Veronica Mars(hmallow) Movie Snacks - Gingerbread Marshmallows, Pumpkin Maple Marshmallows and Rum & Raisin Marshmallows

After the success of my “Much Ado About Joss Whedon” movie afternoon, I decided to have another at-home cinema experience when the new Veronica Mars movie was released. Last time we arranged various couches upstairs to create a two level cinema that seated 6. This time we went bigger and moved more couches upstairs to create a 10-seat, 2 level couch cinema. I was pretty stoked with how it turned out! It made lugging furniture up and down stairs totally worth it! Obviously such an occasion also requires snacks. And there was a quote in the original tv series about Veronica being a marshmallow (which was then echoed in the movie’s kickstarter package, and the movie)…so what a perfect excuse to experiment with making marshmallows.

 
Gelatin is something that has always freaked me out. Most of my cooking is in a pinch of this, dash of that sort of style, and from what I gathered, you can’t do that with gelatin. It’s much more scientific than that in order for it to set. So it was with trepidation I approached marshmallow making. I looked up a whole bunch of recipes for marshmallows before cutting and pasting the common elements together and working out that it’s actually super, super easy. The only thing you do need is to have a candy thermometer to ensure you get the sugar part to the right temperature. And a standmixer. I made the first batch gingerbread flavoured, because, well, I like gingerbread. That turned out so easy that I immediately cleaned out my bowls and made two more batches. Pumpkin maple (with candied bacon) and rum and raisin. These were in honour of the fact that the screening day was also my brother’s birthday and he enjoys all of those things.

The basic idea of making marshmallows also makes it really easy to adapt the flavours. Take cold liquid of pretty much any description (alcohol will require more experimentation as that affects the gelatin) and add powdered gelatin. Boil sugar, water and a liquid sugar to 130C. Pour together and blend until really fluffy, try to spread it out without covering yourself and the kitchen in marshmallowy goo. Then throw icing sugar all over your entire kitchen dusting them! If you try any new and exciting flavours, let me know!

But this is an awesome and easy sweet and non-chocolate Easter treat to gift. Or if you want a chocolate-y Easter treat to gift, maybe my Bacon Bark or the chocolate Salami I made for Easter last year?

 

 

Gingerbread Marshmallows
Liquid Mix
½ cup water
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 clove
pinch nutmeg
23g gelatin

Sugar Mix

1 ½ cups brown sugar
150mL golden syrup
½ cup water
¼ tsp salt

Dusting powder mix

(enough for all marshmallows)
1 cup icing sugar
½ cup corn flour

Chopped candied ginger for decorating

Add the spices and to ½ cup of hot water and leave aside to steep until it’s completely cold. Remove the clove.

Line a lamington tray or baking dish with baking paper or cling film. Make it big enough to overhang on all sides. Spray with oil to prevent sticking.

In your standmixer bowl, put the cold spice liquid and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Leave to stand.

In a medium saucepan with tallish sides to cope with the bubbling, combine the golden syrup, salt, sugar and ½ cup of water. Cook over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Raise the heat and boil until it reaches 130C on your candy thermometer. Keep it moving by swirling the handle, but don’t stir. When it reaches 130C, remove from the heat.

Attach the whisk to your standmixer and turn on low, mix the gelatin mixture for 1 minute, then turn the mixer up a bit faster and slowly drizzle the hot sugar mix down the side of the bowl with the mixer still going. Don’t let it touch the whisk. Increase the speed to medium/high and leave it to whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy and looks like really sticky meringue. This will take at least 5 minutes. As it whisks, it’ll have bubblegum looking strands pull away.

Pour the mix into the lined pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. I sprayed oil on the spatula to help it not stick. Sprinkle candied ginger on top, then dust with the dusting mix generously on top. Set aside to set, it’ll take around 4 hours.

In a baking try, dust a layer of dusting mix, invert the tray and tip out the marshmallow onto it. Cut up the marshmallows and dust all exposed sides. Shake off the excess and store in airtight containers in a cool dark place. Should last around 3 weeks. If you live in a humid area (such as Perth where it’s April and still 35C), store in the fridge.

