amsterdam 2014

amsterdam 2014

15 May 2014

Hi Every-one,

I know I went AWOL on Monday, but I've been a little bit busy and a lot jet lagged since I arrived in Amsterdam. When you fall asleep at 8.00 it doesn't give you much time for blogging.



My flight to Amsterdam was delayed by a few hours so as soon as I arrived and sorted myself out, I went out exploring the streets of Amsterdam with my new camera, the Fuji XE-2. All the images today were shot with the new camera. My trusty film camera came with me as well so once I'm home and get the film developed, I'll share those images with you.



I'm staying in a little apartment near the Flower Market which I booked through airbnb. It looks just like the photos, is light and airy and very central and I couldn't have chosen a better place to stay.



As it's tulip time in Amsterdam, I bought a bunch to decorate the flat and have photographed them where ever I've found them. I found these beauties outside the Tulip Museum.



Before I left Sydney last Sunday I wrote my May Delicious Bites column for decor8. You can find my recipe for zucchini lime and pecan cake here.

It's close to my bed time, so I'll post this before I fall asleep. 

See you all again soonish,

Jillian

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chocolate pear and hazelnut tarts

chocolate pear and hazelnut tarts

5 May 2014

As expected, I ran out of time to bake and photograph something new for you this week. I shot this story last year for my Delicious Bites column for decor8 but in the end decided to use another recipe. I thought the recipe was too good to sit in my archives, so I'm sharing my chocolate pear and hazelnut tart recipe with you today.



As it's now autumn in Sydney the apricots, peaches, nectarines and cherries have disappeared from the fruit shop and have been replaced by apples, pears, oranges and quince, so this recipe is timely. I've not made this with plums but I think that combination would be fantastic.



I used my favourite Isidora Popovic chocolate pastry recipe and the filling is my own creation, a riff on the classic almond frangipane.  



I used my favourite little corella pears to make individual tarts. If you wanted to make a 23cm tart, the pastry makes sufficient to line a 23 cm tart tin. You'll need to make 3 times the quantity of the filling to fill the tart. 

Here's the recipe for you.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pear Tarts - makes 5 x 8cm tarts

Chocolate Shortcrust recipe

225g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

125g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

85g caster sugar

1 egg

Filling

50 gm unsalted butter, softened

50 gm caster sugar

50 gm hazelnut or almond meal

2 tsp plain flour, sifted

3 tsp cocoa, sifted

30 g dark chocolate, melted and cooled

1 large egg

2 tsp rum or orange juice

Topping

3 corella pears, peeled and halved 

a few roughly chopped hazelnuts

apricot jam, warmed and sieved

Pastry

You’ll only need half the pastry quantity for this recipe. This keeps well, so you can freeze the remaining pastry. 

Place the flour, cocoa, butter and sugar in a food processor and mix until you get crumbs. Add the egg and mix again. Take the dough out of the mixer and bring together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap or kitchen paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

As this is a sticky dough, I rolled the dough out on lightly floured greaseproof paper until it was 3-4mm thick. Line the tart shells with the chocolate shortcrust pastry and trim the excess dough neatly around the edges. Refrigerate the tart shells for an hour. 

Filling

In a small bowl or in a food processor, combine all the filling ingredients and mix until a soft mixture is formed. Place in the fridge until required.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Remove the tart shells from the fridge and line with baking paper. Fill the shells with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes before carefully removing the lining paper and the baking beans. Return the partly cooked shells to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes until the shells are dry and lightly coloured. Allow the tartlet shells to cool a little before filling.

Spoon the chocolate mixture into the pre baked tart shell. Don’t overfill the tarts ~ ⅔ is fine. Gently place the halved pears onto the filled tart, cut side facing up. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the top of the tart, avoiding the pears.

Bake the tarts on the middle shelf for 30 minutes at 190°C or until the filling has puffed and tests a bit squidgy, like a brownie.

Remove the tart from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, gently remove the tart from the tin. If desired you can glaze the top of the tarts with 1-2 tablespoons of warmed apricot jam.

This time next week I'll have just arrived in Amsterdam and I'll be struggling with jetlag. I'm aiming to post while on the road but don't know what I'll be posting or when, so see you all again sometime next week.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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crème caramel

crème caramel

13 Jan 2014

Do you have a recipe you no longer make but you can't think of a good reason why you ever stopped? Well you can put crème caramel into that category. I had Flan Casero, the Spanish version of crème caramel, while I was in Tasmania and it reminded me just how much I love caramel and custard. Making crème caramel has been on my to-do list ever since. 



