Dutch pancake

I love this recipe as it's perfect when you are time poor and feel like its a pancake kind of day. As I'm on my last legs of my pregnancy, everyday is a pancake kind of day.

This pancake is baked at high temperature in a skillet where it puffs up in the oven then settles down as it comes out. Typically served with a dusting of icing sugar, whipped cream and lemon wedges on the side. It's so delicious.

I love to whip this pancake up and throw whatever fresh fruit I have in the fridge. Today's option was juicy sweet figs.

Makes 1 large pancake

Ingredients

3 eggs
1/3 cup of milk
1/3 cup yoghurt
2 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup of plan flour

1 tbs of melted butter for the pan

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celcius.

2. With a mixer beat the eggs, adding the milk, yoghurt, sugar, salt and vanilla until sugar has dissolved.

3. Add flour and mix until smooth.

4. Use an ovensafe frypan and coat the bottom of the pan with the melted butter.

5. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top and dark brown around the edges. (Pancake will rise whilst cooking and deflate once removed to cool.)

Beware the frypan handle is HOT. Use oven mitts to handle the hot handle or else you'll burn your palms. Something I haven't forgotten in a hurry.

6. Loosen the pancake around the edges with a couple of shakes of the frypan and slide out of the pan onto a plate.

7. Serve with fresh fruit, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

Handy hints
You can substitute 1/4 cup of yoghurt with thickened cream which will still give you a fluffy texture. But as I have yoghurt in my fridge at all times, this is what I use.

Mandarin jam glazed ham

Having always wanted to try to make glazed ham for Christmas, it was finally my chance. I had visions of marmalade, whisky and mustard flavours studded with cloves.

Researching recipes that had instructions to soak the ham with water, or add cider or guiness in the basting mix, wasn't really what I had in mind.

Pre-ordering my 6kg Kurabuta honey smoked leg ham from the local butcher meant that I didn't have to pick it up til the day before. As I recently re-sorted my spice stocks, I knew what I had in the pantry.

My glaze was going to consist of a jar of my homemade mandarin marmalade, a good dose of brown sugar for caramelisation dosed with ginger and mustard. Fingers crossed, I hoped that the glaze would work out. The baking smells of ham, marmalade and cloves are irresistible. Watching the fat rendering, separating into the diamond shapes highlighting the clove centres, this was going to be one good looking ham.

With time up my sleeve, I covered the bone part of my ham with a white napkin wrapped in a green ribbon and a bouquet garni of freshly picked rosemary and thyme to finish the dish.

Not only did it look good but it tasted amazing. Can't wait to have another go at this at the end of the year.

Based on weight of 6kg, 18-22 serves

Ingredients

250g (1 cup) mandarin marmalade
5 tbs brown sugar
1.5 tbs mustard powder
1 tbs ginger powder
6kg Kurobuta easy carve smoked leg ham (bone is removed for easy carving)
cloves to decorate

Method      

Prep the ham
1. Use a small sharp knife to cut around the rind, about 5cm from the end where the bone is.

2. Run a knife under the rind, around the edge of the ham.

3. Gently lift rind off in one piece by running your fingers between the rind and the fat.

4. Score the fat, (in our case there wasn't that much fat, so it was a 0.5cm deep), in a diamond pattern, taking care not to cut into the meat.

5. Place a single clove at the centre of the diamond pattern (this will also help the fat lifting away from the ham)

6. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).

 

7. Place the marmalade, mustard, sugar, ginger in a bowl and whisk to combine.

 

8. Baste the ham every 10 minutes for 35-40mins or until the ham is golden and caramelised.

 

Handy Hints

Freeze left over ham and ham bone for soups. Label, date and freeze for up to one month. When ready to use thaw in fridge overnight.

Leftover ham is fantastic for breakfast or supper. My sourdough bread was perfect for the job with pickled onions, avocado. 

  

Guide to ham weights

3kg - 10-14 serves

4kg - 12-16 serves

5kg - 15-20 serves

6kg - 18-22 serves

7kg - 20-25 serves

8kg - 23-27 serves

Basque burnt cheesecake

Researching our next trip to the Basque region, I came across a recipe for a Basque burnt cheesecake. In readiness for our trip to San Sebastian and the food to eat, I was excited to learn that this is a place where you have to eat dessert first.

