Sunday, April 29, 2012

Walnut, Apricot and raisin bread.

This is really worth making if you want a fruit loaf.  The balance of fruit and nut is perfect.  The walnut oil is essential,  which probably means that a lot of bakers will not make this loaf.  I made a free form loaf,  which doesn't look great , but the crust is exceptional.  However ,  next time I make this loaf,  probably tomorrow,  I will bake it in a tin.  Just to see the difference.
Makes 1 large loaf.

500g bread flour
250g.  warm water
30g honey
40 mls of walnut oil
17g salt,  OR 1 teaspoon of salt if using bread mix,  (as I did)
3 teaspoons dried yeast
120g,  each of walnuts, dried apricots and raisins.

Place Apricots in TMX bowl and Turbo to chop into large pieces about the size of an almond  Add walnuts and press Turbo button for a short burst.
Set aside with raisins.
Into TMX bowl add flour,water , yeast, salt, honey and oil/
Knead for 4 mins.
Add fruit and nut mix and knead for 30 seconds.
Set aside in warm place to double.
Tip onto silmat and knead in by hand,  the fruit that has not been incorporated.
Roll into a sausage shape and place into a lined tin or form into a free form loaf on an oven tray.   Spray with water and allow to rise to near double again.
Slash top.
Bake at 200 0.  for 25/30 mins or until cooked.  Digital thermometer should read 200 0 F.
Cool on wire rack.  Try not to cut it until cool. ( I cut while still hot, delicious)

Mozzarella and Garlic filled Pizza slice.

Any bread recipe , with 500g of flour will do for this slice. Prove once and divide in half,  press one half into lined baking tin, brush with a generous amount of garlic infused oil and then sprinkle grated Mozzeralla cheese over.  Top with other 1/2 of dough rolled to fit over base. Brush with infused oil ,  press down firmly and cover with cheese and ham. Allow to rise again to nearly double.  Bake at 200/220 for 25 mins, or until cooked. Cool on wire rack.

Sage and Black Pepper Risotto

I am not one for risotto,  but have to admit that this is very nice and will be making it again.

2 Tablespoon fulls of fresh sage leaves,(about  18 medium sized)
1/2 onion
2 teaspoons of oil,  40 g butter  + 40 g butter
350g Risotto rice
50 mls of white wine
2 teaspoons of coarsely ground black pepper
1 litre of chicken stock
50g finely grated Parmesan cheese.

Grind Black pepper in TMX,  set aside.
Grate Parmesan cheese ,  set aside.
Drop onion on to spinning blades, speed 5 / 5 seconds.
Add 40g butter and 2 teaspoons of oil and cook on 100/5 mins./speed 1.
Add rice and stir 100/ reverse/speed 1/ 1 min.
Add wine, reverse/speed 1 /1 min.
PLACE IN BUTTERFLY
Add chicken stock and 2 teaspoons off black pepper.
Cook, 16/17 mins/100/reverse /soft speed/
During the last 30 seconds,  add Parmesan Cheese and butter that the sage leaves have been crisped in.

Sage leaves crisped in butter

Place 40g butter in a small pan on stove, and heat until just turning brown.  Add fresh sage leaves and cook quickly until crisp.  ( about 1 min)
Set aside separately. Butter is added during last 30 seconds of cooking and served with the crisp sage leaves on top.

This dish reheats well in the Microwave,  with a little extra stock added.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Preserved Lemons

For years we have been trying to grow lemons,  but it is just too cold on the side of Mt. Macedon,  When  we built a large stone wall we planted 7 citrus trees in front of the wall,  We now have plenty of citrus.  Today I made 5 jars of preserved lemon and tonight we will have lemon Delicious for Dinner.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Portuguese Custard Tarts.

DH says these are the best custard tarts that he has ever had. It must be the 2 full days I spent researching recipes. Thanks to the help by members of the Forum, I was able to work out what might be successfully converted to the TMX. The BIG question is, should they have just vanilla or should they be flavored with lemon zest and cinnamon. The ones I made today had vanilla and the ones I will make tomorrow will have the lemon zest and cinnamon. The Puff pastry I used was the frozen butter Puff Pastry from the Super market, but more importantly I used Bill Granger's method for making the cases. 
 Ingredients 
 3 egg yolks 
115g caster sugar 
2 Tablespoons of cornflour 
230 mls of cream 
170 mls milk 
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or paste 
1 sheet of frozen Puff Pastry.
 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of water for egg wash. 
Method 
 Into TMX bowl place egg yolks caster sugar, cornflour cream and milk Zap speed5/5 seconds 
cook 13 mins/sp 1 1/2/90 o Add vanilla and stir to incorporate. Mix again, 5 seconds , speed 5.set aside in bowl, covered with plastic so that skin does not form. Cool in fridge. (This could be done several hours before making the tarts) Set oven to heat 200 o C Remove
 1 sheet of pastry from freezer and when defrosted, cut in half. Place one half on top of other half and leave for 5 mins. Firmly roll, from shortest end to other shortest end. mark 12, 1cm. sections along roll.
 Cut through these marks. On a well floured mat roll each small disc of Puff Pastry to a 10 cm. circle. Fit these into a 12 hole , 80ml. muffin tin that has been lightly sprayed with Canola oil.
 Brush edges of Puff Paste with egg wash. (If you need to wait for custard to cool , place the tin in the fridge.) Fill each case with 2 Tablespoons of custard.
 Bake for 20 mins. During last 5 mins turn oven to grill to create the small brown patches that characteristic of these tarts. STAND AND WATCH AND REMOVE TARTS IF GETTING TOO BROWN. Leave in tin for 5 mins and then remove to a wire rack. Best served just warm. Could gently reheat.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Bee Sting Buns.