To make a good crème caramel you need just a few key ingredients - milk, cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Traditionally I think the custard was made using milk alone but I like a little bit of cream to add some luxury to the dish.



The custard is easy to make so the only thing slightly tricky about this dish is the caramel. Too pale and there isn't much flavour in the caramel, too dark and it will taste burnt.



You'll need to bake the custard gently in a water bath cos you don't want to end up with bubbles in the custard. Some recipes use hot water but I used cold water in mine.

Here's the recipe for you -
Jillian’s Crème Caramel Recipe - serves 4
Custard
250 ml (1 cup) milk
150ml (⅔ cup) cream
1 egg
2 egg yolks, extra
2 - 3 tbl caster sugar
1 vanilla bean

Caramel
½ cup caster sugar
⅔ cup water

Place the milk and cream in a saucepan and add the vanilla pod, split in half lengthways. Bring the mixture to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave the milk to infuse with the vanilla for 1 hour. Remove the vanilla bean from the milk mixture.

To make the caramel, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture is dark golden. Pour into 4 x ¾ cup-capacity (180ml) greased ovenproof dishes and rotate to cover the base and sides. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the caramel is set.

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F). Place the egg, extra yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Gradually add the milk mixture to the eggs, whisking to combine. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a jug then pour into the prepared dishes. Carefully place the custards into a shallow baking tray, before pouring enough water into the tin to come half way up the sides of the dishes. Cover the dish with foil then bake the custards for 35 - 40 minutes or until just set. They will firm up as they cool. Remove the foil and the custards from the dish and allow the custards to cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove the crème caramels from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. To unmould the crème caramel, run a palette knife around the edge and gently ease the custard away from the side of the dish with your fingers. I also found dipping the ramekin in hot water for 1 minute to loosen the caramel really helped with the unmoulding process. Carefully turn out on to a plate to serve.



I hope you give this recipe a try because these little crème caramels were delicious.

P.S. if you're looking for more of my recipes, my latest Delicious Bites post is on decor8. You can find the recipe for the apple and cranberry yeast cake here.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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white chocolate and rosemary nougat - 5 days of candies - xmas 2013

white chocolate and rosemary nougat - 5 days of candies - xmas 2013

20 Dec 2013

So here it is, the final recipe in my 5 days of candies and it's a doozy. One of my all time favourite Sydney restaurants is Sean’s Panaroma down at Bondi and it's where I first tried this white chocolate and rosemary nougat about 10 years ago. It was absolutely delicious and I've been meaning to make it ever since.

I have Sean's recipe tucked away in one of my recipe boxes but the effort involved in locating it (we're talking a 6 foot ladder here) was way too much for me at this time of year, so I tracked down a version on the internet. I decided to change some of the proportions in the recipe, so I can’t promise this is exactly the same as Sean’s version.




You need a stand mixer to make nougat and as I didn't own one until recently, the recipe was put to one side until now. I've never made nougat before so I held my breath and crossed my fingers that it would turn out okay. I accidentally overcooked the syrup so the nougat is much firmer than I would have liked but it still tastes delicious. I still have most of the ingredients in my pantry, so once I'm back home from my Christmas break I'm going to make this again because this is one recipe I do want to master. 

Here's the recipe for you adapted from Sean Moran’s ‘Let It Simmer’.
Ingredients
100 g white chocolate, chopped

4 sheets confectioners’ rice paper
440g (2 cups) caster sugar
½ cup honey
1 cup liquid glucose
¼ cup water
2 egg whites
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 sprigs rosemary leaves picked and finely chopped
100 g dried strawberries, chopped
100 g candied orange rind, coarsely chopped
100 g toasted pistachio kernels
100 g white chocolate, chopped
100 g unsalted butter, chopped

Place the chocolate in the freezer to harden. Line a 7 x 11 inch cake tin with half the rice paper. Preheat the oven to 100°C. Place the dried fruit and nuts in the oven and keep warm. Divide the caster sugar, glucose, honey and water between two small saucepans. Place both on the stove and cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Beat egg whites and salt in an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Increase heat on the saucepans and bring to 125°C on the sugar thermometer. Remove both from the heat and pour the first saucepan into the egg white mix in a steady stream while the motor is running. 

