Category: Blog

The Age of Discovery brought many foods to Europe from the ‘New World’ which today we take for granted, including potatoes, tomatoes and corn. Initial suspicion and scepticism of these foods gave way to widespread cultivation and eventually anchored the cuisines of many European countries.

The Vanilla pod and the cocoa bean however would never be able to be cultivated in Europe because of Europe’s temperate climate. This did not stop the Dutch, the Belgians and the Swiss from embracing both these foods – particularly the cocoa bean and all things chocolate.

Advances in The Netherlands in 1828 by the chocolate maker van Houten on how to extract the all important cocoa butter meant the cocoa bean was destined for far more than just a beverage. Later, Lindt, a chocolatier from Switzerland invented the process of ‘conching’ which made chocolate silkier and smoother.

The list of chocolate desserts now available is varied and includes soufflés, lava cake, devil’s food, red velvet cake, flourless, black forest, fudge, brownies and today’s subject, the Sachertorte.

Sachertorte

As chocolate cakes go the Sachertorte has been around longer than most and while the date of its origin is open to interpretation – somewhere between 1830 and 1850 – there is no confusion over who created it – Franz Sacher, an Austrian confectioner. Created by Franz when he was a 16 year old apprentice, the cake proved very popular, eventually achieving worldwide fame after Franz’s son, Eduard, opened The Sacher Hotel in Vienna in 1876. The Hotel is still there and is regarded as one of the world’s leading hotels with customers queuing up to try the Sachertorte with a coffee. You can even purchase one of the hotels famous cakes online.  Alternatively, you can have a go yourself with today’s step by step recipe.

There are many recipes for Sachertorte and even the Hotel Sacher publishes an ‘approximate’ recipe which is the recipe I am using today. I followed the recipe pretty closely and used a 70% chocolate plus a dash of dark rum in the apricot jam.

Sachertorte

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Servings: 12 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 130 g dark couverture chocolate broken up (min. 55% cocoa content)
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 150 g softened butter
• 100 g icing sugar
• 6 eggs separated
• 100 g castor sugar
• 140 g plain wheat flour sifted
• 300 g apricot jam sieved
• 10 ml dark rum
• 160 ml water
• 250 g castor sugar
• 150 g dark couverture chocolate (extra) broken up (min. 55% cocoa content)
• unsweetened whipped cream to garnish

Equipment

• You’ll need a 24cm spring form cake tin greased and lined for this recipe as well as whisk attachment for your mixer

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients for the cake
   
2. Assemble your ingredients for the glaze
   
3. Pre heat your oven to 170c
4. Grease your spring form cake tin with a little butter and line with baking paper
   
5. Carefully melt over simmering water the 130g of chocolate
6. Let the chocolate cool a little after it melts
7. In your mixer bowl whisk the butter, vanilla and icing sugar
   
8. mix until creamy and light
   
9. One by one add the egg yolks to the creamed butter
   
10. Whisk until they are well incorporated
11. Next gradually add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture
    
12. Mix well
    
13. In a separate clean bowl whisk the egg whites and caster sugar
    
14. Mix till meringue like
    
15. Place the egg white on top of the butter chocolate mix
    
16. Next add the sifted flour
    
17. fold the egg whites and flour through the butter mix
    
18. Transfer the mix to your cake tin
    
19. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, until the surface of the cake yields slightly to the touch
    
20. When done remove the cake from oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before attempting to turn out and remove the baking paper
21. Finally on your cake cooling rack let the cake cool completely
    
22. Meanwhile prepare the chocolate glaze
23. In a clean saucepan boil the water and castor sugar for five minutes
24. Remove the sugar syrup from the stove and cool for 5 minutes
25. Stir in the 150g of extra chocolate
    
26. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth
    
27. Let the chocolate mix cool to just warm
28. Warm the apricot jam (with a little dark rum)

Now we are ready to assemble the cake

1. Using a serrated slice the cake horizontally, leaving the bottom half slightly thinner than the top half
2. Again using a serrated knife gently trim the domed surface of the top half
   
3. Next paint the top of both halves with warmed apricot jam
   
4. Place the top half on top of the bottom half
   
5. Paint the sides of the assembled cake with apricot jam
6. Finally pour the chocolate glaze over the cake using a palette knife to smooth the surface
   
7. Let the cake ‘set’ for a few hours before serving with whipped cream and maybe a coffee
   

Notes

One of the criticisms occasionally aimed at this cake is that the texture is a little ‘dry ‘which some may find appealing.
Serving it with whipped cream or double cream (and a coffee) gives a good balance

Winter is approaching. Outside we have had two weeks of wet weather and invariably we think about comfort food. Many of us also think about simplicity and what could be simpler than a one pot, slow cooked beef pot roast.

