The first time I can remember coming across Clafoutis was in the early 1990′s and I had a housemate who knew a lot about food, and who tried lots of new dishes and loved to bake.  One afternoon we decided to try a cherry clafoutis recipe, which I think was from her Maggie Beer book.

I love what Maggie has done for the Australian/German cooking traditions of the Barossa, and have grown to love her style of cooking, but to a fairly new cook, some of her recipes were… well.. challenging I guess.  They can be quite loose with their measurements at times.   We’d had a few recipes that just didn’t really work until we played around with them a bit. From reading the description of the dish I was expecting a kind of tea cake around fruit, maybe like a lemon delicious?  But the batter, well  - it was weird, and very runny.  I think we actually threw it out, knowing enough about cakes to know that it was never going to bake, but not knowing enough about clafoutis to know that that was how it was supposed to be.

The Abbotsford Convent Farmers’ Market this week dished me up some gloriously ripe cherries from Smith’s, the Early Burlat variety.  I like to be inspired by what I can buy at the market, and a kilo of ripe cherries HAD to be inspirational.  As much as I like them fresh, I figured this was my chance to right the wrongs of the past, and be brave with the batter.

I consulted the french baking oracle, Michel Roux, but I didn’t like the sound of one single egg, and being baked in a tart shell, so I expanded my research and cobbled this together from a variety of sources.

• Ingredients
• 450g of pitted cherries
• 4 eggs
• 75 grams castor sugar
• 330ml single cream (I used Schultz Organic cream, which is quite thick, so I used 1/3 milk)
• 35 grams plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla.
• Method:
• Preheat the oven to 160° Centigrade. Butter an overproof shallow casserole dish.
  Places eggs, sugar, cream and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until combined.
  Add the flour and whisk until smooth.
  Pour cherries into the casserole dish and spread evenly.
  Pour over the custard.
  Bake for 50 – 60 mins until set.

It was deliciously eggy and cherry-y and I can’t wait to make it again.

Ultimately, I cook for others because I want to be liked.  If you bring the cake, someone will always be your friend.  So I like to have a few standby, easy to make, crowd pleasing recipes on hand.

Tonight we had a gathering to celebrate my neighbours 86th birthday.  No small occasion I’m sure you’ll agree.  But apart from “bring a plate” I had no idea what to prepare, for how many, sweet? savory? *shrug*.

I toyed with Quiche, pavlova, chocolate eclairs…as I was out last night it had to be something I could whip up after work, and as it was raining, with something in my pantry.  Aha!  Gougères! Small choux pastry puffs of cheesy goodness.

This recipe started with Damien Pignolet in his fantastic book “French”, and grew from there.

Preheat oven to 220 Degrees c

150ml water

150ml milk (fullfat preferably)

120g butter (cut into small cubes) ( 6 metric tablespoons i.e. 20ml each)

150 plain flour (sifted onto a sheet of greaseproof paper) (1.2 metric cups of flour i.e. 250ml)

4 eggs lightly beaten

about 3 tablespoons of cheese cut into a 5mm dice (Gruyere is traditional, but Comte or Cheddar is just as good)

A few sprigs of a herb to complement – I like chervil, but parsley or celery leaves would all be ok.  If you’re not sure, try some of the herb and the cheese together.  If they taste OK, then use them!  If they don’t, choose something else or leave it out all together.

A pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Heat the water, milk and butter in a smallish saucepan over a low-medium heat.  You want the butter to melt before it comes to the boil.

When it boils, take the saucepan off the hear and “shoot”  the flour in, all at once and stir until it forms a thick paste.

Put the saucepan back on a medium heat, and stir the paste for 30secs to a minute until it forms a smooth ball and comes away from the sides.

Put the paste into a stand mixer (or you can do this stage by hand in the saucepan) and leave to cool for five minutes.  With the mixer on slow (about 2) and using the paddle mixer (or K-blade) add the eggs in small amounts (4 – 5 batches) mixing very well in between each batch.   You will have a smooth shiny paste.

Stir in the cheese and herbs, and taste for salt and pepper.  I like to use celery salt (you can make this at home easily).

Spoon or pipe teaspoon size portions onto trays lined with baking paper, about 20 to the tray.

Bake for about 8 mins until the puffs are puffy and brown, then turn the oven down to 160degrees and cook for a further ten.

Serve warm with a glass of champagne makes about 50 puffs.

The mix is quite forgiving, you can have it ready to go, and wait until the last minute to bake them.  You can bake them for the first 8 mins, then cool them, and do the second baking later (they will flop, but will rise again.  They won’t be as good as fresh cooked, but they will be perfectly acceptable).  You can freeze them once they are fully cooked, so long as you freeze them when they are still warm.

