paris - travel 2011

paris - travel 2011

26 May 2011

Paris is one of my favourite cities though that wasn't always the case. I first visited Paris on a school trip when I was 15. It was the middle of winter and Paris was very grey and very cold. I was homesick and frustrated by my inability to communicate in French. My French skills haven't improved but I've grown to love Paris.

Looking through my travel schedule I realise I'm arriving in Paris just as the summer holidays begin. I'm a little worried that the shops and restaurants I've bookmarked will have their shutters down and a 'gone on holidays, be back in August' sign on the door.

Should I hop on a train and venture outside Paris? I know I have many blog readers from France, so I'd love to hear some of your suggestions. You can email me here or leave a comment in the comments section below. Many thanks for your help.

Have a great weekend,

Jillian

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the finders keeper - sydney

the finders keeper - sydney

25 May 2011

On Saturday morning I drove over to Eveleigh to check out the Farmers Markets and the autumn Sydney Finders Keepers. It was a spectacular day and as I was there really early, I checked out the produce first and took some photos - photos to follow.

A few of my design friends were going to be at the markets so I wanted to get there early so I could say hello and take a few snaps before the hordes descended.

There is always a bit of a decorative theme going on and on this occasion, it was balloons.

There were plenty of old favourites there - Elkhorn designs.



Some beautiful new goodies from Paperboat Press. Kylie gave me some sweet little tags to use and once I return from my trip away I'll get baking and show you how sweet the little tags are.

The lovely Alischa from Bespoke Press and some of her new items. I bought some of the 'hello' cards from her online shop a few weeks ago.

I found some new favourite stall holders as well.



I loved these items from Hideyo Designs. Wouldn't those paper flowers be gorgeous at a wedding? Now this is when I started to lose track of the stallholders and I'm ashamed to say, I can't identify any of the remaining stalls for you. Some of the stalls were unattended when I was taking photos/ many of the stall holders didn't have their business cards on display and some stalls were just too busy for me to approach. If any of my readers can identify the stalls and help me out, I'd be grateful.

On my stroll around the Finders Keepers I found pretty artworks and leather bags and Kylie's new range of paperweights.

Crocheted garlands, from Crayon Chick

funky fashions,

gorgeously translucent ceramics and

jewellery and cards.

I hope you enjoyed my trip to the Finders Keepers and my finds.

From all reports, it was a great day,

Jillian

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rhubarb and raspberry crostata

rhubarb and raspberry crostata

23 May 2011

After a few weeks lay-off, it was time to get baking again so last week I loaded the shopping trolley with butter, sour cream, rhubarb and berries to try out this recipe. The strawberries at this time of year aren't at their best, so I picked up a punnet of raspberries instead.



I've had this recipe in my folder for quite some time, just waiting for the right occasion. Well a few weeks ago Maggie Beer was on Masterchef demonstrating her sour cream pastry recipe. When I checked the pastry for the crostata I recognised Maggie's sour cream pastry and decided the time had arrived.

I followed Maggie's instructions to the letter and barely worked the dough.

I only used half the pastry and filling to make 4 mini crostata and I can tell you that the pastry doesn't like to be re-rolled. The pastry still tastes lovely but it doesn't rise anywhere near as much. Once cooked, the pastry is very flaky and short and as I had quite a bit of juice left over I reduced it to make a glaze, which I used to finish off the tarts.

The raspberries were particularly tart so I used a bit more sugar than suggested and the glaze really helped to sweeten the pastries as well. I took the crostata into work and the sour cream pastry was a hit. I now have to work out what I can make with the left over dough that's in my freezer.

Here's the original recipe for you -
Rhubarb and Berry Crostata
Ingredients
200g chilled butter, chopped
250g plain flour
125ml sour cream
6 rhubarb stalks, sliced into 2cm-3cm pieces
500g strawberries, hulled
¾ cup caster sugar
2 tbsp custard powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg yolk

To serve
450g mascarpone
1 tbsp icing sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon

Method
To make the pastry, pulse butter and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add sour cream and pulse until the dough just forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, mix rhubarb, strawberries, caster sugar, custard powder and half the lemon zest in a large bowl and toss well. 

