fennel, radish & apple salad

Yesterday was one huge Thanksgiving dinner, cooked by moi.

My sister Shamu and her man, Tombolina, came over and I spent the entire day preparing for the feast.

It was one of those cooking days where everything just fell into place. I cooked recipes simultaneously based on time and need, and managed to balance pie pastry with turkey brining, yam basting with dressing prep, cocktail making with vegetable slicing.

I even managed to completely clean the kitchen before Jonas got home and my guests arrived (Jonas was particularly pleased he dodged that bullet).

To be honest, it was the first time in my life when I managed to be so zen and organised when cooking a huge meal. I was very, very proud of myself.

Gold star please!

A “Spiced Scrumpy” cocktail kicked the evening off, then the menu combined Americana favourites, modern twists and some Thanksgiving classics:

Pear & Scallop Squash Soup
Texan BBQ Turkey Shanks
Sausage & Sage Dressing
Fennel, Apple & Radish Salad
Maple, Bourbon & Sesame Candied Yams
Greens Simmered in Chicken Stock w Onions & Garlic
Chocolate Pecan Pie & Vanilla Ice Cream

Every recipe was new – untried, untested – and every single one was a great success. I was so pleased with the way the food turned out.

Today I’m going to share with you one of the recipes: this autumnal salad of pretty pinkish hues and fresh, tangy flavours.

The original recipe used Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes), but I was unable to source them in the Sydney spring weather. Nonetheless, the salad added a perfect refreshing balance to some of the other heavier dishes.

Fennel, Radish & Apple Salad

Based on a recipe from The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley. Serves 4-6 as part of a buffet.

Ingredients:
4 radishes, trimmed
2 gala apples, peeled and cored
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon chopped fennel fronds
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar and lemon juice to make a smooth vinaigrette. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper to taste.

2. With a super sharp peeler or mandolin, shave radishes, apples and fennel into wafer thin slices.

3. Toss vegetables in vinaigrette then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day, to allow the flavours to come together.

4. Just before serving, add in chives and fennel fronds. Taste, then season with salt and pepper as required.

shopsin's pumpkin pancakes

These days I wake up very early and incredibly hungry. Instead of launching myself out of bed I take my trusty smart phone and flick through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see what I missed out on while I slept.

This morning I discovered three exciting things from Facebook:
1) one of my favourite work colleagues got engaged yesterday afternoon
2) Jonas’ beautiful cousin Camilla (also a food blogger!) married her equally wonderful boyfriend in a surprise wedding in Stockholm!!!
3) These super delicious pancakes, posted by Saveur

Since I couldn’t do much to celebrate the first two items, I decided to get up and make pancakes to celebrate all the love and happiness some of my favourite people must be feeling right now, and to spread some of that love to my husband.

I wondered whether the pancakes would be a bit gimmicky, but they were amazing. Not too sweet, full of spicy oomph and subtle pumpkin flavour, and tiny flakes of salt that hit your tongue every now and then. They were hot, fluffy little pancakes and I will definitely make these again.

After reading over the Saveur website, and the reviews by people who had made these already at home, I decided to make a cranberry and maple sauce to go alongside it. They’d even go well with maple-sweetened mascarpone or cream cheese.

Shopsin's Pumpkin Pancakes w Cranberry-Maple Syrup

Recipe by Chef Kenny Shopsin from Shopsin’s in New York City’s Essex Street Market. Makes 12 pancakes.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 cup plain flour
¾ cup wholemeal flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt flakes
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons canola oil, for frying
Butter, for serving
Cranberry-Maple Syrup
¼ cup dried cranberries
1 cup maple syrup

Method:

1. In a bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, ginger, salt, and allspice.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, cream, milk, and eggs.

3. Combine with flour and spice and whisk until smooth.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

5. Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, pour batter into skillet to make three 3" pancakes.

6. Cook until bubbles begin to form on the edges, 1–2 minutes. Flip and cook until done, 1–2 minutes more.

7. Repeat with remaining oil and pancake batter and keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven.

8. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring maple syrup and dried cranberries to the boil until foaming, then remove from heat. The dried cranberries should plump up in the warm syrup.

