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kingston biscuits and my gas supply

29 Aug 2012

At work we seem to be go to meetings all the time. You know the kind of meeting that puts your teeth on edge because it takes you away from your real work. So that we'll attend, we're bribed with the promise of morning tea. Well that morning tea consists of tea, coffee and a packet of Arnotts Assorted Cream Biscuits. At the last meeting I chose a butternut cookie but I noticed that the Kingstons seemed to be the most popular.

When I was ripping and tearing through my old magazines last month, I came across some recipes in an old Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine that replicated a number of those iconic Arnott's biscuits. You know the ones - Monte Carlos, Ginger Nuts, Iced Vo-Vo's and yes, even Kingstons. 



The Kingstons have been renamed as Chocolate Filled Oat Crunch and with a morning tea at work last Friday, I looked through my cupboards and decided I had enough of the ingredients to whip up a batch. I didn't have any demerara sugar in the cupboard but I had raw sugar so I used that instead.



I did a test run of 2 cookies and whilst they tasted yummy, they spread a bit too much. I chilled the mixture for 20 minutes and baked another 2 cookies. They did the same. I decided to add an extra tablespoon of flour, coconut and rolled oats and this time when I baked the cookies, they held their shape.


I used teaspoons of the mixture which I rolled into small balls before baking. The recipe was supposed to make 18 cookies but somehow I managed to make close to 40 filled cookies.



If you don't feel like sandwiching the cookies with chocolate, the cookies are pretty yummy on their own. They taste just like little Anzac biscuits and are perfect served with a glass of milk or with a nice cup of tea.



Here's the original recipe for you.

Chocolate-Filled Oat Crunch Gourmet Traveller 2006 - m
akes 18 biscuits. 
Ingredients
180 gm butter
120 gm demerara sugar
90 gm (¼ cup) golden syrup
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60 gm desiccated coconut
60 gm (⅔ cup) rolled oats
150 gm milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and golden syrup until pale and fluffy, then add flour, bicarbonate of soda, coconut and rolled oats and beat on slow speed until just combined.


Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place onto baking paper lined oven trays. Leave a little room for spreading. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool biscuits on a wire rack. 

Melt chocolate in a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Cool to a thick consistency, then spread over the base of half the biscuits and sandwich with remaining biscuits. Biscuits will keep in airtight container for 5 days.



In some good news the gas supply to my building has been updated but in the process we lost these lovely old gas pipes. When I realised they were about to disappear I took a few snaps to remember them by. I know it's hard to believe but I've always liked these old pipes filled with character but unfortunately not enough gas to keep my oven working! Hopefully now the pipes have been upgraded I'll be able to make meringues again.

Another weekend is just around the corner, so until then

Jillian
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pink finger buns

27 Aug 2012

When I was home in Brisbane last weekend I decided to make some finger buns. I’ve not made finger buns before and I’m not quite sure why I suddenly decided that they needed to be made.



When I was growing up a pink iced finger bun sliced and served with butter was a special morning tea treat. I’ve been keen on a fruity bun ever since and who can go past pink icing? I prefer them unadorned – no coconut or sprinkles of any kind are required.




I used a very old recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly which unfortunately isn’t available online and I didn’t think to copy it down. The recipe is inside one of my hand covered school folders on a shelf in my old bedroom in Brisbane.



This recipe for pink finger buns is quite close to the one I used with a few minor alterations. I made 12 regular size buns from the recipe and I used cinnamon instead of mixed spice. I also used sultanas (golden raisins) instead of the currants 'cos that's all I could find in the cupboard. Once the buns were cooked I glazed them with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of milk mixed with 1 tablespoon caster sugar.



A finger bun isn't a finger bun without a generous dollop of pink icing. To make the icing I used 1 cup of sifted pure icing sugar, a teaspoon of melted butter mixed with just enough milk to make a thick icing, which I coloured with 1-2 drops of natural pink colouring. I piped the icing over the buns using a small plastic sandwich bag with the edge snipped off.



Pink finger buns. What a blast from the past! They almost tasted as good as I remembered. 


I'll be back on Wednesday with another old favourite.

Until then,

Jillian





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NYC, here I come

22 Aug 2012

I found this great photo taken in the Bowery in the NYPL digital gallery. It was taken by Berenice Abbott and it's from a Collection called Changing New York by Berenice Abbott. So why a photo of New York you may ask? Well that's where I'm planning to be on Columbus Day.



Late last year I started planning a trip to Canada in 2012 to attend a conference. It's hard to believe but in just 5 weeks I'll be getting on a plane and flying to Canada for 10 days. I'll be in Montreal for 2 days and the rest of my time will be spent in Quebec City. I've been to Quebec City before but only for 2 days and it was a long time ago so my memory of what I saw and did is pretty hazy. I'll be staying in Old Quebec whilst there and I'm hoping to escape the convention centre whenever possible to do some sightseeing. After the conference I'll be flying to NYC for 6 days of eating, shopping, gallery visiting and hopefully lots of photography.

Dear readers, as it's been an age since my last trip to NYC, I'm looking for your suggestions for things to see and do, people to meet, places to eat and of course to shop whilst I'm there in October. I've done all the usual touristy things on previous trips so I'm keen to experience something new.


I can't wait to hear all your suggestions! You can leave them in the comments section or you can email me directly if you prefer.

Jillian
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mixed berry and ricotta crumble cakes

20 Aug 2012

I have a very small apartment with little storage space. I’ve been collecting food magazines for more than 10 years and recently I ran out of space. I girded my loins and made the tough decision to only file 2 years worth of the magazines. Lots of the recipes can be accessed digitally but not all of them. I’ve spent quite a few hours pulling out the recipes I think I’ll use and have placed the magazines into the paper recycling bin. I’ve yet to file all the loose leaves of paper I’ve cut from the magazines and I don’t even want to think about the pre 2005 magazines that are stored way up high on top of my kitchen cabinets.



