BOOKS ABOUT FOOD.....mmmmm food and reading what more could we want

I love to readand I love to cook.

I love to read cook books....but what I have discovered is...I love to read stories with food and cooking woven through it.....FICTION or NON FICTION...Im not fussy. I remember my first bookclub I joined in W.A the first book I read was Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival. Which I really enjoyed and we talked it through so lovingly with food in our hearts and mouths( I love a good bookclub meeting with plenty of food lots of talk, laughter and freedom to say what you want) that was my first "taste" of food fiction .......OR so I thought. I started really thinking about it...and my FIRST memories of food through books was years before that....

Enid Blyton take a bow because I think you opened up so many little foodies with your fantastic stories of midnights feasts, treacle tarts,...and who still dreams of having one of

Moon-face's pop biscuits or a google bun( I bet it's got nothing to do with the internet)

Hurrah for the fantastic picnic baskets in The Famous Five with ham sandwiches,homemade lemonade or gingerbeer with ices after the adventure

(Iwondered what ices where for a while...wouldn't julian dick anne and george love the array of icecreams we have these days...almost TOO MANY to choose)

But I think the first of her books to show me the way was...Mr Pinkwhistle

He always went to or threw a fabulous party with all sorts of sweetys and divine sounding things.

So I have had a trip down memory lane and Im a bit older than I was when reading lovely Enid Blyton stories..and I have moved on to other books but still enjoy books with food through them. I just finished reading Pomegranate Soup By Marsha Mehran and I have started on The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones. Maeve Binchy wrote a couple of good ones for the light fluffy romantic foody type Scarlett Feather & Quentins.

I have put about 4 on hold to come in for me at the library...and on my list...there are another 35 books I have written down..and I am absolutely postive that more will be added to that list. I would love to hear recommendations from others who love the same.....ok happy reading dreaming about food..think I will go and have a mid morning snack pate, crackers and some king island double brie...mmmmm FOOD

More Aprons.....or Aprons for Sale...??

I have decided to make and sell some aprons. Being a chef I love this design of double sided. One side is the practical or plain side and the other side is for fun and can be a bit whimsical(look out fairy lovers) The great thing is you can wear the plain side while you are cooking and doing the kitchen bit then when it is time to go into your dining room you can turn the apron around and have a clean apron and still look pretty or of course you can try the other way. Be fun and whimsical while you ARE cooking with your fun sided apron and then when it's time to serve your guests or just the family you can turn it around and be sensible practical kitchen wench/mum This is the reason that they are not purple. If they were purple I wouldn't be able to sell them. If I do other colours I can look at them and appreciate the beauty of the colours and the cuteness of the designs and be really happy when someone takes one home. I am only doing one of a kind aprons. I don't want anyone having the same. $25 and I suppose I will have to add postage onto that which Im taking a guess would be about $6 but I will check that out next week. I am currently finishing another one which is chocolate brown on one side(practical) and pink with browns aqua pink orange. I have had a bit of a job deciding what colour to put with the brown but I think orange is the go but it wasn't going to work with the pink so I've decided on both .....wait and see it will look great...another pic in the next 2 days I promise(kath thats for you...my lone reader/commenter)

Aprons, cute & frilly BUT practical....is there ever too many....how many make an obsession??

Wikipedia says:

An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear.

Ok I have a confession to make....I love aprons!! I think it may have started a really long time ago when I was little...ok lets not say a really long time ago but in years gone by....So in years gone by.... I watched as my Nan C  would head straight for the kitchen put on her pinny and start her day. This is, of course, if she didn't walk down to the local shop for her unsliced loaf  first. Oh the smell of that bread....Anyhow pinny on ready to go. If I was to "help" in the kitchen there were 2 small aprons or if there were more than 2 of us wanting to help then I seem to remember a  teatowel and pin came out. The thing we were mainly allowed to "help" with was scones....always tending to end up like little hard rocks from over kneading and Nans were that awesome scone that only old ladies seem to be able to make. I've become attached to wearing an apron. I enjoy wearing an apron  it makes me feel like I'm doing something.

This apron I picked up in Hobart City Mission Shop because it reminded me straight away of nan and her  scone making...and it was PURPLE!!

This is another of my CWA shop type pick ups...it was a whole 50c.

                                                                                                                                                               They really do save your clothes as they were intendedThis apron is one of my faves it was sent by a very dear friend when she lived in Canada. They apparently really know how to celebrate the holidays there and I love the whole Halloween experience.