9. Serve pancakes hot with butter and cranberry syrup.

Note: the original recipe uses only plain flour, regular sugar and ½ cup milk.

peach cobbler

Baking fruit in pies and crumbles is a wonderful way to serve deliciously ripe yet bruised and marred summer fruits.

So what about the Cobbler?

Cobblers originated in the American colonies when English settlers wanted their traditional, homely pies but needed to be more economical with precious ingredients like butter, suet and flour. Ingeniously they invented the cobbler: a pie without a dough base yet still yielding that pleasurable experience of breaking through flaky pie crust into the stewed fruit or meat treasures beneath.

Pondering this history, Washington Post food writer, Kim O'Donnel, suggested since the apple pie is English and the cobbler is American, perhaps the saying ought to be changed to “American as cobbler”.

The earliest written reference to a cobbler comes from 1839 in The Kentucky Housewife by Lettice Bryan:

“A Peach pot pie, or cobler, as it is often termed, should be made of clingstone peaches, that are very ripe, and then pared and sliced from the stones. Prepare a pot or oven with paste, as directed for the apple pot-pie, put in the prepared peaches, sprinkle on a large handful of brown sugar, pour in plenty of water to cook the peaches without burning them, though there should be but very little liquor or syrup when the pie is done. Put a paste over the top, and bake it with moderate heat, raising the lid occasionally, to see how it is baking. When the crust is brown, and the peaches very soft, invert the crust on a large dish, put the peaches evenly on, and grate loaf sugar thickly over it. Eat it warm or cold. Although it is not a fashionable pie for company, it is very excellent for family use, with cold sweet milk."

It’s fascinating to think they inverted the dish after cooking and served it with the pastry on the base. No wonder they thought the messy end result wasn’t fit for company!

It’s thought that the decorative placing of the crust into biscuit or dumpling shapes reminded people of either cobblestones or small cob loaves (which in turn were named for the cobblestones they themselves resembled). In fact, a cobbler’s rippled surface does look somewhat like a cobblestone street.

A thousand variations on the baseless pie exist across the US including the Crisp, Crumble, Betty, Grunt, Pandowdy, Slump, Buckle and Sonker.

Crisps and Crumbles have oatmeal in their tops; Grunts and Slumps are iron skillet stove-top cobblers from New England; Buckles combine the fruit with a yellow cake-like batter and bake them together; Pandowdies have their crust broken and stirred through the filling during baking; Sonkers are deep dish cobblers from North Carolina; and Brown Betties are layers of fruit and buttered breadcrumbs baked into a bread pudding consistency.

It is traditional that cobblers from the Deep South are made of single fruits, most popular being and blackberry, blueberry and peach, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Since peaches are synonymous with the American Deep South, it’s only fitting I fill this cobbler with slices of fresh, yellow peaches. You could peel them if you like, but once cooked the skin looses its horrid fuzziness and flushes the peach flesh with pretty pink hues. Given it’s easier, I recommend keeping them on.

Peach Cobbler

Anna's very own recipe. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Filling
1kg ripe juicy peaches, washed
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon corn flour

Topping
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour*
30g brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60g butter, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ cup buttermilk, heavy cream or natural yoghurt
Milk, for brushing
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, for dusting
1 tablespoon Demerara sugar, for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190’C.

2. To make filling: cut each peach into eight slices and discard stones.

3. In a large pot, combine peaches, water and cinnamon then cover and simmer until peaches leach juices and start to bubble.

4. Add caster sugar, stir to combine then cover and simmer 3-5 minutes. Taste to ensure mixture is sweet enough. Add more sugar if needed.

5. Using a ladle, transfer a small amount of liquid to a bowl. Add cornflour and combine well.

6. Return cornflour liquid to peaches and stir through for a minute, then remove peaches from heat.

7. Pour peaches into an oven-proof baking dish. Spread evenly along base.

8. To make topping: process flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and sea salt in a food processor until combined.

9. Add buttermilk, heavy cream or natural yoghurt (whichever you use) and process in short bursts until a dough forms.

10. Lightly flour hands and surface, then turn out dough and flatten.

11. Cut out shapes and place over peaches, overlapping.

12. Brush tops with milk, then sprinkle with cinnamon and Demerara sugar.

13. Bake for around 35 minutes or until has risen and turned golden.

Serve with good quality vanilla ice cream or heavy cream.