However, many recipes are happy to miss a couple of important steps that will maximise the flavour of many slow cooked dishes. I refer to the sealing of the meat and certain vegetables such as onion and garlic.

Another important step is to minimise the amount of liquid that you initially add. Remember that you can always add more but too much liquid leads to a watery sauce which you will have to spend more time reducing.

My recipe will hopefully make use of ingredients that you already have on hand with only the beef and cider going on your market list.

You can choose an electric slow cooker (crock pot) in which case you will need a frypan to brown the meat. I used a Dutch Oven which can be used on your stove top or in your oven and negates the use of a frypan.

Finally, this is an excellent dish to portion up and freeze.

Not all famous dishes are named after royalty, ballerinas and chefs. Oscar Tschirky is a name that, outside of culinary circles, is probably unknown but his notoriety can be traced back to his tenure at New York’s Delmonico’s Restaurant and later at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in the capacity of Maitre d’hotel.

Delmonico potatoes were featured in this blog about one year ago and that restaurant still exists in New York as does the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel which is where Oscar Tschirky became a house-hold name of sorts.

As a teenager Oscar migrated from Switzerland to the U.S.A. in 1883 and settled in New York where he started work as a trainee waiter at Hoffman House before moving on to Delmonico’s and finally settling at the Waldorf. In short, Oscar had the good fortune of being associated with successful restaurants.

Oscar is thought to have only created one dish – the Waldorf salad. You may be more familiar with this concoction of apples, celery and mayonnaise and its association with the episode of the British comedy series Fawlty Towers, named ‘Waldorf Salad’.

Oscar was able to avoid the contentious issue of the actual origin of popular dishes because he wasn’t a chef, he was ‘front of house’ and worked hard at promoting his association with the hotel via his cookbook .Ultimately ‘Oscar of the Waldorf’ was the inspiration of many of the Waldorf’s signature dishes including Thousand Island Dressing and Red Velvet cake. Veal Oscar on the other hand was not named after Mr Tschirky, but it didn’t stop this dish becoming a hotel favourite.

As far as Australia is concerned, Oscar’s most famous promotion just happens to be our most popular breakfast item – Eggs Benedict or occasionally known as ‘Eggs Benny”. This classic dish was originally four components – toasted English muffin, poached eggs, bacon and hollandaise sauce. Not being content with the original there are now more than 20 variations but our most popular (apart from the original) would be ham, smoked salmon or vegetarian. I have even seen a vegan alternative which somehow manages to get away with using the term ‘vegan eggs Benedict’. Is nothing sacred?

Sauce Hollandaise

In newsletter number 14 we offered a tutorial on how to poach eggs, but we have never explored the fifth of the ‘French Mother sauces’ – Hollandaise Sauce, which is an integral part of Eggs Benedict. Not that many years ago this sauce, when made in restaurants, may have lasted all day, but now Hollandaise Sauce made from scratch is regarded as a single service product. Around the time that producers had to start egg marking on eggs, health authorities clamped down on the service of hollandaise sauce. This in turn led to the unfortunate popularity of pre-made shelf stable sauces, but nothing beats fresh Hollandaise made with real eggs and fresh butter.

I was working at the Sydney Hilton when I started preparing large quantities of Sauce Hollandaise, by hand and while initially a daunting prospect, once you developed your technique it was pretty straight forward. The best way of achieving a good result at home for a few people is by using a stick blender. Here are a few tips to ensure success.

The minimum workable amount of egg yolks required is two (to be able to reach the blade of the blender) and this will give you enough sauce for two or three people. After that, you add one egg yolk for each additional person.

The egg yolks should be at room temperature as should the lemon juice and/or white wine vinegar.

Select a beaker or jar that your stick blender will just fit in.

To flavour the sauce and help with its emulsification you require fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar. I prefer a combination of white wine vinegar and lemon juice.

120g – 150g of butter, melted, should be used for two egg yolks. Add additional 60g butter for each additional egg yolk.  The milky residue containing any salts will settle out after the butter has melted and you should avoid using this.

Use cayenne pepper and salt for seasoning. I like to supplement with a little ground white pepper –basically a 50/50 mix. For a small volume of sauce, you need to be careful with seasoning – use the pinch method instead of fractions of teaspoons.

You’ll need both hands to mix the hollandaise. Stand the beaker on top of a tea towel to avoid the beaker slipping.

The finished product should have a mat gloss but not a greasy finish.