Not due to the fact that this is a Basque tradition but if we were to fill ourselves on savoury tapas, all this delicious cheesecake from the cafes will be gone. 

This must be the easiest cheesecake to make and equally delicious. I'll be sure to make a trip to the cafes in San Sebastián to get my fill of this cheesecake. 

And yes dear sister, it's meant to be burnt as the sugars form a delicious crust  which I can't get enough of. Will make it for you soon. 

Ingredients

600g cream cheese

4 eggs

275g caster sugar

300mL thickened cream

1 tbs plain flour 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius. 

2. Grease and line the bass and sides of a 23cm springform cake pan with baking paper so the paper comes 2cm above the rim of the pan. 

3. Beat the cream cheese using electric beaters until smooth and creamy. 

4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 

5. Gradually beat in the sugar, then the cream, then add the flour and beat until smooth. 

6. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared pan and tap the pan gently on a flat surface to remove any air bubbles. 

7. Bake for 50mins or until the top is dark brown and cake is set with a slight wobble in the centre and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before removing from the  pan. 

9. The cake is best eaten within a few hours of baking. (Actually is still really good til the next day). 

Handy hints

The recipe did ask for double cream (fat content of 48%) as it is the most versatile cream because it withstands boiling and whips and freezes well.

But I opted for the thickened cream (fat content of 35%) which does an equally good job for this cheesecake and for whipping into cream.

Roti canai and murtabak

I must have been living under a rock when it comes to discovering the dish, murtabak. I remember my first experience at Rumah Indo Restaurant and thinking to myself that this was one tasty dish that I need to learn to replicate.

It's been a weekend of relaxing, picking up 2 Japanese maple trees to add to our garden and trialling a new recipe or two. I was going to attempt to make roti canai and from there I was going to make the filling for the murtabak.

Roti canai is a flatbread that is served with curry throughout southeast Asia. Whereas murtabak is a stuffed pancake made with roti canai and comes in many variations either sweet or savoury.

There are many different recipes available and I did have to look up a few youtube videos to get the hang of flipping the dough. Pepe and I were having competitions to see who could flip the dough better. Quoting the words of my Mr4 year old, "I think, Mummy win".

Start the roti canai the night before, so it will be perfect for breakfast.

Makes 8 serves

Roti canai

Ingredients

450g plain flour
3 tbs ghee

Wet ingredients
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
250mL water

Method

1. Combine the egg, sugar, salt and water into a bowl, stirring to combine.

2. Place flour into a stand mixer with a dough attachment and pour the wet ingredients in. This mixture will form into dough.

3. Let the dough be kneaded for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

4. Grease the work surface with a 2 tsp of ghee.

5. Roll the dough into a sausage and divide into 8 equal pieces.

6. Shape the dough into a ball, rubbing with ghee as you go.

7. Place the balls on tray lined with baking paper and cover with plastic wrap. (Make sure it's wrapped well.)

8. Set aside in a warm place to prove overnight.

Murtabak

Ingredients

1 tbs coconut oil
2 brown onions finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tbs of finely chopped ginger
1 & 1/2 tbs of mild curry powder (I used my curry korma powder for this)
500g lamb mince

1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 egg

150mL ghee

Method

9. Heat 1 tbs of coconut oil in a wok over medium heat.

10. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and curry powder for 8 minutes until onions softened.

11. Add the lamb, sugar and salt. Breaking up the lamb as it cooks until the liquid has evaporated and the meat has browned (approximately 12 minutes).

12. Season to taste and remove from heat and stir in the egg.

13. Place a ball on the work surface brushed with a 1 tsp of ghee. With your hands flatten the dough to square shape.

14. Picking up one corner of the dough with one hand under the dough and other hand over, fling it over your shoulder then back onto the work surface. Move your hands to the next corner, flick the dough again for another two times. Until you have managed to flick the dough for each corner, a total of 4 times as a minimum. Or you can roll out the dough to a thin 30cm square.

