⅓ kg) small or medium potatoes, washed, scrubbed and cut into quarters (if small) or eighths (if medium), an equal ratio of white-fleshed, blue-fleshed and golden-fleshed potato is best, try to use at least two different types of potatoes if possible, you can use some orange-fleshed sweet potato or carrot if desired
3 large whole heads of garlic (about 3oz/85gm each), organic & unbleached, (cannot be substituted)
1 medium red bell pepper (capsicum), if not using blue-fleshed potatoes, optional otherwise
1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) OR olive oil (cannot be substituted)
1 tablespoon grainy mustard (cannot be substituted)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt crystals OR 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt (cannot be substituted)
Optional 1½ teaspoons of Scotch Whiskey (cannot be substituted this really adds to the blue cheese flavour)
Oil spray
Dressing Ingredients
1/2 cup cottage cheese, finely crumbled (cannot be substituted)
1/4 cup plain non-fat Greek (natural set) yoghurt (cannot be substituted)
1/4 cup plain low-fat sour cream (cannot be substituted)
Optional 1 tablespoon creamy cow's milk blue cheese (any sort of blue cheese is fine)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh spinach leaves (cannot be substituted do not use frozen spinach)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (cannot be substituted)
1/4 cup finely chopped mint or spearmint (cannot be substituted)
1/4 cup finely chopped garlic chives OR green (spring) onions
1/2 teaspoon sea salt crystals OR 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt (cannot be substituted)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Optional 8 walnuts, roasted and finely chopped OR 2 teaspoons walnut oil (cannot be substituted)

Alternative Suggested Garnishing ingredients
Chose a couple of these ingredients to garnish your finished potato salad. The marked (*) garnish ingredients have common flavour components with Roquefort cheese. I like black olives, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese and chives mainly for colour and mouth feel. For a special treat try toasted coconut flakes as a garnish it is fabulous. And fried Porcino mushrooms are sublime since they have almost the same flavour profile as Roquefort.
*1/4 cup of sliced baked black or green olives
1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
*1/4 cup fresh Porcino mushrooms, fried in a little olive oil (excellent with this salad)
*2 tablespoons toasted coconut flakes (surprisingly good with this salad)
*2 tablespoons turkey bacon, crisped and broken into small pieces
2 tablespoons finely chopped spinach OR chives
2 tablespoons finely chopped roasted red bell pepper (capsicum)
*2 tablespoons firm blue cheese, crumbled
*3 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled (try to get low salt and low fat if possible)
*2 tablespoons toasted bread crumbs or toasted croutons
*16 Pecan nuts roasted and chopped

You can have this potato salad at room temperature or hot (best with spicy chicken wings), I will start with the room temperature method first.
Method for room temperature salad
1. Preheat oven to hot 450°F/230°C/gas mark 8. Cover two shallow baking trays with foil and lightly oil spray.
2. Place the potatoes into a large bowl and coat with the oil and mustard (and the whiskey if using).
3. Cut the base off the garlic heads, leave on the papery casing, coat the cut-side with oil spray.
4. Place the potatoes and the garlic heads cut-side down in one layer over the two prepared baking trays. Sprinkle the potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt crystals.
5. Place into hot oven and bake (rotating the trays half way through) for 30-35 minutes or until a knife easily pierces one of the larger potato pieces you want to just roast them to a golden brown and tender, not crispy. Place the potatoes into a large bowl set aside to cool.
6. If using the red bell pepper (capsicum) cut into wide strips removing seeds and the white membrane spray lightly with oil. Place the strips under a broiler (grill) until the skins completely blacken. Place the strips into a small bowl covered with plastic wrap and a clean tea towel for 10 minutes remove blackened skin and chop finely.
7. Squeeze out the garlic from the roasted garlic head into a medium bowl mash with a fork until smooth. Add the yoghurt, sour cream, crumbled cottage cheese, creamy blue cheese if using, the chopped herbs and ground pepper – mix to just combine. If too thick you can thin it with some non-fat (skim) milk. Think pouring cream consistency.
8. Dress the cooled potatoes with the sour cream/roasted garlic/herb mixture (and the chopped red bell pepper (capsicum) and/or the chopped walnuts or walnut oil if using). Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
9. Garnish as desired using the optional garnishing ingredients
10. Best served at room temperature or warm slightly in a microwave.

Alternate Method for hot salad
If you wish you can have the potato salad hot; bake the potatoes and garlic as above, prepare the dressing and garnishes as above (keep the potatoes hot while preparing these), then dress and garnish the still hot potatoes, serve immediately. Avoid leftovers since the dressing is absorbed (over time) into the hot potatoes making the salad less creamy and tasty.

Thank you Jami for the fantastic challenge this will be so much fun seeing all the different potato salads from around the world. I have a couple of special Aussie potato salads coming soon. I have a large number of potato salad recipes on file and I'm just deciding which ones to do after the Aussie versions.

Indian Spiced Potato Salad

This is a gorgeously colourful fingerling potato salad that can be served hot, at room temperature or cold. The recipe is based on the famous Indian curry called aloo matar (potato and pea curry). The dressing is a very mild sweet curry with no heat that colours the potatoes an exquisite ochre yellow, vibrant minted peas are added for flavour and colour and a garnish of dark purple beet(root) crisps add a wondrous deep earthy taste to the final dish. A grand amalgam of exotic tastes from the Indian subcontinent.

Indian Spiced Potato Salad
Serves eight
Ingredients
3 lbs (1⅓ kgs) “fingerling” potatoes, washed and scrubbed
2 tablespoons sweet curry powder
2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee (clarified butter)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion, minced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 tablespoon mild vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1½ cups frozen minted baby peas, if using plain frozen peas add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped mint
1/4 cup beet(root) crisps, about 12 large crisps, crumbled
1/4 carrot, finely grated, optional garnish
Method
1. Microwave the fingerling potatoes in one layer (in batches if needed) on high for 5 minutes until fork tender. Peel and chop into bite sized pieces. Set aside and keep hot.
2. Heat the oil (or ghee) in a saucepan, add the mustard seeds fry until they start to pop about 1 minute. Add the minced onion and fry until translucent about 3 minutes. Add the curry powder, garam masala, ginger powder and garlic powder stir to coat onions and fry until aromatic about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste fry for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the water, vinegar and sugar, simmer until you obtain a paste the consistency of thin pouring cream (add more water as needed) about 3 minutes. Check for the balance of sweet/sour add a little more vinegar or sugar as needed, the paste should be mildly sweet with a spice over note.
4. Microwave the peas on high for 1 minute until bright green and hot throughout. Do not overcook.
5. Dress the hot potatoes and 3/4 of the peas with the curry paste, the potatoes will absorb the paste.
6. Garnish with the remaining peas and the crumbled beet(root) crisps. And if desired some finely grated carrot.
7. Serve hot, at room temperature or cold.

Chic Potato Salad

A quick, easy and inexpensive recipe that yields a very elegant and sophisticated tasting potato salad that uses a most unusual dressing made from balsamic vinegar and strawberry conserve (a classic flavour combination) which piques the taste buds. The dressing is complimented with crisp turkey bacon pieces, mint, chives and sea salt. This potato salad has a lovely lingering after-taste that excites and stimulates the palate to want more and more. It has a refined air to it as if you had to tweak a couple of dozen ingredients and flavours to achieve the final balance of tastes, with each bite you encounter a new olfactory combination of the individual ingredients that is in this salad there is a tightly controlled gustorial oscillation between sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savoury that is just chic. If you use white balsamic vinegar the final salad has a lovely pink hue that is so pretty, the white version would be a great potato salad to serve at a romantic Valentines dinner.

The unusual dressing ingredients

The potato salad made with black balsamic vinegar

The potato salad made with white balsamic vinegar

Chic Potato Salad
Serves eight
Ingredients
3 lbs (1⅓ kg) fingerling potatoes, white-fleshed, washed and scrubbed
10 strips of turkey bacon, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped mint
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
2½ tablespoons strawberry conserve, about 50% berry content
2½ tablespoons black balsamic vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
2½ tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt crystals OR 1/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
Method
1. Microwave the whole fingerling potatoes (in batches if needed) on high for 5 minutes until fork tender. Peel and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside and keep hot.
2. In a small bowl mix the strawberry conserve and the balsamic vinegar, slowly add the olive oil while whisking vigorously until combined (or use a blender if desired). Check for the balance of sweet/sour add a little more conserve or vinegar as needed, you are looking for a slight strawberry after-taste.
3. Starting in a large cold saucepan, fry the turkey bacon pieces until crisp.
4. Add the potato pieces to the saucepan stir to coat evenly with the bacon pieces.
5. Add the dressing coat gently. Wait for the dressing to be absorbed and cool.
6. Add the chopped herbs, sprinkle with the salt crystals and serve.

Tête à Tête Tea Potato Salads
These potato salads are delightful to have in those moments when you want a cup of tea and an intimate tête à tête with a friend. Their zingy flavour profiles based on black tea, fruit and herbs will help stimulate the palate and tongue to create the perfect environment for a wonderful conversation.

Science has shown that the flavour sensation of "potato" can be reproduced with a mixture of black tea, pickled cucumber juice, mustard, honey and butter this fact is used to obtain a strong harmonious flavour base to these potato salad. This base flavour is then enlivened with various fruits and herbs to produce two entirely different tea potato salads.

Mango tarragon tête à tête tea potato salad
For a light breezy conversation try this potato salad. Black tea compliments the mango. mustard and honey while the tarragon gives a zingy anise kick.

Ingredients
2 lbs (1 kg) fingerling potatoes, washed and scrubbed
Dressing
3 bags of strong black tea, steeped in 2 tablespoons hot water for 5 minutes
1/2 cup mango juice (with no added sugar)
1/2 cup mango, cubed
1 tablespoon pickled cucumber juice
1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, made from white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons chopped tarragon leaves and 6 tarragon flowers
Sprinkle of sea salt
If needed 1/2 teaspoon of potato starch (do not use cornstarch) cooked in 1/4 cup of boiling water until a thick clear paste is formed
Method
1. Microwave the finger potatoes (in batches if needed) on high for 5 minutes until fork tender. Peel and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside and keep hot.
2. Combine in a small bowl the tea, mango nectar, cubed mango, cucumber juice, and honey.
3. Add mustard in teaspoon amounts until you obtain a good balance between sweet and tangy. If the dressing is too thin add the potato starch paste until the consistency is of pouring cream.
4. Add dressing to the hot potatoes wait for the dressing to be absorbed and cool.
5. Garnish with the chopped herbs, herb flowers and a sprinkle of sea salt.
6. Serve with cucumber sandwiches

Pomegranate sage tête à tête tea potato salad
For a heavy and deep conversation try this potato salad it has a vibrant colour with a deep mellow flavour base. Pomegranate with tomato and potato is a classic flavour combination which is combined with crisp butter fried sage leaves to produce a thought provoking recipe.

Ingredients
2 lbs (1 kg) fingerling potatoes, washed and scrubbed
Dressing
3 bags of strong black tea, steeped in 2 tablespoons hot water for 5 minutes
1½ tablespoons tomato paste, fried in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until the oil becomes bright red
1/2 cup pomegranate juice (with no added sugar)
1/2 cup of pomegranate arils (seeds)
1 tablespoon pickled cucumber juice
1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, made from white wine vinegar
2 tablespoon honey
12 sprigs of sage leaves fried in 1 tablespoon of butter until crispy
Sprinkle of sea salt
If needed 1/2 teaspoon of potato starch (do not use cornstarch) cooked in 1/4 cup of boiling water until a thick clear paste is formed
Method
1. Microwave the finger potatoes (in batches if needed) on high for 5 minutes until fork tender. Peel and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside and keep hot.
2. Combine in a small bowl the tea, fried tomato paste, pomegranate juice, pomegranate arils, cucumber juice, and honey.
3. Add mustard in teaspoon amounts until you obtain a good balance between sweet and tangy. If the dressing is too thin add the potato starch paste until the consistency is of pouring cream.
4. Add dressing to the hot potatoes wait for the dressing to be absorbed and cool.
5. Garnish with the crispy sage leaves, the butter and a sprinkle of sea salt.
6. Serve with rye sour dough grilled beef sandwiches.

Beet(root) coconut lime potato salad

The usual reason to add high fat dressings (like mayonnaise and sour cream) to potato salad is make the finished dish as creamy as possible but there is a traditional method to cook potatoes that obtains a heavenly creamy and smooth interior texture – this technique is called brine boiling (also called salt potatoes or wrinkly potatoes). Brine (a mixture of salt and water) has a much higher boiling point temperature than normal water, this higher cooking temperature results in potatoes that are sublimely creamy, evenly cooked and smooth textured this is because the starch in the potatoes cooks more completely. As the potatoes cook, the salty water forms a crust on the skin and seals the potatoes so they never taste water-logged like ordinary boiled potatoes often do. The potatoes have a unique texture closer to fluffy baked potatoes, only creamier. The whole potatoes (that is with the skins on) do not absorb the brine so you will find that you might need to add extra salt to the final dish! So don't be afraid of the amount of salt used in the brine. Salt potatoes keep well in the refrigerator and are excellent if sliced thinly and fried for breakfast. The cooked salt potatoes have a wrinkled skin and are coated in a very very thin layer of fine salt (about 1/4 teaspoon per pound of potatoes). It is intriguing that using this boiling technique you get something very similar to baked potato. Also your guests will wonder how you got such a thin even layer of fine salt crystals on the skins.

