Sunday, December 29, 2013

Bagel Bombs Part 2 - Garlic and Cream Cheese Bombs

I think I mentioned in Part 1 of this Bagel Bomb series that I made the sweet potato and bacon bagel bombs because someone attending the party didn't eat cheese? Well, I decided I wanted to have cheese ones anyway, so I made two lots.  I've started making both types every time I make them, just doubling the dough recipe (my awesome new KitchenAid can handle it!). I honestly cannot choose my favourite of these. Everyone else tends to lean one way or the other. I'm happy to eat two though. And usually, two more...

I don't have many photos from these ones, or at all currently. I've been very slack with my food photography . Which is possibly for the best, seeing as my laptop screen is cracked and it's not so easy to process them! Hopefully things will get back on track in the new year!


Dough – adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook:3 ½ cups flour (I used 2 cups plain, 1 cup wholemeal and ½ cup spelt)
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp raw sugar
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1 ¾ cups water, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)
Filling
1x 250g packet Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 clove galic, minced
2 tbsp oil (I used bacon fat)
¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Egg Wash Topping:
1 egg, at room temperature
¾ tsp freshly ground rock salt
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp rolled oats, roughly chopped

Heat the oil to medium/low heat in a frypan and add the minced garlic, stir around until fragrant and starting to go golden. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Using a hand beater, blend the cream cheese on low until smooth. Add the garlic (include any oil left in the pan), salt, parsley and sugar, then beat to combine.

Using two teaspoons, roll heaped teaspoonsful of this mixture between the spoons, pushing down to compact slightly and put on a tray lined with baking paper. Put in the freezer for a few hours (while you make the dough) to set hard. This makes it much easier to form the bombs later. You will need 16 balls.

Stir together all of the dry dough ingredients with the hook of your standmixer in the bowl of your standmixer by hand. Add the water, and mix with your hand until it’s mainly come together. Attach the bowl and hook, and beat the dough on low for 5-10 minutes, until it comes together into a smooth ball.  You might need to add more flour to get the right consistency. Lightly coat another large bowl with oil and put the dough ball into it, roll to coat the dough with oil too. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm corner for 45 minutes until the dough has almost doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 175C

Punch down and flatten the dough on your countertop. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and loosely cover the dough you aren’t currently forming with the plastic wrap from the bowl earlier to stop it drying out.

Roll each portion into a neat ball in your palms, then use your palm and fingers to stretch out into a flat disc. Place a ball of the filling in the centre, then pull all of the edges up and around the mixture. Pinch shut, then roll the ball gently in your hands to smooth into a neat ball. Place on a lined baking tray.

Whisk egg, then brush each bun with a generous amount. Mix all of the other wash ingredients together in a bowl and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before eating because the filling stays quite hot!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Bagel Bombs Part 1 - Sweet Potato & Bacon


My husband has endured many a shopping trip with me detouring us past the Kitchen Aid Mixers, while I gaze longingly at all their amazing colours, before sighing and getting on with the boring shopping. So when I told him I was entering the Summer Bake-Off recipe, he supported me but was a little less excited than he normally would be. He’s always excited for me to cook more things, because he gets to taste-test them, so it was a little unusual! I chose to make Hot Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches (malt ice cream sandwiched between chilli chocolate cookies) and entered the competition.  Fast forward a few weeks to my birthday, and he gives me an I.O.U...if necessary. He was going to buy me a Kitchen Aid for a present, but he’s so confident in the deliciousness of my recipe that he didn’t want to buy one and end up with me having two. He said it was actually a bit of a relief, considering the pressure of picking the right colour! He’d been trying to get me to tell him which one I wanted, but I kept liking several colours.