*Note: use wholemeal flour for extra depth of flavour.

ono coconut cake w coconut frosting

This is a luscious, coconut-ty dessert. In fact, you can't get a whiter, more coconut-rich cake than this Hawaiian recipe.

The first time I saw this on the Saveur website I swooned, and when I made it for my work colleagues they swooned too (special shout out to Kylie, who ate the leftover icing with a spoon).

It's not very healthy, but the best things never are.

Ono Coconut Cake w Coconut Frosting

Recipe from Honolulu's Moiliili Community Center via Saveur Issue #56. Serves 12.

Ingredients:

Cake
3 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons plain flour, for dusting
1½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
400ml unsweetened coconut milk
8 egg whites
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting
100g butter
½ teaspoons salt
5 cups powdered sugar
165ml (11 tablespoons) coconut cream
15ml (1 tablespoon) coconut rum
5ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Method:
1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

2. Grease 2 round 9" cake pans with butter. Dust each pan with 1 tbsp. of the flour, tapping out excess; set aside.

3. Sift together the remaining 3 cups flour, sugar, and baking powder into a large bowl.

4. Add coconut milk, stirring until batter is smooth, then set aside.

5. Put egg whites and salt into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.

6. Fold whites into batter.

7. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

8. Set aside on a rack to cool, then remove from pans.

9. For frosting, beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, salt, coconut cream, vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Add more coconut cream as needed for smoother frosting.

10. Cut cakes to ensure flat surfaces. Place first round on a cake plate, spread one-third of the frosting on top, and sprinkle with ¼ cup of the coconut. Set the remaining cake round on top, then ice cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle top and sides with remaining ¾ cup coconut.

bacon jam

Bacon and jam. Mmmm.

How can bacon slow cooked in maple syrup and sugar be wrong?
That’s right, it can’t.

The first time I saw this recipe, I was in awe.

I emailed Lorraine, (aka Not Quite Nigella) and started asking a bunch of questions. Her answers only intrigued me further.

When I finally got around to making it, I kicked myself for not dabbling sooner.

Not only is it extremely delicious, but it’s incredibly versatile too.

Need to pimp some veggies? Throw in a tablespoon of bacon jam for depth of flavour.

Too tired to cook? Improve a toasted cheese sandwich with a little bacon jam.

After a salty-sweet treat? Melt some chocolate with bacon jam for brilliant little bacon chocolate snacks.

The options are endless, unfortunately the bacon jam supplies are not.

I cooked my bacon jam  in my NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker so that I didn't have to watch the liquid levels over the hours of cooking.

Bacon Jam

A recipe by Not Quite Nigella. Makes a 250ml jar.

Ingredients:
500g smoked bacon (or use regular bacon and liquid smoke)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium brown onion, sliced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Tabasco sauce (according to taste)
1 cup coffee
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup maple syrup
Black pepper to taste
Extra water


Method:

1. In a non stick pan, fry the bacon in batches until lightly browned and beginning to crisp.

2. Using a pair of scissors cut into 1 inch pieces.

3. Fry the onion and garlic in the rendered bacon fat on medium heat until translucent.

4. Transfer the bacon, onion and garlic into a slow cooker or a heavy based cast iron pot and add the rest of the ingredients except for the water.

5. Stove-top method (Lorraine’s method – 30 mins quicker, but involves stirring and checking)
• Simmer for 2 hours adding ¼ of a cup of water every 25-30 minutes or so and stirring (liquid levels should reduce so you have some juices but not too much).
5. Slow cooker method (Anna’s method – two pots and extra 30min, but less action required)
• Simmer for 2 hours, or longer if you like.
• Return to stove top and simmer to reduce liquid, around 30 minutes.

6. When ready, cool for about 15-20 minutes and then place in a food processor.

7. Pulse for 2-3 seconds so that you leave some texture to the “jam” or of course you could keep whizzing and make it a smoother and more paste like.

Note: it needs to be stored in the refrigerator, but note the texture changes (hardens) when it’s cold.

This post has been featured on the wonderful:

smoky pulled pork

Pulled pork is just magical.

The juicy meat slow cooked for hours until it falls from the bone and then smothered in spicy, smoky sauce and piled high onto soft burger buns.