These totally exquisite salt potatoes are dressed in a luscious and delectable beet(root), coconut and lime dressing which results in a salad that is smooth, creamy, “almost like a mousse” as a friend mentioned when tasting it, with a huge depth of flavour because the dressing is absorbed into the potatoes which results in a salad that has the flavour profile in the potato flesh itself.

The cooked salt potatoes, the boiling point of the brine was 230°F (110°C) as compared to the normal boiling point of water 212°F (100°C)

Close-up of a salt potato notice the fine layer of salt on the skin, don't worry it is very very thin and only adds a tiny amount of salt to the final recipe (about 1/4 teaspoon per pound of potatoes), you can remove the skin if you desire. The brine is not absorbed into the potato.

Notice how evenly cooked the salt potato is and the lovely creamy texture it has

The beet(root) coconut and lime dressing it is so luscious and its colour is neon bright

Notice how the salt potato has absorbed the dressing throughout its flesh this results in a very toothsome potato salad

Brine boiled potatoes
Ingredients
For each 4 cups (1 litre) of room temperature water use 1 cup of sea salt (or kosher salt or rock salt), do not use table salt since it has anti-caking additives that inhibits the action of the salt. Do not use salt with added iodine. If you can find table salt without additives then use half the amount of salt.
3 lbs (1 1/3 kg) small whole evenly-sized new potatoes, DO NOT remove skins and DO NOT cut the potatoes
Method
Wash and scrub the potatoes, DO NOT remove skins and DO NOT cut the potatoes. Add the salt to the water add the potatoes cover the liquid with parchment paper cut to size. Heat till boiling, cover with lid and boil gently for 20-25 minutes until fork tender. Remove the cooked potatoes with tongs from the brine, let cool on a rack until a thin salt layer forms about 3-5 minutes remove skins if desired. Don't worry there is only a tiny amount of salt (about 1/4 teaspoon per pound of potatoes) on the wrinkled potato skins. Most people just add some butter and a small amount of chopped parsley or dill to the salt potatoes they are totally delicious.

Beet(root), coconut and lime potato salad
Ingredients
3 lbs (1 1/3 kg) cooked and cubed salt potatoes, (with or without skins) still hot
1 roasted large beet(root), chopped roughly, you can use canned or vacuum-packed beet(root), do not used pickled beet(root) or beet(root) canned in vinegar and sugar
3/4 cup light coconut cream OR 3/4 cup coconut milk, maybe a little more
juice of 2 limes OR 3 tablespoons of bottled lime juice
zest of 2 limes, finely chopped, if not using zest add a little more lime juice 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee OR 1 tablespoon kecap manis sauce, optional, this adds a lovely savoury note use this if serving the salad with roasted or grilled meat dishes
4 Kaffir lime leaves, stem removed finely chopped, optional but really nice if you can use it
1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
1/4 cup mint, finely chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a blender add the beet(root), light coconut cream (or coconut milk), lime juice and paprika (and the optional instant coffee or kecap manis) pulse until smooth. Taste to check balance of beet(root) and coconut by adding extra lime juice as needed. If too thick add more coconut milk.
Add dressing to the hot potatoes wait for the dressing to be absorbed. Taste to check seasoning add salt and pepper as needed
Garnish with the chopped lime zest, Kaffir lime leaves, chives and mint.
Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
Serves eight.
You can replace some of the coconut milk with smooth goat's cheese (about 2 tablespoons) this version is excellent with strong game meat dishes.

Caramelised asparagus onions with honeyed mustard bacon potato salad

This marvellous hot salad uses tiny new potatoes and a rich slow-cooked dressing made with caramelised onion, asparagus, honey and mustard. The slowly cooked onion, garlic, asparagus and turkey bacon 'melt' into a lovely buttery sauce that is intensely flavoured and coloured. I have used canned potatoes on several occasions for this recipe they work very well.

Caramelised asparagus onions with honeyed mustard bacon potato salad
Ingredients
3 lbs (1⅓ kg) tiny new potatoes, (about ½-1oz each), washed and scrubbed
2 lbs (900 gm) sweet white onions, (about 8 medium), finely chopped
1 head of garlic, finely chopped
12 strips turkey bacon, (low-fat and low-salt), finely chopped
1 tablespoon oil, (may need more)
1 bunch asparagus (about 12 spears), sliced thinly, reserve the tips for garnishing
3 tablespoons dark honey
3 tablespoons grainy mustard
pomegranate arils (seeds), from one piece of fruit for garnishing
½ teaspoon sea salt
Method
Starting with a large cold heavy skillet fry on a low heat and gently stirring occasionally the potatoes, onions, garlic, oil, bacon, and chopped asparagus for about 50 minutes, until the onions are caramelised and the potatoes are browned. Add the honey and grainy mustard cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened and aromatic. Cut the asparagus tips in half lengthwise, add and cook for 2 minutes until bright green. Serve immediately garnish with the pomegranate arils and sprinkle with sea salt. Serves twelve. (You can also do the recipe in the oven. Start in a cold oven add the first 6 ingredients to a lightly oiled baking tray and raise the temperature to slow 300C/150C/gas 2 and bake for about one hour. Add the mustard and honey stir and bake for about 3 minutes, serve and garnish. )

May 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Marquise

2011-05-31T14:48:00.002+10:00

For some reason blogger wasn't allowing me to post until today. So sorry to be posting late!

This month's challenge was a fabulous recipe -- a spectacular dessert consisting of several simple components when combined give an exquisite dish that is full of contrasting flavours and textures.

Recipe Source: Emma and Jenny learned how to make this marquise dessert when they worked together at a Seattle restaurant. The recipe is adapted from one developed by Bennie Sata, a Seattle-area pastry chef who introduced the city to one of its iconic chocolate desserts. All vegan recipes were created by Ashlae of Ladycakes.

Blog-checking lines: The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

Download printable file HERE

Moroccan Chocolate Mint Marquise with torched raspberry meringue and lemon myrtle almonds and a gin caramel sauce

When I saw this challenge I was taken aback a little, I have never seen anything like this before, a cold soft spicy chocolate Swiss meringue 'sayabon' that can be cut into perfectly shaped cubes coated in Dutch processed cocoa powder served with torched French meringue all served with spicy flavoured nuts. So many different and intriguing techniques in one challenge which I always find inspiring.

I went down to Melbourne for business for a couple of days so I couldn't do the challenge until yesterday night.

I knew instantly what I wanted to do make a Moroccan version using harissa and mint in the marquise and a combination of ras el hanout and Dutch processed cocoa powder as the coating for the cubes of yumminess. I really adore spices with cocoa so I knew that a wide array of hot flavoursome spices and herbs would be perfect with this recipe. It surprises most people to learn that cocoa is a bitter spice that is perfect with chilli. In Mexico cocoa is included in a lot of savour spice mixtures. Since Moroccan spices go so well with red berries I flavoured the torched meringue with strained raspberry coulis. The Australian herb lemon myrtle pairs well with chocolate, raspberry and spicy flavours and I had a huge amount on hand so I made lemon myrtle nuts to serve with the dish. I made a gin caramel sauce since I thought gin would go well with all the other flavours and I had it to hand. Also I wanted to add some floral notes to the dish since rose water is widely used in Moroccan flavour profiles I placed a couple of drops of rose water and violet essence on the plate so the eaters could smell these powerful flower sensations in a controlled manner, since it is very easy to overwhelm a dish with rose water or violet essence I thought a couple of drops on the plate would be the best way to enjoy the perfume of flowers with the dish.

I made the base with mint chocolate also I used home made harissa paste instead of the challenge recipe spice mix, I found the harissa goes perfectly with this marquise recipe since its piquancy, heat, flavoursome spices, tasty herbs and slight garlic taste (!) are a wonderful foil against the savoury mint chocolate base.

The recipe is fairly simple but I found plating the marquise a bit fiddly since the coating is easily disturbed. It took so long to plate the final dish for photographs I forgot to add the gin caramel sauce, I found it in the pan after I had eaten the plated recipe oops and it's too dark now to redo the photograph.

I made a half batch it will serve over 20 people I reckon since the marquise is extremely rich, flavoursome and filling.

Making the 'sayabon' (Swiss meringue) takes about 25 minutes! it is a gorgeous process and so interesting to see how the texture and volume changes while doing it.

The verdict – I loved the marquise and the torched meringue, the textures are very similar yet the richness and flavours are diametrically opposed; the marquise (rich and soft in mouth feel, spicy and piquant in flavour) the meringue (light and soft in mouth feel, mild and fruity in flavour). The spicy nuts (are so more-ish I had a hard time not eating them before the photography) are a great contrast to the marquise and torched meringue I really liked the lemon myrtle against the mint and chilli in the marquise. Also the flower aromas were a nice touch to whet the appetite for the Moroccan flavour profiles in the marquise and torched meringue.

The over-all taste profile is rich chocolate, mint, raspberry, chilli, lemon myrtle and then an array of toothsome spices. Oh and the mouth feels are exquisite the marquise and torched meringue have very similar textures but are so different in tactile sensations which makes eating the dessert so delightful.

Next time I would use individual serving dishes for the marquise or serve it as one large portion and cut it at the table or let my guests help themselves.

Mint Chocolate

Harissa Mint Chocolate Base this photo was taken just after it had been heated so it hadn't thickened as yet

The finished marquise mixture, the bubbles were only on the top, the texture of the interior was smooth see below

Lemon myrtle almonds

Raspberry meringue

Torched meringue I used the grill (broiler) to toast the top of the meringue

Coated marquise cube

Sliced marquise cube I cut it while it was still semi-frozen see bottom picture to see the texture when it at room temperature

Final dish

Picture showing the textures of the various components

Notes
1. The best order to make the recipe is this:-
2. Do a practice run at making the sugar syrup (especially if this is your first time making it) so you can get the timing correct and see how thick and bubbly it looks like when it is the correct temperature. Make a note of the time needed and make sure you use the same heat setting for the recipe batch.
3. Make the nuts they can be be reheated easily if needed. Store in an airtight container.
4. Whip the cream to soft peaks do not overbeat and place it in the refrigerator.
5. Make the chocolate base and leave it to cool when doing the other steps of the recipe. It takes a while to cool.
6. Then make the Swiss meringue. It does take 15 minutes to whip the yolks and whole eggs to obtain maximum volume, I found that the mixture increases about three times in volume.
7. While you are whipping the yolks and whole eggs for the first 15 minutes make the sugar syrup.
8. After you add the hot sugar syrup you need another 10 minutes to incorporate it into the whipped Swiss meringue mixture also it increases in volume by about 10% or so. I found the hot sugar syrup didn't really heat the whipped egg mixture or bowl very much just enough to warm it slightly.
9. When you add the chocolate base (ganache) to the Swiss meringue it falls to the bottom of the meringue you will need to fold it well to combine it evenly.
10. Add the cream in stages folding gently. Must sure you whip the cream to soft peaks only if you go to firm peaks it will make the texture of the final marquise rough and the cream will be hard to incorporate into the whipped egg mixture.
11. When you fold in the cream you will loose some volume maybe 5-10%.
12. Remember to taste the marquise mixture and adjust as necessary, most people forget this most vital step.
13. The final marquise mixture looks smooth and glossy like a tranquil pool of deliciousness. It solidifies quickly in the freezer and the gloss stays even when frozen so lovely.
14. The marquise cuts beautifully into perfect shapes with clean edges. But it is very fiddly to transfer to the final plate and the cocoa coating will fall off in places and fingers will leave marks. Use toothpicks or a special flat spatula to move the marquise cubes. Do the cutting and coating while the marquise is semi-frozen then plate and place into the fridge. I found it doesn't melt unless it stays close to a heat source like your warm fingers or the warm torched meringue, Once the marquise is at room temperature you cannot really move it since it is soft but it will hold its shape if left alone.
15. You can easily flavour the torched meringue with coulis, or flavoured jelly (jello) crystals. If you are using the broiler (grill) to torch the meringue place a tablespoon or so of the meringue onto lightly oil-sprayed aluminium foil broil (grill) at medium heat and watch carefully it is easy to burn them, use a spatula to transfer the torched meringue to the final plating dish.
16. I used 2 tablespoons of harissa paste and 2 teaspoons of extra chilli paste to spice up the marquise, this gave a nice punch to the taste of the final dish.
17. For the coating I did a ratio of 10:1 cocoa:ras el hanout (by volume).
18. Make the caramel after you have plated the marquise and the meringue.
19. Add the nuts and nibs and then add the caramel.
20. I made a gin caramel sauce. I forgot to plate it in the photographs.

Harissa Paste
Ingredients:
10-12 dried red chilli peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt crystals
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Method:
1. Heat the salt and seeds in a small pan until they become aromatic.
2. In a mortar and pestle grind all the ingredients to form a paste. Don't use a coffee grinder - a motor and pestle gives a unique taste and texture which a grinder cannot reproduce.
3. Store in an airtight container.