Look at this georgeous fruit fabric that I made another apron from yesterday

I have a childrens apron that an old friend who lives in the UK sent my oldest son when he was about 2 or 3(he is now 22) its from Harrods

My other nana was english Nan B and she wore a shift sort of apron when she was "getting mucky" as she would say. That would usually be general housework but she was "saving her clothes" by wearing her shift/apron.

I have made a number of aprons and have found that I enjoy making them and this will be my creative outlet for a little while. I love that aprons of all sorts have come into vogue again...I really love some of the vintage ones I've seen

This one is double sided and is my favourite at the moment.....til I make another one!!

Excuses for not blogging.....

Ok I will admit I havent blogged for a couple of weeks and I will tell you the honest truth...its because its winter!! Well thats not completely true...its winter and our computer is in the spare room which is like sitting in an icebox and more so at night, so needless to say I'm not all that excited about jumping in here to start writing anything.....BUT things are going to change. We decided in all our wisdom to maybe move the computer into our lounge....when we actually do this is a different matter. We have a few important thangs happening at the moment...the biggest one is that we have been looking at a few businesses over the last few months....and decicions are getting close....keep your eye here for coming information...stay beautiful and enjoy th winter weather...BBBRRRRRRR

Golden Syrup Dumplings....mmmm winter comfort food

Ok I made these the other day I havent had them for a few years now and they are a childhood favourite and they were as good as I remember. So I thought I had better share them with you. If you are not a sweet tooth don't bother because they are sickly sweet and disgustingly divine and you must have double cream with them to cut down the sweetness....ooohh my mouth is watering just thinking about them again.

Sauce

40g butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup golden syrup

1 2/3 cups water

combine all ingredients in pan with bottom about 18cm wide. Stir over heat without boiling until sugar dissolved. Bring to boil without stirring reduce to simmer

Dumplings

1 1/4 cups SR flour

30 g butter

1/3 cup golden syrup

1 tbsp milk(with another to spare in case the mix is too dry)

Sift flour into bowl, rub in butter, gradually stir in syrup and milk. Drop heaped teaspoonsful into simmering sauce. Simmer covered for approx 15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through. Serve with sauce and double cream or ice cream(or both if you are piggies like us)

Muffins the UNBOUGHT way

ok my peeps here is a great muffin recipe without all the hype. I was a muffin disliker myself until I disovered that muffins don't have to be dry and tasteless. Give this recipe a go it works, I have made them hundreds of times. You can add any sort of fruit or spices for sweet muffins or leave out the sugar and add some savoury elements eg bacon , onion, ham sundried tomatoes, any sort of cheese & herbs.

Muffins by Lavendah

2 1/2 cups SR flour

100g butter(my preference always)or margarine

1 cup castor sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1 grated apple(the apple is to keep the muffin moist when you add other fruit you dont really get the apple as a flavour so use 2 if you want more apple flavour.

Once you have your ingredients together then grease your muffin tins or use muffin wraps or large patty pan cases, make sure you do give the tin a light spray even if you are using patty pans(which I highly recommend anyway) as it stops the muffin tops from sticking to the tin. Turn your oven on to preheat to 160

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix through, mix the egg and milk together and then mix into the dry ingredients with the apple. Don't overmix it but dont be scared to mix the ingredients in. Add whatever fruit you wish for your flavourings.

Fill whatever size muffin tins you are using 3/4 full if you want an overflowing effect(how a muffin should look) or half fill if you want them to be the same size as the actual tin. Bake in a moderate to oven for 20-25 minutes the muffins should bounce back when you touch them, if it leaves an indent when you push them, put them back in for another 5-10 minutes keeping an eye on them but not opening the oven to let the heat escape.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 min in the tins then carefully run a butter knife around the edge of the muffin to losen it from the tin and put them on a cooling rack. Eat when hungry!!

An easy dessert is to make a berry sauce or a caramel sauce and serve the muffins warm with cream and ice cream.

Some of my sweet favourites are; raspberry and white chocolate, blackberry honey and apple, banana date and walnut, blueberry, apple & cinnamon.

savoury faves are fetta and herb, ham cheese and tomato, pumpkin & fetta...(generally anything and fetta I will like)

Gluten free Lemon curd tarts...for people more commonly known as "glutards"

Ok here is a gluten free tart recipe that is mine...I thought seeing as there were so many people out there with this gluten intolerance I would try and make some pasrty that tasted nice as well as not having gluten. And of course anything with lemon curd is always going to be divine!!.