To. Die. For.

When Kitchenware Direct contacted me and offering to give me a slow cooker of my choice to review on this blog, their email couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jonas and I had been discussing the idea of getting a slow cooker just so we could make pulled pork sliders. We’d eaten them recently at Porteño and had not recovered from their marvellous flavour. We wanted to replicate the magic at home.

So here I was being offered a slow cooker and all I had to do was use it and tell you what I thought about it.

I love my life.

I selected the NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker because it’s not just a slow cooker but also a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and soup maker. It’s Kitchenware Direct’s most popular model and after trawling through some online review sights it ranks right up there among the best of its type.

It arrived promptly in a well packaged box, safely cushioned in plastic air bags and styrofoam. When we took it out we cooed and sighed, stroking our shiny baby with all the love of proud new parents.

Once we were ready to use it, we got a bit scared that it might be broken, because the vacuum seal on the lid was wobbly freakishly and didn’t seem too stable, but then we realised we were complete idiots and that once you use the pressure cooking function the valve sucks into place perfectly.

Crisis averted.

We plonked the meat and sauce inside, hit the slow cooker and walked away for a few hours. At the end, we vamped up the intensity with a few minutes of pressure cooking and we were left will a sweet sauce and meat so tender it just peeled away from the bone.

The results were so good that even the highly critical Fabio let out an involuntary exclaim of satisfied praise.

This cooker is definitely easy to use (one couple cooking together, zero arguments) and even easier to clean (good work Jonas).

All the residual fear I had from my high school friend’s horrific pressure cooker accident was dispelled by the quick vacuum seal and the easy steam release valve. No explosions, good times.

My rule when accepting free gifts or meals is simple: if I don’t like it, I won’t write about it.

Well, I love my NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker and I’m not afraid to tell the world! Without the crew at Kitchenware Direct we might never have been introduced, and that would have been a tragedy.

Spicy Pulled Pork

Based on a recipe by Feast on the Cheap. Makes 10 buns.

Ingredients:
2kg pork shoulder, bone in
1 medium brown onion, diced
1 cup carrot, grated
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce*
800g can crushed tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) passata (tomato sauce)
250ml (1 cup) ketchup
250ml (1 cup) BBQ sauce
125ml (½ cup) red wine
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from chipotle chillies)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
Olive oil, for frying

To serve:
Hamburger buns
Aioli
Fresh coriander, chopped
Coleslaw

Method:

1. Trim the pork shoulder of skin and excess fat to prevent congealing in the slow cooker.

2. Over medium heat, sauté the onion, carrot, garlic and chipotle chillies in olive oil until the onion is translucent.

3. In a bowl, combine the sautéed vegetables, BBQ sauce, ketchup, crushed tomatoes, passata, adobo sauce, red wine, cider vinegar, dried oregano, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir well.

4. Back in the frying pan, sear the pork shoulder and brown on all sides.

5. In the slow cooker, pour a cup or so of sauce into the base to completely cover the bottom.

6. Put the pork shoulder inside the slow cooker and cover completely in sauce. Cover and cook at 100’C for 5 hours.

7. Switch to your pressure cooker setting and cook for another 20 minutes.

8. Remove the pork from the sauce, cool then shred with a fork. Set aside in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap to keep moist.

9. Pour the sauce into a pan and check seasoning. Adjust balance of sweet and sour according to your tastes, then reduce the sauce by simmering for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Blend into a purée.

10. In a bowl, add enough sauce to pork to allow for a sticky but not soupy mix.

11. Serve on soft hamburger buns topped with aioli, coriander and sides of coleslaw and dill pickles.

Note: If you don’t have a slow and pressure cooker in one, buy one from Kitchenware Direct! Or you can cook it in a slow cooker for 6-7 hours or a large oven pot at 175’C for 4-7 hours, depending on your oven.

* In Australia, chipotle chillies in adobo sauce are sold in cans in Latin American sections of specialist supermarkets like Fiji Markets in Newtown, Sydney. You can buy them online at Fireworks Foods too. Otherwise substitute with Chipotle Tabasco.

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pecan maple granola

This homemade granola and vanilla poached pears were part of a truly inspired breakfast, eaten with wonderful people in a beautiful location.