Ras el Hanout
“Ras el Hanout” ("top of the shop" ) is a spice mixture from Morocco that can contain anywhere from 10-100 different spices. There is no definitive set combination of spices that makes up Ras el hanout. Each shop, company, person have their own secret combination containing over a dozen spices. Typically they would include cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ground chili peppers, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn, and turmeric.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground ginger powder
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
2 teaspoons ground mustard seeds
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried Damascan rose petals (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:
1. Mix all the spices together.
2. Store in an airtight container.

May 2011 Daring Cooks' Challenge – Gumbo

2011-05-14T04:59:00.005+10:00

Denise from There’s a Newf in My Soup was the hostess for this month's Daring Cooks' Challenge, which was Gumbo. This first thing I have to mention was the achingly beautiful photographs in the challenge write-up it was a joy just to view and read the challenge and the next thing I have to say is the outstanding work, effort and research Denise put into the recipes, clearly the best challenge write-up so far in the Daring Cooks' forums. Gumbo what a smashing challenge the classic world famous Deep South soup/stew. The photographs in the challenge looked so delicious and really whet the appetite for the recipes. And so many choices to pick from! After reading the challenge the common features of all gumbos are the rice served with it and the roux, there seems to be a lot of mystique surrounding the making of the roux, I was looking forward to see how I would handle this. Also my head was flooded with so many kinds of gumbo, the classic chicken and sausage, seafood, vegetarian or something totally new.

Gumbo consists of
1. a rich home made stock, vegetarian or meat (chicken, beef or veal) bones or fish bones
2. a whisked roux (oil/flour 1:1 ratio by volume) that is cooked in a heavy-bottomed (cast iron) saucepan until the desired colour is obtained this is so much fun to make, then we add
3. a “trinity” of vegetables (onions, green capsicums (bell peppers) and celery), then we add
4. meat (usually chicken or seafood) and some smoked sausage this is simmered, then we add
5. orka (for it thickening action) and some more vegetables then we simmer again, then
6. filé powder can be added to the finished dish if desired to help thicken it again

Denise thank so much for the all the hard work and exquisite photographs you put into the write-up, and for all the impressive work, effort and research that is evident in the recipes, it is greatly appreciated. I liked the challenge so much I made six gumbos and a whole mess of side dishes.

Recipe Source: The recipes for Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo, as well as the stocks, Creole spices, and rice, are from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh (Andrews McMeel Publishing, October 2009). “John Besh is a chef and native son dedicated to the culinary riches of southern Louisiana. At each of his six acclaimed restaurants (August, Besh Steak, Lüke, La Provence, American Sector, and Domenica) as well as in his entrepreneurial pursuits, his first cookbook, My New Orleans, and his public activities, he celebrates the bounty and traditions of the region. A former U.S. Marine, Besh has been honored by Food & Wine ("Top 10 Best New Chefs in America;") Gourmet Magazine ("Guide to America’s Best Restaurants;") Food Arts (Silver Spoon Award;) and the James Beard Foundation (Best Chef – Southeast.) John Besh is a frequent guest chef on NBC’s Today Show, and has appeared on top programs on The Food Network and the Sundance Channel.” Bio from Restaurant August.

Blog-checking lines: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

Download the printable .pdf file HERE

Almost vegetarian potato gumbo

After completing my first challenge gumbo I have to say what the recipe smells like while you are making it – it is enrapturing, it is pure joy distilled into a phantasmagoria of ecstasies of heavenly perfumes on the nose and the tongue, it actually makes your olfactory senses tingle with deliciousness nomnomnom...., after making this dish you will really understand the nature of how the nose and tongue are tied together when you are smelling and tasting the recipe in all of its stages. The final gumbo is an exaltation of flavours and mouth feels, sublime is the only word. At various stages of the recipe there are moments of gustatory bliss, like when you add the (partially coooked) onions into the “black” roux, the aroma of caramelised onions overpowers the palate's ability to comprehend the delights that are being presented to it. And when you add the capsicum (bell pepper), celery and garlic the senses are assaulted again with untainted delight. It is a joy just to cook this dish. As you can tell I really like making gumbo.

I was a little leery about making the roux since so many websites carry on so much about this process. I searched on the internet and found this site about making "black" roux so I decided to make the roux the same colour as his example.

The "black" roux colour I was aiming for

I got out my best heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet and my special flat roux whisk, and proceeded to make the roux on a high heat. I added the rice-bran oil (I hate the smell of canola oil when it is heated) and the flour and started to stir and stir and stir. I was very careful to stir constantly the entire time. I read a number of "expert-gumbo" sites and most of them suggested a ratio of 1 part oil:1¼ parts of flour that is what I used no problems at all I made no other changes to the recipe. I used a high heat (7/10) for most of the process but I did take the skillet off the heat on occasions especially near the end of the time.

My heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet and my flat roux whisk

My special flat roux whisk which is perfect for making sure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the skillet

The photos show the colour of the roux after various times, from left to right.
1 min, 3 mins, 8 mins, 11 mins

13 mins, 15 mins, 18 mins (3 mins after I added the onions), 20 mins

When you are making the roux you cannot smell anything except at the start and on the odd occasion you will see a small gentle plume of smoke come off, it is very intriguing to see how the roux changes colour and how it thickens over the process. The biggest colour change happens between the start to 8 minutes that is from white-paste coloured to milk chocolate coloured. After 15 minutes I added the onions and the roux continued to deepen in colour since the skillet held a lot of heat. This all changes when you start adding the “trinity” and the other ingredients the smells are deliriously perfumed with the deliciousness.

The final colour of the "black" roux after 20 minutes (I had added the orka by this stage) what an amazing colour and texture it had, I wished I had made four times as much roux now!!!!

The taste of the "black" roux is amazing a deep nutty flavour that lingers on the tongue, stunning, "How can cooked oil and flour be such a gastronomic pleasure like this." I thought on tasting the cooled roux. I adored the taste of it! DO NOT TASTE the roux until it has cooled it is fiercely HOT so be careful.

I wanted to make an almost “vegetarian” potato gumbo for my first attempt since I love potatoes and gumbo is meant to be a peasant dish using what you had to hand, I had a great vegetable stock in the freezer I used that, I made the “black” roux added the onions, the other trinity ingredients, the orka and the diced potatoes and cooked them in the roux until halfway tender, then I added a selection of small sized vegetables (finely grated turnip, swedes and beetroot, diced carrot, peas, corn kernels, small florets of broccoli, broad beans, precooked lentils and shredded fennel) and cooked the gumbo until all the vegetables were tender.

About orka I went to the local fruit and veggie shop they only had horrible old large browned orka ($7/kg) and the cactus paddles ($4/kg) were all gone X:( , but the local Indian spice shop had a large supply of frozen sliced orka at only $2/kg a great bargain.

Frozen sliced okra this was perfect to make gumbo with

It was interesting to see the orka dissolve, become stringy and then disappear completely just leaving its thickening power in the gumbo also it adds a light “squash/zucchini/egg plant” flavour to the gumbo. Then tabasco, thyme and Worcestershire sauce went in and in the last ten minutes I added some smoked ham for meat protein to the dish. I garnished with some lightly steamed diced vegetables, spring (green) onions, chives and sliced chillies to add colour and freshness to the dish. The tabasco, thyme and Worcestershire sauce are almost a "trinity" of flavours in themselves together they really add a wonderful unified zing to the taste. I used finely ground sassafras tea for the filé powder, it tastes like very very mild sage I thought.

For the people who hate okra, capsicum (bell peppers), onions or celery don't worry you don't taste these flavours or see them at all, the main flavour profile is a deep nutty taste with flavour highlights of the final diced vegetables and ham (in my case) that lingers and lingers on the tongue so scrumptious. If you add the okra at the start they is no problem about it being slimy it melts away completely I read on a number of sites if it is slimy add 1 tablespoon of vinegar this helps break down the orka.

Halfway through the cooking process - it is hard to make a brown dish look good in photographs but this looks totally delicious

Final dish

I absolutely loved this recipe it is a total revelation in taste and texture, the roux and the stock are the main flavouring agents, while the vegetables are the textural elements and the ham implants a nice touch of salty contrast to the slight sweetness of the vegetables. The final taste was sublime a magnificent symphony of harmonies, where the potatoes were the major theme (flavour profile) while the black roux acts as the deep base notes beating constantly giving the basic tempo to the dish whereas the small vegetables are the short sharp highlight accents (flavours) to the music of the gumbo. As you can tell I really like eating this recipe.

There is something so reminiscent of childhood in this dish I felt like I was being hugged by my parents when I was little while I was eating this for some reason (maybe because we eat so many spuds when growing up), I could feel the vigour of the vegetables spreading throughout my body soon after the meal uhmmm a true comfort food because it actually comforts the mind, the body and the soul. Outstanding recipe!

Cannot wait to see what it tastes like tomorrow.

Denise thank you so much for the marvellous challenge your instructions are perfect and your photos are achingly exquisite, literally the BEST "stew" I have tasted and so easy. The ultimate comfort food.

Important notes
1. The number one rule is that the roux is highly dangerous item never ever taste it or get any of it on you, it is HOT HOT HOT, always cool it before tasting it, always assume it is HOT until you are absolutely sure it isn't.
2. The roux is dangerously hot (it isn't called Cajun napalm for nothing) wear long sleeves and long pants while making it remember it is something like 200°C (390°F) extremely hot you will get a serious burn if it gets on your skin, if this happens wash it off and run cold tap water over the burn for 20 mins. Keep children and pets in the other room when making it.
3. I pre-cooked the onions until they started to caramelise then I made the roux and then added the onions when the roux was the correct colour.
4. When you add the onions the roux is still incredibly hot it will sizzle and splatter so keep a careful eye on it have a piece of aluminium foil and use that as a splatter guide, I think it best to let the roux cool a while before adding the onions.
5. Remember always stir while making the roux, don't leave it for an instant.
6. I found frozen sliced orka in the local Indian spice shop it was very cheap much cheaper than the crappy fresh orka in the produce shop.

A row of rouxs
I had some free time today so I thought I would make four rouxs and freeze them for later use. I did a cull of my meat off-cuts, seafood off-cuts, rendered fats and flours in the freezer, I found a lot of things to use for the fat and the flour in the roux and some intriguing titbits to add some extra flavour notes to the roux. I even found millet flour(!), I store all my flours in the freezer which extends its shelf life. I used a ratio of 1:1 oil:flour (by volume) for the roux, it does take a little longer (a couple of minutes) to incorporate the oil into the flour at this ratio as compared to the ratio I used for the "black" roux which was 1:1¼ oil:flour (by volume).

Rouxs from left to right
blond roux – made from saffron infused bacon fat and fine "OO" pizza flour
light red roux – made from ghee (clarified butter), fried prawn and lobster shells and white flour with shucked oyster juice
medium red roux – made from Peking duck fat and a white/millet/rye flour mixture (10:2:1 ratio) with blood orange nectar
dark red roux – made from rendered chilli chorizo sausages and a white/wholemeal flour mix (5:1 ratio) with hot red paprika
black roux – made from rice bran oil (this was the first gumbo roux I posted yesterday) and white flour

About the rouxs
I wanted to make a number of gumbo rouxs using different sorts of fats and flours to see what flavour and texture profiles resulted. Making so many rouxs was like living in a sensory dream all day my olfactory senses were in heaven each roux had its own special perfume of harmony.

I made a range of rouxs going from blond to red to black.

Roux one – I started with the fat from rendered saffron infused bacon I fried it with fine "OO" pizza flour since this finely milled flour I thought would incorporate more easily into the saffron infused bacon fat. I lowered the heat to medium so I had more control over the cooking, using "OO" pizza flour was a wise choice the final roux was very smooth and tasted like breakfast to me.

Roux two – I used ghee (clarified butter) since ghee has a much higher smoke point than normal butter which contains milk solids that can burn at high heat. At the stage where you add the onions I added prawn/lobster shells (these couldn't be used for making stock I thought) and fried the roux until I could smell 'ocean' and then added some oyster juice until the roux was fairly thin and then I stained it and gently reduced it to a medium thick liquid I cannot wait to use this for a seafood dish. Using ghee really gives a rich butter taste to the roux.

Roux three – Peking duck fat is very strongly coloured and flavoured I used a millet/white/rye flour mixture it went dark fairly quickly. I added some blood orange juice and slowly reduced it to get a normal roux consistency. A lovely red colour. I experimented a little first with millet/rye/white flour mixture it produced a dark roux with a great taste that is so intriguing and hard to describe like light rye crisp bread with overtones of 'hay' and an 'earthy' cereal after taste good with strong flavours. The texture of the roux was not as fine as the blond roux, I think this was due to the millet and rye flours which are not milled as finely as normal white flour.

Roux four – Chilli chorizo sausages give off a lot of fat so I had a large amount so I fried it up with white and wholemeal flour I got an intense dark red brown roux I added some more paprika near the end to add more Spanish flavouring. This is very hot and spicy great in small amounts I think the wholemeal flour adds a great dash of 'earthiness' to the dish. The roux wasn't so smooth as the "OO" flour roux I think this is due to the wholemeal flour and took longer to incorporate the fat into the flour.