The order of work for a 10 minute breakfast

1. Prepare hollandaise sauce – keep warm
2. Prepare poached eggs
3. Toast muffins
4. Heat ham
5. Start assembling
6. Use the frypan from the ham to sauté spinach
7. Finish the dish with the spinach

Poaching Eggs

Here is a reprint of How to poach eggs from Newsletter number 14 (last year). If you are just poaching two or four eggs you should be able serve your poached eggs directly from the poaching pan. Keep in mind if you don’t like the hint of vinegar on the eggs you will need to refresh the eggs in fresh hot water.

Hollandaise Sauce

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Servings: 2 servings

Course: Breakfast

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 120 g butter
• 2 egg yolks room temperature
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• salt - scant
• cayenne pepper -scant
• ground white pepper –scant

Method

 

1. In a small saucepan slowly melt the butter
   
2. Meanwhile place the egg yolks, lemon juice and white wine vinegar in the beaker
   
3. Continue to heat the butter until the milky liquid on the bottom wants to boil
4. Take the butter off the heat, but do not cool
5. Using your stick blender carefully blend the egg mix
6. Keeping the blender running carefully add, by drizzling the hot butter into the eggs
   
7. If the sauce thickens too much add a few drops of hot water
8. Season as desired with salt, cayenne and white pepper
   

Eggs Benedict 

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Servings: 1 serve

Course: Breakfast

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 poached eggs as per method
• small batch of hollandaise sauce
• one plain English muffin split
• 60-70 g leg ham
• 30 g English spinach leaves washed and dried (optional)
• a little of the melted butter (from the hollandaise sauce recipe

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Prepare the hollandaise sauce – keep warm
3. Start poached eggs
4. Warm your serving plate
5. In a separate frypan gently heat the ham with a little of the butter
   
6. Toast muffins
   
7. Put toasted muffin halves on your plate
8. Top the muffins with the hot ham
   
9. Put that frypan back on the stovetop with the spinach
10. Sauté the spinach
    
11. Drain and dry (on absorbent kitchen paper) the poached eggs
12. Place the eggs on the ham
    
13. Mask the eggs with the Hollandaise sauce
    
14. Serve with some nicely placed sautéed spinach
    

In my early teens I used to accompany my Dad for the weekly Saturday trip to the supermarket. It sounds like an unlikely combination, but I think Mum taught Art classes on a Saturday morning. At that time we had continued to shop at West Ryde even though we had moved to the suburb of Epping. What passed for an up-to-date supermarket then was ‘Flemings’ – remembering this was a few years before the big supermarkets appeared.

Flemings was great as it had a basket elevator which took your groceries to the upstairs car park. Cold meats, fruit and veg, butcher and the PDF store were other places we visited as their produce was not available in Flemings. Dad was clinical in his shopping methods and together we worked as a ‘well-oiled machine’. The real highlight was stopping for a milkshake on the way home.

Naturally shopping in any supermarket 60 or so years ago was unlike the same experience today for the range of goods was far less and the pre-prepared / convenience foods that we enjoy today basically didn’t exist.

One exception was packet cake mixes for when they hit the shelves they were eagerly embraced by shoppers. This retail product had been around since the late 1940’s in the U.S.A. using powdered egg, but the introduction of adding fresh eggs in the 1950’s gave them an uptick in sales.

In Australia the variety of cake mix available in shops kept growing until a substantial amount of valuable shelf space was being taken with up with White Wings and Betty Sydney products. Products would come and go but ‘Vanilla Snow cake” seemed to stay for many years.

In addition to cake mixes, supplementary products such as pancake, pikelet and American style frosting mixes started appearing. The standout product for me was the self-saucing pudding mix. This product confused me for a number of years. I mean how could the watery topping end up underneath the pudding after it was cooked? Of course, I know why now, but it must have been an interesting product to develop.

Supermarkets today still have these same products, although they command less of a presence these days thanks to the competitive nature of supermarkets and the resurgence in home baking.

The Self Saucing Pudding

There are basically two main streams of cooking. One is the baking / pastry trade and the second is commercial cookery, which is the one I studied. Between the two there are lots of sub-categories or specialities but it would be fair to say that both trades interlock occasionally. As an example, a baker would need to know how to make a meat pie filling while a commercial cookery chef should be able to bake a Victoria Sponge.

As I have previously mentioned, the science attached to baked goods is critical, and that is why measuring ingredients and temperatures is crucial to success. Again, as an example, if a sponge is not rising in the oven as it should, because you missed an ingredient, you’ll have to live with the mistake. On the other hand, correcting the consistency of a stew can be handled with the addition of stock or a thickening agent.