We made this for Lynn and Chris when we visited their beautiful property in Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (NSW being a state of Australia, for the uninitiated).

The weekend was so relaxing. Despite the cold and rain we rugged up in gumboots and drizabones and traipsed through the muddy fields, splashing through the puddles and catching yabbies from the gushing creek. In the evening it was good food, great conversation, red wine, a book or sudoku and a cosy chair by the fire. Bliss.

In return for kindly hosting us for the weekend (with sisters Stinky and Shamu and their partners M.E. and Tombolina), everyone was tasked with a meal to make and we draw the brunch card on Sunday morning. Jonas and I made cheese and chive scrambled eggs, smoky bacon and sumac fried tomatoes. Next on the menu were guava and sparkling rosé breakfast cocktails and these pots of pecan maple granola with poached pears and maple mascarpone.

The Guava & Sparkling Rosé Breakfast Cocktail is a very simple thing to make. Just top off a nice glass of sparkling rosé with fresh, pink luscious guava juice. Done.

While the poached pears and maple mascarpone were lovely, the granola was the real star.

The pecans roasted into the perfect texture, the maple gave a rich caramelised sweetness and the overall combination was elegant and delicious. A perfect breakfast on a perfect weekend.

It was so good that M.E. and I managed to sneak quite a bit of granola before we served it.

This was the first time I’ve made granola and I was surprised at just how easy it is to prepare and how much tastier homemade granola can be.

This Americana version, using pecans and maple syrup, really hit the spot for me and I’ll be making it again for sure, but I’ve been inspired to try out more granola concepts. Other flavour combinations I’ve been considering are peanut & honey; apricot, pistachio & pine nut; chocolate & orange; pumpkin & cinnamon; cherry & almond; coconut & banana; and fig & hazelnut.

Mmmmm. Granola.

Maple Pecan Granola

Anna’s version of Andrea’s recipe. Serves 6.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 cup pecan pieces
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 110°C.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, pecan pieces, pumpkin seeds, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar, breaking up the sugar lumps.

3. Add the oil and maple syrup and stir until everything is well coated.

4. Spread on a baking sheet covered in baking paper.

5. Bake for up to 1 hour (or until golden brown), stirring every 10 minutes.

6. Cool completely, break into chunks and store for up to a week in an airtight container.

Note: Great with thick vanilla, honey or cinnamon yoghurt; sweetened mascarpone; poached fruit or simple milk.

Vanilla Poached Pears & Maple Mascarpone

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 6.

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla pod
6 pears, peeled, cored & quartered
2 tablespoons maple syrup
250g mascarpone

Method:
1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.

2. Halve vanilla pod, scrape out seeds and add both seeds and pod to saucepan.

3. Turn heat to medium and stir, dissolving sugar.

4. Once sugar is dissolved, add pears and simmer until soft (around 10 minutes).

5. Cool pears in syrup. Refrigerate until needed, but bring to room temperature before serving.

6. Combine the maple syrup and mascarpone. Serve strained pears with  mascarpone (and granola).

apple baby dutch

This fantastic breakfast recipe changed my opinion about cooked apples.

It’s hard to believe, but until I tasted this I’d never enjoyed cooked apples. Not apple pie, not baked apples, not apple crumble. No cooked apple.

But now I’m a changed woman.

Perhaps it’s because dutch babies are baked German pancakes introduced to the US by German immigrants to Pennsylvania, from whom I am a descended.



The strange thing about the Dutch Baby, and about the Pennsylvania Dutch in general is that they are actually Germans, confused by an English corruption of the German word deutsch.

In fact, it just occurred to me while writing this, that my brother and I are the very first generation not to be born in Pennsylvania in a direct line of descendants from a German immigrant who fought for his new country’s freedom in the American War of Independence.

Way to bring an end to some 250 years of tradition!

But back to those delicious apples, they are perfect atop this fluffy pancake that puffs up wonderfully in the oven.