Roux five - was the “black” roux I made the day before using rice bran oil (which has a neutral flavour) and white flour which produces a rich nutty flavour base great for vegetable gumbos.

Summary
It certainly is worth thinking about the type of fat/oil and flour you will use for your roux. Finely milled flour like "OO" pizza flour gives a very smooth roux and it was much easier to incorporate the fat into the flour. White flour with a small amount of rye or millet or wholemeal produced 'woody', 'earthy' or 'very-nutty' flavoured rouxs respectively very suitable for highly flavoured gumbos but were not as smooth as the "OO" roux. Ghee (clarified butter) produced a rich mouth feel more suitable for delicately flavoured gumbos like seafood. Rendered fats from bacon, sausages and duck strongly carry their flavour into the final roux.

Don't Rules for Roux
After some experimenting this evening
1. Don't use olive oil it produces a horrid tasting roux that is oily and nasty.
2. Don't use all wholemeal flour it produces a sour roux.
3. Don't use all rye flour it produces a very strange (in a bad way) sour, lumpy and gooey roux.
4. Don't use butter it will burn on high heat it does work to make a blond roux on low heat but expect to cook it for a long long time.

High temperature versus low temperature rouxs
I was studying my photos that showed the making of the "black roux" at various times and I noticed something that struck me as interesting

I noticed that the oil layer evident in the first 6 samples had disappeared! in the last 2 samples.

I wondered how this happen and what did it do to the completed gumbo?

After some thought I figured out that it must be the addition of the "trinity" that is making the oil layer disappear somehow since that was the only difference between the "oil layer" series of samples and the "no oil layer" samples. After some researching and talking to some mates in the States I gather how you put the "trinity" in the roux makes a huge difference to how the oil is incorporated into the final gumbo.

Look at these two photos of gumbos - can you see that in the first photo there is no oil layer while the second photo has an oil layer that can be skimmed. This is caused by how the "trinity" is added to the roux -- in the first photo the trinity was added to a hot roux while in the second photo the trinity was added to a cool roux.

From my phone calls and emails to my mates in the States that knew about gumbos there seems to be two schools of thought about how to add the trinity to the roux :-
High temperature addition of the roux which emulsifies the oil into the gumbo
Low temperature addition of the roux which doesn't emulsify the oil into the gumbo

You see in the old days before modern stoves with a nice constant heat, gumbo rouxs' were made on a low heat where it could take 100 minutes to make a dark roux, when the roux was finished, most of oil layer on top would be skimmed off and the trinity would be added and cooked (on the same low heat) then the other ingredients would be added-- using this method the final gumbo would have an oil layer. With modern stoves a dark roux could be made in 10 minutes on a high temperature and to stop the roux from burning the trinity would be added to lower its temperature but this also caused the oil layer to be emulsified into the gumbo so the final dish looked a bit like mayonnaise (a shiny emulsion).

Now you might ask which method makes a "true" gumbo - the answer is that both methods produce "gumbo", of course I got several emails from my mates saying the low-temperature or the high-temperature method was the one my mum used to make gumbo when I was growing up and that was the "correct" method to make a "true" gumbo. this sort of disagreement is very common when you have a base recipe that can have countless variations.

I thought I should share this titbit of information with you if you used low heat to make the roux and produced a gumbo that had oil drops on top.

Gumbo Z'Herbes (Green Gumbo)

Just imagine if you never had a recipe that had the taste sensation of “sweet” in it and you went to a luncheon and you were served a dish that was overflowing in this gustatory staple, wouldn't your taste buds be awakened to a new level of awareness and joyousness it would be like being colour-blind to red and all of a sudden one day you saw a rose in all its glory of “redness” you would ooo and mmm and think to yourself this rose is almost beyond my human experience what joy that I have experienced this ... a profound revelation! Well when I tasted gumbo z'herbes for the first time my consciousness became aware and awakened and seduced by a taste sensation that I haven't experienced before to any degree, I realised I had truly experienced for the first time the taste sensation of “bitter”...

Since Good Friday is tomorrow I made gumbo z'herbes (a green herb gumbo traditionally served during Lent) it is labour intensive (lots of chopping) and takes a long time (lots of simmering), basically it is an enormous amount of greens (it must be an odd number of varieties I used 19 types) that are simmered for two hours then this is added to a gumbo roux and simmered for another hour. This would be a very expensive recipe normally but I'm lucky a sustainability garden opened (nine months ago) two door's down from my place next to the old tiny disused pioneer cemetery, it is overflowing with green leafed vegetables at the moment and yesterday they needed some help so I volunteered and I mentioned that I was making gumbo z'herbes for Good Friday they said I could take as many leaves as I needed. The story goes that for each type of green in it, a new friend will be made in the coming year, so feel free to throw some of your favourite greens into the pot and make some more friends! I used a lot of “Asian” greens, and a whole array of “European” greens, I took note of the names that the lady called them. The quantity (in volume) of uncut greens you need to make this gumbo is incredible (about 12 litres (three gallons)) but they do collapse when cooked to about 4 litres (1 gallon).

I had my doubts about this recipe (it isn't the best looking dish)... I had my first spoonful...I tasted it … WOW what was THAT that just happened... I had my second spoonful ...again... THAT just happened again! ..I realised after some thought I was tasting... and I couldn't believe it... delicious “bitter”.. and it was SUPERB. For an instant I was stunned, amused and euphoric then I realised how impoverished we are in our cooking culture we have so few dishes in Western cooking that emphasise the “bitter” taste sensation. This Lent gumbo has an exquisite elegance that boarders on revelation, its “bitterness” is so sophisticated and toothsome. It was a total pleasure to have and savour an almost unknown, greatly underused and totally misunderstood taste sensation simulated to its maximum culinary acme in this dish, after eating this gumbo you will grasp that yes we really do have a 'bitter-tooth” in our palate (compare with our “sweet-tooth”), the “bitter” greens meld so well together, this was the absolute hit of the test luncheon I held for this recipe, I cannot wait to see what it taste like on Good Friday. Don't worry as you can have deliciously sweet (a good taste) and cloyingly sweet (a bad sort of sweet) you certainly can have deliciously bitter as a taste as this recipe will testify if you try it. If you can get perilla leaves do use them they add a wonderful overall herbal taste to the dish. Also there is something about so many greens in one dish that seems to scream “earthy goodness” it really tasted of “health”. It is a real shame that this dish is not made more often throughout the year I definitely will make this again when there is an abundance of greens. I served it with home-made jalapeño cornbread and deep-fried okra slices.

I really liked how the gumbo filé worked with this gumbo. The filé goes in at the end when the mixture is cooling, either in the pot or at the table. Start adding filé a little at a time you will find that the soupy mixture will take on the classic gumbo texture: kind of gooey and gelatinous. Then add a little extra then your gumbo will be perfect. Filé's flavour is unique; I can only describe it by saying, it tastes like gumbo.

The cut up greens

The greens after two hours of simmering

The greens after three hours of simmering (not the best looking dish as I said)

Fried orka slices

Jalapeño cornbread

Completed and garnished gumbo z'herbes

Gumbo Z'Herbes (Green Gumbo)
The Greens
1 bunch Chinese “collard” greens (that is what she called it)
1 bunch Chinese broccoli leaves
1 bunch turnip leaves
2 bunches spinach (the curly type)
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch beetroot tops
1 bunch carrot tops
1 bunch radish tops
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch chicory (radicchio) (endive)
1 bunch perilla leaves (from the local Asian shop)
1 bunch arugula (rocket) (roquette)
1 bunch sorrel (spinach dock)
1 bunch dandelion greens (from my back yard)
3 bunches bok choy
1 small bunch tarragon (10 sprigs) (from the local shop)
1 head lamb's tongue lettuce or butter lettuce or red oak lettuce (not iceberg)
1 small green cabbage or the same volume in Brussel sprouts
1/2 bunch spring (green) onions
The stock
1 large smoked ham hock (optional; omit if you want it strictly vegetarian)
4 litres (1 gallon) vegetable stock, (optional; ham-bone stock if using ham hock)
The roux
6 tablespoons plain flour
6 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1 large white onion, chopped
1 green capsicum (bell pepper), chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
The herbs, spices and seasonings
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 whole cloves (this is important do not leave out)
2 whole allspice berries (this is important do not leave out)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Gumbo filé powder to taste and thickening power
Tabasco to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
To serve with the gumbo
6 cups cooked long-grain white rice or one large home-made cornbread loaf

Reserve about two cups of the smallest and most tender green leaves for garnish. Wash the rest of the greens thoroughly and remove all stems or hard centres, chop the greens finely. Boil them all together in the stock with the ham hock if using for about two hours. Strain reserve the liquid and the greens (and the ham hock).

In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot make a brown gumbo roux of the flour and ghee. Add the trinity (onion, capsicum and celery) and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the chopped parsley and sauté 5 more minutes.

Add the reserved cooking stock, greens, (shredded ham hock if using). herbs, spices, and seasonings. Simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Adjust seasonings as necessary.

Serve in large gumbo bowls with a 1/2 cup of rice. Or ladle the gumbo into large soup bowls and serve with cornbread slices. Garnish with the reserved green leaves. fried orka pieces and red chilli slices add gumbo filé as desired.

Yield: 12 servings

Jalapeño cornbread
1½ cups yellow cornmeal or polenta
1½ cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons of high gluten flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1¼ cups warm water (or for a richer bread use 1 cup milk and 1 egg)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar (optional if you want a sweet cornbread)
1 seeded and finely minced jalapeño, or to taste

Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl using a plastic scraper (or your hands) until you form a shaggy dough about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a clean tea towel and leave overnight. The next day punch down the dough and form a loaf. Place into a 6 inch (15 cm) round baking pan (1½ inches 4 cms high), cover loosely with plastic wrap let rise until doubled in volume. Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F), slash and bake the risen loaf for 40 minutes.

Yield: one large loaf

White bean gumbo purée toast stack with saffron infused bacon and quail eggs

Since the saffron infused bacon roux tasted so much like "breakfast" I had to make a gumbo breakfast recipe from it.

I love beans on toast with eggs and bacon for breakfast (I always order it if I'm eating breakfast at a café) so I decided that these ingredients should be the basis for my gumbo breakfast dish.

To the saffron infused bacon roux (since it was made from OO pizza flour) I added an intense ham-bone stock with the caramelised trinity (that I did separately using finely grated vegetables using my microplane since I wanted a smooth result), I added soaked white beans and cooked them until mushy soft and then using a hand mixer I made the (gumbo) purée, I was very pleased how creamy and smooth the final purée was (it was like an airy mousse) and it packed a punch of ham and bean flavour with a saffron glow. I ladled out a generous amount in a bowl and placed a "vol au vent" toast stack filled with the gumbo purée, quail eggs, saffron infused bacon strips, chives and harissa paste into the centre and I used the cut-out toast pieces with quail eggs and chives as a garnish around the toast stack and added some more crisp saffron infused bacon strips for extra flourish.

The toast components of the breakfast gumbo recipe, the "vol au vent" toast stack and the cut-outs

Finished dish

Close-up of the gumbo purée

For me it was b.r.e.a.k.f.a.s.t. personified. The ham and white bean gumbo purée was so filling, the toast stack was fun to eat and the extra eggs on the round cut-out toast pieces were so dainty looking, these components all together were a wonderful and satisfying start to the day while the saffron flavour added a special opulence to the dish. I was very happy and full!

Birthday seafood gumbo

I wanted to make a showy and flavoursome birthday treat for a close friend's 25th.

There is something so special and indulgent about seafood gumbo it is a dish that can be made relatively cheaply if you use the seafood off-cuts that any fish market produces (fish heads, fish bones and tiny dried prawns for the stock and for the bulk of the gumbo you can use seafood off-cut (marinara) mixtures). But this basic “cheap” recipe can easily be made into a spectacular dish if you festoon it with wisely-chosen large handsome pieces of fresh, frozen, prepared and imitation seafood. I decided to incorporate the taste sensation of umami as the major gustatory component of the gumbo. Umami means "pleasant savory taste" also it enhances the other flavours in a dish.

I went to the Sydney seafood markets and indulged in some fabulous frozen blue swimmer crabs, frozen clam meat, frozen oyster meat, fresh giant tiger prawns (shrimp) and fresh seafood marinara mix (squid, octopus, mussel, "white" fish, tuna and "red" fish). Also I went to the local Asian seafood market and picked up some prepared spicy chilli prawn balls, top quality imitation crab claws and some seafood stock flavouring spices and herbs. The local speciality butcher had some excellent smoked truffle sausage (using real truffle) on special ($60/kg half price!) so I got some of that also.

I concentrated and made an effort to make the best seafood umami stock I could for the gumbo, I fried one kilogram of tiny dried prawns ($4 from the local Asian shop) in ghee until they turned red then added some fish bones, three tablespoons of bonito powder, two tablespoons of seaweed paste, two tablespoons of fried tomato paste and the other (fried-separately) stock ingredients and simmered this for 30 minutes (making sure that no bitter flavours developed in the stock) which produced a strongly flavoured seafood stock with a powerful umami punch. Bonito, seaweed and tomato are rich sources of the umami taste sensation which as mentioned already greatly enhances the other flavours in a dish.