If you like honey, you will love these . I have adapted the recipe to the TMX from Annie Smither's new fab. book, "Annie's Garden to Table".
A few points before you start.
You need 1 dozen eggs, but then it makes a lot.
Make the custard the day before you need it. Cook the buns in large muffin tins to contain the spread of the dough.
Make 18 buns as they are very luxurious.
Use plain (all purpose ) flour NOT bread flour.

To TMX add

500g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 generous teaspoon of dried yeast
40g sugar
6 egg yolks
250 ml. warm milk

Knead for 4 mins.

Add 150g unsalted butter, cubed, knead for 3 mins.
Leave in the bowl, place in a warm spot, and let double

While the dough is prooving, make custard, if you haven't made it the previous day.

Into TMX bowl place,
550ml. milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or pure essence
6 egg yolks
100 g. caster sugar.
90g. honey
50g cornflour
Zap to blend, the cook 7 mins/,90/speed 4.
Set aside in container and cover with plastic directly onto surface to prevent a skin forming.
Cool and then refrigerate

Set oven to 210 or 190 o C FF. Place dish with water on floor of oven.

When dough has doubled, tip on to silmat and knead lightly and form into 18 small balls.
Place these balls into oiled large muffin tins. you may use muffin cases.
Set aside in warm place to nearly double.

Brush with warmed honey, (115g) and sprinkle with flaked almonds,( 40g).
Bake for 15 mins , turning tray around 1/2 way through.

Cool on wire rack, and fill with custard .

To fill buns, place custard in piping bag with a metal nozzle. Squeeze as much custard as possible into the side of the bun.
Dust with icing sugar.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Nonomix's Mauricettes soft Bread Rolls.


Nonomix is a new member of the Forum and has posted a most interesting recipe for soft bread rolls. The rolls are quickly dunked into boiling water. This gives a silky texture and coating to the rolls. I have adjusted the original recipe to suit our tastes. We do not like sweet bread. I also simplified the process, without any negative affects, I hope.

Into TMX bowl, place.
225g warm water
500g of bread flour( I used Laucke white crusty Mix)
7g dried yeast
40g oil. ( I used 20g Rice Bran and 20g olive oils )
pinch of sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of salt.

Knead for 4 mins.
Leave in bowl to double

Set oven to 180 o C or 160 FF

While prooving.
Place 1 Ltr. of water in a saucepan and add 1 TEASPOON SALT AND 40g OF CARB SODA,

Bring water to the boil.

When dough has doubled, tip on to bench and knead lightly, then flatten to about 1 1/2 cm. thick.
Cut into 12 pieces , any shape you wish.
With a slotted spoon, dip each roll in and out of boiling water, and place on lined baking tray.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, and cover with plastic for 15 mins.

Place dish with water on floor of oven,

Bake for 15 mins, turning tray 1/2 way through.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Sesame, macadamia and flaked almond slice.


These biscuits have a nice caramel meringue finish. They are extremely easy to make and although the original recipe used raw peanuts, other nuts can be substituted. I used macadamia and almonds. The inspiration came from David Tanis's 'heart of the artichoke'. I have adapted the recipe for the TMX.

Set oven to 160 o C FF

2 cups of nuts, I used 1 cup of macadamias and 1 cup of flaked almonds. Walnuts would be good.
1/2 cup of sesame seeds
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites.

Do

Beat egg whites in TMX until soft peaks form. Set aside in large bowl'
Zap macadamias to pea sized pieces. Not paste.
Add all ingredients to egg whites and gently fold in.
Spread to 1 cm deep in a lined oven baking dish.
Bake for 20 mins. and until toasty brown.
Turn out on to a wire rack , cool for 5 mins, peel off baking paper and if base is sticky, place back in oven for 10 mins.
Allow to cool before cutting into squares

COULD COAT THE BASE WITH MELTED CHOCOLATE, THIS WOULD PREVENT THE 'crumble'..

When cut , some crumbs were created and I kept these to form a crumble on some stewed apple.