Pumpkin and Maple

Liquid Mix
½ cup pureed pumpkin
2 tbsp water
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
23g gelatin

Sugar Mix

1 cup white sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
150mL maple syrup
½ cup water

Dusting mix

3 rashers bacon
1 tbsp maple syrup

Finely dice the bacon then fry until crispy in a pan. Pour off excess oil, then add a tbsp maple syrup and cook for a further 3 minutes. Set aside to cool, spreading out on a plate to prevent it from sticking too much.

Line a lamington tray or baking dish with baking paper or cling film. Make it big enough to overhang on all sides. Spray with oil to prevent sticking.

In your standmixer bowl, put the pumpkin puree, 2 tbsp water and spices. Using the whisk attachment, blend for 1 minute until well combined. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Leave to stand.

In a medium saucepan with tallish sides to cope with the bubbling, combine the maple syrup, sugars and ½ cup of water. Cook over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Raise the heat and boil until it reaches 130C on your candy thermometer. Keep it moving by swirling the handle, but don’t stir. When it reaches 130C, remove from the heat.

Attach the whisk to your standmixer and turn on low, mix the gelatin mixture for 1 minute, then turn the mixer up a bit faster and slowly drizzle the hot sugar mix down the side of the bowl with the mixer still going. Don’t let it touch the whisk. Increase the speed to medium/high and leave it to whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy and looks like really sticky meringue. This will take at least 5 minutes. As it whisks, it’ll have bubblegum looking strands pull away.

Pour the mix into the lined pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. I sprayed oil on the spatula to help it not stick. Sprinkle candied bacon on top, then dust with the dusting mix generously on top. Set aside to set, it’ll take around 4 hours.

In a baking try, dust a layer of dusting mix, invert the tray and tip out the marshmallow onto it. Cut up the marshmallows and dust all exposed sides. Shake off the excess and store in airtight containers in a cool dark place. Should last around 3 weeks. If you live in a humid area (such as Perth where it’s April and still 35C), store in the fridge.

 

Rum and Raisin Marshmallows

Liquid Mix
½ cup water
2 tsp rum essence
1/3 cup raisins
23g gelatin

Sugar Mix

1 ½ cups white sugar
150mL golden syrup
½ cup water

Dusting powder mix

Add the sultanas and rum essence to ½ cup of hot water and leave aside to steep until it’s completely cold. Puree until a combined raisin moosh.

Line a lamington tray or baking dish with baking paper or cling film. Make it big enough to overhang on all sides. Spray with oil to prevent sticking.

In your standmixer bowl, put the cold raisin liquid and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Leave to stand.

In a medium saucepan with tallish sides to cope with the bubbling, combine the golden syrup, salt, sugar and ½ cup of water. Cook over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Raise the heat and boil until it reaches 130C on your candy thermometer. Keep it moving by swirling the handle, but don’t stir. When it reaches 130C, remove from the heat.

Attach the whisk to your standmixer and turn on low, mix the gelatin mixture for 1 minute, then turn the mixer up a bit faster and slowly drizzle the hot sugar mix down the side of the bowl with the mixer still going. Don’t let it touch the whisk. Increase the speed to medium/high and leave it to whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy and looks like really sticky meringue. This will take at least 5 minutes. As it whisks, it’ll have bubblegum looking strands pull away.

Pour the mix into the lined pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. I sprayed oil on the spatula to help it not stick. Sprinkle candied ginger on top, then dust with the dusting mix generously on top. Set aside to set, it’ll take around 4 hours.

In a baking try, dust a layer of dusting mix, invert the tray and tip out the marshmallow onto it. Cut up the marshmallows and dust all exposed sides. Shake off the excess and store in airtight containers in a cool dark place. Should last around 3 weeks. If you live in a humid area (such as Perth where it’s April and still 35C), store in the fridge.

 

 

Fusion Flavours - Carrot and Nori Fritters with Wasabi Coconut Cream

I am a huge fan of Japanese cuisine – but it’s not something I’ve really had a great deal of experience cooking. Apart from the odd okonomiyaki and teriyaki here and there, most of my Japanese eating has been out at restaurants. But I had a craving for Japanese, a few sheets of nori left over from a failed cauliflower rice sushi experiment  and a couple of sachets of wasabi floating around from my last takeaway. I didn’t have a great deal of veges left in the fridge, which is where the rest of the main ingredient inspiration came from – carrots. I always buy carrots…but I very rarely actually cook with them. They usually only ever get chopped up into salads or munched on raw (with almond butter and dukkah). So given they’re not my go-to vege, I often end up having lots in the fridge. It was time to try carrot fritters/okonomiyaki.

To serve, I made a wasabi coconut cream. Mainly because I wanted to temper the heat of the wasabi, as my husband isn’t the hugest fan, and I didn’t have any greek yoghurt – which is what I normally would’ve turned to first. Not shopping can provide so much inspiration! We had just come home from a trip fishing on the Blackwood River on Molloy, so I also had fresh bream fillets to serve with it which you will see in the photos – but they are flavoursome enough to be a vegetarian meal on their own. Slightly sweet, delicious, crispy little things that they are!

Carrot and Nori Fritters

5-6 baby carrots
1 tbsp cornflour
1 sheet of Japanese nori/seaweed
2/3 cup plain flour
1 tbsp of corn flour
1/4 tsp of salt
2 egg whites
1 cup cold water
oil for frying

Wasabi Coconut Cream

1 tin coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
2 sprigs coriander, leaves removed and shredded
Pinch salt
1-2 sachets wasabi (or a 2-4 cm squeeze from a tube)

Preheat the oven to 150C for keeping cooked fritters warm whilst you cook the remainder.

Grate the carrots using a coarse grate. (I do this in my food processor). Use a pair of kitchen scissors to chop the nori up into thin strips. Mix the carrot and nori together and toss through 1 tbsp cornflour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together plain flour, the second tablespoon of cornflour and salt. Whisk the eggs gently and add the cup of water to the eggs, mix together. Pour this batter over the carrot mix and gently fold together until it comes together. Don’t overmix it.

Heat a frypan to a medium-high heat. Add a layer of oil to the pan and allow to heat as well. Ladle the mixture into the pan to form fritters to the size of their choosing. I like pikelet size ones – around 10cm diameter. Cook for 2-3 minutes until crisp and golden. Flip over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate and keep warm in the oven.

Meanwhile, pour the thin watery layer of the coconut milk off and reserve for another use. Beat the wasabi and salt to taste into the remaining cream with a hand beater. Stir through the coriander.

 
Serve alongside the carrot and nori fritters

Resolution Follow Through - Cornbread Waffles

So, remember how making more cornbread was part of my late-recognised New Year’s Resolution? Well, I’m extending the definition of cornbread to include these cornbread waffles. We received a waffle maker as a wedding present, and I don’t use it anywhere near as much as I should do. Waffles are awesome. Sweet and savoury, I love them all. I currently am in love with these specific cornbread waffles. I love the savoury/sweetness that using cornmeal automatically adds. They taste chewy and dense but light and waffly all at once. We don’t really do the savoury waffle thing very much in Australia, but I am a champion of it. So here you’ll see it served with BBQ beef. So. Unbelievably. Good. This makes a pretty big batch. Way too much for the two of us for dinner. I wrapped the remainder in single serve portions of foil and froze them, then toasted them as required in the toaster. I took some down to Molloy for a group getaway and they made the most delicious breakfast with hickory bacon and creamy scrambled eggs. 

Cornbread Waffles1 cups plain flour¾ cup cornmeal 2½ tsp baking powder ½  tsp bicarb soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper ½ tsp smokey paprika½ tsp sweet paprika 1 cup ricotta 2 large eggs 1 cup milk½ cup water 4 tbsp melted butter 2 tbsps finely chopped herbs (I used parsley, basil and coriander) Butter for the waffle iron Preheat the oven to 150C to keep cooked waffles warm. Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the ricotta and eggs until smooth. Add the milk, water and melted butter and stir to combine.
 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently until no flour remains. Fold in the herbs.
 Heat the waffle iron and brush with melted butter. Add the required amount of waffle batter for your size iron. Mine makes small heartshaped ones, so I only need 2 tbsps or so of mixture per waffle. As you can see in the photos above, I was incredibly messy! Cook 5-8 minutes or until crispy and golden. Remove to a plate and put in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remainder. Serve with BBQ shredded beef and roast tomatoes and grapes. Or bacon and eggs and maple syrup. Or just a drizzle of maple syrup and an extra cracking of pepper

