My Yaya has injuried her sholder and therefore I had to do the 2 pans of musnik (tiropita) all by myself. It didn’t look perfect but it was damn good. I’m usually very lazy and after a few minutes of kneeding the dough hand it over to her, obviously that wasn’t an option but I was also really enjoying it. And what a dough it was, elastic and soft, and incredibly easy to strench. This was partly to do with the warm weather, it’s about all it’s good for.

Often I’m quite tempted to leave the risotto just like this. Thyme, butter and cheese, what a combination.

This was delicious. I don’t know why I’ve never added any meat to my risottos before. Also the balsamic reduction was an easy was to make the risotto even richer, it’s sticky and sweet and super tasty.

Recipe from bread & honey

Except…

I just used this recipe to make the actual rice, purely because I know it from memory.

I didn’t add the mushrooms in the beginning. I torn them into smaller pieces, fried them for a few minutes until they began to colour, then I seasoned them with salt and pepper, added some chopped garlic, a knob of butter and thyme and roasted them in a 200°C preheated oven for 6 minutes or so, until cooked through and rich in flavour. You can chop them into smaller pieces at this stage if you prefer. Again, this is just because it’s how I always do mushrooms.

Also, why have I been frying thick pieces of chicken breast in a pan which takes forever?! This time I fried each side for a few minutes and then chucked it in a 180°C for 7 minutes or so. Much juicer.

This is just before I let it stand for a few minutes with the lid on.

I’m not sure how much stock I ended up using exactly, it all depends on how consentrated your stock is too begin with. I like to reduce my stocks by quite a lot as it makes for easier storage and you can make the stock as strong as you like depending on what your making.

Next time I make chicken stock I’m going to use a method to get crystal clear stock that I saw Heston Blumenthal use on ‘In Search Of Perfection’. You make the stock as you normally would, add a little gelatin to the liquid and freeze it. Once it’s completely frozen you take it out of the freezer place it in a colander and allow it to melt through a muslin cloth or a filter-coffee paper. It works because the gelatin molecules cross-link and in effect create a “filter” that traps particles. When you freeze a gelatin gel and defrost it, it will weep liquid. This is called “syneresis”. Right…..

Chicken & Sweet Corn Soup

For the stock

1 whole chicken
1 whole onion (washed & skin left on), quartered
2 whole carrots (washed & unpeeled), cut in half
3 stalks celery (with leaves), cut in quarters
1 whole head of garlic (washed & unpeeled), cut in half
A small handful of whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon of kosher salt (or more depending on taste)
A handful of parsley

Add all of the ingredients with enough water to cover the chicken into a large stockpot & simmer for 1 hour.

Remove the chicken & transfer to a chopping board to cool.

Remove the all the meat.

Add the remaining bones, carcass etc… back in the pot & simmer the stock for an additional 2 hours.

Strain all of the contents of the pot through a fine mesh strainer, saving the stock & discarding everything else.

Skim the fat off the surface (this is easier to do when cool).

Let the stock cool to room temperature & refrigerate, or freeze until ready to use.

For the soup

1L chicken stock

Chicken meat (above), shredded

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated

2 tablespoons cornflour, disolved in 1/4 cup water

1 x 420g can creamed corn

1 x 300g can corn kernels, drained

100g shaved ham, shredded

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

6 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Place the stock, soy sauce and ginger in a large saucepan over a low heat.

Add the cornflour mixture, stirring until the stock thinkens slightly, 2 minutes or until hot.

Pour the egg whites gradually into the soup, stirring for 2 minutes or until white ribbons swirl though the soup.

Remove from heat, and add half the spring onions and sesame oil.

Serve with the remaining spring onions spinkled on top.

Holy shit! These were amazing.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Caramel

via David Lebovitz

For the cookie dough

115g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 salted peanut butter

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the salted peanut caramel

1 cup thickened cream

1/2 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt (I added a bit more as I didn’t add the peanuts)

3/4 finely chopped roasted salted peanuts

100g chocolate (any), melted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Beat the butter, brown and granulated sugar until smooth.

Beat in the egg and vanilla until well mixed.

Beat in the peanut butter.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and stir until there are no patches of flour.

Scoop up tablespoon-sized portions of the dough and roll each piece between your hands so they’re as smooth as possible so they don’t crack at the edges when performing the next step.

Place them 1 1/2-inches (2 cm) apart on the baking sheets, then use the rounded end of a wooden spoon, or your thumb, to make a depression in each one. Don’t worry much if the sides crack; push them back together.

Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during cooking, until they are light-golden brown and the edges barely start to darken.

Remove from oven, and while they’re warm, press in to reinforce each depression with the end of the wooden spoon. Let them cool competely.

Warm the cream in a saucepan or microwave and set it aside.

Heat the water, 1 cup sugar, golden syrup, and salt to a caramel, gently swirling the pan only if necessary (to ensure it melt and cooks evenly) until it turns a nice golden brown.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the hot cream in a slow, steady stream.

Cool until warm and pourable, then add the chopped peanuts.

Spoon some of the caramel into each cookie, letting it set for about an hour, if you want to drizzle them with chocolate.

NB: For best results, use regular smooth peanut butter.

Cookies will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 3 to 4 days. The unbaked dough can be rolled into rounds and stored in a heavy-duty freezer bag in the refrigerator or freezer, until ready to bake.

Disgustingly good…

I’ve never had anything like it. A light sweet bread on the bottom and a super sweet sticky ‘custardy’ layer on top which crisps up nicely on the top. I left it in the oven too long though. I kept thinking it’s going to be too runny, but obviously it firms up as it cools.  The bottom was too brown and the cake became a bit dry. It was still delicious though. Also as I’ve just moved out of a shared house I have very limited kitchen supplies.  Smitten Kitchen recommended not using metal but ceramic and the only ceramic dish I have is a pie dish. Anyway, it worked but it was a slighty awkward shape. I love having heat lights in my bathroom, I’ve got my own dough proving room.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake
via Smitten Kitchen

For the cake
3 tablespoons milk at room temperature
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the topping
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling.

Make the cake dough:

Mix milk with 2 tablespoons warm water in a small bowl.

Add yeast and whisk gently until it dissolves. Mixture should foam slightly.

Cream butter, sugar and salt using an electric mixer (or wooden spoon in my case) with paddle attachment.

Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg.

Add flour and the milk mixture alternately, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Switch to a dough hook (again… the spoon) at this point to beat dough on medium speed until it formed a smooth mass and pulled away (just a little, my dough was still very soft) from sides of bowl, 7 to 10 minutes.

Press,  stretch and nudge dough into a greased 9-by 13-inch baking dish at least 2 inches deep. Cover dish with plastic wrap or clean tea towel, put in a warm place, and allow to rise until doubled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Make the gooey topping

Heat oven to 180°C.

Whisk corn syrup with 2 tablespoons water and the vanilla in a small bowl.

Cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in the egg.

Add flour and corn syrup mixture alternately, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Spoon topping in large dollops over risen cake and use an offset spatula to gently spread it in an even layer.

Bake for 10 to 20 minutes; cake will rise and fall in waves and have a golden brown top, but will still be liquid in center when done.

Allow to cool in pan before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar for serving.

New kitchen

My Yaya keeps telling me and everyone she’s knows that I’m a champion at making filo. Pretty awesome really. But I’ve still got a lot to learn. The stretching is the easy part, the most important thing is getting the dough right, hand kneading 10+ cups of flour is not easy. And like making bread (though nowhere near as hard to get right) there is no exact recipe, there is a lot of variation in each batch of flour and the weather makes a huge difference on how much water the flour will absorb etc… A warm environment is ideal. I remember the bakery in the height of summer, what a nightmare. You really just need to get a feel for it. There is no comparision with store bought filo, it’s so bloody dry.

Anyway here is my first attempt at doing a lot of the process by myself, under strict supervision of course. Here is me and my Yaya making Pumpkin Musnik (Tiropita). And here she is making Cheese Musnik. She was also going to show me how to make Spinach Spanakopita which is much easier in terms of dough stretching, I feel asleep though. It was gooood.

I got the recipe from souvlakiforthesoul

Frittata with Zucchini, Asparagus, Cream Cheese, Blue Cheese & Rocket

My perfect heavy breakfast.. Farmhouse Slab Bacon, Blood Sausage, Fried Eggs & Smoked Tomato (THE FULL ENGLISH)

My perfect light breakfast.. Soft boiled egg, baker d. toast, preserves, yoghurt & orange juice (CUMULUS INC. BREAKFAST)

45 Flinders Lane

Melbourne 9650 1445

Nasi Goreng is an awesome breakfast. And with a fried egg, mwah!

Pancakes with Labne & Pickled Peach

103-107 Errol St

North Melbourne

9326 7749