The science behind self-saucing puddings which eluded me 60 plus years ago is relatively easily explained. The uncooked pudding consists of two components. The first is the sweet batter which goes in the bottom of your greased baker. The second component is the hot sweet liquid which is gently placed on the top of the batter. During the baking process the raising agent in the batter react and pushes the batter up while the liquid, being denser, finds its way to the bottom of the dish to form the syrupy sauce.  The hot liquid on top is crucial as it initiates a permeable barrier on the surface of the batter leaving the only place for the liquid to go is down.

Self-saucing butterscotch pudding

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Servings: 6 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the batter

• 100 g unsalted butter softened
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or essence
• 1 egg
• 1⅓ cups self raising flour
• pinch salt
• ½ cup milk
• a little extra butter to grease your baker

For the topping

• ¼ cup 40g brown sugar
• ¼ cup (80g) golden syrup
• 40 g butter
• 1½ cups boiling water

Equipment

• For this recipe I prefer a clear glass baking dish which also allows you the chance of watching the pudding bake in the oven. You may find it easier to mix this small amount of batter by hand, while a jug suitable for hot liquid is also needed.

Method

 

Method (batter):

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
2. Assemble your ingredients
   
3. In a mixing bowl combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla
   
4. Mix well
5. Incorporate the egg
   
6. Mix till emulsified
   
7. Add self-raising flour and salt
   
8. Mix well
   
9. Finally mix in the milk
   
10. Form a smooth batter
    
11. Pour this batter into your greased baker
    
12. Spread the batter to be reasonably even

Method (topping):

1. Combine the brown sugar, golden syrup, butter and boiling water in your jug
2. Stir these ingredients until the butter has melted
3. Keep very hot
4. Close to the surface gently pour this syrup over the top of the batter – over the back of a soup spoon will help disperse the liquid
   
5. Place your baker into your oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.
   
6. When ready, bring out of the oven
   
7. Let the pudding stand for 15 minutes
   
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream
   

Notes

After you take the pudding out of the oven it will deflate a little

When talking about ‘kebabs’ we invariably think of that ‘go to’ takeaway item popular with late night revellers and families alike. Succulent meats sliced off the rotating grill (with all the extras) and wrapped in lavish bread is pretty tasty. Or perhaps it is marinated and skewered meats that you will find in butcher’s shops that find their way to your barbeque.

Satays from South-East Asia and Chuan from China both have Arabic origins, while the history of the Gyros and Souvlaki you will find in Greece is a contentious issue. Nevertheless, whatever the style, kebabs are enjoyed the world over.

Like these dishes the Betyi Kebab is an Arabic creation but with less pedigree than its far older cousins. Created in Istanbul in 1962 by the owner of his famous self-named restaurant, it qualified as a kebab because the meat is roasted and then wrapped in lavish bread. The original meat used was lamb fillet, but the modern version uses the more economical lamb mince.

My recipe replaces the lavish bread with filo pastry but retains the tomato sauce and yoghurt accompaniment.

Beyti Kebab

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Appetizer

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 500 g lamb mince
• 1 onion medium sized, peeled, finely chopped or grated
• 1 egg
• 1 slice bread broken up – can be stale
• 1 tsp garlic minced
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper crushed
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin ground
• ½ tsp lemon zest grated
• olive oil
• 375 g filo pastry
• 100 g butter melted
• 400 g can cherry tomatoes
• 25 g tomato paste
• extra salt and pepper
• a little extra garlic optional
• 1 cup natural yoghurt
• fresh mint a few sprigs, rinsed
• baby peppers optional for garnish

Equipment

• A baking sheet, some baking paper, a mixing bowl and a small saucepan will suffice for this recipe.

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. In a mixing bowl combine the lamb, ¾ of the chopped onion, bread, garlic, salt, pepper, ½ tsp paprika, cumin and lemon zest
   
3. Mix well
   
4. Pre-heat your oven to 200c
5. Divide this meat mixture into 4 or 5 portions
   
6. You need to form each portion into sausage shapes about 20cm long and slightly flattened. These are called koftas
   
7. Line your baking tray with baking paper and place the koftas on it, evenly spaced
8. Bake for 10 -12 minutes – a little underdone is OK
   
9. When done, cool to room temperature
10. Assemble three sheets of filo pastry the following way
11. Take one sheet of filo (short side facing) and brush with melted butter
12. Top with a second sheet of filo and again brush with butter
    
13. Add a third sheet, but don’t butter it
14. Place a kofta across the pastry and tightly wrap the kofta by rolling the pastry around it
    
15. Brush the finished roll with butter to prevent it drying out
    
16. Repeat this process until you have wrapped all the koftas
17. Cut each roll diagonally into 6 pieces. Discard the empty pastry ends
    
18. Reduce your oven to 180c
19. Renew the baking paper on your baking sheet
    
20. Place the cut pieces, meat side down and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown

For the sauce:

1. On low heat sweat the rest of the chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil for two minutes
2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, ½ tsp paprika, salt and pepper and heat till simmering. Simmer for two minutes. Serve hot.