Preheat oven to 200C. On a floured surface, roll the pastry out to a rough circle about five millimetres thick and 35 centimetres wide. Place on a tray lined with baking paper. Pile the filling into the centre of the pastry and spread it out, leaving about a five-centimetre edge. Turn the edges over the filling and brush them with the egg yolk. Bake the crostata in the oven until the pastry is golden, about 45-60 minutes. 

In a separate bowl, mix mascarpone, remaining lemon zest and icing sugar. Serve straight from the oven topped with the sweet mascarpone.

I hope you all had good weekends. I'll be back Wednesday to show you where and how I spent mine, so until then.

Jillian

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pronto - plum crumble

pronto - plum crumble

19 May 2011

Now that it's getting colder at night, my sweet tooth is rearing it's ugly head. I try not to overindulge so I've tracked down some lower fat versions of old family favourites, like lemon delicious pudding, rice custard and fruit crumbles. Sometimes I make apple crumble, sometimes apple and berry or rhubarb crumble but on this occasion I made a plum crumble.

The main ingredient in this simple plum crumble is a big tin of plums in fruit juice topped with an oats based crumble. I added 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to the drained plums before I cooked the crumble just to make sure they weren't overly tart. This is something similar to the recipe I used for the crumble topping but I used butter instead of the macadamia nut oil. The recipe makes a generous amount of the crumble topping so I store any leftovers in the fridge to use when the need for crumble strikes.

The sauce you see is just the juice from the tin to which I've added one cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of sugar then reduced to a thick syrup.



To make sure there was plenty of the lovely crunchy topping, I spooned a few extra tablespoons onto a tray and cooked the extra crumble for about 10 minutes until golden and crunchy. I served the crumble with a big dollop of natural yoghurt. Yum!

It's been a busy week so I thought I'd post this a little earlier as I have lots to do tomorrow night before the weekend begins.

See you all next week,

Jillian

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travel 2011 - edinburgh and london

travel 2011 - edinburgh and london

17 May 2011

I have a contingent of Scottish pals, all of whom I've known for many years. I met them whilst they were living and working in Sydney and we've managed to stay in touch through the years. Whenever I travel to the UK I always make a trip to Scotland. Sometimes I stay Glasgow but on this occasion, I'll be staying in Edinburgh.



This photo was taken on film during my last visit to Edinburgh in 2005. I was there to attend a conference and I didn't enter a single store during my visit. I'm only going to be in Edinburgh for a weekend in late June but I'm hoping to hit a few stores whilst I'm there. Any suggestions for great places to visit or things to see and do in Edinburgh from my readers would be greatly appreciated.



Now what about London? I first visited a foggy London when I was 15 and I've given up counting the number of times I've visited since then. I've already bookmarked a few new places I'd love to check out and some old favourites as well. I think I might take a day trip to Brighton as well, which I'm ashamed to say I've yet to visit.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts, so please send along your suggestions.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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nonna's passover baci

nonna's passover baci

16 May 2011

These cookies have appeared on the blog in a few guises - chocolate hazelnut, chocolate pistachio and lemon pistachio. Well this time, I thought I'd try and make a passover version.

Instead of flour, I used potato flour and superfine matzo meal in equal proportions and kept the rest of the ingredients the same.





They looked exactly the same as the regular versions but they were a bit more 'short' in texture. They were still pretty yummy all the same.

Whenever I post images of Nonna's cookies, I always get a request for the recipe. Nonna was one of my patients and she gave the recipe to me at her last treatment session. Unfortunately I didn't ask for permission to publish the recipe, so until our paths cross again the recipe has to remain my little secret. I do hope you understand. This recipe from Stefano Manfredi is very close though.

Passover Baci

100g passover baking mix
90g unsalted butter, softened
60g almond meal
60g hazelnut meal
50g sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder
50g good-quality dark chocolate,
chopped
½ tsp vanilla essence
Pinch salt

Filling
50 g melted dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 160°C. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Shape into a log, wrap tightly with cling film and rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

Roll mix into small balls the size of a 10¢ piece and place on a buttered baking sheet. Place back in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool on tray. Once cooled, spoon a little melted between the flat sides of two baci and gently stick them together. Store in a well-sealed container in the fridge and they will last a week. Makes 40-50 unfilled biscuits.

I hope you all had a great weekend and I promise this is the last passover post for another 12 months!

Until we meet again,

Jillian

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