Heat the second saucepan to 155°C and gradually add it to the egg white mix while beating. Add butter and beat until combined. Stir through the warmed fruit and nuts, the cold chocolate, the vanilla and rosemary and working quickly pour mixture into the prepared tin. Smooth surface and cover with the remaining paper. Refrigerate until cold and then cut into desired sized pieces. Store the nougat in an airtight container at room temperature.
I'll be back briefly on Monday but then I'll be taking a 2 week break from the blog until Monday January 6 2014. I'm a bit cooked out at the moment so I'm taking a break to recharge my cooking batteries and to spend Christmas with my family.

By the way, if you haven't had enough of my recipes already this week, my Delicious Bites recipe for Pavé aux Chocolate recipe is featured here on decor8. It's a very old recipe for an easy, tasty dessert. After I photographed it for the column, I took the cake into work and it disappeared in a flash, which is always a good sign.

Have a great weekend and see you soon,

Jillian

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a quick post

a quick post

14 Oct 2013

Hi Every-one,

it's been a busy few days and I wasn't sure if I'd get the time to write a blog post. I've just flown back from Brisbane and I'm about to pack for my trip to Melbourne and Tasmania. It looks like the temperature in both places could range from 29°C to 2°C with rain predicted as well so I'll have to pack for every eventuality.



I haven't had a chance to prepare my blog post, so I hope this will do until tomorrow. Until then, here's my latest Delicious Bites post for decor8, a recipe for Country Apple Cake. Please note, there's a typo in the recipe that's yet to be corrected. A phantom '?' has appeared in the recipe instead of '⅔'. It should read ' the mixture will be quite soft so using floured hands, press ⅔ of the mixture into the base and up the sides of the tin'.

As all posts are better with pictures, here's a picture of some beautiful flowers my sister sent to my parents.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recipe, so see you all then,

Jillian

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blue mountains botanic garden - an almost sydney wander

blue mountains botanic garden - an almost sydney wander

22 Apr 2013

I decided to expand my horizons when I went on this particular Sydney wander. I got into my car very early one morning and drove along the Bell's Line of Road to the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens at Mount Tomah.



Now you all know how much I love a good garden and although I've been to the Blue Mountains on numerous occasions, I've never visited the gardens.



Even though I arrived soon after opening time I wasn't the only person there, a tour group in a large bus had beaten me there. I walked through to the observation platform and this is what I saw and yes, the mountains really are that blue.



It's officially autumn here in Sydney but the change in the season is much more obvious in the cooler climate of the Blue Mountains. There were touches of autumn colour everywhere.



The Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens do have some formal gardens but in the main features Australian native plants and more sculptural plants.



The website tells me the plants are arranged in climate zones.



There's a beautiful fountain and the rock walls are a feature. I don't know it they're a tribute to Edna Walling but they reminded me of her gardening style.




Some more fallen foliage.




I had a lovely wander through the gardens and plan to return again in the spring when the formal gardens are in bloom.

My Delicious Bites column for decor8 this month features a recipe for brown sugar meringues if you're interested. Thanks also to Holly for featuring some of my Kerrie Brown images on her blog.

See you all again soon,

Jillian

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the hatton hotel - melbourne

the hatton hotel - melbourne

11 Feb 2013

I've just returned home from a few days in Melbourne. I was a bit of a forgetful head when I packed and managed to leave my card reader at home. As  a result I've only had time to go through and pick out a few images for you but I promise to do a proper post on Melbourne next week.

Gosh it was a busy few days though. I did lots of shopping and I walked so much on the first day that my blisters developed blisters. I stayed at the Hatton Hotel in South Yarra near the Botanical Gardens.



I loved the building and took a stack of photos. The Hatton Hotel has a great roof terrace overlooking the city but I'll share those images with you next week.



The hotel reception area/breakfast room and bar.



I've just started writing a new food column for decor8 called 'Delicious Bites'. Each month I'll be sharing a recipe with Holly's readers and this month's recipe is for Plum Crumble Cake. I like to have fresh content on my blog so I'm not planning to repost the recipe here but I've attached a link to the recipe for you. 

I'll be back on Wednesday with a Valentine's day treat.