Sadly, I didn’t win the competition, so Lance and I went and picked out a mixer for a belated birthday present. And the first thing I wanted to make in it is bread. I have been a little addicted to breads lately, and I had tested this recipe before as something  to take to a bring-a-dish Christmas party. I remembered seeing a cheese filled bagel bomb years ago on pinterest. I can’t find the original recipe to link to, but I do remember that the dough and basic idea came from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook. I didn’t get to the Milk Bar in my last NY trip, but we did have udon and pork buns at the Momofuku Noodle bar. The pork buns were amazing! So good! One of the attendees doesn’t like cheese (crazy, I know. Don’t worry, I mock her for this), so I though a vegetable filling would be better. And added bacon. In fact, if you have some, you can sub the bacon mixture from this for ½ cup bacon jam and it’d be delicious!

These are best served straight from the oven, so I par-baked them, then did the last 10 minutes at the venue.

Bagel Bombs Part 2 will be garlic and cream cheese bagel bombs! Both these and the garlic bombs have become my current most-requested dish! Any leftovers are perfect reheated for 10 minutes in the oven for breakfast!


 
Dough – adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook:
3 ½ cups flour (I used 2 cups plain, 1 cup wholemeal and ½ cup spelt)
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp raw sugar
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1 ¾ cups water, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)

Filling
2tbsp olive oil
3 medium sweet potatoes
4 rashers bacon, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
½ tsp smokey paprika
½ tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon

Egg Wash Topping:
1 egg, at room temperature
¾ tsp freshly ground rock salt
¾ tsp raw sugar
½ tsp smoked paprika
sesame seeds optional garnish

Heat the oven to 150C

Split the sweet potatoes lengthwise, rub oil on the split, then place cut-side down onto  a baking tray and bake until soft – around 40 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat the olive oil to medium/low heat in a frypan and add the minced garlic, stir around until fragrant and starting to go golden. Add the bacon and fry for 10-15 minutes until brown and crispy. Add the spices and cook through for a minute.

Scoop the now cool sweet potato flesh into a bowl, add the bacon mixture and mix thoroughly to combine evenly. Using two teaspoons, roll heaped teaspoonsful of this mixture between the spoons, pushing down to compact slightly and put on a tray lined with baking paper. Put in the freezer for a few hours (while you make the dough) to firm up. This makes it much easier to form the bombs later. You will need 16 balls.

Stir together all of the dry dough ingredients with the hook of your standmixer in the bowl of your standmixer by hand. Add the water, and mix with your hand until it’s mainly come together. Attach the bowl and hook, and beat the dough on low for 5-10 minutes, until it comes together into a smooth ball.  You might need to add more flour to get the right consistency. Lightly coat another large bowl with oil and put the dough ball into it, roll to coat the dough with oil too. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm corner for 45 minutes until the dough has almost doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 175C

Punch down and flatten the dough on your countertop. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and loosely cover the dough you aren’t currently forming with the plastic wrap from the bowl earlier to stop it drying out.

Roll each portion into a neat ball in your palms, then use your palm and fingers to stretch out into a flat disc. Place a ball of the filling in the centre, then pull all of the edges up and around the mixture. Pinch shut, then roll the ball gently in your hands to smooth into a neat ball. Place on a lined baking tray.

Whisk egg, then brush each bun with a generous amount. Mix all of the other wash ingredients together in a bowl and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before eating because the filling stays quite hot!

Oh, and I chose the melon mixer

 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Freekeh Salad with Capsicum, Tomato, Zucchini and Pomegranate Molasses Dressing



I don’t tend to follow recipes for salads, and as such I often don’t even think about posting my own. My salads are based on what vegetables I currently have in my fridge, and which of those I feel like eating. I’ll occasionally follow a dressing recipe to the letter, but that’s about the extent of it. And if it’s a green salad I very rarely dress it, so I really don’t think of that being a ‘recipe’ kinda dish. I don’t really think about people putting careful thought into creating their version of the perfect salad, which is a bit rude of me, I guess. For me, it’s all interchangeable. With that said, I do think about getting a harmonious mixture of textures and flavours when I’m rummaging through the fridge and cupboard. Crunch and crisp and soft and squishy all together! But I guess I more think of salads as a side dish, rather than the star. Even though I eat salads every day for lunch and absolutely love them!