Then I made a “black” roux (using ghee (which has a high smoke point as compared to butter) and "OO" pizza flour which took eight minutes I'm getting faster at making it LOL LOL) I added the pre-fried trinity, sliced orka, thinly sliced and fried smoked truffle sausage and cooked it for a few minutes and added the umami stock. The blue crabs were added and simmered for 45 minutes, then all the other goodies were added and simmered for an extra 15 minutes and the gumbo was finished.

Truffle is the only food that contains all three umami stimulators this means a tiny amount of truffle strongly enhances any and all flavours in a dish. A small truffle will instantly perfume a huge room if it is exposed for an moment, the fried sausage was utterly magnificent I can totally understand why truffles cost $2000 to $4000 per kilogram for the locally grown fungus (Tasmania Australia).

I absolutely loved the intense dark colour, soupy mouth feel and strong seafood umami taste of the gumbo liquid and when combined with the different show-off pieces of seafood made every mouthful an ambrosial bliss attack on the senses. The contrasting mouth feels of the tasty morsels counterpointed marvellously against each other. The prawn balls and crab claws worked really well with the clams, oysters and the marinara mix and it was fun to peel the prawns and crabs, having so many contrary ways of eating each titbit made the dish feel like a banquet. And the best were the small pieces of truffle sausage on the bottom of the dish so so yummy well worth the expense. I was a little apprehensive about using prepared and intimation seafood but they worked very well and looked so exquisite in the final birthday dish.

Simply a memorable dish.

And not that expensive for a special party only $6.60 per serve.

Total cost for ten people $66
10 frozen blue crabs $8
1 kg frozen clam meat $3
1 kg frozen oyster meat $3
20 fresh giant tiger prawns (shrimp) $11
20 prepared chilli prawn balls $4
20 imitation crab claws $4
3/4 kg fresh seafood marinara mix $10
1/4 kg smoked truffle sausage $15
1 kg dried prawns $4
All the other ingredients $4

Tiny dried prawns (shrimp) only $4 the major ingredient for the stock

Frozen Blue crabs

Smoked truffle sausage this small piece was $4 (I got $15 worth in total)

The “black” roux with the trinity and orka

Completed seafood jumbo

The ingredients

The left-overs from one serving it was so much fun eating this dish

Deep South Fish & Seafood Feast

I have been doing some research on Cerole and Cajun side-dishes, I made a whole mess of them to serve with a clam gumbo, the meal consisted of the following recipes
Clam Gumbo
Prawn & Ham Stuffed Alligator Pears
Chilli & Herb Hushpuppy Fritters
Spicy Black-Eyed Peas
Crispy Prawn Heads
Blackened Catfish

I loved the combination of tastes and mouth feels in this meal, I made sure that the clam gumbo was the principle flavour and mouth feel that held all the other dishes together. The clam gumbo complimented so well with the Hushpuppy fritters which are sweetish and the slightly bitter blackened catfish, the stuffed alligator pears are amazing the fruit goes so well with the prawn and ham mixture and the texture of the shell is soft yet firm like a prawn. The black-eyed peas are a wonderful dish so filling and warming to the body and soul. And the crisp prawn heads have such a loud crunch when you eat them LOL LOL.

Clam gumbo – made from prawn shell stock and a “black roux” with an over-abundance of clams

Prawn & Ham Stuffed Alligator Pears – alligator pears also known as chokos (in Australia), chayotes (Native American name) or mirlitons (Southern States of America) are a squash that is a little like a cross between a potato and a cucumber in taste and texture. Chokos are a very old fashioned fruit in Australia they were common place on the dinner table but of late they have been underused. Chayotes steamed then stuffed with a spicy prawn (shrimp) and ham mixture and baked are a famous New Orleanian dish called Mawmaw's Stuffed Mirlitions.

Fresh alligator pears (or chokos, chayotes or mirlitons)

Halved alligator pears - all parts of the fruit are edible (raw or cooked) and are delicious

Steamed choko shells ready to be stuffed with the prawn and ham mixture and then baked

Chilli & Herb Hushpuppy Fritters – hushpuppies are a traditional treat eaten with seafood at carnivals, shows and at home. They are made from self-rising cornmeal/white wheat flour, fresh corn, plenty of spices, finely chopped red chillies, fresh parsley and thyme. They are usually deep-fried but I made small fritters (1 heaped tablespoon) from the batter. The cooked fritters are really delicious and with the addition of spices and herbs are a treat of the taste buds. They are sweet which was a surprise (I had halved the sugar! in the original recipe). The recipe uses one large grated onion and the liquid given off and an egg as the binding agents which really gives a great taste to them. Notice the lovely colours running throughout the fritter. Crispy on the outside, nice and light on the inside and overall super tasty.

Hushpuppy Batter

Shallow-fried hushpuppies

Spicy Black-Eyed Peas – are the quintessential side dish in the Deep South I added some greens, red chillies and some home-made spicy prawn shell grits.

Hushpuppy fritters and spicy black-eyed peas

Blackened Catfish – another traditional Deep South dish catfish (known as basa in Australia) which is cheap ($7/kg) and super delicious, a mixture of spices and herbs are applied to the fish fillet and then pan-fried until the coating has become blackened. A very moist fish indeed a special treat of any fish lover. Notice how moist and flaky the interior of the catfish is a lovely texture.

Blackened fish
I like blackened fish to have a strong smoked flavour so I use a lot of smoked paprika you could alter the spice mix to suit your tastes and what you have on hand. Though salt, sweet paprika, cayenne/black/white pepper, cumin, thyme and oregano are the usual ingredients in most spice mixes.
Spice mix makes eight tablespoons
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Szechwan pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano

Butter for coating and frying fish
¾ cup of melted butter for coating fish
¼ cup of melted butter for frying fish

Fish
6 fish fillets about 150 gm/5½ oz and 1/2" (15 mm) thick (cat fish, trout, tuna, red snapper, grouper... any firm fish is fine)

Method
1. Mix in a small bowl all the spice mix ingredients set aside.
2. Heat a heavy cast iron pan on high heat until extremely hot, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour ¾ cup melted butter into a shallow dish. Dip each fillet into butter, turning once to coat both sides. Sprinkle both sides of fillets with spice mixture, and gently pat mixture onto fish.
4. Place three fillets into the hot pan without crowding. Carefully pour about 1 teaspoon melted butter over each fillet. Cook until fish has a charred appearance, about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn fillets, spoon 1 teaspoon melted butter over each, and cook until charred about 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining fish.
5. Before serving, add another teaspoon of melted butter on top of each fillet.

Crispy prawn heads – these are so tasty, the crunchy head is a joy to eat. A coating of Cerole spices is applied to the cleaned and fried prawn heads.

Deep South Fish & Seafood Feast

Gumbo Mer D'Algues

I adore seaweed soup, the seaweed gives the soup a deliciously light tangy “sea” flavour and I have had been craving it for a while now so I decided I just had to make a variation on gumbo z'herbes where instead of using a load of 'land' green vegetables and herbs I substituted with three types of seaweed (sea greens) and the über scrumptious samphire (also called sea asparagus, glasswort) which a friend obtained for me free from Kangaroo Island in South Australia, I call the final dish Gumbo Mer D'Algues. I will be serving this tonight while watching the Eurovision Song Competition with friends.

I used edible kelp (which dissolves totally and is a thickener i.e. a substitute for the orka), Korean salted seaweed for its lovely texture when cooked and nori soup strips for their taste and colour and the marvellous samphire (a delectable sea-side herb which when bitten into releases a salty burst of “sea” tang cost free a friend found some and brought it back for me, usually $10/50 gm!), the dried kelp was $4/110gm (two packets), the salted seaweed ($2/500g) and the nori soup stips $3/100gm, I soaked (an hour) and washed the kelp and salted seaweed twice. I made a stock of chicken bones, and mirepoix then I made a light roux using ricebran oil and white wheat flour. I added the “trinity”, the soaked seaweeds were simmered for 2 hours then I added the nori and simmered for 30 minutes then the samphire which was simmered for 15 mins.

WOW this was a dish to die for the seaweeds and the samphire are so luscious. The seaweeds add a lovely juicy thickness to the gumbo and the samphire was the star of the show it is a very expensive and hard to find sea-side herb but its taste and texture are wondrous it goes clear and looks so lovely. The final taste was of the 'sea' (not fishy) with a lovely light zing, the samphire went gelatinous but it still retained its ability to release bursts of salty flavour when eaten a great dish. The best aspect of the dish was the mouth feel of the seaweed like soft jelly (jello) so unctuous like butter, such as an intriguing array of ingredients yet the final dish is essentially a sea flavoured gumbo in taste and it looks almost like gumbo z'herbes in appearance. A great dish

The magnificent samphire which can be eaten raw or cooked

Salted seaweed it is packed in salt it must be soaked and rinsed a number of times before use

Notice the amount of salt surrounding the seaweed

Nori seaweed strips for soup

Edible kelp

The cooked gumbo mer d'algues

Garnished gumbo mer d'algues

A close-up of the seaweeds in the gumbo I love how the seaweed goes clear and gelatinous

April DB 2011 Challenge - Edible Sweet Containers with Maple Syrup Mousse and a round up of the best ideas from other Daring Bakers'

2011-04-27T02:30:00.002+10:00

This month's challenge was to make an edible container for a very sweet maple syrup mousse. So I, Evelyne of the Cheap Ethnic Eatz blog, wanted to share a bit of my maple syrupy home with you for this months’ Daring Bakers’ challenge. Now the dish I am offering up for preparation is not at all a traditional recipe but rather my own creative inspiration which includes some of the “Cabane à Sucre” elements. Since Lisa and Ivonne challenged me to include an edible container I decided to make a Maple Mousse served in a baked Bacon Cup. No worries bacon fearers, we have alternatives for you.

Blog-checking lines: The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Maple Mousse:
Ingredients:
• 1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

Directions:
1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.
8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Chocolate bacon brioche spoons with maple syrup peanut butter mousse and blueberry preserves

Yes I know the above is a bit over the top but I lived in Calgary Canada for a year and where I lived there was an annual neighbourhood competition to see who could come up with the most “over-the-top” combination of bacon, maple syrup and chocolate (plus whatever else you wanted) that could be served as finger food so I have some experience with the challenge flavour profiles. I had some lovely salted semi-cured speck in the fridge I used that. Well about maple syrup I love it with very salty fried ham products and I found out during the "over-the-top" competition that I love maple syrup with peanut butter and blueberry preserve on brioche, so I thought I would combine all of these flavours into one container.

Firstly I made brioche spoons these would form the backbone of the finger food since bacon etc is hard to form into a clean spoon shape so the brioche spoon would do that. After the spoons had baked and cooled and hardened I coated the spoons with chocolate glaze and onto this I placed the fried speck and cut it to the same shape as the spoon, I coated the bacon again in chocolate glaze and let it set hard. I made up the maple syrup mousse as per the challenge and added a lot of smooth peanut butter to it to make it have a piping consistency, then I piped the mousse onto the spoon and added a central dollop of home made blue berry preserve, and decorated it with 100s and 1000s (coloured sprinkles) to add a local Australian touch.

One day old brioche pieces being shaped into a spoon that is toasted in the oven

Toasted brioche spoons - the spoons crisp up and harden once cooled and are very sturdy

Salted semi-cured speck (a very salty type of semi-cured pork)

Cut and shape the fried speck onto the brioche spoon

Coat the speck covered spoon with the melted chocolate glaze and let it set

Decorate the chocolate bacon brioche spoon with piped maple syrup and peanut butter mousse and place a dollop of blueberry preserve in the centre and sprinkle 100s and 1000s over the handle and sides to complete
.

Yes it is finger food

Yum Yum

This is the finger food without the 100s and 1000s but I think it is more "over-the-top" with them so I used them

Chocolate glaze recipe
2 parts cocoa powder
2 parts brown sugar
1/2 part maple syrup
1/2 part butter, melted

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and glossy. If needed you can place the glaze in a microwave oven for a few seconds if you need to soften it to paint the spoons.

Maple Syrup Whiskey Liqueur Cannoli filled with Maple Syrup Mousse

I had a BBQ (for adults) to go to this afternoon so I thought I would make some maple syrup whiskey liqueur cannoli shells and fill them with the challenge maple syrup mousse with a little (well to be honest a lot LOL) of the liqueur. Maple syrup goes well with rye whiskey and any liqueur goes well at a BBQ.

All good cannoli recipes use wine in them I replaced this with home-made maple syrup whiskey liqueur (reduce to one quarter 1 part maple syrup and add enough good quality rye whiskey to get back to the original consistency of the syrup) also I replaced the white sugar in the original cannoli recipe with maple syrup I had to add some more flour to get the correct consistency they really really are MAPLE AND WHISKEY flavoured and seem to ooze booze into room.

A fun very adult treat for the BBQ this is so so delicious and they really are boozy. My car smelt of a brewery when I got to the BBQ.

My friends called them boozy woozy cannoli yes a merry time was had by all at the BBQ. I loved the crisp maple syrup/whiskey cannoli shell against the creamy soft (rye whiskey and maple flavoured) filling a wonderful mouth feel contrast this was the best aspect of the recipe (apart from all the alcohol of course hehehe). Also the colour of the filling is such a lovely pale beige that looks so good against the dark chocolate edges and green pistachio nut pieces.