15. Place the lamb mix into the centre of the stretched out dough. Brush ghee around the stretched dough with your hands. Fold in thirds. Fold the left hand side into the centre, then fold the right hand side into the centre. Fold in the ends to create a rough 12cm square parcel.

16. Heat 1 tbs of ghee into a fry pan over medium heat.

17. Place the parcel, folded side up first for 5-7 minutes, turning halfway to cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes until golden and cooked through.

18. Repeat with remaining roti canai dough and follow the steps through from 13.

19. Serve with pickled onions and coriander and a side of red lentil dahl.

 

 

Handy hints

You can also make sweet roti canai. Instead of the murtabak filling, spread a thin layer of jam, fold up into a square parcel and cook with 1 tbs of ghee. A dusting of icing sugar to serve was a hit with the kids.

Don't over handle the dough, once the dough has been flung, don't attempt to re-roll into ball as it will have lost its elasticity. Pepe learnt this lesson.

When you shape the dough, make the edges thinner before you fling it, as this ensures you don't have to deal with thick edges later.

If you get holes in the edges of your roti canai dough, just fold over a little dough to cover it and either fling it again or stretch it out.

Curry korma powder is available at Harris Farm or at supermarkets in the spice section.

Check out my pickled onion recipe in the next post. I'll also post a the red lentil recipe as well.

Quince paste

My inlaws have a quince tree with so much fruit, some that the birds had gotten to, some on the ground and some way up high. As we were visiting for lunch, the kidlets love exploring their grandparent's garden, running after skinks and picking vegetables from the greenhouse and garden plot.

As I scored 2.5kg of quinces, I needed to do something with them. I have previously poached, baked and made a quince cake but this time, I was going to attempt quince paste. Quinces have a high pectin content, especially from just picked, slightly under ripe fruit that hasn't been refrigerated.

I do love quince paste with cheese, especially an aged cheddar and creamy brie. I found that making quince paste is like making jam. I followed Maggie Beer's recipe for my first attempt but as always tweak it slightly.

 

Ingredients

2.5kg quinces
caster sugar, to equal the weight of puree when cooked
juice of 2 lemons
peel of 1 lemon (this is my addition to the recipe)

Method

1. Wash and quarter the quinces (keep the peel as the pectin is contained in this)

2. Keep the cores and wrap in muslin and cook them with the quinces. (Cutting out the core is a little difficult at first until you get a rhythm of how to best cut these out)

3. In a large heavy based saucepan, pour enough water over the quinces to cover them. Add the lemon peel.

4. Bring to boil then simmer for 30mins until tender enough to puree. (The house will smell amazing at this stage).

5. Drain the quinces, discard the cores in the muslin and weigh the fruit with peel (to check the sugar amount required)

6. Puree the fruit and peel in a food processor

7. Place the puree into a deep heavy based saucepan (I recommend a stock pot) and equal weight of sugar. (I started with 2.5kg, then 2kg of cooked fruit, so this meant 2kg of sugar) 

8. Add the lemon juice and cook over low heat, stirring continuously (for up to 4 hours) or until mixture thickens and turns a deep red colour. You need to stir continuously or else the mixture will explode and pop and stirring stops it from burning.

9. Remove the paste to a biscuit tray lined with baking paper and spread to a 12mm thickness (in my case this was the depth of the biscuit tray 39cm x 26cm).

10. When it cools (about 15 minutes), wet your hands and flatten the surface by gliding your hands over the top of paste removing any ridges and uneven surfaces.

11. Place the tray in an oven on the lowest possible setting and leave to dry overnight. (I used the oven for dinner for an hour beforehand and used the residual heat to dry out the mixture.)

12. When it has set enough to be cut into squares with a hot knife, it is ready to be cooled and stored.

Handy hints

Use a long wooden spoon, you'll need distance as the paste pops, it's hot stuff. I have one from Simon and Johnson that I bought for hubby for our 5th wedding anniversary.

Cut the quinces in half and quarter and core like you would as an apple.

Pack the quince paste between layers of baking paper and wrap in cling wrap as it's quite sticky. 

Store quince paste in an airtight container for up to 1 year.