For the yoghurt:

1. Combine the yoghurt and a little chopped mint and black pepper
2. Serve the Beyti Kebab with the tomato sauce and minted yoghurt
   

Notes

Either the Napoli sauce or classic tomato sauce from newsletter # 20 would also be suitable for this recipe

You need to work fast with filo pastry as it dries out quickly

This is a great starter that you can prepare the day before

Changes in the food we eat and the way it is prepared and served is a gradual process, but it does indeed change. Cafeterias are a good example of a style of foodservice that stayed around longer than many other styles and fads.

In Australia, cafeterias were driven by the austerity of the great depression and when we talk about cafeterias we invariably think of Coles. Many large stores eventually installed cafeterias but the Coles Variety Store Cafeteria on Bourke Street Melbourne, which opened in 1930, is regarded as the first. It was massive – capable of seating more than 1000 diners and enjoyed a lifespan of 57 years or two and bit generations.

As you might expect, the idea of cafeterias started in the U.S.A in the late 19^th century and they quickly became popular. Diners would collect a tray and push the tray along a stainless-steel runner choosing pre-plated sandwiches, salads and desserts while generally main courses and some beverages were served by counter staff. Behind the counter was the kitchen, which often ran the length of the counter. You would then stop at a cashier for payment before finding somewhere to sit and eat your selection. Cafeterias had the ability to move hundreds and possibly thousands of customers through, during a typical lunch service. Wait staff were basically reduced to clearers and cleaners.

Mum was probably more likely to visit a Coles Variety Store Cafeteria because they were the most prevalent, as Coles was (and still is) a national store. Looking back Cole’s appeal was not in the linoleum floors, the crowds, the laminex tables or the noise, it was the fact that it was a wonderland of choice and exceptional value. Naturally many readers of this blog will have happy memories of their visits. A common memory would be mum arriving with the kids and shopping in tow with the first objective being the all important table to eat at. Once that goal was achieved, the shopping and youngest children secured the table while Mum and an older child would join the queue for food.

Coles Bourke Street Cafeteria was built during the Great Depression and menus must have been ‘economical’ and offer what we would now regard as very ordinary food. Cafeterias were generally morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea venues although the Coles Bourke street stores offered a dinner service till 8.00pm during the 1956 Olympic Games.

The Melbourne Olympics’ put Australia on the world stage and menus adapted to changing tastes but you could still rely on cafeterias to offer the obligatory roast and vegies, crumbed sausages and colourful jellies. Yes, crumbed sausages – basically fat and carbohydrates deep fried.

Most of the larger department stores had their own cafeterias with the David Jones stores being very popular in Sydney. If you ate at ‘DJ’s’ as opposed to Coles you were probably a little more well- heeled.

By the 1970’s the American fast-food giants had their eyes on Australia and Australians embraced burgers, pizza and fried chicken. This new style of service meant that you didn’t have to go to a department store to get a cheap feed.

The days when the cafeteria reigned are gone but they still exist in some institutions which the average diner is unlikely to go to, however on my last trip to Ikea at Rhodes in Sydney (which was some years ago) the store operated a popular cafeteria where the menu naturally had a strong Swedish influence.

Reviewing old menus offerings from cafeterias I did not find a lot of inspiration with the most impressive dessert spied being apple pie, so that is what we will bake.

Individual Apple Pies

If you make an apple pie in say a 22cm pie dish you will end up with 8 - 12 portions, depending on how much apple filling you use. If you are cooking for one or two people it means you will be eating apple pie for a number of days and cut apple pie doesn’t freeze too well. It is not much more trouble to bake individual pies in a muffin pan with approximately 9cm diameters and then the leftover pies can be frozen to be eaten later. I used the shortcrust pastry recipe from the Seniors in the Kitchen recipe file but with a little sugar added. This recipe calls for the apple to be slightly cooked before finally ending up as pie filling.