I wish you could smell this recipe it is so so good and the taste of whiskey and maple syrup with a hint of chocolate and pistachios nut yum yum. Since maple syrup isn't as sweet as normal white sugar I had to coat some of the shell with coloured sugar crystals so cute.

Maple Syrup Whiskey Liqueur Cannoli Shells

Finished cannoli

Gingernut bowl with lime glazed fig flower and maple syrup mousse

These are so cute, the local fruit and vegetable shop had a great special on figs (eight for $2) I couldn't resist using them for this challenge. I made a bowl from gingernut biscuits (called gingernut cookies in North America) by heating the biscuits until soft then I moulded them over a small bowl to get the correct shape and let them cool. I then baked the fig until soft and cut it open and brushed it with a reduced lime molasses glaze to get a vibrant colour. Then I filled the biscuit bowl with the mousse and arranged the glazed fig flower on the mousse and piped some more mousse in the centre of the flower and garnished it with a pecan nut.

Some of the simple ingredients used

Finished Gingernut bowl with lime glazed fig flower and maple syrup mousse

Underneath view of the bowl and mousse base, notice the shape of the bowl

Maple mousse ice cream cones

The tuile cones were incredibly difficult to make but they look so elegant and dainty they are about 1.5 cm long, I filled them with almost frozen mousse and placed them into the freezer to set hard. They are a nice light touch at the end of a big dinner.

Tuiles (said as twheels) are thin crisp cookies made from a batter that is spread onto a baking sheet (usually using a stencil) and baked for a few minutes and when set and still hot you can shape them into what ever shape you wish using a mould or using your fingers. See this link it gives you full details and recipes I used the first batter recipe it is great. I used an old ice cream lid made from plastic and cut out the stencil and spread the batter into the stencil and then baked the batter for 6 minutes until set then I used a cone of wood covered in thin metal as the shaping tool. You can place the cookies back into the oven to re-soften them if you need to. Also only do a couple of cookies at one time.

Use this stencil shape found here to make your cone, my stencil had jagged edges to make the cone look rustic, but try with smooth edges the first time makes things easier. Only do a couple of tuiles at one time, and remember that you can reheat the cookie again and again if you need to reshape it to the correct shape. Use your fingers first to shape the still-hot cookie again makes things easier if it works.

Sour glazed maple syrup petit fours

I wanted to create a container that countered the extreme sweetness of the maple syrup mousse. Also I wanted to make petit fours for an afternoon tea party I'm having later today. I decided on sour fruit leather glaze (this is extremely sour in a good way) I thought this would be a great contrast to the mousse, also it is highly coloured and has a wonderful stripe pattern that adds a touch of elegance. The interior of the petit fours are layers of walnut sponge alternatively spread with the maple syrup mousse, fig & cashew nut butter, and home-made mulberry jam when I had about six layers I covered the entire stack in mousse and covered it in the striped sour glaze. I added a thin layer of piped maple mousse stars with a light sprinkle of 100s and 1000s on the top to complete the petit fours.

At the tea party the petit fours were gone in a flash, I loved the initial sourness of the glaze which was immediately countered by the sweetness of the interior and the mouth feel oh oh the mouth feel the glaze had softened (after being in the fridge for an hour or so) to give it a sensuous harmony with the interior filled sponge layers, the nuts really added a nice crunch to the mouth feel. This was a great success as to mouth feel and flavour profile.

The process of making the petit fours
1. A sponge circle
2. Spread fig & cashew nut butter on the sponge circle
3. Stack with another sponge circle spread with the mulberry jam
4. Stack with another sponge circle spread with maple syrup mousse and continue until you have six layers
5. Spread the exterior of the stack with mousse

Cover the exterior with the patterned sour glaze

Cover the top with small piped mousse star and lightly sprinkle with 100s and 1000s

A cut-view of the interior of the completed petit fours

Completed petit fours

Deluxe Stuffed Ridge Back Sweet Potatoes

Roasted sweet potato and maple syrup mousse are a match made in heaven and teamed with salt cured ham salami is sublime. So I decided to make ridge back sweet potatoes (when baked the top of each ridge becomes very crispy while the texture of the bottom half's interior is soft, fluffy and creamy) using this flavour profile, but to add a special touch to them I stuffed the sweet potato two ways, in the top slits I added salt cured ham salami slices with red and green capsicum slices, (for a savoury flavour, crunch and decoration) then this was baked for 1 hour and 20 minutes when cooled I made a hollow in the bottom of the sweet potato and stuffed this with a mixture of the maple syrup mousse, creamy salty "Danish" feta cheese, sweet potato mash and a load of chopped chives (for a sweet flavour with a creamy texture), then I re-baked it for 15 minutes to re-heat it. I couldn't stop licking my fingers when I was photographing this dish, the finished dish looks like a huge lolly and the internal pattern looks so impressive when you slice into it.

The special point of interest in the dish is that the top half of the baked sweet potato is savoury (because of the capsicum and the salt cured ham salami) with a crisp mouth feel (because the top of each ridge becomes crisp like a potato crisp) while the bottom half is sweet (with a touch of savoury) with a soft fluffy creamy mouth feel (due to the soft maple syrup mouse, mashed sweet potato, the creamy salty "Danish" feta cheese and chives), the contrast of the crispy savoury crunchy ridges against the soft creamy sweet bottom is delightful. Each bite is thrilling I really liked this recipe. A lot of work but worth it, each large sweet potato (about 60 ridges) takes about 20 mins to prepare. It looks spectacular when you slice open the baked sweet potato a wonderful dinner party dish.

This recipe works so well because the flavour of sweet potato goes so well with either sweet or savoury flavoured ingredients.

Large sweet potatoes

Make about 60 thin slits about 3/4 the way through the sweet potato try to make the cuts even and thin (great practice for your knife skills) and don't cut all the way through

Stuff each slit with a thin slice of salt cured ham salami

Then add a thin slice of red and green capsicum (bell pepper) into the slits in a decorative pattern, drizzle with 2 tablespoon of olive oil and some sea salt crystals

Bake for 1hr 20 mins or until tender check with a small sharp knife

Hollow out the bottom of the baked sweet potato, reserve the crispy bottom crust of the sweet potato

Stuff the hollow with the filling of maple syrup mousse, creamy salty "Danish" feta cheese, sweet potato mash and chopped chives (the filling is super delicious just on its own), replace the reserved baked bottom crust

Bake again to reheat to finish the recipe

Interior of the ridge back sweet potato

Exterior of the ridge back sweet potato

Duchess Sweet Potato Nests filled with savoury maple titbits

I made egg white meringue nests but with the maple syrup mousse the final dish was too sweet so I thought a while and decided to make something that looked like a meringue nest but was made from a vegetable.

Since sweet potato and bacon goes so well with the maple syrup mousse I decided to make Duchess potato nests but instead of using normal white potatoes I substituted with sweet potatoes. I baked the sweet potatoes then mashed them with a maple syrup and white balsamic vinegar infusion and piped them into nests and lids. I filled them with the maple syrup mousse, fig, fried speck, chive, chilli and I added a sprinkle of green wasabi sesame seeds and black bamboo sesame seeds. The filling garnishes are very important to the final flavour and mouth feel of the dish. The figs, chives and the fried speck add the savoury/salty notes while the wasabi/bamboo sesame seeds and chilli strip add the hot spicy notes that are needed to balance the maple mousse and sweet potatoes. The speck titbit adds a lingering salty after taste and a delightful chewy mouth feel that contrasts against the soft sweet that is noted when first biting into the treat, also the chive titbit adds a lovely onion/garlic soft after taste that really enhances the savoury notes. It took me a number of tries to get the correct combination and size of titbits to balance the sweet potato nests. It is amazing how leaving out any one of the titbits really made a huge difference to the final flavour and mouth feel profile.

Baked sweet potato

Mashed sweet potato with maple syrup/white balsamic vinegar infusion

Piped nests and lids they are baked at 260°F (180°C) for 30 mins

Finished nests

Close up of the titbit garnishes, maple syrup mousse, fig, chive, fried speck, chilli, green wasabi sesame seeds and black bamboo sesame seeds

Waratah Potsticker Dessert Flowers

I “volunteered” to make the dessert course for the local footy (rugby) club annual party, their emblem is a waratah (a very large red and green flower see below). I have to make about sixty of these in the kitchen in the club house.

So I thought I would make a dessert that looked like a waratah, the basic containers are naturally coloured potstickers (Chinese dumplings), the red ones are filled with maple syrup mousse and a raspberry dark bitter chocolate ganache the green ones are filled with maple syrup/white chocolate mousse and a lime/white balsamic vinegar reduction. The red colouring is an sugar oil infusion of beetroot/strawberry/redcurrant/red paprika the green colouring is an sugar oil infusion mint/barley grass powder/spearmint, these infusions are brushed onto the fried and steamed potstickers then the potstickers are grilled (broiled) until the coloured shells are hard and shiny. Then the flower shape is formed from the warm coloured potstickers. The potstickers up until the colouring and grilling stages could be made ahead (then they can be frozen if needed) so on the night I can easily and quickly do the final stages (colouring and grilling) without too much hassle and worries.

A very impressive looking dessert and the taste is so yummy. There is a wonderful contrast of the crisp coloured shell and the soft oozy filling. Also I thought the overall flavour combination is very appealing.

The individual potstickers
Red – maple syrup mousse and a raspberry dark bitter chocolate ganache

Green – maple syrup/white chocolate mousse and a lime/white balsamic vinegar reduction

Red and green potstickers

Finished waratah flower dessert

Jocande encased raspberry pavolva roll filled with maple syrup mousse

Since pavolvas are the national dessert of Australia and New Zealand I had to make one for the challenge, a slightly harder variation of the pavolva is the pavolva roll (meringue roulade) where you bake the pavlova as a sheet and then roll it up (Swiss/jelly roll style) with a filling. Pavolva rolls have a melt-in-your-mouth lightness and are the ultimate in show-off cooking, yet are fairly simple and can be made in less than 35 mins.

I made a raspberry pavolva roll (using raspberry jelly (jello) crystals folded into the whipped egg whites to add colour and flavour) filled with the maple syrup mousse but I thought that was a little too easy (and I thought that the meringue wasn't really a container for the mousse). So I made a raspberry jocande sponge and covered the filled pavolva roll with it (so giving the pavolva roll a container). It looked so pretty I liked the many layers and the taste was delicious and the different mouth feels was a pleasant surprise to the normal pavolva roll. The jocande sponge layer adds a perfect outside layer to the pavolva roll which sometimes can be a little messy.

Raspberry Pavlova Roll (Roulade) with maple syrup moussse
Ingredients
4 large egg whites
125g caster sugar
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1x85g packet raspberry jelly crystals
500mls prepared maple syrup mousse

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/gas mark 4). Line a 25cm x 30cm x 2cm Swiss/jelly roll tray with non-stick baking paper then set aside. In a large clean bowl, whip at medium speed the egg whites until they form soft peaks. While continuing to whip at high speed, gradually rain in the 125g caster sugar over 3 minutes. Then whip a further 3 minutes or more (it can take up to 12 mins in total to dissolve all of the sugar into the egg whites) until all the sugar granules have dissolved test a small amount of meringue between your fingers you shouldn't feel any grittiness.

Add the white vinegar and jelly crystals then fold in with a metal spoon very gently until combined. With an off-set spatula or similar, smooth the mix onto the prepared tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes (until the meringue is crisp and slightly browned on the outside edges, has doubled in height and when touched lightly in the central area feels springy) check by tasting a small central piece off the top it shouldn't taste like raw egg whites don't worry the mousse filling will cover any imperfection caused by testing. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Lay a piece of fresh greaseproof paper out and flip the meringue over onto it, carefully pull away the used paper and discard. Cut off the very crisp edges to form straight broader for the meringue layers.

Smooth the maple syrup mousse evenly over the roll. Roll up widthways, pulling away the paper underneath as you go. Place onto a fresh piece of baking paper. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Keep chilled until serving time.

April DC 2011 Challenge - savory containers plus a round up of some of the best ideas from the other Daring Cooks'

2011-04-14T02:45:00.016+10:00

Savoury Containers

This month's challenge was to make edible savoury containers! And also we had a competition with this challenge!! And for the first time this was to be a dual competition with the Daring Bakers' who would be making edible sweet containers!!!

Prizes will be awarded to most creative edible container and filling. Renata (host for this challenge), Evelyne (host for the DB April challenge), Ivonne and Lis (co-founders of the Daring Kitchen) will choose the top 5 finalists and then I’ll post them to the front page of the Daring Kitchen along with a voting poll. Voting will be open to members and the public from April 17th until May 16th. Winners will be announced on May 17th in the new Daring Cooks’ challenge post.

So I will let our hostess Ranata introduce the challenge to you in her own words.

Introduction: Hello Daring Cooks! I'm Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! I have joined the Daring Kitchen at exactly 1 year ago and I am celebrating this anniversary hosting a challenge, who would've guessed! That's simply amazing! I've had a wonderful time here at the DK and couldn't be happier to be hosting a challenge. This month I will be hosting this DUAL challenge, along with Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eats, who's going to be hosting for the Daring Bakers. We're challenging the Daring Cooks and Bakers to make EDIBLE CONTAINERS. When DB's date comes, Evelyne will reveal a very special and SWEET edible container challenge that she is preparing for you! Meanwhile, the DCs will be making a SAVORY edible container with a content suitable for it. I'm very excited to be your hostess and can't wait to see all the daring creations all of you will come up with.
I have always been amazed at how creative people can get in the kitchen, not only mixing their spices and ingredients, but also creating amazing edible everything, including the containers used to serve the food! I have recently written a FOOD TALK article about edible containers here at The Daring Kitchen and when it was ready to be published I thought to myself “this could make an awesome challenge for Daring Bakers and Cooks!” I was very happy to know that this idea was so welcomed by Lis and Yvonne. So, here we are, challenging your talents, and sharing this fun way of impressing your guests and yourselves. I hope you all enjoy it, and at the end of the challenge we will all have increased our collection of edible container ideas ;o)

Recipe Source: My own recipes (pumpkin and bread soup bowls), Gestão Gastronômica (noodle basket idea), The Noshery, and Elizabeth's Edible Experience (bowls for baked eggs)

Blog-checking lines: Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Click here for a PDF of the challenge recipes.

Salade Niçoise in an edible oily tuna stock gel bowl

For some reason this idea instantly popped into my head when I read the challenge. It looks stunning and it's simple, quick and uses (mostly) pantry ingredients that I had on hand.

I decided that my first edible container would be suitable for a Salade Niçoise, this salad I feel is the best cold salad for a picnic or a BBQ, it is the perfect combination of textures and tastes. It consists of cooked "finger" potatoes, tuna, Niçoise black olives, artichokes, tomatoes, anchovies and hard-boiled eggs all combined with a mustard vinaigrette and surprisingly it works best with tinned oil-packed tuna (don't bother with the modern fresh tuna version they are really inferior in taste), I don't use lettuce in my Salade Niçoise, the recipe is below.

Now to the edible container, I made some oily tuna stock, made from tuna heads and leftovers (these were in my freezer already), bonito flakes, mirepoix, finely chopped fennel, seaweed paste and white wine, this is simmered for 20 minutes. I used agar agar powder as the setting agent (bloom strength 1000, regular gelatin has a bloom strength of 225) I like using agar agar powder in this context since it sets quickly at room temperature and it can be boiled for a long time and can be reheated (melted) again if the mould doesn't work unlike gelatin which looses its strength once it has been heated strongly. I used 1/3 cup of water and 5 teaspoons of agar agar powder then slowly boiled it for 10 minutes until all the powder had been dissolved and then added this to the warmed fish stock with a ¼ cup Niçoise vinaigrette. I placed the fish stock and agar agar mixture into the mould and it was set within 30 minutes at room temperature. I used a 20 cm cake tin for the bottom mould and a fancy bundt cake tin to make the upper mould. I was extremely pleased with the result a melt-in-your-mouth jelly (jello) that tasted like the tuna and dressing in the salad yet the agar agar container was strong enough to contain the salad. You could even see through the edible container in the thin sections on the bottom.

I arranged the Niçoise salad into the edible container, it looked so pretty I thought. To serve you cut the prepared dish like a pie.

Yum Yum was the only sentiment I had on tasting it, the jelly of the container combined so nicely with the salad, it really added a lovely mouth feel (like finely chopped aspic) to the salad. This is going on my BBQ rotation.

Salade Niçoise
200 gm green beans, cooked and refreshed and cut into 1 cm lengths
2 tablespoons green (spring) onions, minced
1/2 cup Niçoise vinaigrette
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 small ripe cherry tomatoes
400 gm “finger” potatoes, peeled, sliced, and cooked
400 gm seared tuna, tinned packed in oil, drained weight
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
6 artichokes, packed in olive oil, quartered
1 can (125 gm) flat white anchovy fillets
1/3 cup small black Niçoise-type olives
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

Niçoise vinaigrette
The 3/4 cup of vinaigrette has a ratio of 1 part acid to 5 parts oil, the acid component made with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and the oil component made from a mixture of the tinned oils from the tuna, artichokes, anchovies and extra virgin olive oil.
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons green onions, finely chopped

Edible container
1½ litre (6 cups) salmon stock
¼ cup Niçoise vinaigrette
1/3 cup water
5 teaspoons agar agar powder

The top mould removed to reveal the edible container

The finished edible container, with both the top and bottom moulds removed

Notice how you can see the white plate through the thin bottom sections of the container

The completed salad in its container

High Tea Cucumber Loaf Take One

The Importance Of Being Earnest: By Oscar Wilde
First Act, Part 1

Algernon. And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?
…
Jack. Eh? Shropshire? Yes, of course. Hallo! Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young? Who is coming to tea?
…
Algernon. Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven—[Jack puts out his hand to take a sandwich. Algernon at once interferes.] Please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Algernon takes one and eats it, … and continues eating the cucumber sandwiches while talking.]
…
Lady Bracknell. I'm sorry if we are a little late, Algernon, but I was obliged to call on dear Lady Harbury. I hadn't been there since her poor husband's death. I never saw a woman so altered; she looks quite twenty years younger. And now I'll have a cup of tea, and one of those nice cucumber sandwiches you promised me.
Algernon. Certainly, Aunt Augusta. [Goes over to tea-table.]
…
Algernon. (picking up empty plate in horror). Good heavens! Lane! Why are there no cucumber sandwiches? I ordered them specially.
Lane. (gravely). There were no cucumbers in the market this morning, sir. I went down twice.
Algernon. No cucumbers!
Lane. No, sir. Not even for ready money.
Algernon. That will do, Lane, thank you.
Lane. Thank you, sir (goes out).
Algernon. I am greatly distressed, Aunt Augusta, about there being no cucumbers, not even for ready money.

The quintessential English cucumber sandwich

I absolutely and utterly adore high tea sandwiches they are so delicate, dainty and refreshing, it is universally agreed the ultimate variety of this art form is the English cucumber sandwich. Traditional English cucumber sandwiches consist of vellum-thin (a newspaper-column heading should be legible through) slices of lightly pickled sweet-and-sour cucumber arranged on a thin (daylight should pass through) slices of soft, crust-less, lightly buttered, very fresh and bouncy white toast bread. I can eat whole plates loads of them in one sitting super yummy.

The thinness of the bread and of the cucumber slices are paramount to the success of the sandwich. The thinness of the cucumber guarantees that the slices quickly take up the pickling solution to obtain a crisp crunchy texture with maximum taste and the thinness of the bread gives the perfect contrast of mouth feels (soft and crunchy) to the sandwich. The thin butter layer ensures that the bread is protected from becoming soggy. I like a little dill on my cucumber sandwiches.

So I thought I would a variation on this theme, a High Tea Cucumber Loaf that is the container would be a pickled cucumber with the buttered bread on the inside I thought this would be great to bring to a picnic. I thinly sliced a couple of telegraph cucumbers (Lebanese cucumbers) and pickled them for 20 minutes, then I thinly buttered fresh white bread and added some dill, I added a layer of cucumbers and then rolled them into cigar shapes and stuffed four cigars into a hollowed out over-night pickled English cucumber (hot house cucumber), I wrapped it in plastic and elastic bands and left it over night in the fridge to set.

I was excited to open the plastic and slice it into bite size rounds

BOO HOO it was horrible nothing like I thought it would be, the cucumber container was too crunchy, the bread cigars inside where too soggy and tasted of putty. It didn't look pretty and couldn't be sliced thin enough. Overall a total failure.

Well onwards and upwards to another idea.

Update
I served them to the neighbours they actually liked them about 7/10 they said they liked the crunch of the cucumber container against the soft buttery inside (!) ... well sometimes your own opinion isn't always reliable, I think the problem was I had a different end result in mind and since it wasn't that I was a little too harsh maybe on this though I will tinker a bit to make the end result more like what I wanted in the first place.

High Tea Cucumber Loaf Take Two

After some internet research and speaking to some foodie friends I tweaked the method for stuffing the cucumber container it worked like a charm.

The main results of the discussions were that
1. sugar, vinegar and salt draws (via osmotic pressure) water from cucumbers which makes the bread soggy
2. high fibre breads resist going soggy much longer than low fibre bread
3. unsalted butter stops water movement by osmosis (since it contains no salt) and forms a physical barrier between the dry bread and wet ingredients
4. dry lettuce leaves form a very effective physical barrier to water movement
5. don't use plastic wrap on cucumber sandwiches since it makes for a high humidity environment instead use paper towels to wrap the finished cucumber loaf
6. use a light constant pressure to form the loaf since high pressure can force extra water from salted cucumber, that is use about three rubber bands that aren't stretched too tightly
7. keep the sandwich in a cool place until you eat it. If exposed to high temperatures, sandwiches will get soggy
8. a thin slice of deli meat can be used as a physical barrier to protect the dry bread

Not really rocket science, but sometimes the simplest ideas work best.

I hollowed out the English cucumber and salted it for forty minutes (this draws out a lot of the water from it) and dried it with paper towels.

I used high fibre white toast bread thinly sliced, also I used unsalted butter and dill on both sides and edges of the bread and sliced the telegraph cucumber lengthways and lightly pickled the cucumber slices for twenty minutes and then dried them on paper towels. I rolled some of the buttered bread slices into tight cigars and formed these in one long log the shape of the hollow in the English cucumber then I encased the long log in a lettuce leaf and a thin slice of mortadella and formed a parcel. I covered this parcel with more buttered bread slices and again covered it in a lettuce covering to form the final filling parcel. I lined one half of the hollowed out English cucumber using the lengthways cut telegraph cucumber slices at right angles and then I placed the final lettuce parcel of butter bread cigars into it then folded over the pickled cucumber slices then I placed the other half of the English cucumber onto the filling parcel to form the final loaf. I covered the loaf with paper towels and rubber bands and let it set overnight.

Sliced high tea cucumber loaf

I could slice the cucumber loaf paper thin I love this property of the loaf

Pictures of the sliced cucumber loaf

Comparison especially notice the difference in the texture of the bread slices, in the left photo they are soggy and dense while in the right photo they are dry and light in texture, one lettuce leaf makes a huge difference in the final result

The verdict
I'm stunned how a few little changes in the method of stuffing makes such a huge difference to the final result.

This version was exactly what I wanted a picnic loaf that could
1. be prepared the night before,
2. travel well,
3. be sliced thinly, and
4. taste like a cucumber sandwich, and that is almost exactly what I obtained.

I absolutely loved the textures of the buttered bread (nice and dry) and the tasty pickled cucumbers against each other, these where exactly the same as the normal sandwich but the flavour, oh the flavour(!) was so so much stronger this had a power punch; of pickled cucumber zing, of butter yumminess, of dill deliciousness. So much punch some of tasters (my neighbours) put their thin slices of the loaf onto normal bread slices and eat them so a cucumber sandwich sandwich LOL LOL, I tried also it was great. I was very pleased with this version. I will be making this again this weekend.

Cucumber Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
2 English Cucumber (Hothouse cucumber), about 20 cm (8 inches) long^(see note)
4 Telegraph Cucumber (Lebanese cucumber), about 10 cm (4 inches) long^(see note)
2 large iceberg lettuce leaves
2 large very thin slices of very mild tasting deli meat, (mortadella, devon etc), optional
10-12 slices fresh high fibre white toast bread, thinly sliced with crusts removed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons fresh dill tips, finely chopped
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
salt, for salting the cucumbers
^note - try to obtain seedless cucumbers.

Method
1. Cut the English cucumbers in half lengthways scoop out the seeds and remove some of the flesh until you have a cucumber shell about 5mm thick (a little less than ¼ inch thick). Cover generously with table salt and let sit for 40 minutes, wash in running water and dry well with paper towels. Set aside.
2. Using a mandoline slicer or a very sharp knife, finely slice the telegraph cucumbers lengthways.
3. Combine thoroughly the vinegar, sugar and water in a medium non-reactive bowl add the telegraph cucumber slices let sit for twenty minutes. Dry well with paper towels. Set aside.
4. Place the telegraph cucumber slices at right angles into the hollow of one half of each English cucumber, the slices will hang over the sides of the cucumber.
5. Combine the dill and butter then very lightly butter both sides and edges of the bread slices. Use the minimum dill butter required but be careful to cover all surface areas of the bread slices.
6. Roll four (or so) buttered bread slices into tight cigars.
7. Using the rolled cigars form one large cylinder (two cigars wide and two cigars long) a little longer than the hollow in the English cucumber. (You can cut the cigars so they are the right shape and length for the hollowed out cucumber).
8. Place one large lettuce leaf (with no holes or tears) on the counter (cover the leaf with the optional deli meat slice if using) then place the cylinder of buttered bread cigars onto the centre of the leaf, roll (like making a rice paper roll) the leaf around the buttered bread cylinder forming a round parcel make sure that there are no gaps in the seams or the ends of the parcel.
9. Use the other buttered bread slices to cover in one or two layers the round parcel making it a little wider than the hollow of the English cucumber, then cover completely with another lettuce leaf (and an optional deli meat slice if using) make sure that there are no gaps in the seams or the ends of the newly formed final filling cylinder.
10. Place the final filling cylinder into the cucumber lined hollow, fold the overhanging slices over the cylinder, cover using the other half of the English cucumber to form a whole loaf. The salted English cucumber shell is slightly flexible so you can lightly 'force' it over the final filling cylinder.
11. Repeat for the other English cucumber.
12. Cover the completed loaves in paper towels use two or three rubber (elastic) bands to keep light constant pressure on the loaf. Refrigerate overnight.