See you then,

Jillian

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michele varian shopshoot

michele varian shopshoot

28 Nov 2012

When I was planning my trip to New York, I asked Holly from the blog decor8 for some shopshoot suggestions. Her first suggestion was Michele Varian's shop in New York's Soho district. Sydney is a long way from New York and I confess to not being familiar with Michele and her work, so I checked the website to get an idea of what her shop was all about. I was heartened by what I saw and we made a date.



As I walked towards the shop I found Howard Street blocked to traffic. The street was lined with trailers and lots of important looking people walked by carrying clipboards and loud hailers. A tv show was being filmed. 



What did I find inside? An enticing mix of Michele's signature cushions and new line of wallpaper, vintage furniture, lighting, gifts and artwork.



The front of the shop is quite dark and moody.



I just love the chalkboard globe and the delicate glassware.



The mood lightens as you move towards the rear of the store to the colourful display of cushions.



Don't you just love the vibrant colours?



Some of the delicate jewellery Michele stocks.



Many thanks to Michele for being so welcoming and allowing me to photograph her lovely store. Her store can be found at 27 Howard Street in New York. 

If you'd like to know more about Michele please read this Q & A on decor8.

See you all again next week,

Jillian

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lotta jansdotter

lotta jansdotter

29 Oct 2012

I haven't featured as many shopshoots on the blog this year as I have in the past, so I was determined to get a few shopshoots done during my 3 week trip to Montreal, Quebec and New York.

As you may know, I write a monthly column for decor8 called 'Shopgirl visits' but as Holly's readers are not my readers I don't always know what shops will appeal to her audience. I asked Holly for some suggestions before I flew to New York and she suggested approaching Lotta Jansdotter. I was familiar with Lotta's work, in fact I'd bought some cards featuring her designs some time back. I emailed Lotta and we arranged a time to meet.

Lotta works from a studio in Brooklyn. I've been to Brooklyn before but I soon discovered each area of Brooklyn has a different look and feel. Lotta's studio is located in an industrial part of Brooklyn called Gowanus where the skyline is dominated by this sign.



It was a glorious day and it was easy to spot Lotta's studio by it's vibrant colour.



Lotta apologised because the area was a bit sparse but I love to photograph sparse, so I was happy. I have this motto, 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should'. I'm definitely a less is more kind of girl.



There were all kinds of sweet vignettes to photograph, like this one.



I just love that Blue mason jar.



The studio is a real workspace as evidenced by this collection of shears.



Lotta can even make aprons and a collection of pens look attractive!



There was plenty of colour on display as well.



I spied some Rae Dunn ceramics alongside some of Lotta's textiles.



A symphony of blue and green featuring some of Lotta's designs for Fishs Eddy.



Many thanks again to Lotta for letting me visit her Brooklyn studio. The studio is open by appointment only but visitors are always welcome. You can call ahead  or email the studio. Lotta also runs printing workshops from the studio and the details can be found here.

See you all again on Wednesday,

Jillian

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koskela - shopshoot

koskela - shopshoot

30 May 2012

My blogging is pretty much done at night after I get home from work. I'm at home today 'entertaining' a plasterer so it feels really weird to be writing this with the sun shining. I do need to get some chores done and the gym has yet to see me this week, so I won't be housebound all day. 

I thought it was time to share some of the photos I took of Koskela a few weeks ago. Some of them have already been seen on decor8 (thanks Holly) but I had so many more to show you. Koskela can be found in the suburb of Rosebery and it's a great shop which features Australian design. The building is on the site of the old Rosella canning factory and many of the industrial bare bones have been left in place, a feature I love.



Kitchen by Mike also shares the space.




As the space is so large, the furniture can be arranged in room like themes.



There are unexpected splashes of colour



like the on-trend neon.



As well as furniture, the area is the perfect place to display rugs, lighting and artwork.



I wish I had room in my place for this iconic Aussie windmill.



I love the old industrial windows and the great light in the building - a photographer's dream.



The store features some beautifully designed home and kitchenwares.




Koskela is part furniture showroom and part gallery space.




It's not all for adults though.



I loved the children's area.



Part toy display, part art installation.


Koskela and Kitchen by Mike can be found at 1/85 Dunning Avenue Rosebery, Sydney. Many thanks to Sasha and Renee for allowing me to take photos of their beautiful space.



See you all again next week,


Jillian

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