Apple Dutch Baby
Adapted from a recipe on the Williams Sonoma website. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
Apple Topping
2 apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Pancake
5 tablespoons butter, chopped
¾ cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Cream, for serving
Method:
1. Adjust the oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Turn on the oven to 200°C.
2. Put the butter in a very large (12-inch) skillet with an ovenproof handle.
3. Set in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the butter completely (okay if it begins to brown).
4. While the butter melts, measure the flour into a large bowl. Add the eggs, milk and salt. Beat until smooth, using a whisk, large spoon or handheld electric mixer.
5. Pour the batter into the hot pan. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sides are puffed up and dark golden brown.
6. Meanwhile, to make topping, heat butter in a frying pan. Add apples, cinnamon and sugar and sauté for 8 minutes until softened. Set aside but keep warm.
7. Remove from the oven. Loosen the Dutch baby from the sides and bottom of the skillet, then slide it onto a serving plate.
8. Pile the fruit in the centre and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
9. To serve, cut into wedges and serve with thickened cream.
Note: original recipe used regular milk, was served with fresh fruit and maple syrup.

Apples are my theme ingredient for Weekend Herb Blogging.

Originating in Central Asia, the apple has more than 7,500 cultivars and is one of most widely cultivated tree fruits in the world. Heck, isn’t it the reason we’re all out here in the cold instead of kicking it back in the Garden of Eden?

Check out the WHB round-up from host Cinzia at Cindystar.

green goddess dip

After a month offline in Europe, it's time to start cooking again. It's been a while and I although I'll be blogging about the food we discovered for quite some time, I also plan to keep blogging recipes too.

It's winter back in Australia, but I'm still dreaming about the rays of sun I managed to catch in northern Spain.

This recipe captures the fresh flavours of summer well and is a great little dip to serve at a party or BBQ.

It tastes herby and fresh, and the saltiness from the anchovies leaves you wanting more.

 
Green Goddess Dip

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma. Makes 1½ cups.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh mint
2 or 3 anchovy fillets
1 shallot, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup mayonnaise
¾ cup sour cream
Chips and crudités, for serving
Method:
1. In a blender or food processor, combine the chives, parsley, basil, mint, anchovies, shallot, lemon juice and mayonnaise.
2. Blend or process until smooth, about 1 minute or about 15 pulses.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the sour cream.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
5. Serve with potato chips and crudités for dipping.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging this week, hosted by Anh from Food Lover's Journey.

persimmon chutney

This sweet and sour chutney is quite runny, but has a little texture from the firmer Fuyu persimmon flesh (see info on persimmon types here).

The flavour is certainly sweet with a tang and spicy kick, and it goes well with barbequed and grilled meats and fish.

Persimmon Chutney

Anna’s very own recipe. Makes 250ml.
Ingredients:
1 ripe Hachiya persimmon
1 ripe Fuyu persimmon
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Peel the Fuyu persimmon and cube flesh. Put aside in bowl.

2. Scoop the jelly-like flesh out of the Hachiya persimmon. Add to Fuyu.

3. Combine all other ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute.

4. Add persimmon pulp, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes until pulp is soft and spices have permeated the chutney.

5. Pour into a sterilised jar and allow to cool.

6. Can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months.

the cocktails of new orleans

What better post for the weekend than a whole bunch of cocktail recipes?

Jonas and I enjoyed a plethora of good cocktails in New Orleans, home of many of the world’s most famous drinks.

Did you know that New Orleans is the home of the following cocktails:
• Sazerac
• Ramos Gin Fizz
• Brandy Milk Punch
• Hurricane

Just as I suspected, the Brandy Milk Punch turned out to be my favourite of New Orleans' cocktails. Perfect to start off the day at breakfast, or end the evening with a milky treat before bed. Delicious, sweet and comforting!

Brandy Milk Punch
Recipe by the Museum of the American Cocktail. Makes 1.
Ingredients:
2 oz. (60ml) brandy
1 oz. (30ml) sugar syrup
4 oz. (120ml) milk
Method:
1. Shake with ice and serve in a punch glass. Dust with nutmeg.

The Sazerac is supposed to be America’s first cocktail, originating in pre-Civil War New Orleans in the 1830s. For those with a low alcohol tolerance, this is one dangerous drink.