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 220 g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 115 g unsalted butter cubed and well chilled
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 3 tbsp chilled water plus a little more
• 800 g Granny Smith Apples
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ pure maple syrup
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp unsalted butter, extra
• 1 egg beaten

Method

 

1. Assemble all your ingredients
   
2. Place the flour, sugar and salt in your processor and give it a quick pulse to mix
   
3. Add the cubed butter and intermittently pulse the processor for about 30 seconds
   
4. The mixture should look like course breadcrumbs
   
5. Add the 3 tbsp of chilled water. Process again for up to 10 seconds
   
6. There should be some change, but it won’t look like a ball of dough yet
   
7. With your fingers see if the mixture comes together. If not add a little more iced water and give it a quick pulse
8. Turn the mixture out and quickly work into a ball
   
9. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and chill for one hour

For the apple filling:

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. Peel and core the apples
3. Halve the apples and cut into 6mm slices
   
4. Place the sliced apple, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well
   
5. Let the apple stand for 15 minutes
   
6. Pre heat your oven to 170c
7. Spread a single layer of apple and liquid on one or two baking sheets and bake for 15 - 30 minutes until tender, but not mushy
   
8. When the apple is ready, remove from the oven and cool the apple. Drain any juice into a small saucepan
   
9. Add the extra butter to the juice and gently reduce the liquid to a syrupy consistency before cooling to room temperature
   

Assembling the pies:

1. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator
   
2. Roll out the pastry to 3 mm thick
   
3. Cut four (oversized) rounds of pastry for the pie bottoms. Retain the scraps of pastry in a ball
   
4. Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray
5. Line the muffin pans – gently pushing the pastry into the bottom corners
   
6. Gently prick the pastry base
   
7. Line each one with baking paper and pastry weights
   
8. Bake for 25 minutes before removing the paper and weights
9. Paint the inside of the pastry with beaten egg before returning the pastry to the oven for a further 5 minutes
   
10. Remove the pastry shells from the oven and cool slightly
11. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut four tops
12. Fill the pastry shells with a generous amount of apple and divide the apple syrup evenly over the apple
    
13. Gently paint the rim of the pastry shells and press down the pastry tops
    
14. Paint the pastry tops with beaten egg and cut a couple of breathing holes in each of the pies
15. Bake the pies in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown
16. When ready let the pies stand for 10 minutes
17. Serve with vanilla ice cream or individually chill, wrap and freeze
    

Notes

Alternative flavour variations include a mix or ground cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg or a little grated lemon zest

Today’s recipe once again looks at lasagne. Last year it was traditional beef lasagne which required both a meat sauce and a Mornay sauce made from scratch. Chicken and ham lasagne requires less preparation, and it is a good way of using up leftovers. It’s also very tasty. But first I thought we might briefly study the history of lasagne.

When I was very young it was generally thought that the merchant and adventurer, Marco Polo, introduced pasta to Europe in and around the late 13^th century after he had spent many years in Asia. In truth this is a myth based on a North American advertising campaign in the 1930’s aimed at selling more spaghetti. Pasta in Europe can be traced back well over 1000 years before Marco Polo when it was commonplace in Etruscan society. Being fried and consumed as a snack, pasta was vastly different to the hundreds of varieties that we enjoy today.

The wheat of choice for pasta today in Italy is Durum, which was introduced to Italy in the 9^th century. The term lasagne was first used in the 13^th century but again the dish, prepared in the fashion that we are now accustomed to was many centuries later, considering tomatoes weren’t introduced to Europe until well into the 1500’s.

So, in Australia the term lasagne can mean the cooked dish which we would make for a family meal or perhaps when you are taking a plate as in ‘I’ll bring a lasagne’, when it actually means the flat, wide sheets of pasta that were perfected in Italy. Based on that, you would need to qualify what flavour your lasagne was – seafood, vegetarian or perhaps an authentic recipe from regional Italy.

Writing briefly last week about Tulip’s Restaurant, I couldn’t help thinking of East Sydney Technical College, where I did my formal training which was required if you were apprenticed. Located in Darlinghurst, its sole tenant now is The National Art School, but back in the 1970’s it also hosted a variety of other trades, including a Hospitality school.

The commercial cookery training kitchens were located on the ground floor of one of the blocks and while I am sure pastry and butchery were also at the Darlinghurst College, I can’t remember where they were located. After spending the day at the college, it was more than a 3 kilometre walk back to Tulips in order to work the dinner service. Eventually I changed employers and my walk from the Hyatt Hotel was only about 600 metres.

While a cookery school existed at Darlinghurst until the mid 1990’s, the preferred college for tuition in all things ‘hospitality’ was the Ryde College of Hospitality which opened in 1974, one year after I had completed the third year of my apprenticeship at Darlinghurst. It was at this new college that I undertook specialist courses.

In writing this week’s newsletter it occurred to me (perhaps for the first time) that my mother, being an artist, had studied at the same college, the national Art School, 30 or so years earlier than myself. Enough reminiscing, let’s have a look at today’s recipe –Crème Caramel – one of the first dessert recipes that a young chef had to prepare.