Dinner Party Dessert - Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse

This recipe is inspired by Connie from Urban Bakes’ Banana Choc Tofu Mousse. When I saw her recipe I immediately knew it was something I would try. Super easy, relatively healthy and potentially delicious. Just my kind of dessert! Lance isn’t the hugest fan of banana in anything except smoothies – and even then he likes them to have lots of chocolate to disguise the banana – which granted this does have - but I thought I would still omit them. When I made this, I was also having people over for dinner, and not knowing where a few of my guests stand on bananas (they tend to be a bit of a love/hate item in my experience) it just seemed like a safer bet. I decided to add peanut butter, because I’m obsessed with the choc/peanut butter combo and I sweetened it with dates to add a slightly caramelly flavour that dates naturally have. So, on the whole, this is a pretty healthy dessert (dark chocolate is totally good for you!).
 It is also great for dinner parties, because it can be prepared in advance and popped in the fridge to set. I was a little worried that this seemed more like 6 servings, but I divided it up between my 7 guests, but it turned out pretty perfectly. The mousse turned out quite dense and decadent, so a slightly smaller serving didn’t go noticed. I did forget to take photos of it served with the chopped up peanut praline, but it was the perfect accompaniment.
 My full menu was actually pretty brilliant in that the prep work was all done before my guests arrived and I wasn’t a slave to the kitchen, apart from bruleeing the top of the Ceviche, everything was done and just needed to be served.
Salmon Ceviche Brulee
Puerco Pibil with Cashew Crema and Roast Potatoes
Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse
 

Choc Peanut Butter Tofu Mousse12 dates, soaked overnight in water (just cover)
1 package silken tofu (300g)
2 tbsp smooth natural peanut butter
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (approx. 200g) dark chocolate chips
 ¾ cup raw peanuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
 In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate by microwaving in 30 second bursts until melted (mine took 3 lots of 30seconds). Set aside to cool slightly.
 Remove the dates from soaking water to a bowl, reserving the liquid. Using a hand beater, blend to a smooth paste. Add a few tablespoons of the soaking water, salt and the vanilla to the paste and blend to thin the mixture. Add the peanut butter and blend fully incorporated. Add the tofu and blend on high until completely smooth and combined.
 Using a spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the tofu mixture.
 Scoop into the serving containers, then chill for 30 minutes to ‘set’.
 To make the toffee peanuts, line a baking tray with baking paper. Melt the butter in a pan and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Approx 2 minutes. Add the peanuts and toss around in the caramelly mixture and toast for a further 2 minutes. Pour the whole mixture on the baking tray and leave to harden and cool. Crack and break the toffee peanuts up to use as garnish

Chip Addiction - Lime and Black Pepper Chip Crusted Bream

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to Red Rock Deli Lime and Black Pepper Chips. We pretty much stopped buying them because we’d open them, Lance would turn his head for 10 seconds and I’d have eaten the whole packet. Then he’d be all sad that he didn’t get to have a snack. I seriously have no willpower when it comes to them. BUT, they are too delicious to give up completely. After a Molloy Island fishing trip, we managed to keep about a cup’s worth of them to do my second favourite trick (you know, after making them all disappear instantly)…crumbing fish with them. So. Good. Obviously lime and pepper are natural friends with fish. Smash a few up, coat the fish and oven bake them (to make them a little healthier) and you have a delicious and super easy dinner. And the best part? You have to eat the rest of the packet!

For a bit of extra oomph, I’ve added some coconut shreds. And for some contrast, I’ve got a slightly sweet dressed salad using a blood orange marmalade that Coles currently have in their ‘limited edition’ collection. You can sub a different marmalade in here if you can’t find it.

Lime and Black Pepper Chip Crusted Bream

3 tbsp olive oil
Juice one lime
¼ tsp cracked pepper
1 cup lime and black pepper chips, measure then crush
2 tbsp coconut shreds (unsweetened)
2 fillets firm fleshed white fish (I used black bream)

Blood Orange Dressed Salad
2 tbsp blood orange marmalade
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
Mixed leaves (spinach, beet leaves, rocket)
Handful grape tomatoes, halved
½ Lebanese cucumber, diced
50g sheep fetta, crumbled
½ pickle, finely diced
Sprinkle of toasted pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Cut the fillets into two ‘strips’. Mix the oil, lime juice and pepper together, coat the fish in it and allow to marinade while you do the rest. Approx 10 minutes. Heat the oven to 175C. Place a cooling rack onto baking tray and spray lightly with oil.