This is more of a full meal kinda salad, so I’m giving it it’s day in the sun. I spent the weekend down on Molloy Island gorging on junk food (as well as overeating amazing food at El Rio and Cheeky Monkey) and felt like a nice big salad for dinner, you know, to ‘make-up’ for all the badness. I’ve bulked it up with freekeh, which I tried for the first time in this recipe. It has a nice, chewy texture. But you can substitute for any grain you’d like, I know that freekeh is pretty difficult to find in Perth – not to mention expensive. Brown rice or barley would be nice chewy substitutes. Depending on what grain you cook, you might need to cook the lentils separately. Similarly, walnuts or almonds can be used in place of the cashews. Dried cherries or chopped dates would be good in place of the cranberries. The meat can be anything you’ve got, or none at all. Some parsley and coriander would be welcome additions. The capsicum, tomato and zucchini are wonderful this time of year, so if you’re making it in summer, I’d suggest you stick with those. But hey, it’s up to you. I figure you know what you like!

And, because we re-stocked our wine cellar on the same trip, I highly recommend eating this with a nice big glass of Cape Naturaliste Semillon. You don't want to be too virtuous.

I’ve seen pomegranate molasses in a few supermarkets about the place now (mainly IGAs), but I got mine at the Nanna Shop.



Freekeh Salad with Capsicum, Tomato, Zucchini and Pomegranate Molasses Dressing
½ cup freekeh
¼ cup du puy lentils
3 cups water
1 cup shredded meat (I used a combination of lamb and chicken)
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 yellow capsicum, cut into strips
1 small zucchini, cut into 1cm rounds, then quartered
2 kale leaves, stripped off the hard rib and shredded
Handful mint leaves
¼ cup cashews, roughly chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries


Dressing
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp harrissa paste
2 tsps honey
¼ tsp salt
½ tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Put the freekeh and lentils in a small pot with the water, bring to the boil then simmer with the lid on for about 25 minutes, until the lentils are soft and the freekeh is swollen and chewy. Strain out any excess water and leave to cool slightly.

Prepare all of your vegetables and shredded meat whilst this cooks and put in a big bowl to serve.

Put the dressing ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake vigorously for it all to amalgamate.

Add the lentils and freekeh to the bowl, then pour the dressing in and mix well to combine.

I served mine with a scattering of dukkah, because I had an open jar, some fetta or goat’s cheese would go perfectly as well

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Signs of Summer - Smokey Chipotle Eggplant and Mango with Black Coconut Rice



One of the signs of summer starting for me is when The Nanna Shop starts selling bags of mangoes. No more paying $4 each for them. Naturally, the first time you see them, you buy a bag. You get home and eat one straight away – because you can. And then you decide what to do for the rest. Given I also had a bag of medium eggplants and knowing that smokey chipotle goes amazingly well with them, this dish was born. I made this two days in a row, with leftovers for lunch both days and I’m still not sick of it. In fact, if I had any mangoes left, I’d be having it for dinner again – but with leftover chicken. You can leave out the meat entirely if you want, I just had some leftover so it went in.

The coconut rice can be made with brown or jasmine rice if you don’t have black. The second day I made it with red rice and white beans, just for something different.

The chipotles in adobo sauce can be a bit tricky to find. I spent 2 years trying to track them down in Perth without luck, so on my trip to the states in June, I bought 2 tins home with me. Since getting back, I’ve found them at IGA in Mt Lawley, Kakulas in Northbridge and Fremantle. The Re Store in Leederville sells Chipotle Tabasco as a substitute (which you should buy anyway because it’s AMAZING and goes on everything).

Given the craziness of this time of the year, I haven’t gotten around to much proper photography lately, so this is another Instagram of Yumness.
 