Crème Caramel

It is thought that the dessert,Crème Caramel has a long history, but documentation of this dessert didn’t happen until the late 1800’s. It is similar to crème brulee but the texture is lighter and a liquid caramel is on the top instead of crispy caramelised sugar of the brulee.  Many countries have their own individual interpretations of the Crème Caramel however the basics remain the same – eggs, milk and sugar as well as the all important cookery method – bain-marie or water bath.

Crème Caramel

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Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 100 g caster sugar (for caramel)
• 30 ml water
• ½ tsp vanilla paste
• 500 ml full cream milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 70 g caster sugar

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. Place the clean and dry ramekins into a baking dish, ready to receive the caramelised sugar, which is the next step
3. In a small clean saucepan place the water and then pour the 100g caster sugar into the centre of the saucepan. Do not mix.
   
4. Place the sugar and water over a medium heat and let the sugar dissolve
5. Bring the sugar to the boil. Avoid disturbing the sugar
   
6. The sugar will get a light amber colour. Turn the heat down
   
7. Give the sugar a little swirl as it darkens. Turn off the heat
   
8. Take care here. Too dark and the sugar will be bitter.
   
9. The sugar process takes about 8 – 10 minutes
10. Divide the sugar which is now caramelised between the ramekins by pouring directly into the base of the ramekin
    
11. Place the sugar saucepan into soak –any residue caramel should dissolve
12. Set the ramekins aside while you prepare the egg mix
13. Pre-heat your oven to 150c
14. In a clean saucepan gently heat the milk and vanilla to just below simmering
    
15. In a bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks and 70g sugar together until the sugar is dissolved
    
16. Gently whisk in a little hot milk, followed by the balance of the hot milk
17. Mix well
18. Strain the milk and egg mix through a fine strainer
    
19. Let it stand for a few minutes so that the floating bubbles dissipate
20. Divide the strained egg mix between the ramekins.
    
21. Carefully pour boiling water into the baking dish until the water level is halfway up the side of the ramekin
    
22. Place the baking dish into the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes
    
23. After 20 minutes rotate the baking dish
24. In another 10 minutes turn the oven down to 120c
25. When you think they are ready (by jiggling) turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for about 15 minutes
26. Remove the baking dish from the oven and carefully take the ramekins out of the water
    
27. Cool the Crème Caramel to room temperature before individually covering them and placing in your fridge
28. Best refrigerated overnight
29. Serve either in the ramekin or turned out onto a plate
    
30. Fresh berries make a good accompaniment

Notes

When mixing the egg and sugar we are not trying to ‘lighten’ them, just mix until the sugar dissolves.

Avoid ‘boiling’ the mix in the oven, because you will end up with tiny bubbles, similar to Swiss cheese.

Can be prepared 2-3 days beforehand.

To turn out, run a non-serrated knife around the inside edge of the ramekin.

Cover the ramekin with your serving plate and quickly invert the plate.

The Crème Caramel should come out with a little coaxing.

Alternatively, eat it straight out of the ramekin.

I have included a picture of a kitchen blowtorch which I use to dissipate the bubbles a little faster.

 

In 1971 I was an apprenticed chef in a Dutch restaurant in Sydney. ‘Tulips’ restaurant was in George Street, not far from Australia Square, the record-breaking development, which had opened four years earlier. The restaurant was in the Wynyard precinct of George Street, just south of The Rocks which had come under the scrutineer of developers. Fortunately, the Green Bans of the 1970’s saved The Rocks and many of the heritage buildings of note closer to where I worked.

Tulips was a basement restaurant and backed on to Bridge Lane, but you entered via stairs off George Street. Adjacent buildings included Burn’s Philp, the Metropolitan Hotel and the Cricketer’s Club. Those buildings are still there and Bridge Lane still looks the same, but the only reminder of Tulips is a couple of curb stones close to where the ‘pig bins’ were put out every night. Ahh – happy memories.

Tulip’s catered for about 200 diners at once, in either the full service table section or the more casual ‘bar’ section. At lunchtime we were always packed with suits but the dinner service was always very quiet, probably because that part of town was still regarded as dodgy after 6.00 pm.

I used to start work at 10.00am and finish at 9.00pm with a break in the middle. That meant I left home at 8.00am and got home just before midnight. More happy memories.