Microwave the blood orange marmalade with the water for 30 seconds, stir to combine. The idea is to thin out the marmalade. Set aside to cool.

In a mortar and pestle, or a bowl with the back of a spoon, crush the chips into breadcrumb sized pieces, with a few bigger bits. Stir through the coconut shreds. Take each piece of fish out of the oil mixture and let any excess liquid drip off. Press firmly into the chip mixture to coat on both sides. Carefully place onto the rack. Repeat until it’s all coated, then pop it in the oven to bake until golden and cooked through. Approximately 10 minutes.

Add the lime juice, olive oil and mustard seeds to the marmalade then whisk to combine. Assemble all of the salad ingredients except the cheese and nuts/seeds. Dress the salad, then gently fold through the cheese. Plate, then scatter the nuts and seeds over the top. Plate up the fish and eat immediately

 

 

Restaurant Inspired - Sweet Potato and Coconut Gnocchi with Cashew Basil Crema

I recently had a lunch date with my husband at Solomon’s Café in Highgate. It was on the to-visit list for a while and the menu item that most put it there was the famed sweet potato and coconut gnocchi. When we got there, we ordered out meals with a side of sweet potato and coconut gnocchi. And we were told…it’s actually beetroot gnocchi now. They haven’t been able to source any organic sweet potatoes for a while, so they’ve had to amend it. The whole restaurant is organic (and gluten and dairy free), so obviously this is an issue for them. And the gnocchi was soooo good. Everything was delicious, but the gnocchi was definitely the stand-out.

The next morning I was trying to work out what to make for breakfast. The idea of toast wasn’t thrilling me, so in spite of telling Lance that I was going to make some form of ratatouille with the almost-too-ripe tomatoes in the fridge…I wasn’t really in the mood. So I still made the ratatouille (which we had for lunch), and I thought I’d give the sweet potato gnocchi a go.

This isn’t gnocchi in the traditional boiled pasta route, I just fried the pieces until crispy. And I already had some cashews soaking, so I made a kale, basil and cashew crema to go with it. To make it more breakfast-y, I served it with an egg and a few zucchini chips as more of a garnish. To keep the dish quick, I microwaved the sweet potato instead of roasting it.

All in all, not a bad breakfast – and it all came together before 8:30am! Unfortunately, it was too early for me to bother with many photos, so there’s only a couple of the finished product.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Gnocchi with Cashew Basil Crema.
(serves 2)

1 medium sweet potato
3 tbsp coconut flour (depending on how big your sweet potato is)
Pinch sea salt
Pinch black pepper
pinch cinnamon
¼ tsp sweet paprika
Coconut oil for frying.

2 handfuls cashews, soaked overnight

2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 kale leaves, stripped off the rib
Big handful basil
Big handful parsley
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ cup olive oil
Water for thinning

Prick the sweet potato a few times, put in a glass bowl, cover with a piece of paper towel and microwave for around 6 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, blend the all the ingredients except the olive oil and water. Pulse at first, scrape down the sides, then run on low, adding the oil and water to reach your desired consistency. Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

When the sweet potato is cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skin. Mash well with a fork. Add the salt, pepper, cinnamon and sweet paprika, and mix through with the fork. Add coconut flour 1 tbsp at a time until it makes a dough. I only needed 3 tbsp for my sweet potato.

Scoop teaspoonsful of dough and roll into gnocchi shapes, flatten slightly with the tines of the fork to shape.

Heat a nob of coconut oil in a fry pan to medium high heat. Fry the gnocchi pieces for a few minutes until golden – around 3 minutes, then flip over and cook that side. Don’t crowd the pan. I did mine in 2 loads, moving the first to a plate in the microwave to keep warm.

Drizzle the sauce onto your serving plates, then top with sweet potato gnocchi.

Serve with an egg if you’d like.