I must tell you this was a bit of a hit and miss and the pastry I went with my "chefs feel" for the texture.

1/4 cup cornflour

1/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup almond meal

100 g butter cold

pinch salt

Put all dry ingredients together in a bowl then grate the butter in the middle. Rub in butter with fingers until it resembles thick breadcrumbs. Add 2 tbsp cold water and mix gently. It depends upon your dry ingredients on how much water you will need. You want the dough firm and slightly tacky but not wet knead it slightly to combine ingredients properly, then refrigerate for half an hour.

Lemon Curd

This is enough to fill approx 12 mini tart cases if I make more I will eat it with a spoon and my hips will not be happy although my mouth is singing just thinking about it.

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup castor sugar

60 ml lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

75 g butter

Add the sugar tp the egg yolks and mix up til its all incorporated. Put into a heavy based small saucepan on low heat. Add the zest and lemon juice and a few small knobs of butter gradually increase heat slightly and keep stirring. As your stirring add the rest of the butter in small amounts stirring and let it thicken without boiling or burning it, this whole process shouldnt take longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat and put aside to cool. Remove pastry from fridge and have some cornflour to use to roll out pastry(so it doesnt stick) I use patty pan cases for my mini tarts so I just spray them with non stick spray(sometimes when feel nostalgic I butter and flour and boy it does make a difference to the taste...ahh I remember the old ways) and get a scone cutter ready that is slightly bigger than the area of the tart cases. Roll out pastry (using lots of sprinkled cornflour) to approx 2.5mm thick and cut out with scone cutter. Press gently into greased patty pan tray. dock the pastry so it doesnt rise . cook for 15-20 min oven @ 155 degrees

make sure they are golden brown underneath. This is a very crisp shortbread like pastry. While they are still warm add the lemon curd into the tart cases and put into warm oven for another 5 minute remove from oven and serve with cream or on their own and cooled down or hot.

Raspberry Jam

I dont know how anyone can buy commercially made jam!! I know we are spoilt with raspberries growing everywhere down here but its so easy to make a pot of jam that anyone can do it. Once you have made your own you will never want to eat that bought stuff again. Do yourself a favour before you start making jam...buy yourself a candy thermometer. They arent very expensive about $12 from a kitchenware shop, and it takes the guesswork out of jam making. My nana always had jars of homemade jam in her cupboard her plum jam was one of my faves but there is just something about homemade raspberry jam that is comforting and DELICOUS!!

Raspberry Jam
1.5 kg fresh raspberries 1/3 cup lemon juice 1.5 kg sugar warmed

Put the sugar in a clean pan and into an oven on low heat. Put berries and lemon juice on a low heat til berries start to break down and cook. Add warmed sugar and stir until sugar dissolved. Bring to a low boil for 5 min then simmer for 30-40 minutes. a scum will rise to the top of the berry mixture so scoop this off and throw away.Keep your eye on the jam at all times and now use your candy thermometer and the setting point for the jam is between 104 - 106 degress c
Bottle while hot and let cool naturally(overnight is best)

Tomato Relish, an oldy but a goody.

Well this is a special request from a friend. HP was living down here in tassie but has moved to warmer pastures and we both love cupcakes and baking. Last year we had a cooking day at another friends (who owns a B&B with the bonus of a commercial kitchen) and made tomato relish and also raspberry jam. So its about that time now to use up all the old tomaotes that were growing in the veggie patch. So you can dig up that patch and plant the garlic...this is my plan anyway..apart from the fact that tomates DO NOT GROW for me here. Its too cold and you definately need a hot house or a poly tunnel. On the other hand purple garlic grows FABULOUSLY and I must get it it, or my crop won't be half as good as last year.
Tomato Relish
1.5 kg ripe tomatoes 1 1/2 TBS dry mustard 500g onion 1 TBSP salt
599g sugar 2 LGE TBSP P. flour 1 lge TBSP curry powder vinegar

Get 8-10 jars washed and heated in the oven. Cut tomatoes & onions finely and sprinkle with salt, leave overnight. (this step can be left out but the relish will be tastier if you do it) Next day drain the juice off the tomato & onion mixture. Put into heavy based saucepan with the sugar and almost cover with vinegar. Bring to the boil and simmer on high until cooked(approx 3/4 hour) Turn down slightly while you , Mix flour, mustard & curry powder to a paste and mix into the tomato mixture until it thickens. Bottle while hot keeps for a good 6 months in the bottom of your dark cupboard. Once you have opened a jar keep in refrigerated.