Chipotle Eggplant and Mango
(serves 4 with rice)
1 medium eggplant, 2cm dice
1 small zucchini (or 6 small yellow squash), 2cm diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
2 tsp adobo sauce
1 cup shredded roast lamb
2 mangoes, flesh diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp salt
30mL shot dark rum
1/3 cup water
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig coriander
 

Black Coconut Rice
¾ cup black rice
¾ cup coconut milk
1 cup water
¼ tsp salt
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained


First, start the coconut rice. Add the rice, coconut milk, water and salt to a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn to low and simmer for 30 minutes until rice is tender.

Heat a large frypan to a medium heat. Add the eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, mangoes, chillis and sauce, salt, smoked paprika, rum and water. Stir it all around to fully coat everything in the sauce. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the lamb, and heat through for a further 3 minutes or so.

Add the kidney beans to the rice and allow to heat through for a few minutes.

Just before serving, stir the parsley and coriander through the eggplant mix. Squeeze a little kewpie mayonnaise over the top when serving

If you then have any mangoes left, you should definitely give this soufflé a try! Delicious with fresh mangoes on the side

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Using Leftovers - Ricotta and Chicken Stuffed Silverbeet



As often as we can, my husband and I try to drive “down south” to Molloy Island. It’s a little residential island in the Blackwood River in the Augusta/Margaret River area. It’s about a 4 hour drive from where I live, so to make it worth it, we’ll only go if it’s for a whole weekend. To make it even more worthwhile, we do what my husband calls the ‘gun down’. As soon as we get home from work on a Friday, we pack the car and ‘gun it down’ that night. We’ll stop for dinner on the way, then usually get to the island just before midnight, leaving us to wake up and have one whole day away. It’s a process that has served us very well. Sometimes it’ll be just the two of us, sometimes we take friends.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition and a joke that Lance will order dinner and then hum and har the entire time we eat it about whether or not to buy a whole BBQ chicken to take away, in case he gets hungry when he gets there. And anything he doesn’t eat can be used the next day. If we don’t have much planned the next day except lazing around the island, I usually let him buy one. If we’re going out for lunch/dinner then I try to talk him out of it – and invariably we’ll get to our house and he’ll be STARVING. But he’s taken this concept in to our everyday world. If we’re in the rare situation of needing to buy takeaway because it’s the only food available to us - he will inevitably steer us towards getting a whole BBQ chicken, so we can also have leftovers. Which is awesome for me. I shred the remainder of the bird and then use it for salads, or sandwiches or soups or tacos or whatever. It’s great having on hand for really quick meals.

We had such a circumstance recently, and after Lance had eaten the wings and a drumstick, the rest of the chicken I shredded, rolled into silverbeet I bought at a market on Sunday and baked with a basic tomato sauce. 10 minutes prep time, 20 minutes in the oven while I showered after the gym and a delicious meal waiting for me.


 
Ricotta and Chicken Stuffed Silverbeet
8 silverbeet (chard) stalks
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
4 small jalapenos (or to taste)
250g tub ricotta
500mL bottle passata
12 olives, pits removed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp smoked paprika
Olive oil

Dice the jalapenos really finely. Put the ricotta, shredded chicken and chillis into a bowl and mix really well to combine. Taste for seasoning. Mine didn’t need any as the chicken was already fairly seasoned.

Cut the stalks out of the silverbeet, then place about ¼ cup of the chicken mix at the top of the leaf. Fold the sides over, then roll up to create a parcel. Sort of like you would for a spring roll/rice paper roll. Place seam side down into a long rectangular casserole/lasagne dish. Continue with all of the mixture/leaves until all used up.

In a new bowl, mix the passata, garlic, olives and herbs. Pour over the top of the silverbeet parcels. Sprinkle the top with panko, then sprinkle the smoked paprika over the top of that. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
 
Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden.