tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87869702024-03-14T18:37:35.241+11:00Esurientes - The Comfort ZoneI'm exploring the world of cooking from my home in Melbourne, Australia. I know I've become fanatical because I now keep cookbooks by my bed!
Define esurientes? The hungry!
This word pops up in my singing regularly and, for me, the term perfectly combines my passions for good food & good music.
Email: esurientes2(at)yahoo.com.auNikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.comBlogger343125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-86583574016118817222007-07-16T22:27:00.000+10:002008-12-12T02:00:37.000+11:00The best stew for winter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RptkmDU3fiI/AAAAAAAABjo/XQCqqQ0gq8s/s1600-h/144_4459.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RptkmDU3fiI/AAAAAAAABjo/XQCqqQ0gq8s/s320/144_4459.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5087770808935743010" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's really cold. The coldest winter in a couple of years, at least. Certainly the coldest I've felt for a while, and I'm loving it.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >..Most</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> of the time I'm loving it. The times when I'm walking from the station to work and my feet have turned numb and my nose is aching are not the times I love it so much. But generally I've always been a cold-weather person, and I think it's partly because of the food; I love anything slow-cooked, casseroled, stewed or Germanic and over the past weeks I've been cooking up a huge pot of something meaty and wet (uhhh...) to have in the fridge for when we come home and it's dark and cold, and we're tired, hungry and perhaps prone to grabbing the first edible thing that springs to hand, which may or may not be a packet of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisties">Twisties</a><span style="font-family:arial;">...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This week I made </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >coq au vin</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, in honour of Bastille Day, but I've also been dabbling in a spicy, paprika-laden beef & chickpea stew dolloped with yoghurt (gutsy) and an Irish stew made with pearl barley and topped with sliced potatoes that my mum thought was nice, but wasn't what she considered Irish stew (and fair enough -it did seem more of a Lancashire hot pot). But the best stew I've ever made and which gets my juices going just when I look at the photo was one I made for a few friends last winter; the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Greek lamb stew</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> from </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Nigella's </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >How To Eat</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. Truly, I dreamt about it for weeks afterwards, and I'm going to have to give it another run this winter, especially as my brother is currently living the party life in the Greek Islands and the Greek theme is running strong.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It calls for 2.5kg of lamb shoulder cooked in a bottle of white wine (yes, white), the standard stew veggies, tinned tomatoes, oregano and small pasta shapes. I love stews with pasta cooked in them; they go soft and slurpy and absorb all the tasty liquid. But for me, the crowning glory of this dish is the mix of crumbled feta and dried oregano you scatter over your plate before serving. I love feta cheese anyway, but this was outstanding. Don't skip it. In fact, I'd double the amount - it makes the dish a bit richer, but the sharp saltiness works so well. It's also fabulous with a dribble of chilli oil over the top.<br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This one gets a really strong recommendation from me, but note, if you have trouble finding lamb shoulder - as we did, even at the Preston market, or are charged a </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >what-the-f*%#?!</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> price - as we were - an alternative one butcher suggested might be to use lamb shoulder chops, which are cheaper and much easier to find.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/stew" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >stew</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-4158467250466691222007-06-08T11:32:00.000+10:002008-12-12T02:00:37.209+11:00Fenix restaurant offer to readers!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rmiy4iaSTqI/AAAAAAAABhM/1HnVnRX_ZjU/s1600-h/IMG_5855.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rmiy4iaSTqI/AAAAAAAABhM/1HnVnRX_ZjU/s320/IMG_5855.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073501664612339362" border="0" /></a><br />I recently started a new job at a newspaper, along with my other part-time position, so I've been a bit distracted recently, but an email yesterday from Ray Capaldi, co-proprietor and chef at <a href="http://www.fenix.com.au/#">Fenix</a> in Richmond spurred me into action. Ray's been checking out the Melbourne food blogging community and discovered <a href="http://esurientes.blogspot.com/2007/03/desserts-of-future-at-fenix.html">the review I wrote</a> about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Desserts of The Future dinner</span> at Fenix during the Melbourne Food & Wine festival. He left a comment on the site and emailed me to say he enjoyed reading the views of somebody on the dining floor. He's very interested in what the public who come to Fenix really think of the restaurant, the food and the hospitality and he was concerned when a few readers indicated that the prices at the restaurant were beyond their means. He wants everybody to experience the Fenix hospitality and food, so he's come up with an idea:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">For all Esurientes readers he would like to offer them an exclusive offer of a 5 course degustation with wines for $85 dollars per person any night of the week except Friday or Saturday. The offer stands for all 2007 except December. Readers need to mention this offer on the phone when <a href="http://www.fenix.com.au/#">they book</a></span><a href="http://www.fenix.com.au/#">.</a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(nb. for those who've asked: pronunciation of the blog is Eh-zoo-RI-en-tez. ;-) Or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Niki</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> is easy to pronounce )</span><br /><br />The 5 course tasting menu with wine is usually around $135, so this is a very generous offer from somebody genuinely interested in getting more people to experience his hospitality,<br />You can view some of the menus on the website. If you haven't been to Fenix before, you're in for a treat. I think it's the most adventurous and interesting food happening in Melbourne, and the venue, right on the Yarra, is stunning.<br /><br />In other news, I'm going up to Woodend this weekend <a href="http://www.collieroffice.com.au/wwaf/">to perform</a>, and next week to Sydney to check out a few restaurants: <a href="http://www.ariarestaurant.com/main/about.htm">Aria</a>, <a href="http://www.restaurantbalzac.com.au/">Balzac</a> and Billy Kwongs are definites. Ray mentioned at that first Fenix dinner that the Sydney restaurant scene is firing right now, so I'm looking forward to trying it.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Also, this blog has been nominated (along with many others) for a Bloggers Choice award, in the Food blog category. You can </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/search?query=esurientes.blogspot.com">cast your votes here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">!</span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-3528137592919664832007-04-24T16:34:00.000+10:002008-12-12T02:00:37.546+11:00Homemade peanut butter cups<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Ri2mC_3xSyI/AAAAAAAABds/CF0Z2pTiZaI/s1600-h/IMG_5985.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Ri2mC_3xSyI/AAAAAAAABds/CF0Z2pTiZaI/s320/IMG_5985.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056880527042235170" border="0" /></a><br />These should come with a health warning. There is truly nothing nutritious contained inside, just peanut butter, sugar, butter & chocolate, <span style="font-weight: bold;">but f%*@$ they're SO DAMN good!!!</span><br />Like many people I'd eyed off the chocolate peanut butter squares in Nigella's <span style="font-style: italic;">Domestic Goddess </span>for years, savouring the idea of making homespun Reese's peanut butter cups, but when I saw her Christmas special last year, and noted she'd changed the idea slightly so they were served in individual mini-muffin cases, I was hooked. When planning food for my 30th drinks party, these were high on the list. <br /><br />They're as simple to make as <a href="http://www.kelloggs.com.au/Recipe/Recipes.asp?recipecopyid=2983">chocolate crackles,</a> and don't involve any cooking except for heating up some chocolate, which in typical fashion, I stuffed up. I usually ignore calls for melting chocolate over a double boiler because it's annoying and I don't have a double boiler. I find my heavy Le Creuset pot on low heat works fine. This time, the cooking fairies had their revenge, and the chocolate seized within 30 seconds. It could have been because I chose to use eating chocolate rather than cooking chocolate, and it's more temperamental anyway. But I learnt my lesson, and although I persevered with dumping the chocolate on top of the peanut butter mixture, they looked disgustingly like <span style="font-weight: bold;">wombat turds</span>, so I melted another block in the microwave (duh!!) and poured that on top. Hence, these peanut butter cups had a pretty thick layer of chocolate to bite through...all GOOD!<br />You can have fun making these while gossiping with a friend, because it's slightly tedious work; you need to press peanut butter filling into each cup with your fingers, and then pour chocolate over each one. It's perfect friendship cooking, or something you could enjoy making with kids.<br /><br />But phwoaaaarrr they're rich. I know of somebody who tried one and dreamt about them all week. I think she succumbed and made a batch of her own. They're worth it.<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chocolatepeanutbutte_84682.shtml">I found my recipe here:</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Ri2mC_3xSzI/AAAAAAAABd0/Yer3Y_0zw8o/s1600-h/IMG_5961.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Ri2mC_3xSzI/AAAAAAAABd0/Yer3Y_0zw8o/s320/IMG_5961.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056880527042235186" border="0" /></a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-52438395295265610852007-04-12T17:51:00.000+10:002008-12-12T02:00:38.031+11:00Autumnal birthday cake for the autumn of my life....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rh3mDTYmxaI/AAAAAAAABdM/B02JsWosElI/s1600-h/IMG_5871.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rh3mDTYmxaI/AAAAAAAABdM/B02JsWosElI/s320/IMG_5871.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052447301397038498" border="0" /></a><br />On the 30th March it was my 30th birthday, and so far it's been an extended one starting with this birthday cake at a rehearsal 4 days beforehand, and a ending with an afternoon drinks party for friends at my house on Easter Monday. In between I've had dinners with family and a very luxurious weekend away in Daylesford, with a lunch at <a href="http://www.lakehouse.com.au/">The Lake House</a> and <span style="font-style: italic;">spa treatments daahling!</span> in Hepburn Springs. Still to come is another birthday weekend away with more friends. I like special birthdays! They almost make up for the slight panic you may feel at turning an age where you thought you would be all grown-up, and realising you have a long way to go before that happens.<br />I didn't want to make another chocolate cake to take for rehearsing friends, so I turned to this one in Nigella's <span style="font-style: italic;">Domestic Goddess: </span>the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Autumnal birthday cake.</span> Appropriate as my birthday falls in the first real flush of Melbourne autumn, which is my favourite time of year. The days are warm, clear and sunny, the leaves are turning, the afternoon light is golden and the nights are crisp and I can curl under my doona for the first time in months. Do you like my pseudo-artistic cake decorating efforts with the leaves from our front yard? Hey, I brushed the dirt off first!<br /><br />The cake is an adaptation of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">maple & pecan layer cake cake</span> from the Magnolia Bakery in New York, and it uses 2 full bottles of maple syrup. You know how much that stuff costs? Hell! I might as well make it from GOLD! I nearly reached for the imitation maple-flavoured slop, but slapped myself around the head and reminded myself that I'll only turn 30 once, and if I couldn't buy the good stuff for my good friends then I was a horrible person. At least buy the good stuff for me! Despite the amount of syrup in the cake and the frosting, it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, although the smell convinced many otherwise. This cake would be a great wasp attractor.<br /><br />It's a simple, sponge-like cake batter, flavoured with maple, that is best eaten on the day it's made as it tends towards dryness. It was already heading that way that evening. The frosting is a cooked meringue, with the texture of marshmallow fluff, again flavoured with maple syrup, and quite sticky to touch. The pecans provided a textural contrast that was needed, although I was confused by the amount in the recipe, because the picture in Nigella's book definitely doesn't show it covered in as many as specified! The recipe doesn't instruct this, but I toasted the pecans before chopping them in salted butter, and based on my new knowledge from <a href="http://esurientes.blogspot.com/2007/03/desserts-of-future-at-fenix.html">Ray Capaldi at Fenix </a>about the need for salt in nut-based desserts, I added a hefty pinch of my pink <a href="http://www.sunsalt.com.au/">Murray River salt flakes</a>. I liked the taste of salt cutting through the sticky meringue.<br /><br />A note for next time: it calls for a lot of flour - 1/2 kilo of it, and self-raising flour at that. I don't like the squeaky, chalky mouthfeel of SR flour, especially in those quantities, and again armed with my new knowledge from Ray Capaldi about how flour is a cheap filler, next time I would cut down the amount. Hopefully it would still set, but it's worth a try. It might stop the tendency towards dryness too.<br />It's rich and filling, and we could only manage small slices, although my brother who really doesn't have a sweet tooth came in late at night and found the large wedge leftover. Heating it up in the microwave (dryness factor) he ate the entire CHUNK, which frankly astounds me. I know he likes maple syrup, but....whoa!<br />No recipe on my site this time, but I found it on <a href="http://www.woolfit.com/maplelayercake.html">another blog.</a> Enjoy!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rh3mDjYmxbI/AAAAAAAABdU/2uWt05cVduQ/s1600-h/IMG_5873.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rh3mDjYmxbI/AAAAAAAABdU/2uWt05cVduQ/s320/IMG_5873.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052447305692005810" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cake" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >cake</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-70192973762176166712007-03-28T15:48:00.000+10:002008-12-12T02:00:39.371+11:00Desserts of the Future<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAS1fVtI/AAAAAAAABcU/_eqwInlZiCQ/s1600-h/IMG_5861.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAS1fVtI/AAAAAAAABcU/_eqwInlZiCQ/s400/IMG_5861.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046878223315457746" border="0" /></a><br />On Monday night I turned up at <a href="http://www.fenix.com.au/">Fenix </a>demanding my just desserts. My friend had emailed me soon after the <a href="http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/html/2242-home-page.asp">Melbourne Food & Wine Festival</a> program came out asking if I'd be interested in going along to a dessert dinner at Fenix. It was expensive, so I hesitated, but then remembered I've been wanting to eat there for ages, ever since Raymond Capaldi really embraced the whole molecular gastronomy thing. I ate at Reserve when George Calombaris had just started there, and remember my mum's reaction to her blue cheese and dark chocolate crab-meat patty creation when it appeared in front of her (I seem to recall it all worked together??), and I caught a few episodes of Heston Blumenthal's latest series when I was in the UK last year. So, I figured we'd get to sample some pretty interesting flavours and combinations. Plus, who doesn't think the idea of a dinner which includes 1 main and 4 desserts matched with wines doesn't sound like a Very Good Thing?!<br /><br />Raymond Capaldi came out and set us all straight immediately. He's got some presence, that man, plus an accent straight out of Billy Connolly:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Right, so desserts are not meant to be sweet."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Huh? </span>Confusion all 'round. Hell, we're not going to get desserts made of savoury stuff, are we??<br />Yes, and no. His belief (and I think it's a sound one) is that the overwhelming sensation of a dessert should not be only sugar and sweetness. There should be a mix of flavours and taste sensations, and a good dessert should make use of all 5 tastes our tongues can sense. He's big on unami as one of them, so seaweed takes a starring role in many. Salt is important in desserts too, especially when using nuts or chocolate.<br />He went on to explain that recipes found in popular foodie magazines are created for the lowest common denominator and are full of unnecessary extenders. Flour is one such nasty extender, and his own example was the Fenix basic chocolate souffle, which has all the flour removed, hence creating a much more intense flavour and delicate texture. Once a customer requested a sticky date pudding, which isn't on their menu, so he Googled a recipe and told the staff to remove 1/2 the flour and double the sauce. They argued it wouldn't set, and told him his reputation would be on the line when it flopped, but it turned out to be the best sticky date pudding they'd ever tasted; <span style="font-style: italic;">just</span> set and wobbling on the plate. As somebody who tends to bake more often than your basic Joe, and who shouldn't be eating vast quantities of flour, this idea interests me.<br />Enough of the theories: onto the food.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAy1fVxI/AAAAAAAABc0/WmyjR6wos5M/s1600-h/IMG_5826.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAy1fVxI/AAAAAAAABc0/WmyjR6wos5M/s400/IMG_5826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046878231905392402" border="0" /></a><br />So we wouldn't only be eating desserts, we started with a main course of <span style="font-style: italic;">36 hour cooked lamb</span>. Sorry about the crap photo; I hadn't worked out my manual settings yet!<br />This was exquisite. The lamb neck meat was cooked at 58 degrees C for 1.5 days, which meant that the meat never got so hot that the fat escaped into the pan. Instead, the meat cooked extremely slowly, with the fat remaining inside keeping it lubricated. After 36 hours, the lamb was still pink inside and so tender we didn't need to use knives. We had a velvety sauce made of pureed char-grilled eggplants, almonds, garlic etc. and a bit of roasted capsicum <span style="font-style: italic;">(not a turd, despite the photo)</span>. I'd be really keen to replicate this at home. It'd be one of the only things from the night I'd be capable of doing!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAS1fVuI/AAAAAAAABcc/3iwB43Xsfq8/s1600-h/IMG_5839.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAS1fVuI/AAAAAAAABcc/3iwB43Xsfq8/s400/IMG_5839.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046878223315457762" border="0" /></a><br />A special guest on the night was Will Goldfarb from<a href="http://www.nyr4d.com/"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Room 4 Dessert</span></a>; a high-end dessert bar in New York. He gave us a talk (very lovely guy, but slightly pointless talk) before the meal began, and this first dessert, was one of his creations. I knew when I saw something as mundane as <span style="font-style: italic;">ice-cream sandwich </span>on the menu, that it would actually be something pretty special. Hey, probably something with foams and liquid nitrogen?! Actually, it was pretty simple; a sweet-dough biscuit topped with vanilla icecream and a scoop of Epoisses cheese topped with smoked salt. Will said it plays on peoples' love for things sweet, fatty and salty and, sure, I could have eaten at least 5 of these, but maybe it was just 'cos I was hungry; because if I'm being completely honest what it tasted like was a bit of soft camembert and icecream on a shortbread biscuit! Great icecream and amazing cheese, but still.... We couldn't taste the smoked salt. Each part was lovely, but it was definitely a head-spin to eat icecream and salty, creamy cheese together. The simplest dessert on the night, but I remember the taste and texture intensely.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAi1fVvI/AAAAAAAABck/SiV9MG4gmBg/s1600-h/IMG_5840.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAi1fVvI/AAAAAAAABck/SiV9MG4gmBg/s400/IMG_5840.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046878227610425074" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tahitian Vanilla Mousse with cucumber sorbet </span>was one that didn't grab my attention on the menu but ended up being our favourite of the night. A advantage of events like this is that they challenge your preconceived ideas about what you like. This is not the sort of thing I'd order on a dessert menu, but it was incredible. The vanilla mousse made with Tahitian vanilla seeds is the long, white sausage. The cucumber sorbet is topped with a mango gel, and a coconut tapioca mixture is down the other end. Along the way is a square of lime jelly, a few bean shoots and cubes of cucumber. What I enjoyed was that each component tasted good on its own, but even better when combined with others. We had fun mixing and matching. Fresh and light and citrussy, this was a winner. Particularly the cucumber sorbet: wow, star of the plate.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAy1fVwI/AAAAAAAABcs/_LMO9AqPk0s/s1600-h/IMG_5847.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgodAy1fVwI/AAAAAAAABcs/_LMO9AqPk0s/s400/IMG_5847.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046878231905392386" border="0" /></a><br />Now, what I said before about challenging preconceptions? This<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">"Coffee & Potato"</span> is the type of thing I would have ordered from a menu. The description struck the right notes of interest in me: coffee icecream, hazelnut custard and potato puree, but just didn't do it for us. All of us (we'd made friends by this stage).<br />Ray described this dish beforehand, pointing out that it wasn't dreamt up in the middle of the night by a crazy person. He said the Ratte potato has a hazelnut taste to it, and hazelnut pairs well with coffee, so he figured they'd work well together. Great idea, in theory. But in reality the puree was not and the texture was all wrong. Coffee icecream: great. Hazelnut custard: gorgeous. But the potato was too dry and powdery, and got caught in your throat. If it had been lubricated just a little more, it might have been more successful, but who knows if adding milk or butter to it would have thrown the taste balance out with the other components? I just couldn't get past the fact that I was eating a lump of dry mashed potato with my icecream and custard! A friend who heard about it said it sounded like something made up by a toddler playing in the kitchen. :-) Not awful, in the realm of all the food in the world, just not the best of what we experienced that night.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgoezC1fVyI/AAAAAAAABc8/lyewMlrXVv8/s1600-h/IMG_5849.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgoezC1fVyI/AAAAAAAABc8/lyewMlrXVv8/s400/IMG_5849.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046880194705446690" border="0" /></a><br />This <span style="font-style: italic;">green apple sorbet, with parsnip puree, blackberries and cashew nut jam</span> is another thing I might have overlooked on a menu, but again, I've had my preconceptions challenged. Along with our new friends we decided this was a real winner. Ray had already explained to us that in old-English useage, 'nip' meant something sweet, and parsnips were generally used in cakes and desserts. Sometime in the last 200 years this changed and parsnips are just known for their use in the Sunday roast and veggie soup. I can't say I enjoyed the parsnip puree on its own, but I don't think that was the point. Combined with the tangy apple sorbet and the salty cashew nuts it was a incredible combination. We felt this dessert in particular was made for playing with taste combinations. Cubes of apple combined with salted blackberries and the amazing cashew nut 'jam' is something I remember enjoying.<br /><br />By the last course we were feeling pretty lightheaded; a different wine had been served with each course, and after our first enthusiastic sparkling we realised that if we were going to drive home, we were going to have to be a bit more careful. At the end of the night you can see how sensible we were, dammit:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgoezS1fVzI/AAAAAAAABdE/fZh_UI0uvPY/s1600-h/IMG_5855.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RgoezS1fVzI/AAAAAAAABdE/fZh_UI0uvPY/s400/IMG_5855.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5046880199000414002" border="0" /></a><br />The wines were really incredible; I've never had a meal where each course was so perfectly matched with the wine. There was one particular choice all of us disliked intensely when we tasted it (smelled like iodine!) but when combined with the coffee & potato dessertit suddenly worked.<br />You'll notice that in a dinner of 4 desserts chocolate didn't make an appearance, but that omission was rectified with the petit fours. We had a red fruit 'popsicle': kind of frozen air on a stick; a blackcurrant jelly (like the best jube you've ever tasted) and a<span style="font-weight: bold;"> salt & vinegar chocolate</span> stick. Uh-huh. Salt & vinegar chocolate! And it was so amazing we were stealing extras from other peoples' plates (how could they possibly leave them??!). Adding salt to chocolate is already widely known to heighten the flavour of chocolate, but the addition of a sweet (possibly balsamic) vinegar was a revelation. Outstanding!<br />I'm glad I made the decision to go along. It was a real eye-opener of an evening, and enjoyable on many levels. My friend and I were so impressed with Raymond Capaldi's views on food, the service, and the look of the regular menu that we're planning to return for a degustation dinner; and hang the cost!!<br /><br />Tagged with <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/desserts" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >dessert</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-32288189571580822132007-02-28T18:06:00.000+11:002008-12-12T02:00:39.524+11:00Lemon Chicken...Italian style<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/ReUqD89a-zI/AAAAAAAABbQ/Dgfhqf2ZpyA/s1600-h/IMG_5796.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/ReUqD89a-zI/AAAAAAAABbQ/Dgfhqf2ZpyA/s320/IMG_5796.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />How many times have you looked at that bottle of <em>limoncello</em> in the freezer and thought <em>"My god, that must have been there for at least two years. What are we going to <strong>do</strong> with it?!" </em> I know we're not the only people to be lured in by the romance of this Italian lemon liqueur: remembering warm summer evenings on a loggia<em>, </em>with a warm breeze tickling the leaves of trees in the olive grove and flowing through your hair, and sweet lemon flavour slipping down your throat. Admittedly, I've only experienced that scenario in my winter-in-Melbourne dreams, and in my life limoncello tends to burn <em>all the way down</em> and makes me cough. Somehow the dream just isn't quite recreated that way you intend, is it?<br />So, we've had this bottle of liqueur in the freezer for a long time, and I can't remember where or when I found this recipe, but it's just the thing if you find yourself in a similar perplexed state when cleaning out the freezer. I know it was from a food blog, so do let me know if it is yours.<br />Chicken baked in limoncello...what an idea! It sounds a bit outrageous, and I wasn't sure how it would work out, but the best way to describe it is <strong>Lemon Chicken, Italian Style.</strong> It really does work well; the sweetness of the limoncello is balanced by fresh lemon juice and summery herbs. I didn't have quite enough limoncello, so made up the difference with vodka....hey, it's all alcohol, and I know people who'd be pretty excited at the idea of chicken baked in vodka.<br />The ingredients listed are not set in stone; I didn't have lemon thyme, so used fresh rosemary and sage instead. I also added a touch of Spanish paprika to the sauce, which gave a hint of smokiness. Also, my chicken breasts didn't have skin, and in fact 2 of them were actually thighs, as I discovered as I started eating them! I have to admit I preferred the texture of the thighs to the breasts, but I'm a thigh girl after all.... It's a perfect meal for a warm summer's evening, even if it doesn't take place on a Tuscan hillside.<br /><strong><em>Read on for the recipe:</em></strong><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><em><strong>Chicken baked in limoncello</strong><br /><br />4 x 180g chicken breasts with skin on<br />8 garlic cloves<br />Pared rind & juice of 2 large lemons<br />6 sprigs lemon thyme<br />1 cup (250ml) limoncello<br />50g unsalted butter<br />2 tbs olive oil<br /><br />-Place chicken in a non-metallic dish with garlic, rind & juice, thyme & limoncello. Cover & chill for one hour.<br />-Preheat oven to 180c. Heat butter & oil in a large heavy based frypan over high heat.<br />-Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade) & brown for 2-3 minutes each side.<br />-Place skin side up in a baking tray & roast for 10 minuts or until cooked through.<br />-Return frypan to medium heat, ad reserved marinade (including garlic & herbs) & stir for 5 minutes to reduce.<br />-Remove chicken from oven & rest for 5 minutes. Place on a serving plate, pour over sauce.<br />-Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and green veg. </em><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/chicken" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >chicken</span> </a><br /></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-55352305103467510652007-02-20T09:02:00.000+11:002008-12-12T02:00:39.740+11:00Mmmm...syrup<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rdoeqs9a-xI/AAAAAAAABbA/ahmFZlh3e2s/s1600-h/IMG_5798.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/Rdoeqs9a-xI/AAAAAAAABbA/ahmFZlh3e2s/s320/IMG_5798.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Shrove Tuesday today, and for breakfast another batch of those excellent wholemeal buttermilk pancakes <a href="http://esurientes.blogspot.com/2006/02/wholemeal-pancakes-for-shrove-tuesday_28.html">I made last year. </a>Mmm - crispy edges from being fried <span style="font-style: italic;">in real butter. </span>:-)<br /><br />This year my brother splashed out and bought a bottle of real maple syrup ($$$!), but after a scientific taste test with one of each on the plate, I still prefer golden syrup. It's thicker, and stays near the food instead of running far away from it, and it's got that slight bitterness I love.<br />Wholemeal pancakes...who'da thunk they'd be so good?!Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-41055798941232080632007-02-17T16:32:00.000+11:002008-12-12T02:00:39.924+11:00Too Damn Hot chicken salad<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdZpPWpbJnI/AAAAAAAABY8/b8nl0qOXzz4/s1600-h/CIMG6789.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdZpPWpbJnI/AAAAAAAABY8/b8nl0qOXzz4/s320/CIMG6789.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This weekend it's damn hot...too hot! 3 days at the upper end of the 30s is not great incentive for doing much. Flicking half-heartedly through Nigella's <em>Forever Summer</em> a few weeks ago, when it was also too damn hot, revealed this chicken salad that looked pretty good for the weather. Her show of the same name happened to be on that night, and she was making this dish, so with that double whammy I figured it was telling me something!<br /><br />I've never had Coronation Chicken, the dish she rejigged to make this, but it seemed to contain cooked chicken, mayonnaise, mango chutney, curry powder and apricot puree, which to me sounds like a combination thrown together by a deranged person home from the gym who JUST NEEDS TO EAT RIGHT NOW and doesn't care what they find in the fridge. I don't want to say "eugh" because I know many people of my grandmother's age who seemed to enjoy this....effort, but.....hmmm. Nigella's version also contains cooked chicken, but is much more sensible!<br />I mixed up a cooked chicken breast with a cubed mango, spring onion, chopped fresh chillies and lime juice and tossed it about with a torn up cos lettuce, a big handful of fresh coriander and a few drops of sesame oil. It's very evidently Asian-inspired, and was perfect for a hot sticky night. The lime juice and chilli kick was perfect, and although I'm really NOT a fan of fruit with meat, the mango and chicken was great together. For a hot night after a damn hot day, it's about all we could cope with - and afterwards I realised it had virtually negligible fat content - bonus!<div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-33729438786981172822007-02-17T11:07:00.000+11:002008-12-12T02:00:41.504+11:00Bern & Luzern<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCgGpbJuI/AAAAAAAABZ0/gJHzRGNJr4g/s1600-h/1+Bern.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCgGpbJuI/AAAAAAAABZ0/gJHzRGNJr4g/s320/1+Bern.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032353121684891362" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Bern bear city symbol on a ginger cake</span><br />I've been completely pathetic putting up the photos of what-we-ate-in-Europe, and I'm annoyed with myself. I'm not going to abandon this project halfway (or 1/4 way in because there's about another 6 weeks to go!) so I'm resuming it. Even if I only post photos without text, at least I'm finishing something I started!<br />After Payerne in western-French-speaking Switzerland we stopped for lunch in Bern, only 30 minutes away. Even though it's so close, suddenly everything was in German! In Payerne German was seen as something very foreign, and English even more so, but a few miles down the road it was a different story. Switzerland is fascinating; I love the place.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaFtGpbJ2I/AAAAAAAABa0/p20CiR0_7Rs/s1600-h/148_4848.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaFtGpbJ2I/AAAAAAAABa0/p20CiR0_7Rs/s320/148_4848.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032356643558074210" border="0" /></a><br />We were let loose for an hour or so to look around and grab something to eat. I soon discovered in the local market that I was able to communicate in French; in this area where the linguistic borders are so close, most people are <span style="font-style: italic;">at least</span> bi-lingual. And as Bern is the Swiss capital, all the official languages are spoken and understood, even if the signs are in German. I didn't have as much success communicating in Italian, though!<br />I really liked Bern - it feels more like a small bustling market town than a national capital, and I guess that's because of the unique nature of the Swiss government, with 7 premiers of the cantons sharing the leadership position, and the function of the annual president mainly limited to greeting people at airports.<br />Miniature vegetables were all over the marketplaces of Europe this time of year. We couldn't figure out the allure of the miniature vegetable. I suspected they were used as autumn table decorations, but does anybody have a more detailed explanation?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCgWpbJvI/AAAAAAAABZ8/ljwwWniznhE/s1600-h/7+Ogre.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCgWpbJvI/AAAAAAAABZ8/ljwwWniznhE/s320/7+Ogre.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032353125979858674" border="0" /></a><br />The people of Bern have a violent history of eating small babies!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaChGpbJyI/AAAAAAAABaU/O4umcC9cHfE/s1600-h/CIMG2006.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaChGpbJyI/AAAAAAAABaU/O4umcC9cHfE/s320/CIMG2006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032353138864760610" border="0" /></a><br />We spent too long wandering around the market and decided to get things to eat on the bus. There were about 10 cheese stalls, so we choose one at random and bought some vacherin and some truffle infused brie. Hoooeyy! <span style="font-weight: bold;">Truffle infused brie!</span> My friend who shared this with me is still sending messages raving about it, from her new home in the UK!<br />You just can't buy brie this ripe in Australia. Look at it - it's <span style="font-style: italic;">oozing! </span>In the centre was another layer of cheese mixed with chopped truffles. This stuff nearly sent us falling to the floor in ecstasy...not a safe thing when driving on windy Swiss roads!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCg2pbJxI/AAAAAAAABaM/ye0zSDNzRjk/s1600-h/148_4849.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaCg2pbJxI/AAAAAAAABaM/ye0zSDNzRjk/s320/148_4849.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032353134569793298" border="0" /></a><br />I bought a few day-old crusty rolls and we actually managed to get through that entire hunk of cheese, plus the vacherin. We also bought some local green apples to cut through the richness, and that simple lunch on the bus was a definite food highlight of the whole trip.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDpWpbJ0I/AAAAAAAABak/tNt3iok7vL4/s1600-h/CIMG2022-1.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDpWpbJ0I/AAAAAAAABak/tNt3iok7vL4/s320/CIMG2022-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032354380110309186" border="0" /></a><br />We had 2 nights in Luzern, compared to the one hour in Bern, but there are hardly any foodie photos we took. The weather turned rainy and cool for the first time in the trip there, and we were feeling a bit tired, so it was a quiet few days. I was billeted on my own with a student, in a typical student-hovel apartment. I lugged by bags on 3 local buses, hoiked them up 6 flights of stairs in the rain, was shown to my mattress on the floor and was told there wasn't any food in the house for dinner; would I like packet soup or a bowl of cereal? At 4am the housemate came home, newly broken up with his girlfriend, rolling drunk and surrounded by girls and decided to play German heavy-metal and cook spaghetti!! He didn't know there was a visiting Australian in the next room who had to get up in 3 hours to sing at church. Many people might have cried at this stage - I started to laugh and knew I'd look back on this with a smile. The next night I came home to find a pot-smoking party going on around my bed! Fabulous. But actually I had a great time staying with the students, experiencing real Swiss life, and learning a lot about Swiss culture and politics. I didn't have to worry about keeping the bathroom fanatically clean, either! Plus I got to try a variety of flavoured yoghurts, which was all they had in the fridge. Yoghurt in Switzerland isn't considered solely a health food, like here, so you can get choc chip cookie dough yoghurt, chestnut puree yoghurt, butterscotch etc.etc. Yum!<br /><br />After our evening concert we were taken out for dinner to a Swiss restaurant. Above is the winner of the biggest-sausage-on-tour competition. I shared the fondue with Belinda but looking at that sausage and crispy roesti, I wish I'd chosen that instead.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDpWpbJzI/AAAAAAAABac/37NXxKQSLLQ/s1600-h/148_4876.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDpWpbJzI/AAAAAAAABac/37NXxKQSLLQ/s320/148_4876.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032354380110309170" border="0" /></a><br />Here's our Fondue For Two. It was exciting for the first 5 minutes in that "I'm really in Switzerland and eating cheese fondue" kind of way, and then it lost its spark. The only thing we had to dip in it was soft brown bread. Romance aside, a meal of bread and a bloody great pot of melted cheese is actually a bit dull! When I've had fondue here, we've had a variety of vegetables to dip in alongside the bread, which livens up the event. If our bread was toasted it would have at least provided a textural contrast, but the soft bread and soft cheese were a bit too similar. After about 10 minutes Belinda said "This isn't exciting any more".<br />I would never say to anybody not to have fondue in Switzerland; it's something you definitely have to do, but once is probably enough (I've done it twice now, and am happy to expand into the repertoire of enormous sausages and potato pancakes now!)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDp2pbJ1I/AAAAAAAABas/83a1sLDXFG4/s1600-h/CIMG2028.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdaDp2pbJ1I/AAAAAAAABas/83a1sLDXFG4/s320/CIMG2028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5032354388700243794" border="0" /></a><br />Here's a very early morning photo of gorgeous Luzern; lake, Totentanz bridge, tower, mountains surrounding the whole place... Hence the constant daily rain!!Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-10083213325072990982007-02-16T14:23:00.000+11:002008-12-12T02:00:41.666+11:00Choccie cookie bonanza<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdZ1N2pbJoI/AAAAAAAABZE/QlYXsTYajWA/s1600-h/CIMG6804.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_if_Rtld3k24/RdZ1N2pbJoI/AAAAAAAABZE/QlYXsTYajWA/s320/CIMG6804.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />I haven't yet mentioned that I received a shiny red Kitchen Aid for Christmas, just like the one <a href="http://myfavouriteplum.blogspot.com/2006/12/merry-little-christmas.html">Plum received</a> and I've been getting stuck into playing around with it. Last week I decided to make a chocolate pavlova for <em>no other reason than the fact that I hadn't yet tried out the whisk attachment. </em>How sad is that? Then I needed to get it out of the house before I ate it all, because it was GOOD.<br />I was going down to a friend's beachhouse on the Great Ocean Road, so I thought that was a good enough excuse to use the Kitchen Aid again. Surely everyone wants biscuits! I tried out two recipes: one for a choc chip cookie, and another for a peanut butter truffle biscuit that I admit was purely inspired by gluttony, <em>peanut butter truffle - hello?!</em> And the picture in the book was the sort that always made me stop and stare in longing.<br /><br />But first, the choc chip cookies: these are courtesy of wrestler/movie star The Rock in the WWF cookbook! I read about them on a few different blogs and as so many of you know, I have a quest to find the best choc chip cookie recipe. This one is pretty damn good: I like CCCs with oatmeal in them; it gives heft and chew. But you need pretty damn strong muscles to stir the mixture - hence why you love your Kitchen Aid at a time like this! You can find <a href="http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBiosR/ross_cookbook-sun.html">the recipe here</a> near the bottom of the page, which I halved and still ended up with about 80 cookies. Evidently The Rock enjoys things a little larger than I do...! I used a combination of a chunk of Valrhona dark chocolate and the leftovers of a choc-almond Christmas tree - you know those things made of chopped almonds mixed with chocolate and made into lots of branches in a tree shape - which was tasty but meant they ended up far too nutty. Hours later we were still picking nuts out of our teeth, so next time I'm sticking with normal chocolate. NB - these kept for ages without going manky, too.<br /><br />The peanut butter truffle cookies come from a random English baking book, the type that includes photos of each step, and the photo shows the things warm from the oven with the truffle filling oozing out and looking delish. As you can see above, there was no oozement going on, but that disappointment aside, these were incredible - but a little tedious to make. You make up a peanut butter & golden syrup dough which is pretty soft and pasty. Combine that with our summer heat and I had to put it in the fridge for a few hours because there was no way I could roll that stuff out. When I could, I flattened a ball into a circle and added a spoonful of the truffle mixture and tried to fold the dough around it, with very varying success. Usually the dough was not dough-like enough to do it without cracking or falling apart, so lots of my cookies had cracked tops where the truffle mixture bubbled out. The taste was fabulous, anyway and I'd definitely make these again when I'm feeling domestic and have a bit of time and patience on my hands.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Read on for the recipe:<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="fullpost">Peanut Butter Truffle Cookies<br />Makes ~20<br /><br /><span><span>125 g/4 oz dark chocolate<br />150ml/1/4 pint double cream*<br />125g/4oz softened butter<br />125g/4oz caster sugar<br />125g/4oz crunchy or smooth peanut butter<br />4 tbsp golden syrup<br />1 tbsp milk<br />225g/8oz plain flour<br />1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda<br /><br />1: Preheat oven to 180C/350F 10 minutes before baking. Make the chocolate filling by breaking the chocolate into small pieces and placing in a heatproof bowl.<br />2: Put the cream into a saucepan and heat for boiling point. Immediately pour over the chocolate<br />3: Leave to stand for 1-2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Se aside to cool until firm enough to scoop. Do not refrigerate (I needed to. I'm in an Australian summer!)<br />4: Lightly oil a baking sheet. Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the peanut butter, followed the golden syrup and milk.<br />5: Sift together the flour and bicarb. Add to the peanut butter mixture, mix well and knead until smooth.<br />6: Flatten 1-2 tablespoons of the cookie mixture on a chopping board<br />6: Put a spoonful of the chocolate mixture into the centre of the cookie dough, then fold the dough around the chocolate to enclose completely.<br />8: Put the balls on to the baking sheet and flatten slightly (be careful not to split them open!). Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until golden**<br />9: Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and serve.<br /><br />*I actually used yoghurt as it's what I had in the fridge. The filling had a slight tang which I liked against the sweet dough.<br />** I found this time wasn't long enough, as my biscuits became *extremely* soft the next day, and I needed to re-bake them for another 10 minutes so they didn't crumble when I picked them up. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span class="fullpost"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1171161014268411952007-02-11T13:06:00.000+11:002007-02-11T20:18:17.578+11:00Going bananas!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/640/15856/IMG_5788.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/861151/IMG_5788.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">It's been a recurring theme on many Aussie foodblogs over the past year: we miss our bananas. I think most of you have heard by now that in mid-March 2006, Cyclone Larry announced itself in far north Queensland and destroyed 95% of Australia's banana crop. At the time I remember a few people giggling, heh, <em>bananas</em>! Cyclone comes through and we lose <em>bananas</em>! But when the reality of our banana-less existence sunk in, and the prices of the few left in Australia shot up to about $16 a kilo, the situation was miserable. Australia wouldn't import bananas in the interim, so we could help our own farmers; mentioning this to some friends in the UK recently sparked a fairly heated argument about protectionism and our moral duty to help poorer countries who need to export the few goods they have. Like most things, I can see both points of view, and we decided to abandon the argument and go and have a pint instead.<br />Lady Lunchalot is today <a href="http://www.ladylunchalot.com/2007/01/22/celebrate-banana-sunday-with-the-return-of-the-prodigal-banana/">celebrating Banana Sunday</a>, in which we celebrate the return of bananas to reasonable prices; currently about $3 a kilo, although I've been told that something disastrous has happened again up there, and prices will rise again. She gives a good potted history of the banana situation the past year, and made me realise how much I did miss those things: especially those mornings when I'm running late, and it's the perfect thing to grab and eat in the car...i.e. pretty much every morning.<br /><br />There's a bit of a coincidence with the banana cake I made. I tore the recipe out of a New Idea magazine in the lunchroom at work, on Friday 17 March, planning to make it after I bought a few bananas to go soft. Cyclone Larry hit on the Monday morning, and my banana cake plans were put on the shelf. For a long time!<br />So, here is is finally. It's a bog-standard very easy banana cake recipe, sent in by a reader, but the thing that caught my eye was the inclusion of coconut cream. I can't say I can taste it in the finished cake, but it does make the cake very moist. I think it would keep a long time. The recipe recommends drizzling with passionfruit pulp before serving, but I forgot to buy any. My eye fell on my bottle of pomegrenate molasses, and I decided that would have a similar sort of tang. Well, what a revelation! From now on, I'm always adding it to my bananas; the sweet-sour tang perfectly offsets the almost sickly sweetness of the bananas. Plus, aren't pomegrenates the fruit of love? Seems appropriate, considering the event coming up this week. So, one cake is decorated in Valentines day hearts, and the other is heart shaped, and drizzled in the fruit of love. All's well with the world. :-)<br /><strong><em>Read on for the recipe:</em></strong><br /></span><span class="fullpost" style="font-size:100%;"><br /><em><strong>Easy Banana Cake<br />From New Idea, March 2006</strong><br /><br />1 cup caster sugar*<br />1 1/2 cups self-raising flour**<br />1 cup mashed overripe bananas<br />1 tsp vanilla essence<br />1/2 cup dessicated coconut<br />1/2 cup coconut cream<br />2 eggs, lightly beaten<br />125g butter (1/2 pack) melted<br />Passionfruit pulp to serve (or pomegrenate molasses)<br /><strong>Cream cheese frosting:</strong><br />25g butter, room temperature<br />75g cream cheese, softened<br />1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture<br />1 tsp grated lemon rind<br /><br />1: Grease a deep, 20cm round cake pan and line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 190C (moderately hot)<br />2: Combine sugar, flour, bananas, vanilla, coconut, coconut cream and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan.<br />3: Cook for about 1 hour, or until cooked when tested. Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool<br />4: To make cream cheese frosting, beat all of the ingredients together in a small bowl with an electric mixer until well combined<br />5: Spread frosting over top of cold cake. Just before serving drizzle with passionfruit pulp.<br /><br />* I used 1/2 cup caster sugar & 1/2 cup raw sugar<br />** I used 1 cup SR flour & 1/2 cup wholemeal SR flour. I think you could use all wholemeal SR without any problems. </em></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/baking" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >baking</span> </a><br /></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1169184873349480182007-01-19T16:23:00.000+11:002007-01-19T16:42:45.036+11:00Best doughnut in Melbourne?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/640/400467/CIMG6733.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/599395/CIMG6733.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Is this the best doughnut in Melbourne? It could well be; it's definitely the best one I've tasted in a long while. Except for the amazing Polish plum jam donuts from Europa bakery in Acland Street.<br />It's a <em>bomboloni</em>, or <em>bombolini,</em> or <em>bomboleo</em> or something bomby from Dench's at 109 Scotchmer Street, North Fitzroy, almost opposite the excellent Piedimonte's supermarket on St George's Rd, where I can find all kinds of weird and exciting imported European foods, as well as any type of exotic dairy I want (<em>sheep's yoghurt, quark..)</em>. That pocket of North Fitzroy is a foodie haven; if you haven't had brunch at The Greengrocer, and finished it off by picking up a block of Green & Black's chocolate, then I say, go treat yourself!<br />The donut is a typical deep fried, yeasted donut filled with custard, but superior in every way. It seems I'm <a href="http://thebreakfastblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/dench-bakers-north-fitzroy.html">not the only blogging fan</a>, either <em>(and his photo is much better 'cos you can see all the custard).</em> The custard is light and eggy, with a hint of lemon - real Italian custard. And the donut is not heavy or leaden, even though it does pack a punch calorie-wise; your paper bag turns transparent from the oil pretty quickly. Eat up! They're tossed in sugar, so each bite is a mouthful of crunchy sugar, light donut and creamy, lemony custard. Ok, so not an everyday treat, but as occasional indulgences go, one of my favourites.<br />Dench is known for its sourdough breads, which are mainly supplied to restaurants around Melbourne, but they do have a shopfront selling products, and a few tables for breakfasts & lunches packed in pretty tightly. But for me it's all about the bombolonis. </span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1168310319801643582007-01-09T13:12:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:39:07.448+11:00Lamb Fest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/718255/CIMG6796.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/336325/CIMG6796.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Going through the freezers before Christmas, trying to clear some space, we found a previously unknown hidden cache of lamb. Specifically legs of lamb in varying sizes, and no memory of having bought them. So, in trying to use them up in a more interesting way than just making standard roast lamb, I recalled a photo I'd seen in one of my cookbooks of a piece of lamb coated in yoghurt roasting on an oven tray. It took me a while to find the photo, in my sole Jamie Oliver book - <span style="font-style: italic;">Jamie's Dinners</span>, and it looked pretty good, but I didn't have all the ingredients <span style="font-style: italic;">(fresh mint, tinned chickpeas - my supermarket is always out!)</span>, so I combined it with another yoghurty, minty marinade I found in Nigella's <span style="font-style: italic;">How To Eat</span>. It was a bit of an experiment, but one that paid off.<br /><br />I pulled out my mortar and pestle for about the first time in a year and ground up a 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds with 2 tablespoons black peppercorns. Then added 2 tablespoons dried mint, 2 garlic cloves, salt and some oil to make a paste. Then measured 250g yoghurt and juice of 1/2 lemon and mixed it all up.<br />Jamie's recipe was for a lamb leg, but one that had been boned and butterflied. My leg was a half size, and looked pretty manageable, so I decided to have a go boning it myself. It was....ok. Didn't help that I had to defrost it first and the inside was still hard: frozen meat, sharp knife and greasy hands don't make for a good combination! Eventually I got the bone out, randomly cut it down the middle and kinda managed to butterfly it into something almost even. Not the most sophisticated butchery skills, but full points for perservering!<br />The marinade goes into a freezer bag with the meat, and I left it for the afternoon at room temperature. We don't have many veggies in the house at the moment, so I found some old pumpkin, a few potatoes and red onions and sprinkled them with ground cumin, sumac (which I love) and olive oil.<br />Butterflied meat cooks much quicker than meat on the bone, so it only took 45 minutes at 200C to cook the lamb. It was more well-done than I'd choose, but it suited this recipe. The smells coming out of the oven were amazing; my brother, who was going out for dinner, was practically delirious and hung about the oven sniffing and watching the meat cook. It was a nicely novel way to cook it as you placed it directly on the oven tray, so it browned all over, and dripped its yoghurty, meaty juices into the vegetables below. Consequently the veggies were astoundingly good! It kind of reminded us of Indian tandoori cooking, but without Indian spices.<br />Because there were some pretty strong flavours happening in the marinade and spicing up the veggies, I made a pot of plain boiled peas to go along with it; their simple sweetness was a good foil to all that partying in our mouth.<br />And the leftover lamb makes a wicked sandwich!</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/318238/CIMG6799.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/198247/CIMG6799.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/lamb" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >lamb</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1168311664323367852007-01-08T13:43:00.000+11:002007-01-09T14:01:04.396+11:00Fresh mint<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/320479/CIMG6765.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/880137/CIMG6765.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I had a lot of fresh mint hanging about in the week after Christmas. I made my usual fetta & watermelon salad, which uses it, but as the days around Christmas were so cold, it wasn't really the weather for the sort of things that usually call for it.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">When the weather heated up the week after, it had gone a bit limp and blah, but I reconsidered throwing it out. Instead I made two fresh mint recipes from Nigella's Forever Summer. The lime & mint Coolaid, and the mint & pea soup. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: arial;">I didn't have any limes, but lots of bald lemons from my onion, lemon & thyme relish-making fits, so used that instead. I think lime would have given a more desirable sourness, as this drink was waaaaaay sweet. A warning to any non-sweet-tooths out there: you will need to dilute this with water. It almost tasted like cordial syrup to me! Very tasty & refreshing though.<br /><br />The pea & mint soup is complete simplicity to make. Steep some fresh mint stems & dried mint in vegetable stock (which I made up with hot water and Vegeta powder) and add to a spring onion and frozen peas.you've softened in oil. Then boil it up until the peas are soft, whiz it up with a blender and add some creme fraiche (I used no-fat yoghurt). The taste was incredibly good; it tasted like something that had many more ingredients and should have taken so much longer to prepare. Recommended! </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/957031/CIMG6787.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/641581/CIMG6787.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fresh mint" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >fresh mint</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1167887006887512432007-01-04T15:37:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:42:13.350+11:00Handmade foodie presents<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/640/438902/CIMG6751.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/848075/CIMG6751.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Being time-rich and money-poor this Christmas, I decided to make foodie gifts for friends and fam, hoping that old maxim about homemade gifts meaning so much more blah blah etc. held true. The decision was helped out by reading the latest issue of<span style="font-style: italic;"> Donna Hay</span> while lazing about by the pool; there was a feature on caramelised onion relishes, which was pretty appealing. But the clincher for me me was the time saving tip about sterilising: it says there's no need to worry about sterilising jars before adding preserves, because the hot preserves will do all the work. Once you've cleaned the jars with hot, soapy water and rinsed and dried them, you just fill them, screw the lid on tight and turn the jars upside down and allow them to cool. The hot relish sterlises the insides of the jars and lids. BONUS!!! Whenever I've made jams and assorted </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >conserves </span><span style="font-family:arial;">(yes, Little Britain reference) I've spent ages zapping hot water in the microwave until boiling point, making a hell of a mess and nearly killing myself with the safety combo of glass, steam and boiling water.<br />So, thus convinced, and really hoping I wasn't going to give my loved ones botulism, I was most tempted by the <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">red onion, thyme and lemon relish</span>. If you haven't made jams or relishes before, this is a good start. It's not hard at all to chuck stuff into a big pot and let it cook. You don't have to worry about setting times and pectin levels and all that faffing about that goes with jam making.<br /><br />I'm actually not a relish or chutney girl at all; I like my savoury food savoury. Chutneys etc. are usually far too sweet for me, but I'm actually kind of won over by this one. Yes, it has that characteristic sweet & sour taste of relishs, from the vinegar and brown sugar, but it also has something I quite like. I intended it to be an accompaniment to the Christmas ham, and it does that job well, but it <span style="font-weight: bold;">really </span>shines when paired with a really bitey cheddar cheese. The type that burns the roof of your mouth...mmmm. Before Christmas my favourite lunch was toasted bread with butter (<span style="font-weight: bold;">real</span> butter, not that nasty fake stuff!), bitey cheese, onion relish and a carpet of flat leaf parsley. Weird combination, created out of stuff we had in the fridge, but it worked so damn well. <span style="font-style: italic;">(Now I'm just trying to eat up the leftover leg of ham- now 2 weeks old...)</span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;">I've only had one report from my present recipients, and she said she loves it, which I'm happy to know!</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I won't lie and say I eat it every day, but just maybe this girl is starting to turn toward the world of chutney...?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Read on for the recipe: </span><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Red Onion, Lemon and Thyme Relish</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Dec/Jan 07 Donna Hay magazine</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >1/2 cup (21/2 oz.) olive oil</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >2kg (4 1/2 lb) red onions, peeled and cut into wedges</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >3/4 cup thyme leaves (stripped from the branch)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >1/2 cup lemon zest</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >1 cup (200g/7oz) brown sugar</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >1 cup (8 fl oz) white wine vinegar</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >salt and pepper to taste*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Heat a large deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and onions. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes or until the onion is holden and caramelised. Add the thyme, lemon zest, sugar, vinegar, salt and peppr and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cook for a further 10-20 minutes or until thick and syrupy. Makes 5 cups (2 pints) </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >*I found I needed quite a lot of salt to create a good balance between sweet and savoury: almost a 1/4 cup. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://technorati.com/tag/relish" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">relish</span> </a><br /><br /></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1167801281540582612007-01-03T15:31:00.000+11:002007-01-03T16:17:41.550+11:00More chocolate<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/479564/CIMG6777.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/42437/CIMG6777.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Sorry, I've been very lazy and had an almost computer-free post-Christmas week, laying on the couch eating leftovers and watching Little Britain DVDs. I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and 2007 shapes up to be a good year. Christmas day here had very bizarre weather; in the afternoon it was only 9 degrees, hailing and snowing in the nearby hills. Today it's 34 degrees. Climate change in action! I loved the cold Christmas day; for the first time it felt right having a roast dinner and plum pudding. I even made red cabbage and apple, and mulled wine for the occasion. If I can't be in Europe for it, I can dream...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/538152/CIMG6783.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/608304/CIMG6783.jpg" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Today I received a large box in the mail from the woman who was the only other person on my <a href="http://www.intrepidtravel.com/">Intrepid </a>tour around the Czech Republic in October. We had an amazing week, with a fabulous tour guide and I have some very happy memories of my time there. As the only 2 in the group, and having to share a room, it was fortunate that we immediately clicked!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">She had already told me that she'd send some chocolates from Kansas City to me, but I didn't think too much about it and, to be honest, I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary. The box was enormous and filled with packing foam. An insulated bag in the centre contained four icepacks, that were, incredibly, still cool to touch, and inside was luxuriously packaged box of chocolate by <a href="http://www.elbowchocolates.com/">Chistopher Elbow</a> that took my breath away. </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/321046/CIMG6781.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/505118/CIMG6781.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I had great fun getting to the chocolates and was gobsmacked when I found them; the packaging is so luxurious! And then finding the chocolates themselves - I truly never imagined I'd actually eat such gorgeous creations myself! I've seen such intricately decorated chocolates in magazines and websites, but I'm pretty sure there is nobody in Melbourne doing such amazingly presented confectionary. Or is there? I'd love to know. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">And the flavours! A representative example: <em>Strawberry balsamic, Russian tea, Rosemary Caramel, pear cinnamon, Tahitian vanilla bean, Pinot Noir caramel, Spanish saffron, Caramel with fleur de Sel, Vietnamese Cinnamon, Espresso with lemon...</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Two layers - so 2 of each. There's a note saying that because they contain no preservatives, they must be eaten within 12-14 days from purchase.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/987498/CIMG6782.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/420215/CIMG6782.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">But I think I'm too in awe of them to try them! I admit I have only looked at them so far. I don't want to disturb the perfection. But I'm looking forward to getting into them very soon; they smell amazing. I'm so touched that she went to such effort and expense to send these to me; I was quite overwhelmed when I opened them. There are some really lovely people around.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Now what on earth could I send in exchange??? Maybe not a Violet Crumble and Caramello Koala....</span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1167195951846266622006-12-27T16:04:00.000+11:002006-12-27T16:08:16.506+11:00Leftovers<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/640/339729/CIMG6764.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/584637/CIMG6764.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Is there any better reason for Christmas leftovers?</span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1166755312598282252006-12-22T12:22:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:35:53.353+11:00Cailler Chocolate Factory<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/568476/29%20Chocolate.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/843395/29%20Chocolate.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >In my Payerne post I dropped a comment that we were to visit a Swiss chocolate factory, but wrote nothing more. I thought that such a note-worthy, life-changing experience deserved its own post, of course...</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >I'd been looking forward to this for <em>months, </em>ever since I discovered the location of Payerne, and did lots of internet research. I wrote emails to our contact about how best we could fit in a visit on the way, and polled group members about who was interested in visiting, I even had an argument with the tour committee about whether we should go or not (amazingly there are people in this world who don't like chocolate, and don't think anyone should either. Geez, even if you don't want to eat the chocolate, it's part of the local history and culture!), which resulted in splinter faction group of aspiring chocolate factory visitors devising plans to sweet talk our bus driver into making an unscheduled detour!</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >In the end our hosts included a visit in our list of official activities. Those who didn't want to go could check out the Roman ruins. Ruins - bah! We saw ruins in Rome! ;-)</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >The <a href="http://www.cailler.ch/en/vis/default.asp">Cailler chocolate factory</a> is about 45 minutes from Payerne, in the town of Broc - very close to the town of Gruyeres, where the cheese is from. It's part of the Nestle stable of companies, based in nearby Vevey, and after we'd arrived, a few people saw the Nestle sign and complained <em>"you mean, we travelled all this way just to eat <strong>Nestle </strong>chocolate??!"</em> Nestle brand chocolates in Australia are <em>really</em> nothing special. Cailler has nothing to do with that. It has always been a smaller-scale manufacturer that was bought out by Nestle sometime in the past. Apparently only 40% of its production is exported, so it's not very well known outside Switzerland, adding to its allure for me. Unique presents for people back home! </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/816427/148_4828.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/201339/148_4828.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >We were running to a tight schedule without time to spare that afternoon, and I had read many accounts of the delights of the tasting room. I'd heard rumours of all-you-can-eat Swiss chocolate. I looked at my watch and tapped my foot at the laggers straggling off the bus. We were given a guide and taken on a tour, which I'm sure would have been more interesting if I hadn't been looking at my watch and tapping my feet. <em>Tasting room, people! Get a move on. Stop asking stupid questions! Yes, yes, precision equipment, yes, yes, proud and noble history of chocolate making, yep, discovery of crushed hazelnuts, no, you don't want to watch the video of historical production techniques, c'mon people, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!!!</em> </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I was told later that each time my friends looked for me I was standing the near the exit door looked <em>pained.</em> </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Here's a token photo I took before the tasting room. Yes, it's a giant lump of cocoa butter. It's FAT, people. Solid FAT. We could taste bits if we wanted (yes, I want!) and it was not nice. Like scraping your fingernail through lard. We were told that white chocolate is made entirely of this cocoa butter, therefore when you are eating white chocolate, you are essentially eating <strong>solid fat</strong>. This was imparted to us in a very dispassionate way, but the looks of horror on peoples' faces was priceless. </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/583907/CIMG1980.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/821187/CIMG1980.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Here's a lump of solid fat cocoa butter floating in a bucket of cocoa beans. Not for any real purpose. We could also taste the cocoa beans, and they really didn't taste very nice! Turning those beans into the chocolate we eat was a huge process of discovery. Pity I didn't sit and reflect on this magnificence because I was standing by the exit door tapping my foot....</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/69678/CIMG1982.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/950047/CIMG1982.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >And here we are. It was like walking into dreamland. Into every childs' Willy Wonka dream. Row and rows of chocolate there for you to grab and stuff into your mouth. I was off and at it before the guide even got into the room to give us the low-down, standing in front of me. I tried to looked innocent and smile wihout opening my lips and revealing chocolate stained teeth, nodding my head in sympathy when she described bus loads of people who stuff chocolate into their pockets and run away. Oh! I'd never thought of doing that! (damn). Yes, we could eat as much as we wanted, and we could stay as long as we wanted; they would even set up a camp bed in the room if we wanted (ooh, really? Where do you keep it?), but we were not allowed to take any away with us. They also told us there was absolutely no expectation on us that we would buy anything, which of course made me decide I would. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >We only had about 10 minutes, so we were OFF!</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/900537/148_4832.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/4179/148_4832.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >On these tables is an example of <a href="http://www.cailler.ch/en/sor/cla/default.asp">every type of chocolate</a> Cailler makes, except for the blocks. Each tray carried examples of a certain product or line. Go for it, people!</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/753837/148_4830.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/841331/148_4830.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This selection is known as <em>Femina.</em> They were soft pralines - more nougat than chocolate. I liked these, but I'm not so Femina. I like a bit more dark chocolate and more chunks. I was interested to learn that the Swiss prefer milk chocolate over the bitterness of dark, which is why Swiss milk chocolate is so good. Also, you can only be guaranteed of the chocolate using real milk and cream (no powdered stuff) when you buy Swiss or Belgian chocolate. </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/598742/148_4829.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/352202/148_4829.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >These were the <em>Ambassador</em> range. I bought a box of these to bring home, which I posted from London 10 weeks ago, and still haven't received. I hate to think of the condition they'll be in when I get them. This selection had the most amazing flavour I tried - a dark chocolate filled with burnt caramel. <em>Really</em> burnt. It was incredible - I kept going back for more. I recommended it to a friend who immediately spat it into the bin. Evidently strong flavours like that aren't to everybody's taste!<br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/86862/148_4831.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/685889/148_4831.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Plain chocolate square which got rather overlooked in the shadow of everything else. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >In 10-15 minutes we all ate FAR TOO MUCH chocolate. I can't say I was surprised. We all walked out of the room feeling a bit green and queasy, but what an amazing experience it was! Let loose in the shop, we all stocked up - and found some really interesting blocks with flavourings of green tea, black pepper, orange and cocoa nibs etc. I'd report on those but they're sitting on a ship somewhere in the Indian ocean!! </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/224023/148_4824.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/485739/148_4824.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >The view walking out of the factory back to the bus. Picture perfect, n'est-ce-pas? </span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1166705091886040162006-12-21T23:09:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:40:28.798+11:00Dutch Almond Christmas Ring<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/359837/CIMG6735.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/400/519729/CIMG6735.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This is another thing I tasted at one of the <a href="http://esurientes.blogspot.com/2006/08/vegetable-rice-curry.html">baking demonstration classes</a> I sometimes attend. In this case, the description didn't appeal, but the samples handed around certainly did! Also, I'm a fan of traditional European Christmas foods, so that was another pulling point for me.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >It's a sweet shortcrust pastry case with a soft filling made of ground almonds, lemon and glace cherries, topped with toasted flaked almonds and lemon icing. I took this one to a function, so don't have any cross-section images, but because I used natural almond meal (ie ground with skins on) it looked kind of like a sausage roll! I have always <em><strong>hated </strong></em>glace cherries, but the ones I bought from the shop are something else altogether. They're more jellied than chewy, and adding them to the filling worked really well. I think I've come around. Although, if you <strong>really </strong>can't stand them, you can use dried apricots or even those soft raspberry lollies <em>('though our teacher was not entirely approving!)</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I <em>really</em> liked this, and am considering making another for Christmas day. It's not too hard, but there are a couple of steps involved, including making the filling 24 hours in advance. The fact it's non traditional-British will appeal to certain members of my family, who are not big fans of Christmas cake or anything with dried fruit or mixed peel. This is something a bit different, and apparently you can make it into smaller, individual portions if you're looking to give somebody a home-made foodie gift. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >If you're looking for something a bit different, I <em>highly</em> recommend it.<br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Read on for the recipe:<br /></em></strong></span><span class="fullpost"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Dutch Almond Christmas Ring (Kerskrans)</em></strong><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Makes 1 large ring or 8 rolls.</em></strong></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em></em></strong></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Filling:</em></strong></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>200g ground almonds (almond meal)</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>pinch of salt</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>1 egg</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>1/2 cup caster sugar</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>zest 2 lemons</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Mix all ingredients together, cover bowl in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 24 hours. </em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em><strong>Pastry:</strong></em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>185g plain flour</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>2 tablespoons caster sugar</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>25-30mls cold water </em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>pinch salt</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>125g butter, chilled and grated (like grating cheese)</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor. Add butter, process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add water very slowly as you process until pastry form a ball. Tip pastry onto lightly floured work surface, flatten dough into rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em><strong>Extra ingredients:</strong> <strong></strong></em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>60g glace cherries, chopped</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>1 egg, lightly beaten</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>1 teaspoon lemon juice</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>flaked almonds</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Icing sugar</em></span><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong>To make ring:</strong></span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >1: Roll filling into a long sausage shape (approx. 60 cm). Set aside.</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >2: Roll pastry out into a long rectangle measuring approx 60cm x 10cm, trim edges straight.</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >3: Place the filling along centre of pastry, press chopped cherries into filling sausage.</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >4: Lightly brush dough with water, wrap over filling. Place pastry (seam side down) onto flat, greased tray. Form into ring joining ends, brush pastry with egg, sprinkle with almonds. Cover with plastic wrap, place in fridge for 15 minutes.</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >5: Preheat oven Fan forced 180C/ Gas/Elec 200C. Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden.</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >6: When cool, add lemon juice to icing sugar and drizzle over ring. Decorate with more flaked almonds or chopped cherries, if desired. </span></em><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chrismtas" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Christmas</span> </a><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ></span><br /></span></span><span class="fullpost"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ></span></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1166701571340150542006-12-21T22:44:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:36:13.787+11:00Payerne<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/251602/CIMG1992.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/807285/CIMG1992.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Payerne was the beginning of our Festival Of Cheese. And chocolate. Belinda said she was going to write a book about how to lose weight with cheese and chocolate. Using the choir as a test case. If our cholesterol wasn't higher by the end of our Swiss week, then I'll eat another fondue. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Payerne is in western French-speaking Switzerland. We drove past Montreux and near Lausanne to get there. It's a tiny little place of non-importance, set in the picturesque Broye valley. This is not the Switzerland of mountains. This is the Switzerland of rolling pastures and dairy cattle supplying the milk to the many chocolate and cheese factories around the place. Check out that scenery - can't you just imagine the milk the cows eating that grass would make?! </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/218954/148_4810.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/572490/148_4810.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>11th century Payerne abbey<br /></em></span><span style="font-family:arial;">We were hosted by members of a <a href="http://www.chorege.ch/societe.htm">local choir</a>, who were the sweetest people. They ranged from school teachers to farmers, and those of us who weren't billeted with families in town, stayed on working dairy farms, supplying the milk to the chocolate factories! In that part of Switzerland English is not so widely spoken, so most of us got to try out our high-school French vocab. Being hosted gives you such a wonderful opportunity to really absorb the local culture and make new friends, and our time in Payerne was a definitely a highlight of the tour. </span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >There's not a lot in Payerne, but it does have an amazing 11th century abbey, and Roman ruins. Our hosts organised our time, and we started the day touring the abbey and hearing to an organ recital. I kept touching the stones trying to absorb the fact that they'd been there 900 years.</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/703959/22%20Wine.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/887418/22%20Wine.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >To relax after the recital they took us to the town council wine cellars (do we have those in Australia?!!) for a pre-lunch wine-tasting. Nothing like wine at 11am! My memory is a bit hazy (!) but I believe the wine was local, Broye-valley Swiss wine. Property of the town council. A nice way to start lunch!</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/421676/24%20Lunch.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/633223/24%20Lunch.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Lunch next, in the nearby town of Grand Cours. In the hall of the local primary school, actually. Built 1903, so an atmospheric hall! We walked through another set of winding medieval Swiss streets to get there. Yawn. Yeah, just another set of beautiful medieval Swiss streets....</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/772408/Payerne%20raclette.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/114124/Payerne%20raclette.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >We had been told we'd be having "some cheese" for lunch. "Some" was an understatement. Having already had cheese for dinner and breakfast, we were in for a lunch of melted cheese. On potatoes. Otherwise known as Raclette. It was very cool! There were long tables set up with many raclette machines, for us to make our own melted cheese. Basically they worked like mini grills. You placed your pre-sliced piece of raclette cheese into the little shovel thing, and placed it under the grill until it melted and then you poured it over your potatoes. Like so....:<br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/669614/CIMG1979.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/149345/CIMG1979.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Mmmmmm......melty cheese!</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Raclette cheese is naturally waxy, and not so nice to eat when cold. It's made to be melted, and it does so really quickly. And we had <em>token greenery</em> too. To offset the fattiness, we had bowls of little pickled gherkins and onions to eat with it, which was actually really appreciated. Just melted cheese on potatoes could get a bit much....</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/441045/26%20Lunch.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/476958/26%20Lunch.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >They also gave us local bacon, and in great act-now, ask-later Aussie style we chucked them on top of the machine to grill, like we were making breakfast. We made pretty serious messes on the grill top, before we were told the the bacon usually just gets added to the cheese in the shovels <em>underneath</em>. Oops...</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>(<a href="http://caperberrygravy.blogspot.com/">Belinda</a> took that bacon shot - I really like it)</em></span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/894467/148_4810.jpg"></a><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/301574/148_4822.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/682265/148_4822.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >So, here's a plate of the finished Raclette product. Melted cheese poured over steamed potatoes, alongside a pile of bacon and a few pickles. Knowing we were going to visit a chocolate factory after lunch didn't make us eat any more lightly, to be honest. A light, healthy lunch - not really. Fun - definitely!</span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/541574/38%20Dinner.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/213102/38%20Dinner.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >After our concert that night the choir members put on a supper for us, in the same school hall, bringing along local specialities they made themselves. Apparently the local food of the Broye valley is The Tart. It was a Tart-a-Palooza! Tarts with onion, tarts with cheese, tarts with bacon, tarts with plums, berry tarts, tarts, TARTS, TARTS!</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Beautiful tarts of course, and a lovely atmosphere. Especially when our hosts suddenly broke into local folksongs for us. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house...</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Payerne" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Payerne</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1166186034778515992006-12-15T22:59:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:40:44.568+11:00Low fat egg nog cake<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/727424/CIMG6707.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/299591/CIMG6707.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Yeah, back on the low-fat delights again. And it's definitely Christmas. I can tell because there's about 3,000 people outside out house, checking out the lights on the street where I live, preventing me from getting home after rehearsal. Aiee! Yes, it's Christmas again.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >I thought this cake was another success from Alice Medrich's <em>Chocolate and the art of low-fat desserts</em>, from which I've made a few things. And if you're looking to make something for a Christmas function, but hoping not to totally blow out the calories, this is a suggestion. </span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >It's just a variation of her basic pound cake recipe, adding fresh grated nutmeg, a liquor soak of brandy and rum and an alcoholic glaze.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >If you haven't made an Alice Medrich low-fat recipe before, here's a tip: she's totally pedantic and tedious. You'll end up with 4 bowls around the benches and going crazy wondering whether the last blend was on fast or medium speed, muttering to yourself about insufferably bossy recipes. She's a perfectionist, and with low-fat recipes like hers, I guess you need to be. Just be prepared. This is no just-add-water cake mix! </span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >She notes that this cake is slightly moister the next day. I can't vouch for that as we ate it a few hours after baking, but I think she'd be right. It was still a bit dense and a tad dry; the liquor soak was appreciated. But if you're organised, do make it before hand (and then do leave me a comment letting me know if she was right).</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >PS - Don't use pre-grated nutmeg. That's missing the point! Whole nutmegs are on the same shelves as the other ground spices at the supermarket. Get some of those.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><strong><em>Read on for the recipe:<br /></em></strong></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="fullpost"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><em><strong><span style="font-family:arial;">Low Fat Egg Nog Pound Cake<br />from Alice Medrich's "Chocolate and the art of low-fat desserts" (out of print)</span></strong><br />1 1/2 cups sifted plain flour<br />1/4 teaspoon baking powder<br />1/4 bicarb of soda<br />3/8 teaspoon salt (I use a pinch)<br />1 egg<br />2 egg whites<br />1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract<br />1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk<br />5 tablespoons unsalted butter (70 grams)<br />1 cup sugar<br />1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg<br /><strong>Liquor soak:</strong><br />3 tablespoons brandy<br />3 tablespoons dark rum<br />2 tablespoons sugar<br /><strong>Glaze:<br /></strong>1/4 cup icing sugar<br />1 tablespoon brandy<br />1 tablespoon rum<br /><br />Serves 10-12. Best if baked 1 day before serving<br />1: Preheat oven to 325F (170C). Spray 5-cup loaf pan, or 5-6 cup Bundt pan.<br />2: Whisk to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift together. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the whole egg with the egg whites. Set aside. Combine the vanilla and buttermilk. Set aside.<br />3: Cut the butter into chunks and place in an electric mixer bowl. Beat to soften, about 1 minutes. Add sugar and nutmeg gradually, beating constantly for about 3 minutes. Gradually dribble beaten eggs into sugar/nutmeg mixture, beating a medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. On low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture, scraping the bowl as necessary. On medium-high speed, gradually dribble in half of the buttermilk mixture, scraping the bowl as necessary. On low speed, beatin half the remaining flour. On medium-high speed, beat in the rest of the buttermilk, always scraping the bowl as necessary. On low speed, beat in the remaining flour mixture until well combined. Batter may look slightly curdled; this is OK.<br />4: Scrape batter into pan and bake until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, the top is golden, and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. In a tube pan the cake will bake in 35-40 minutes; in a loaf pan, 65-70 minutes.<br />5: While cake is baking, prepare liquor soak: Simmer brandy and rum with sugar for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool. Also prepare a glaze: combine icing sugar with the brandy and rum.<br />6: Cool cake for 10-15 minutes on a rack over a plate to catch drips. If using a tube pan, run a knife around the tube if necessary to release cake. Invert the pan and unmold to cool completely.<br />7: Plunge a skewer into the cake all over. Spoon the soaking liquid slowly over the cake. Remove the plate from beneath the rack and collect the excess liquid. Replace plate under rack and spoon the liquid over the cake again. Repeat as often as necessary until all syrup has soaked into the cake. Brush the glaze over the top and sides and centre core of cake. Cool cake completely before storing or serving. Cake is slightly moister the next day.<br /><br />Calories per serving: 171<br />Fat: 5.44g<br />% calories from fat: 28%<br />Protein: 2.96g<br />Carbohydrates: 28g<br />Cholesterol: 30.9 mg.<br /><strong>Tagged with </strong></em></span><em><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Christmas" rel="tag"><strong><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Christmas baking</span> </strong></a><br /></em></span><p></p></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1165909236774513292006-12-12T18:28:00.000+11:002006-12-12T18:42:20.513+11:00Unusual Lindt flavours for Christmas<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/640/790218/CIMG6725.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/701157/CIMG6725.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">This is a good one: Cinnamon and coriander. Interesting. Unusual! Seasonally flavoured things seem to be all the go in Europe. Even though I was in Dresden in mid-October, the Christmas spirit was getting into full swing. One day I noticed workers putting up the street decorations for the Christmas markets. Pretty funny, as it was a sunny 24 degrees that day, and I felt like I was back in Australia!<br />To get to my hotel I had to walk through the main train station - so clean I thought armies of mop-wielding robots were hiding in cupboards - and past a great snack shop, which had a WALL of Ritter Sport chocolate and a WALL of Lindt - in weird and wonderful flavours. We get nothing weird in Australia. Intense Orange is about as unusual as we get. Yawn and bah!<br />I'm all about the Lindt flavours, and the woman got to know me pretty quickly as the weirdo girl who couldn't speak German and kept buying truckloads of chocolate blocks. They had everything from Intense Pear, to Espresso, to Passionfruit Yoghurt to Strawberry Pannacotta. The Christmas flavours got me though: I tried Lindt cinnamon and coriander chocolate toffee-coated macadamia nuts and caramel apple Lindt balls. Hello - <em>CARAMEL APPLE LINDT BALLS!!!!!</em> Can you GET any better than that?? Why don't we get caramel apple Lindt balls in Australia??! C'mon Lindt management - give us the good stuff. Surely the Australian palate isn't so parochial and nervous. Have some trust in our sense of adventure! At least try some seasonal flavours on us eager chocolate eaters.<br />Yeah, so none of those caramel apple balls made it back past Prague and I ate the entire bag in one sitting. Yeah, so what?!? But this bar has made it, and is my last block of chocolate from the many I bought back - including the 5 <em><a href="http://www.greenandblacks.com/uk/index.php">Green & Black's</a></em> blocks I bought at mega-cheap prices in Wales. Is that stuff amazing, or what!! </span> <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1165886865489050812006-12-12T12:04:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:41:26.876+11:00Cherry Clafouti<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/230310/Niki%20cake3.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/371366/Niki%20cake3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >It's cherry season here now, and incredibly, despite the crazy weather we've had in the past month, from frost and snow to 42 degree scorchers, the cherry harvest has managed to be a bumper one. My grandmother went on an excursion with her old Italian pensioner group to a cherry farm and came home with kilos of the things (I <em>can't wait</em> until I'm retired and can go on pensioner excursions!).</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >There are a few things you can do with a huge bowl of cherries, besides just eating them, but I was looking for something quick, and cherry clafouti is one of the quickest things. It's basically a sweet batter pudding studded with fruit. The point of using cherries is that the juices explode in your mouth as you bite into them, so you musn't stone the fruit. But you might want to inform your guests of that! I heard a sickening crunch from somebody who missed that announcement... </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Not stoning the cherries means the whole thing takes about 5 minutes to make. I used a recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's <em>River Cottage Cookbook, </em>but despite the fact I love Hugh and his shows, and find him a bit sexy, I didn't much like his clafouti recipe. The batter came out really stodgy and heavy, rather than the light, pancakey texture I'd wanted. His recipe uses 3 eggs, and mine were very big, so maybe I should have cut down on one? Maybe I shouldn't have blended it so thoroughly (although he even recommends the use of a food processor). Perhaps it just needs a little leavning, such as baking powder??</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >He's right though, in that it's best served lukewarm or cold, not straight out of the oven. Good if you need to make something to be served later. </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/385951/Niki%20cake2.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/327837/Niki%20cake2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>NB - <a href="http://www.caperberrygravy.blogspot.com/">Belinda </a>took these photos, as my camera is away being fixed after it exploded in the chocolate factory in Switzerland! Apparently it will take a month to get back, so I've since borrowed one from a friend. Thanks Belinda!</em></span><br /><strong><em><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Read on for the recipe:</span></em></strong><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><strong><em><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Cherry Clafouti</span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Slightly varied from "The River Cottage Cookbook", Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall </span></em></strong><br /><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Butter or cooking spray for greasing</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >450g black or red cherries, washed but unstoned</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >75g caster sugar</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >125g plain flour</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >a pinch of salt</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >3 eggs, lightly beaten</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >300ml milk</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >a splash of vanilla essence</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >flaked almonds</span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >icing sugar for dusting</span></em> *<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><em><span style="font-family:Arial;">*A 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder might work wonders on the batter.</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family:Arial;">*A few drops of almond essence could work well also</span></em></span></span><br /><span class="fullpost"><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Preheat oven to 180C. Li</span></em><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >ghtly grease a 25cm-diameter round or tin baking dish, or a rectangular one of similar size. Remove the stalks from the cherries but do not stone them. Toss them with a third of the sugar and spread them in a single layer in the dish. </span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the remaining sugar. Mix well, drawing in the flour from the sides, then beat in the milk and vanilla, a little at a time, until you have a smooth batter (you can use a food processor for this). Pour over the cherries, and add a handful of the flaked almonds over the top. Bake for about 35 minutes, until lightly browned and puffed up like a Yorkshire pudding. </span></em><br /><em><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Best eaten lukewarm, or cold. Dust with icing sugar just before serving plain or with cream.</span></em></span><br /><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cherries" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >cherries</span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1165481047790777802006-12-08T08:27:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:41:05.040+11:00Salmon & noodles with mirin dressing....dinner in 15 minutes<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1024/210711/CIMG6716.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/400/720878/CIMG6716.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I've finally got around to reading the December issue of <a href="http://www.donnahay.com.au/">Donna Hay</a> magazine. It only arrived about 3 weeks ago, and it's not like I have many other pressing concerns stopping me from reading it! But while lazing about in the swimming pool a few days ago, Donna Hay in my wet hands, I noticed a <em>'10 meals in 10 minutes'</em> section about noodles. I don't eat a lot of noodles or pasta, but I do make an exception for soba noodles, which are made primarily of buckwheat (well, should be all buckwheat, but we're talking the ones you buy in supermarkets here!).<br />I also like salmon and am trying to eat more of it, in place of the red meat I love. It's so <em><strong>easy</strong></em> to throw a steak on the grill, with a few veggies or salad and have dinner ready in 10 minutes. Much quicker than pasta! This meal promised to be ready in 10 minutes, and featured Japanese flavours and salmon; all good things, especially in this sunny Melbourne summer.<br />It <em>was</em> a quick meal; probably more 15 minutes than 10, and I was very impressed. I made a few changes, in typical style:<br />-Didn't have soba noodles, but had something similar called 'multigrain noodles'. They also cook very quickly and have similar texture. They had them in the local Asian grocery and I was curious. They're good, but soba are better.<br />-I doubled the amount of sesame seeds, and toasted them for a minute or so. I wouldn't usually bother doing that, but now realise the difference it makes. Yum!<br />-Didn't bother taking off the salmon skin, cos I love it. Yes, it makes it fattier, but it's the fish equivalent of pork cracking! Mmmm.....pork crackling...<br />-Going to the cupboards for mirin, I discovered the bottle I had was no longer there. Hmmmm. Did a bit of Googling, and discovered a substitute for mirin is sake mixed with sugar. I thought that worked really well; for the 4 tablespoons of mirin in the recipe, I used 4 tablespoons of sake and 1.5 tablespoons caster sugar. I'd reduce that to 1 tablespoon in the future, but I don't like things too sweet.<br /><br />Tastewise, this has a great combination of sweet, tangy and salty. I prefer salt to sweet, so would skew things in that direction a bit more next time. I'd also take my salmon off the grill earlier. I tend to undercook or overcook salmon; one day I'll get it right!!<br />Don't be tempted to skip the pickled ginger; it really makes the dish. My packet cost about $2 from a random Asian grocery store in Preston. It's easy stuff to find.<br /><em><strong>Read on for the recipe:</strong><br /></em><span class="fullpost"><br /><em><strong>Salmon & soba noodles with mirin dressing</strong><br />Enough for 2 (or 1 dinner, one lunch for work)<br /><br />300g (10 oz) dried soba noodles<br />vegetable oil for brushing<br />2 x 150g salmon fillets, skin removed (I used 1 large fillet, skin on)<br />1/4 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves<br />salt & cracked pepper<br /><strong>Mirin dressing:</strong><br />2-3 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds<br />2 teaspoons chopped pickled ginger<br />2 tablespoons soy sauce<br />2 tablespoons lemon juice<br />4 tablespoons mirin<br />salt & cracked pepper<br /><br /><strong>Mirin dressing:</strong> Place sesame seeds, ginger, soy, lemon, mirin, salt & pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside;<br /><br />Place noodles in a medium saucepan of boiling water and cook until ready. Soba noodles are quick, and should take about 3-5 minutes. Drain and set aside;<br />Brush the salmon with oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Heat a medium saucepan and cook salmon to your liking;<br />Place the noodles and half the mirin dressing in a bowl and toss to coat. Divide the noodles between bowls and top with the salmon, coriander and remainder of the dressing to serve. </em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Tagged with </span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/salmon" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >salmon</span> </a><br /></span>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786970.post-1165487922895910912006-12-07T20:40:00.000+11:002007-02-17T16:36:32.386+11:00Locarno, Switzerland<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/942819/CIMG1937.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/336630/CIMG1937.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>View of Madonna del Sasso church and the town of Locarno in the Swiss lakes district.</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Our first stop in Switzerland was in the south, in the region called Ticino; Tessin in German. Looking at a map, Ticino is a little blip that extends south into Italy and seems unusually out of place; and historically the area <em>was </em>Italian, but it's been under Swiss rule now for hundreds of years. I love the way the locals have retained their Italianness; it's rare to hear any French or German spoken, unless by visitors from the other cantons.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >To all intents and purposes it <em>is</em> Italian: they speak Italian, the climate is Mediterranean, it produces good wine, there's spaghetti and pizza on the menus and excellent gelati shops. However, it also has the neatness and order of the Swiss, a few more German and French signs and the cost of living of the Swiss. </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >So, to us, even though we'd crossed a border it felt like we were still in Italy - until we saw the prices. Suddenly everything was 3 times more expensive. Welcome to Switzerland!</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >The city of Locarno is perfectly situated on a lake (part of the Italian & Swiss lakes district). Our original intent was to stay in Como and look for George Clooney but...<strong>helloooo expensive accommodation!</strong> Next idea was Lugano just over the Swiss border, but that was booked out. 3rd choice was Locarno and I'm so pleased that it came through as it was definitely a highlight of the trip. Half the town is built up the mountains nearby, and the other part along the lakeside. It has everything; beautiful old buildings, cobbled alleyways, a large piazza (home to the International Film Festival), yachting, a funicular and cable cars up the mountain. And a casino....where we didn't spend any time! </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/877868/147_4739.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/63227/147_4739.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >We went for a movie-star walk by the yachts in the lake at sunset and decided to shell out for a nice dinner at a hotel by the lakeside, rationalising that we were being billeted for the next few days and we wouldn't be paying for meals. After quickly eliminating lamb from our choices (do we want to take out a bank loan?!) we noticed that a local speciality seemed to be rotisserie chicken. Served either with french fries or risotto Milanese (!). Compared to what we'd just come from the dinner seemed pricey, but the food was spectacular and the view of the twinkling lights across the lake and into the mountains was beautiful. </span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/441594/147_4751.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/67453/147_4751.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Poultry for sale in a butchers. Heads and feathers intact. Pluck your own...hmmm!</em></span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/494997/147_4744.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/765482/147_4744.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Latest Swiss fashions. You really don't want to know the price....</em></span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/671624/147_4775.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/363973/147_4775.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >We found an excellent chocolate shop near the entry to the funicular up to the Madonna del Sasso church. I think it was called <em>Attuale</em>, and I think it was a chain. I'm sure I saw one in Bern...or maybe Luzern. You could buy bags of mixed-flavour offcuts, which is great for somebody like me who can't make a decision and wants to try everything. The chocolate was excellent, as you'd expect from Swiss chocolate. Wish we had chains like this in Melbourne! </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://caperberrygravy.blogspot.com/">Belinda</a> bought a slab of curry chocolate to hand around the bus, which grossed everybody out until they tried it. Milk chocolate with curry seeds sprinkled on top; surprisingly very good!<br /></span><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/855690/147_4776.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/626855/147_4776.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Piles of chocolate truffles from the same shop.</em></span><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/629730/Locarno17.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/614972/Locarno17.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Market, main town square</em></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I don't know if the local market in the main town square is a weekly event, but we happened to come across it in the morning, and spent some time wandering around. They had the usual trinkets, but the food was where it stood out. We tried everything from pastries, to cheese, to deep fried little fish from the lake to.....</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/872701/147_4789.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/924920/147_4789.jpg" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >...horsemeat salami. Mmmmm! Well, come on, I HAD to try it!! I knew it would scare people, but horsemeat is still eaten regularly throughout Italy and I wanted to have a taste. And, yeah, I was probably taking my health in my hands by buying <strong>unrefrigerated horse sausage covered in flies from a open air stand on a hot day</strong>, but I just peeled off the white layer -although I did first wonder if I was supposed to eat it- and took a bite. It wasn't bad at all...maybe a little hairy (OK, you didn't want to know that, did you?). It had a very rich, spicy flavour and felt quite fatty. Although it was small it was too much to eat, and after a few bites, mine sat in the back pocket of my bus seat for a few days while I forgot about it. Yeah, you don't want to know what it looked like a week later..... </span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/1600/403048/147_4781.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3290/613/320/555763/147_4781.jpg" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">A more palatable street-side purchase from a patisserie stand. My friend loves all things chestnut, and this little Mont Blanc cake made with chestnut puree was her dream <em>(no warm horsemeat salami for her...)</em> You even get a bonus view of the garish-coloured seats on our Italian bus - wow. This place was a chain and operated from a stand on the footpath. How I wish we had such a culture in Australia!<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Tagged with </em></span></span><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Locarno" rel="tag"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><em>Locarno</em></span> </a>Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16724833882784937754noreply@blogger.com2