Duchess Sweet Potato Nests with Spanish filling

After seeing Renata's Duchess Potatoes I had to a make a version, I decided on Duchess sweet potato nests, I filled the nests with olives, semi-dried tomatoes, anchovies and chorizo sausage super yummy. The nests are so cute and are delicious on their own, I used mashed sweet potato and an egg to make the piping mixture and used a medium star nozzle to pipe the nests. I took the advice of Peta and put plenty of butter on the base of the baking tray where I was going to pipe the nests, I baked them at 220°C (430°F) for 20 minutes. The bases were super crispy, the outside crust was thin and crisp the inside was soft and creamy.

The salty and tangy filling contrasts so well with the slightly sweet nests and I adore the colours. I made them appetiser size. I will be making these again on the weekend.

Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes
I just love stuffed tomatoes, I make them every time I have left over cooked rice and sausages. I add some cooked chopped vegetables to the rice and sausages, I grate some cheese on top of the stuffing then I bake it at 180°C (350°F) for 35 minutes, if you like the tomato shell to be completely collapsed bake for 50 minutes . A great light dinner.

Stuffed tomatoes

Close of one stuffed tomato

Interior shot of the stuffed tomato

Cheat pastry shells – quick sausage rolls
This instant pasty produces a thin shell that is exquisite for sausage rolls, it is buttery, flavoursome and super crisp. Do try it when you have a load of people to feed.

Children really adore the sausage rolls made with this pastry especially if made with tomato sauce. I have been asked for this recipe ten of dozens of times so be prepared when serving these at a party. Once at a football team party I made 120 sausage rolls it was a pleasure and so easy an amazing recipe.

This is one of my all time favourite recipes I thought I would share it with the forum members since this is the perfect challenge for it, a container for cooked sausages - a quick sausage roll recipe.

I love the overall colour of the crust

Notice the colour of the interior pastry it started white now it is intensely coloured and notice how thin and crispy the pastry shell is which gives a great mouth feel to each bite

This cheat pastry is wonderful when you want to encase something in a 'crisp thin pastry shell' and only have sliced white bread on hand.

I use this sausage roll recipe when I need to feed a huge crowd of people at home while watching sports on TV, it is perfect when you are cooking in a friend's kitchen for a party it even works in toaster ovens. I often use this quick pastry as the top crust for pies and tarts where the wet fillings are in a ramekin or pan, it is great as the all-over-pastry-shell for fillings that aren't too wet and perfect for sausage rolls. It is quick, cheap and simple and you don't have to worry about the 'pastry' melting in the summer heat before it is baked and the shell can be flavoured to any taste you want. Also it easy enough for children to do it. I hope you like it.

Quick sausage rolls using cheat pasty shell
Serves 8
Ingredients
8 slices white bread, with crusts
4 cooked good quality sausages, cut in half
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tablespoons semi-dried tomato pesto (or 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce)
tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, mustard and mayonnaise for dipping

Method
1. Flatten the bread slices as thinly as possible with a rolling pin, flatten the bread four or five times so it will not spring back to its normal texture, cut off crusts
2. Combine the pesto and butter in a small bowl, generously brush the flatten bread on both sides and edges with the pesto butter
3. Place a piece of sausage centred on one edge of the buttered bread slice (leave 1/2 cm on each side of the sausage) roll the bread slice very tightly around the sausage
4. Twist the bread ends tightly together
5. Place the completed rolls seam down on a baking tray
6. Brush the outside of the completed sausage rolls with the pesto butter
7. Bake in a moderate oven 180°C (350°F) for 15-20 minutes

Bread Spoons
These are so much fun to eat, a simple idea but a goodie. It contained lettuce, sausage, oil infused tomatoes, pickled cucumber and stuffed olives.

Updated Edit

How to make the bread spoons
Ingredients
Sliced white bread or wholemeal bread^
butter, melted
^Note - the thicker the slice the firmer the bread spoon will be and the more it keeps the shape of the spoon mould when baked. Use white bread for light tasting filling ingredients and wholemeal for more robust flavours.

Method
1. Use an oven proof suitably-shaped spoon (I used a soup spoon from a Chinese dinner set) which has a high angled handle and a flat base.
2. Roll the slices of bread very thinly with a heavy rolling pin, roll several times so the bread doesn't spring back. Cut off the crusts. Don't cut off the crusts first rolling with the crusts gives you a flatten slice that is about 15% bigger.
3. Lay down the spoon on the rolled out bread slice and roughly cut out the shape of the spoon about 1/2 cm (about a 1/4 inch) bigger than the spoon outline.
4. Using a pastry brush lightly butter one side of the flatten bread slice. Lay the buttered side down into the spoon and using your fingers firmly press the bread into the hollows of the spoon pay particularly attention to the handle and the edges of the spoon.
5. Using a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors trim the moulded bread to the shape of the spoon.
6. Butter the top side of the bread mould.
7. Leave the bread on the spoon bake in a moderate oven 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes, the bread spoons crisp and harden when they cool.

Suitably-shaped spoon and the rolled out slice of white bread

The roughly cut out shape from the flatten bread slice

Place the cut out bread shape onto the spoon

The moulded bread spoon

I used a good quality wholemeal seeded thickly sliced bread to obtain this bread spoon - this would be great for sharp cheeses or hearty winter flavours. Notice how well it moulded into the shape of original spoon shape. I will using these spoons for another version of bread spoons.

Audax potatoes

This is an idea that came to me a couple of days ago. I LOVE potatoes, I adore potato crisps (thin and crisp) I'm charmed with potato chips (crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside) and I'm enamoured with stuffed potatoes (creamy and flavoursome on the inside) yes I really really like potatoes. But how could I have all three at once just using one spud -- well after some thought I came up with this idea. I couldn't think of a name for them so I thought that I would name them eponymously (after me) since they are so marvellous when cut open and they even slice well and the slices look so spectacular on the serving plate. And they taste good cold which was a bit of a surprise I love a recipe that can be made into picnic food. These twice baked potatoes have an intriguing exterior which hides all manner of ingenious fillings and when fully opened reveals a fabulous pattern of tasty tit bits with a sensually soft core of yumminess. These were a BIG HIT with the test tasters!!!! I hope I'm not being too arrogant naming this potato recipe after myself, the test tasters didn't seem to mind and I got so many Ooooo's and Rrrrrr's when I sliced them opened when I served them. A good potato recipe that isn't really that hard to do at home.

Get one spud and thinly slice it (not going all the way through to the base) and stuff the slits with deli meats, sliced onions and cheese. Bake until tender then remove the base of the potato and stuff as per usual and re-bake until hot. You get the best of all worlds - the top of the slices are like potato crisps, the middle of the slices are like a potato chip and the base is a stuffed potato. Yum yum I really like the look of final baked potato also. Such an interesting technique. The cheese melts into the potato which really adds a lot of flavour to the potato ridges.

The cut and filled potato waiting to be baked for the first time - onion slices, sharp cheese and some thinly sliced salami

The first baked potato

The base of the once baked potato

The hollowed out once baked potato

The stuffing for the once baked potato

The first time baked and stuffed potatoes I used three different types of spuds, the purple one is a sweet potato - it smells so so good while it is baking

The interior of the Audax potatoes

The exterior and interior of Audax potatoes

Crab flavoured noddle crab-shaped bowl with crab salad - a fun container to eat crab salad

I thought I would give a crispy noodle bowl a go since it was one of the sample recipes in the challenge. I went to the local Asian shop I wasn't surprised to find over 80 types of noodles I choose an instant wheat noodle that included crab salt satchels (five 95 gram packets which cost 95cents in total! I used one packet for the bowl). I steeped the noodles in plain hot water for about 5 minutes until they were soft then I draped them over over a decorative cake pan and formed the noodles into a lattice looking at it I realised I could form a crab shaped bowl using the side grooves of the pan as the legs of the crab, I baked the noddles for one hour at 180C (350F) I got a nice even brown colour on the noodles, in the last few minutes I oil-sprayed the noodles and sprinkled the crab salt evenly over the noodle bowl. On cooling the bowl hardens and gets very crispy and tastes wondrously of crab. Then I prepared a simple crab salad and placed this on the crab bowl and served it, I was very pleased the finished salad and container looked just like a crab (with ten legs nobody noticed this) there were oh's and rrr's from the tasters and they really liked snapping off the crab noodle legs to add a crisp topping to the salad this is a fabulous dish for kids (and adults). A most enjoyable salad and bowl - we all had heaps of FUN eating it! The bowl is sturdy since the crab salad weighed about 450 grams. I think this idea (a shaped bowl) would a great idea for Halloween but I would do a red back spider.

The baked crab flavoured noodle bowl

The baked crab flavoured noodle shaped as a crab

The finished crab salad this was so much fun to eat

After the tasters had taken the legs off the crab bowl and topped the salad with them

Croissant stuffed with ham, cheese, semi-dried tomato pesto and chives

I couldn't resist making croissants I have been eyeing off this Julia Child recipe for a while now, so I thought this was the perfect time to make them.

The buttery pastry is superb with the classic filling of ham, cheese and chives and the addition of the pesto just adds that extra special touch of yumminess.

So remember to check out the Daring Kitchen front page for the five finalists and vote for your choice. Voting will be open to members and the public at the front page of the Daring Kitchen site http://thedaringkitchen.com/ from April 17th until May 16th. Winners will be announced on May 17th in the new Daring Cooks’ challenge post.

The following are some of the entries from other Daring Cooks' for this challenge. If you do not want your photo and link here please leave a comment and I will take it down immediately.

monkey queen – a dried pear and beet bowl

http://www.dontmakemecallmyflyingmonkeys.com/

leandralb – a whole English breakfast in savoury containers

http://leandralb.blogspot.com/

The-food-doctor – red capsicum (bell pepper) roll-ups

http://www.thefooddoctor.wordpress.com/

Pia of TaGa_Luto – Filipino seafood chopsuey on deep fried crispy noodle cups

http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/

Sarah G – small potato bowl with creme fraiche and steelhead trout gravlax

http://allourfingersinthepie.blogspot.com/

Wolf – Homemade sourdough bread bowls with homemade Irish Stew

http://wolfsilveroak.insanejournal.com/

Monkeyshines – choux paste eclairs, stuffed with lightly buttered lobster

http://monkeyshinesinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

plafield – the most perfectly formed polenta cups filled with chili

http://eatsobsessed.wordpress.com/

neverseenblue – Black bean cups filled with a Mexican-inspired couscous dish

http://outoftheoven.wordpress.com/

Pia of TaGa_Luto – Xiaolongbao, or Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumplings

http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/

Poisonive – Crab Au Gratin in Shell

non-blogger

squishyfishy – Flower Pot Pies

http://squishyfishy.wordpress.com/

Bunnee – shredded phyllo dough cups

http://annafood.blogspot.com/

Ms Pink Piglet – Meat Pies

http://mspinkpiglet.blogspot.com/

brookeyool – cereal snack mix bowl filled with tasty snacks

http://youcangetfit.wordpress.com/

KeneticDiabetic – meatloaf bowl with mashed potato

http://cookingwithdiabetes.blogspot.com/

ohyenner – cucumber bowls filled with a lovely salad

http://www.ohyenner.com/

Denise of There's a Newf in My Soup – a phyllo bowl filled with a Greek Salad

http://www.newfinmysoup.blogspot.com/

Gluten-free cat – vegan bread bowls filled with a raw avocado and spinach Soup

http://www.glutenfreecat.com/

chipie_chocolat – a fabulous crispy noddle bowl with a salad

http://thechocobunny.blogspot.com/

Robert of An Alaskan Cook's Exploration of food and technique – hot pockets and pasties

http://climbhighak.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/hot-pockets-april-daring-cooks/

Stardust Chef - a lovely braided bread bowl

http://stardustchef.blogspot.com/2011/04/daring-cooks-challenge-april-edible.html

Oggi - vegetarian bibimbap with tofu, baby carrots, baby zucchini, soybean sprouts,
fresh shiitake, and egg yolk in a seasoned rice bowl

http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/2011/04/daring-cooks-edible-containers.html

Noorish - Blackened Shrimp and Grit

http://noorishme.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-dk-challenge-blackened-shrimp-and.html

Kankana of Sunshineandsmile - lovely prawn salad in a savoury dough cups so pretty

http://www.sunshineandsmile.com/2011/04/14/shrimp-salad-in-a-savory-cup/

Adventures of a future chef - Flavoured pate dough dinner ware, exquisite!

http://adventuresofafuturechef.blogspot.com/2011/04/daring-cooks-challenge-3-edible.html

LeslieUhl - Lasagne cups for vegetable lovers

http://leslieuhl.com/blog/?p=1273