These photo show the various stages of turning the paste into batter.

Winter well-and-truly struck Melbourne last week.  It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a “proper” winter, cold and drizzly, requiring stew and stodge to keep the inner fires burning.

Last Sunday I wanted a cup of tea and a pikelet or  two.  Warm liquid, and delicious stodge! While I was mixing up a batch, I noticed the organic oats I’d bought a few weeks ago.  Hmm.. Oaten Pikelets?  yes please.

I cooked the whole batch, and froze the extras which became my “toaster porridge” during the week, toasted, served with some poached quince and yogurt.

So good, I made a batch today purely for breakfast purposes!  I also added some spelt flakes.  for extra wholegrain goodness.

Makes about 10 toaster-sized ovals.

1½ cups rolled oats

1 cup spelt flakes (or use all oats)

¾ cup SR flour

½ teaspoon baking power

¼ cup caster sugar

¾ cup milk

2 eggs lightly beaten

90g butter, melted

splash of vanilla extract

pinch of salt.

In a food processor, whiz 2 cups of oats &/or spelt flakes until they are fine.  Add them to a bowl, with the unprocessed oats, the flour, baking powder and sugar.  Stir together. Melt butter gently.  Add eggs and butter and half the milk, stir to combine, adding extra milk as you go.  You want a thick consistency like cream.  It’s hard to tell how much milk the oats will soak up, so you may need to add more/less to make a good pouring consistency.   Add vanilla and salt to taste.

Stand at least 20 mins, adjust consistency.  Heat a heavy bottomed frypan over a medium heat.  Swirl some butter in a cook the pikelets until golden brown.

Freeze between pieces of freezer wrap and toast to serve!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the markets with friend Mellie, half of Tummyrumbles. We spied “tamed nettles” lovingly picked off their stems and bagged for us by one of the stall holder’s sons as his “pin money” job.  I quietly suggested that nettle gnocchi may have to be in order to Mellie.  I’ve seen her gnocchi posts, and was hoping she’d pick up the hint (and some nettles!).  She did, and she bought nettles and invited me over to dinner.  To complete the trifecta, she has now also graciously passed on the recipe, in the form of a guest post.  Thanks for the gnocchi Mellie!  Enjoy the post everyone.

++++++++++++++

Part of what I did with my market haul this weekend.

2 – 3 chicken frames (carcasses)

2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

2 medium brown onions peeled and sliced roughly

2  carrots chopped roughly

2 sticks of celery chopped roughly

1 piece of lemon zest

2 – 3 bay leaves

parsley stalks

6 peppercorns

Place everything in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring gently to a simmer, skimming the surface of the stock regularly.  Leave at a gentle simmer for 3 hours or so.  Strain and discard all solids.  Cool stock and refrigerate.  Remove any fat that has risen. Freeze in 1 cup portions.

If you want a richer, darker stock, roast frames and bones for 20 mins or so at 180 degrees before making stock.

Chestnut and Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

(serves 4 for entree)

400 grams cooked and peeled chestnuts

200 grams jerusalem artichokes roasted for about 20mins in duck or pork fat until soft

200 grams shallots, finely diced

2 garlic gloves finely sliced

Thyme sprigs

Bay leaves

60ml brandy

Water

Milk

Seasoning

Pancetta or good quality bacon

The main ingredients

In a medium size saucepan melt a knob of butter and add some olive oil.  Add the shallots and fry until translucent, add garlic and cook for a few minutes.

Add jerusalem artichokes and chestnuts (reserve 3 chestnuts for garnish) and stir well.  Add 1 – 2 bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, 60 ml Brandy and water to just cover.  Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, covered until everything is soft (45 – 60 mins)

Not the most attractive soup

Use a hand blender or a Mouli to puree the soup.  I used a Mouli as Iknew I’d left quite a few of the inner shells on the chestnuts and the Mouli would separate these our for me.  Pass the puree through a sieve into the rinsed pan and warm through before tasting and adjusting seasoning.  Add up to 1/2 cup of milk or cream to thin the soup to the preferred consistency.

Delicious garnishes

Take 12 thing slices of pancetta  about 10 cm long and fry gently in a small frypan to render the fat and crisp the pancetta.

Remove and drain well.  Fry thin slices of the reserved chestnuts for a few minutes until they are crispy.  Remove and drain.

Serve with a few bits of pancetta, some chestnuts and a sprig on thyme as garnish.