Looking back through the magazines (so far I’ve made my way through the 2005 – 2010 issues) it’s amazing how much food photography, styling and the food we eat has changed during the 7 year period. Have you noticed this as well?



This recipe for plum and ricotta crumble cakes caught my eye and wouldn’t you know it, the recipe is available online after all. As it’s the middle of winter, plums aren’t in season here so I did as the recipe suggested and used some mixed frozen berries to top the cakes. I took the cakes into work and they were soon demolished.



I took one home for later and by the time I got round to tasting the cake it was a few days old and past its prime. I cut the cake in half, saving a bit for later as I always do and had it with a cup of tea. I found the cake a bit dry and when I reread the recipe I noticed they suggested eating the cake warm from the oven. I zapped the remaining cake in the microwave for 10 seconds and the warm cake was a revelation.



If you do get the chance to make these little cakes, please follow their suggestion to serve them warm as it makes them exceptionally yummy.

Just flew back from Brisbane this morning and the plane came in over Sydney Harbour. What a view! The sky was blue and ferries were making their way across the Harbour to Circular Quay. From my window seat I could clearly make out cars as they drove along the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I could see the Opera House as well. It was an absolutely spectacular Sydney day.

See you all again on Wednesday,

Jillian





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mini passionfruit cakes

15 Aug 2012

During the London Olympics, due to the time difference between Sydney and London, most of the interesting events occurred in the middle of the night. There's been precious little entertainment on t.v the past 2 weeks so instead of watching television, I listened to the olympics coverage on the radio and read a book.

One show that has been on the t.v, is MasterChef All Stars. I've only caught a few episodes but I did manage to see last week's Country Women's Association cake challenge. As I love all things passionfruit I decided to track down the CWA Passionfruit Cake recipe which featured on the show. I'd bought a bag of passionfruit the previous weekend and had been looking for a way to use them.



The gas supply to my building is still being fixed. When I had no gas Saturday morning, I wasn't sure I'd have anything to put up on the blog, especially when the plumber was otherwise engaged for the day. By 4.00 p.m. the gas was back on, so I pre-measured all the cake ingredients Saturday night as I knew I'd have to be up early to get these in the oven and baked before my 9.15 Sunday morning cycle class. Gosh that was a long sentence, wasn't it?




As is my way, I changed the recipe a little. Instead of making a single cake I made 9 mini cakes from the recipe which took about 20 minutes to bake. I also used strained passionfruit juice instead of passionfruit pulp. Sometimes crunching through passionfruit seeds you're not expecting to find, isn't such a pleasant experience.




I iced the cakes once I returned home from the gym. The CWA recipe didn't come with instructions for passionfruit icing so I used this one from the Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander.

Passionfruit Cake 
250g butter, softened 
1 cup (220g) caster sugar 
3 eggs separated 
2 cups (300g) SR Flour 
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk 
¼ cup (60ml) passion fruit pulp 

Pre-heat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease and lightly flour a 20cm/8 in round tin, tap out any excess flour. Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, beat in egg yolks, one at a time, beat until well combined. 

Transfer mixture to large bowl, stir in half the sifted flour and half the buttermilk, then stir in the remaining flour and buttermilk and passionfruit pulp.

Beat egg whites in clean small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold into cake mixture in two batches. Spread mixture into prepared tin. Bake in moderate oven, for about 50 minutes or until cooked. 

Stand for 5 minutes before turning onto covered rack to cool. Ice only on top with passionfruit icing.

Passionfruit Icing
1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
50 grams unsalted butter, melted
the pulp of 2 passionfruit.

In a small bowl combine the icing sugar, the melted butter and the passionfruit pulp. For a runny icing, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until shiny.



As you can see the mini passionfruit cakes are perfect served with a nice cup of tea. I snaffled one for myself and took the rest into work. They were an absolute hit and devoured by every-one, even by my colleague Michael who declared he doesn't like passionfruit.

Just 2 more busy work days to get through before the weekend. Yippee!

I'll see you all again next week,

Jillian


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lamb shank broth

13 Aug 2012

Well we've just had a particularly cold and windy weekend in Sydney, just perfect for a warming bowl of soup served with a chunk of bread. I found this recipe for lamb shank broth in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. I've made this soup a few times this winter and have adapted the recipe a little.



The first time I made the soup, I forgot to pick up a leek at the fruit market. It tasted a bit blah, so I refrigerated the soup overnight so I could remove the fat from the top, then I went down the street to the fruit shop and bought a leek. I added the sliced leek to the soup and cooked it for a further 30 minutes. I can't tell you how much extra flavour that 1 leek added to the finished soup.



I do like swede so I used that instead of turnip.




After the 3 hour cooking time, the soup was still a bit watery so I simmered the soup for an additional hour and ended with a chunky, tasty soup. The second time I made the soup I reduced the volume of water to 2 litres. Next time I might try adding a second lamb shank just so there's a bit more meat to go round. 

Here's the original recipe for you.

Lamb Shank Broth from the Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander - serves 6
printable recipe
Ingredients
1 lamb shank
1 onion, diced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
2.5 litres water
20 g pearl barley, rinsed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 leek, sliced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
1 stick celery, strings removed and finely sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper
freshly chopped parsley

Place shank, onion, bay leaf and thyme in a stockpot and add water. Bring to simmering point. Skim and simmer for 1 hour, then add barley. Simmer for 1 hour. Add remaining vegetables and simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Remove shank and cut meat into small pieces. Return meat to pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve garnished with parsley.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends and weren't blown away by the wind. Congratulations to all those who completed the City to Surf, including Farmer Andrew.

Jillian
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