Sazerac
Recipe from neworleansonline.com Makes 1.Ingredients:
3-4 dashes of Herbsaint
2 oz. (60ml) Rye of Bourbon blended whiskey
3-4 hearty dashes of Peychaud bitters
One long, thin twist of lemon
Sugar cube, water, club soda—optional
Method:1. Place Herbsaint in a well-chilled Old Fashion glass. Tilt glass to coat sides completely and pour off excess Herbsaint.
2. Place Rye and Peychaud bitters into cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake for 30 seconds and strain into prepared glass.
3. Twist lemon peel over drink and drop in gently.

This photo was pilfered from www.starchefs.com because I was too busy drinking to take a photo of my own!

This great cocktail is pure deliciousness. Originally called the New Orleans Fizz, it was invented by Henry Ramos in 1888. Based on a regular gin fizz, the addition of eggwhite and orange flower water gives an aromatic elegance to Ramos’ version.

Ramos Gin FizzRecipe by Art of Drink. Makes 1.
Ingredients:2 oz (60ml) gin
½ tablespoon egg white (powdered)
½ oz (15ml) sugar syrup
½ oz (15ml) lemon juice
½ oz (15ml) lime juice
1 oz (30ml) cream
3 drops orange flower water
1-2 oz (30-60ml) soda water
Method:
1. Combine the gin, cream, egg white, lime juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup then shake, shake, shake until it gets creamy.
2. Then add a scoop of ice and shake for another 30 seconds. Once that is done strain the drink into a tall glass with an ounce or two of soda water on the bottom.
Tip: Don’t add the soda water after the drink is in the glass because it breaks the foam and makes for a watery drink.

According to Pat O’Brien’s (the Hurricane creators) during WWII staple booze was in low supply so salesmen would force bars to buy mass amounts of cheap Caribbean rum to get a little of the good stuff (like whisky). Pat O'Brien's owner decided to entice the crowds with cheap fruity rum punch in a novelty shaped (hurricane lamp) glass.

Hurricane
Recipe from The Gumbo Pages. Makes 1.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz (45ml) light rum
1.5 oz (45ml) dark rum
1 oz (30ml) orange juice
1 oz (30ml) fresh lime juice
¼ cup passion fruit juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon grenadine
Cherries with stems, and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes
Method:
1. In a cocktail shaker, mix the rum, passion fruit juice or syrup, the other juices and the sugar until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the grenadine, and stir to combine, then add ice and shake.
3. Half-fill a hurricane glass with ice, then strain drink into glass; add ice to fill. Garnish with orange slice and cherries.

Napoleon House is a beautiful bar, built as a residence in 1797 for New Orleans’ mayor Nicholas Girod. It was offered as a refuge Napoleon Bonaparte in 1821, explaining how it got it’s imperial name. Although not a cocktail invented in New Orleans, Napoleon House makes such a mean Pimm’s Cup that it might as well have been their’s to start with.

Napoleon’s Pimm’s Cup
Recipe by Napoleon House. Makes 1.
Ingredients:1 ¼ oz. (40ml) Pimm's No. 1 Cup
3 oz (90ml) lemonade (made from lemons!)
7up
Freshly sliced cucumber
Method:
1. Fill a tall 12 oz glass with ice.
2. Add Pimm's and lemonade.
3. Then top off with 7up.
4. Garnish with cucumber.
 

The first written record of the mint julep was published in London in 1803 and called it “a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint steeped in it, taken by Virginians of a morning”. Given that the mint julep is the official drink of the Kentucky Derby, it’s most certainly known as a Southern drink and is drunk en masse in New Orleans (which seems to claim it as its own).

Mint JulepRecipe by the Museum of the American Cocktail. Makes 1.
Ingredients:½ oz. (15ml) sugar syrup
2 sprigs of fresh mint
2 oz. (60ml) bourbon
Method:1. Muddle, with sugar syrup, one sprig of mint in the bottom of a highball glass or a silver julep cup.
2. Fill with crushed ice and add the bourbon.
3. Swirl with a bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts.
4. Top up with more ice and garnish with a sprig of mint.

So which were my favourite bars in New Orleans?

Napoleon House
500 Chartres Street
Historic bar
Sit at the bar and soak up the 200yrs of atmosphere.

Chart Room
300 Chartres Street
Casual bar/pub
Local watering hole oozing with character.

Bombay Club
830 Conti Street
Martini bar / restaurant
Romantic, smoky, colonial charm.

Enjoy the drinking!


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