Matt says ” I add the roasted Jerusalem Artichokes to give a little more earthiness to the soup. Try Cheesenutz in Northern Victoria for ready peeled chestnuts”

It’s a delicious soup and it’s a great tip – I really don’t love peeling chestnuts.  Unfortunately they are all sold out this year.

A few weeks ago we got together for a feast of Momofuku themed dinner party.  Master baker Anne brought along some “Compost Cookies” from David Chang’s Milk Bar restaurant.   They were chewy and crunchie and salty and sweet and very very moorish.  I was stuffed full of pork, and there was “Crack Pie” to follow, but I couldn’t resist the cookies.

A bit of research under my belt, and a takeaway cup full of used coffee grounds from my favourite cafe to hand, I set about to bake some delicious treats.

I have adapted the recipe given by creator Christine Tosi on American TV recently.

It seems that most bloggers have omitted the used coffee grounds from the recipe, and so did Christina Tosi in the version of the recipe posted online.  I know it’s not unusual for published chef recipes of to omit something small from a recipe that will affect the flavour profile; but leaving out something so well know seems really strange.  Perhaps I’m just plain adventurous, but I think it makes a small but significant difference to the flavour.

I took them to work and bribed the boss, and a whole bunch of  the blokes in the office.  Even got my favourite barista on-side (compensation for providing the used coffee grounds).  I was upfront about the ingredients, and no-one thought they would be disgusting.  So perhaps my office is full of adventurous people too?  I do think they are a “blokey” biscuit, the savoury, crunchy flavour suits the men-folk.  I didn’t like my version as much as I liked Anne’s, I think I will try a different mix of “bits” next time.

So .. here’s the recipe.

Cream together:

225g (1 cup) butter

220 (1 cup) grams granulated (white) sugar

160 g (¾ cup) demerera sugar  (or light brown sugar – see note below)

1 tablespoon corn syrup

(I used the Kitchenaid, with the paddle attachment, cream for about 3 mins)

Add 2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

2 tablespoons of used coffee grounds

Mix on slow/medium until combined, then increase speed and beat for 10 mins.  Mic will be white and smooth and very airy.

Meanwhile..

Sift together the dry ingredients.

260 g (1¾ cups) plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons salt

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold through the dry ingredients.  You don’t want to overmix it.

Now for the fun!

Add 1½ cups cut,crushed or crumbled “sweet things”

AND 1½ cups cut, crushed or crumbled “savoury things”

I used Twix Pods and Peanut M&Ms for sweet, Pretzels, Doritos and Clix crackers for savoury.

Using a small icecream scoop (about 3cm across), or a teaspoon to divide into small mounds.

Pop these into the fridge for 30 mins, and leave them there while you preheat the oven to 190º

Place cookie “mounds” widely spaced on a silicon paper lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 15 mins. These will spread a lot so leave lots of space.

Bake for 9 mins, until bubbly and spread to about 7cm diamieter and lightly golden brown.

Leave them to cool for 2 – 3 mins before carefully transferring to a wire rack.  They will be quite soft for a while.

Makes about 60 cookies.

So, next time, I will add chocolate bits, and NOT coloured M&Ms, possibly a few bits of oat, and salty chips instead of the crackers.

The recipes I looked at called for Light Brown Sugar, but I only had dark, and had a packet of Demerera, so I substituted.   I think the light brown would be better.

I would love to hunt out butterscotch chips as well, so if you know where to get some, please let me know.

The coffee is definitely a must! It adds a base note to the flavour and a very subtle coffee aroma.

This delicious torte is actually pretty easy to make, and works well with frozen or preserved cherries, but is perhaps best in the middle of cherry season.   The fresh local juicey cherries that I buy from the Farmers’ Markets  were my inspiration to try this recipe. That and I almost always have all the ingredients I need in my pantry, so it’s easy to whip up, and a good way to use up left over egg whites.

I was handed some egg whites by my neighbour the other day – 2 hours later I handed back one of these. 

What I really like about this recipe is that it uses many of the same ingredients as macarons, so when I’ve had a frustrating day baking them badly, I whip this up to build my self confidence again.

Sour cherries like Morellos are particularly good in this torte, which fills the house with beautiful smells of vanilla and butter – I wish someone would make a candle that smells like it.

This recipe originally comes from Karen Martini and was published in the Saturday Age recipe.  I’ve made a few minor changses to suit me better.

Ingredients

180 g salted butter

1 vanilla bean

5 egg whites

pinch salt

340 g pure icing sugar, sifted (extra for dusting)

110g plain flour

100g ground almonds

7.5 ml (1.5 teaspoons) almond essence (bitter almond is very good!)

40g flaked almonds

300g cherries, pitted and halved

Preheat oven to 180°C  (or 160°C fan-forced). Grease a 24cm x 5cm fluted tart tin with a loose base (or line with silicon paper).

Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the beans out and place in a small saucepan.  Chop the vanilla pod into small pieces and also add to the small saucepan. Melt butter in the saucepan and cook over a medium heat for 4 -5 mins until the mixture turns dark and smells nutty. Be brave. It’s the nuttieness that makes this torte.

Strain the butter into a bowl, discard the solids, and cool to room temperature.

Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Add half icing sugar and combine, then fold in the remaining sugar, flour and ground almonds.  Be gentle, but not wimpy (and don’t bother looking for le macaronnage thankfully that’s not necessary for this recipe).

Stir through the burnt vanilla butter and almond essence. Pour mixture into the tin and place cherries on top, scatter with almond flakes, reserve a few cherries for garnish if you wish.  The recipe makes a bit too much to be contained by my tart tin – you can fill to about 2mm from top, so I pop the extra into cupcake tins (makes 2 – 3) with sliced cherries and bake these for 20 mins. Make sure you fill the empty cupcake depressions with water to stop the cakes over cooking.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the tart is puffed and just set. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Dust with icing sugar and garnish with a few cherries.

But this weekend, I have a 6 day break from work, and due to Melbourne Gastronome’s review, a hankering to try the pork bun recipe.

So this is what they are supposed to look like according to the foodstyled book.

And this is what they did look like, according to some food savvy bloggers who styled them quite beautifully at a potluck dinner on Saturday night.   (Thanks for the photo Claire)

The recipes is based on the one in David Chang’s book, but I have made some adjustments for Australian measurements, my preferred methods and tinkered with the pork flavour to suit my palate a bit better. A standard Australian tablespoon is 20ml. A US one is 15ml.

Steamed buns
1 x 20ml Tablespoon dried yeast
1.5 cups water (37° Celcius)

Warm bowl of mixer with dough hook fitted by filling with warm tap water and leaving to sit while you measure the water for the dough. Empty bowl, fit to the mixer, pour in water and add yeast. Stir slowly with dough hook until dissolved.

Add
4½ x 20ml tablespoons of sugar
2½ x 20ml spoons of skim milk powder
¾ x 20ml tablespoon of salt
1 x 5 ml teaspoon (Rounded) of baking powder
1 x 5 ml teaspoon of baking soda

Stir slowly with dough hook to combine.

Add 4½ cups plain or bread flour and
drop 3 x 20ml tablespoons of lard (or vegetable shortening if you must) on top.

Turn on to low setting and knead for 8 – 10 mins until it forms a soft, but not sticky ball.

Put into a lightly oiled bowl and sit in a warm place until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and turn it out on to a board. Cut into half, and then each half into four pieces. Slightly roll each piece and cut in 25g pieces. (recipe made 48 for me). Cover with cling film and leave for 30 mins.

Cut pieces of baking parchment (silicon paper or Glad Bake), one for each piece approx 10cm x 10cm

Flatten a ball and roll it out to an oval about 10cm long using a small rolling pin or piece of dowel (I used a bottle of rosewater). Fold over in half, place on a piece of parchment and let sit for another 30 – 45mins.

Now steam in batches for 10 mins until they are puffed and glossy – don’t crowd the steamer.

Remove parchment and allow to cool. Wrap back in parchment and stack in an airtight container and place in fridge if you’re not using them straight away. or double wrap in freezer wrap to freeze.

Pork

1.5 kg slab skinless pork belly
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup salt
½ x 5ml teaspoon five spice powder
2 x 20ml tablespoon rice (or sherry) vinegar

Mix salt, sugar and five spice in a small bowl.
Trim pork belly and remove any ribs that are still attached
Rub belly with salt mix and place in small roasting pan, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, but no more than 24.

Heat oven to 230°C Conventional (210°C Fan-forced). Uncover pork and discard any liquid that has collected. Cook belly fat side up for 1 hour, basting with rendered fat halfway. Turn oven down to 120°C Conventional (110°C Fan-forced), baste pork with vinegar and cook for further hour to hour and a half until pork is soft and tender to touch, but not falling apart. Baste as often as you like during this time.

Allow pork to cool, when cool enough to handle, wrap in foil and put in the fridge until it’s thoroughly cooled. This makes it easier to cut. Cut into 1 cm slices that are about 5 cm long.

Reheat to serve (I used a microwave, or you can use a frypan)

To serve

Thinly sliced cucumber, mixed with salt sugar and vinegar for 5 – 10 mins to lightly pickle
Thinly sliced spring onions
Hoisin Sauce

Steam buns, tear open, spread with sauce, add greens and pork.