The restaurant offered a European menu with many traditional Dutch dishes as well as Indonesian meals which reflected the Dutch historical association with Indonesia. The owner and staff were all of Dutch ancestry, with me and a waitress the only two ‘locals’. You could say that Tulips was an early example of a fusion restaurant and it was really my first introduction to both European and Asian food preparation – Nasi-goreng and Ryjsttafel  sat side by side with Dutch Croquettes and Holstein Schnitzel. It was here that I learnt to make, regrettably, Sambal Oelek, a potent Indonesian chilli condiment – but that is another story. Let’s instead talk about today’s recipe

It was at Tulips that I first became acquainted with peanut sauce or satay sauce, where it was served as you would expect with meat skewers. Today satay sauce is commonplace on many menus and is available in powdered, frozen, canned and bottled form in supermarkets.

When it comes to preparing quick, tasty meals for one or two persons, my recipe will make use of a number of your pantry and fridge ingredients and you can also incorporate leftover roast chicken, prawns or vegetables.

Satay Noodles

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Servings: 2 servings

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 60 g Peanut butter
• 1½ tbsp fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• Juice from ½ lime
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp crushed chilli
• 100 ml coconut milk
• pasta water
• 250 g dried egg pasta flat style – fettucine/tagliatelle
• 3 spring onions washed, 1cm slice
• chopped nuts optional
• prawns /chicken/vegies optional

Method

 

1. Assemble your ingredients
   
2. In a saucepan bring 2 litres of salted water to the boil, for the pasta
3. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frypan, large enough to add the pasta later, add all the other ingredients except the shallots
   
4. Slowly heat these sauce ingredients to a low simmer
   
5. Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste
6. When the water is boiling add the pasta and gently break up with a wooden spoon if required
7. Cook the pasta as per the directions on the packet. Mine was a little over 8 minutes
   
8. Drain the pasta (do not rinse) and retain about 1 cup of the pasta water
9. Add the hot pasta to the peanut sauce
10. Use a spatula to stir and coat the pasta with sauce
    
11. Add a little pasta water if you feel the sauce is too thick
12. Stir in half of the onions
    
13. Serve the pasta and top with remaining onions
    

Notes

Avoid overcooking the pasta in the water

I find dried pasta works better than the more fragile ‘fresh pasta’

All sauce ingredient amounts can be adjusted to suit

You will remember when I prepared the baked stuffed pumpkin in Newsletter # 49, I ended up with a lot of pumpkin, unused. Here is the recipe that solved that problem – roasted butternut pumpkin soup.

This is a recipe I developed for a hotel chain that was promoting a healthy eats menu. It was a time when over consumption of fat and salt was a focus. In the meantime, carbohydrates, among other nutrients have been added to the list. Never-the-less this is a tasty soup perfect for our upcoming winter. It is suitable to make it in bulk and freeze portions plus you can think up additional garnishes. Two garnishes that I have previously used include prawn and green onion as well as sour cream, macadamia, bacon and chives. Yes, it is a departure from ‘healthy eats’ but it is delicious. Another alternative that will also make the soup both gluten and dairy free is by adding light coconut milk.

The caramelising of the vegetables during the roasting will add natural flavour so if the healthy aspect of the recipe appeals to you, be careful you don’t over season the end result.

Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup

5 from 1 vote

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Servings: 3.5 litres

Course: Soup, Vegetarian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2500-3000 g butternut pumpkin peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
• 750 g brown onion peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 tsp crushed ginger
• 2 tsp crushed chilli
• 3 bay leaves
• salt
• cracked pepper
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• Juice of one lemon
• Zest of half lemon
• 40 ml honey optional
• skim milk optional for finishing

Equipment

• You will need a stick blender or food processor for this recipe, while sieving the soup is optional.

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 180c
2. Assemble your ingredients
   
3. In a baking dish place the pumpkin, garlic,onion, ginger, chilli and bay leaves
   
4. Season with a little salt and cracked pepper
5. Add oil and give it a good stir
   
6. Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching the mix - golden brown is the aim
   
7. Add a splash of water if needed
8. Remove the pumpkin mix from the oven when the pumpkin is soft
   
9. Add the pumpkin mix and the stock to a suitably sized saucepan
10. De-glaze the baking dish with a little stock to free up any caramelised vegies and add to the saucepan
    
11. Bring the soup to simmering
12. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice
13. Simmer for 20 minutes
14. Remove the bay leaves and lemon zest
15. Add the honey
16. Turn the heat off
17. Blend the soup to a fine puree
    
18. At this point I strained the soup through a fine wire strainer, but that is optional
19. To serve add a little skim milk to give it an even creamier finish
    

Notes

I placed the bay leaves and lemon zest in the sieve for easier removal

 

I garnished with a dollop of sour cream

To finish today I have included a couple of images of the seafood cottage pies we made for Good Friday, for some of our residents.

Happy Easter, Ken and Chris.