Soup for dinner

Well it's nice to be sitting back waiting for my dinner to be cooked for me. Am I out somewhere waiting for a 3 course meal. No I am at home and having pea & ham soup made for me and also homemade sausage/savoury roll. Speaking of eating out. I had soup out at lunch today(local small town cafe in southern tassie) was a bland and insipid version of a potato soup and not up to the standard I would expect. The other small cafe in our town makes SUPERB soup but in my opinion its just not a comfortable space to sit and try and enjoy it, it's a little cramped for a meal but perfect for coffee.

Panna Cotta...recipe not for lactose intolerant people..MUST LOVE CREAM

This is a beautiful dessert and can be tweaked for anyone tastes as you can serve it with a variety of sauces or add a touch of spice to the mixture to make them a little more exotic.

Panna Cotta
4 cups of cream
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract(or for the adventurous use a real vanilla bean & scrape the seeds back into it..DIVINE!!)
6 TBSP sugar
Put these ingredients in a heavy based saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl put 4 tbsp water and sprinkle 4 tsp gelatine on top also sprinkle another 3 tbsp sugar on top of this mixture to help the gelatine soak into the water. When the cream mixture has almost come to the boil(watch it carefully as we all know how quickly these things boil over) add the gelatine mixture and whisk ket simmer for another minute then remove from heat. Set aside to cool for approx 10-15 minutes until you can see a skin has formed on top.
Strain the cream mixture through a sieve(DO NOT MISS THIS STEP OUT)
pour into serve size attractive glasses or bowls. It is very rich so don't make the serving glasses too big.Set in fridge for at least 2 hours. (If you have put them into a mould to turn out on a plate to serve then refrigerate overnight.)
This goes extremely well with raspberries, in fact any berries or fruit compote mixes, chocolate sauce, I have made them and then put a real fruit jelly on top and its delicous. If you like a bit of spice you can add 1/4 tsp cardomon and 1/4 tsp mixed spice and this goes really well with the chocloate sauce. Happy cooking(and eating)

Unemployed Purple Chef

Well I did what I should have probably done 2 weeks ago and I resigned today(long story short my hours got cut from 24 to approx 6 and no prep time so me no happy) so for the minute I am unemployed purple chef. I have been cooking for a long time and I have lots of things I want to post on here for budding chefs(and family and friends) out there to have a go at...in fact I think everyone should learn to cook...not open a packet and adding water cooking REAL cooking with fresh ingredients and passion for flavour and NO preservatives. You only need to learn a couple of basics and gain some confidence and you will be cooking up a storm in no time.

Aahhh Pate`...the snack for everyone...well maybe not the vegetarians

Thought I would post my Mum's new favourite recipe. She was here for a visit a couple of months ago and her one request for things to do (in her whirlwind 2 1/2 day visit) was to watch me make pate` so she could do it at home. I think she has made it about 4 times in the last 2 months and spread the word(no pun intended) about how good "real" pate is. Not that souless too firm goop that you often find in the deli section of the supermarket. I myself like the tasmanian native pepper(Diemen Pepper) to add to it but you can use any peppercorns according to your taste or leave them out if you don't like them at all.

Pate`

500g chicken livers 1/3 cup brandy 150g butter(NOT margarine) 2 rashers bacon 1 lge onion

1/2 cup cream 2 cloves garlic 1 tbsp native pepper salt&pepper (approx 1/4 tsp)

Method

Cook onion and bacon in butter on medium heat in saucepan until the onions are translucent(see thru) add chicken livers and cook gently for a couple of minutes then add the brandy and cream. Let livers cook all the way through (dont over cook them as this will not give you a smooth end product) Add a little salt & pepper then taste the juice of your pate to see if you need anymore. Blend with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth and put into pate` pots or whatever you choose to serve it in. Let cool then serve with onion marmalade and mini toast or crackers. This freezes well as long as you leave it to thaw completely on its own when you get it out of the freezer. And when friends know you have made it...you WON'T need to freeze it as they will be knocking down the door to come over and eat it with you. Enjoy

Beef Bourguinon

Well in honour of my first post I thought I would make beef bourguinon...with buttery mash. I have made versions of this for years and thought maybe Julia Childs version would be spectacular...it was yummy but as good as mine ever has been.
Its done and dusted everyone eaten and happy...the dog even had a taste(we have a dog that prefers good food to dog food) Mr purple didnt like the mash(he has an aversion to butter.....WHAT THE...and I love the stuff..oh well) master purple was impressed with everything but the mushrooms(kids are funny about texture arent they)