Old-School Butter Cake

 Courtney Adamo always has great recipes to share. Here is one more from her blog.   and she shares it as a birthday cake. Okay I need to differ here. This is not a birthday cake I think. Let me warn you that this cake has a ton of sugar and butter. It tastes real buttery, like Auntie Mildred (Tía Mildred) type of cakes, old-school type. It is not a light cake, it's a heavy one.

But with that said, this recipe is just so fun because it makes you feel like you are making a true cake, and old-fashioned cake, the way butter cakes you should just be. And it actually is an old Australian recipe as she explains in her blog, that it has come from someone called Nanny Luff and the recipe was shared by her grand-daughter. 

So anyway, this recipe comes I'd like to think, from the origins of Australia, perhaps on the slopes of New South Wales, like Kenton's Nan. Here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
-3 cups of flour (360 grs) 

-6 teaspoons of baking powder.

-1 cup of butter (240 grams)

-2 cups of sugar (400 grams)

-4 eggs.

-1 cup of milk. (235 ml)

STEPS: 

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

2. Cream with a hand-mixer the sugar and the butter. The hand-mixer is the tool of this recipe.

3. Now add one egg, and beat, and another, and beat, etc. until you do the 4 eggs.

4. Now add half the flour (with the baking powder already combined!) and beat with hand-mixer. 

5. Now add half of the milk and mix.

6. Now add the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk and combine.

7. Grease and flour a container. I used a medium pot, and add mix.

8. Stick to oven for about 1 hour. It will rise a bit.

9. Now for decoration you can add anything. Courtney says she mixes 1 cup of caster sugar, with a few drops of milk and one fruit grated, and then pours it over. I made mine with kiwi and it was real fun.

Okay, I am not sure at all, I will make this cake again I have to be honest. It has way too much butter for me, nothing less and nothing more than 1/4 of a kilo! But it is a good recipe.  And look at that!! that is one good-looking babe! 

And that is a Australian house from the 50s, where we spent Christmas, across Kent's grandma and her mission.

 

Succulent Tomato Sauce

So you buy a bunch of fresh basil and it is great for your curry or laksa. And then what do you do with the rest of the leaves that going bad, withering in seconds? 

One of my many flatmates in this life, taught me this italian tomato sauce recipe. Easy and tasty. I made it the other day and I just could not stop licking the spoon. I figured I'd write it down here so that I can recreate it.

INGREDIENTS

-1 can of peeled tomatoes (400 grams) 

-a little oil.

-3 garlic cloves smashed.

-3 sticks of fresh rosemary.

-a bunch of basil leaves.

-any random tomatoes you have in your fridge.

-1 tsp of salt.

-1 tsp of sugar.

STEPS:

1. Pour tomatoes in saucepan, a little water, a little oil and smash tomatoes a bit.

2. Now add garlic cloves that you have smashed a bit, the rosemary sticks, the sugar and the salt, and now let it all simmer for over an hour, stirring slowly. An amazing sauce begins to appear....you can let it simmer for 2 hours altogether. 

3. At the end of this time, I add the basil, not before otherwise it kills the flavour.

4. When it is done I pick up the rosemary stems and throw them out and the same with the garlic. 

5. I completed this sauce with grated carrots, red onions and 400 grams of true mince and of course spaghetti.

That's it. Such a wonderful wonderful sauce. 

Plum Clafoutis

This recipe is fantastic, especially for Spring. A yummy dessert that is just not hard to make. I had been meaning to do it for many many years but always felt I wasn't prepared because it called for "semolina" which I had no idea what that was. But here is a recipe 

with normal ingredients. Thanks to Courtney Adamo.   

INGREDIENTS:

-400 ml of heavy cream (1+1/2 cups) 

-150 grams granulated sugar (even 140 grams, 

the original recipe calls for 175 grams, too much I think)

-3 eggs.

-2 tsp vanilla.

-the orange zest of 1 orange.

-1/4 tsp salt.

-1/2 cup flour.

-3 big plums cut in slices (or figs, or peaches, or cherries).

STEPS:

1. Combine cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest and salt in a blender. 

2. Add flour in 3 batches, mixing slowly with hand blender.

3. Let the mix rest for 30 minutes.

4. Turn oven on to 220 degrees and prepare the fruit in pieces. 

5. Butter your dish, you have to for this recipe, I always use kitchen paper, but you cannot with this recipe. And then sprinkle the bottom with sugar, so that it caramelizes a bit.

6. Get your dish and pour the mix and now add the fruit, slowly in a pretty manner.

7. Sprinkle a little more sugar on top.

8. Place in oven in 220 degrees for 2o minutes. Then lower to 180 for 20 more, and then turn the girll on at the end to give it a tanning session. You'll know when it's ready.

Great recipe. Obviously has a ton of cream and sugar so you'll have to plan your next run and work out soon after, but it's worth it. A few pics of Byron Bay where Courtney Adamo lives.

Great Chicken Broth

 Okay, so this broth is very good. Liquid gold, the author calls it. Here is the recipe. I'm very impressed at this lady Marion. Her recipes are winners. 

My only variation of her recipe is adding a celery stick to the equation. Obviously her recipe is for more volume, more soup. 

INGREDIENTS:

-2 litres of water 
-1 free range chicken skeleton
-1 clove of garlic smashed.
-1 green onion.

-1 celery stalk (my addition)

-1-2 bay leaves (my addition)

-3 slices of ginger.
-some peppercorns.
-1 teaspoons of salt.

-1 prawn (optional at the end)

STEPS:

1. First of all, you are much better off watching the video she has in her recipe. It is a great video. But anyway, basically you need to put all the ingredients above in a pot, bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 hour or so. 

Just remember to smash a little with the blade of the knife the ingredients: the peppercorn, the garlic, the green onion so the flavours come out in the water easier.

2. After that I let it cool off and basically I let it all sit down in the stove for 1 day (obviously when it is cold, NOT in summer). The flavours get richer the longer you let it sit there. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge and the grease after some hours comes up to the surface.

3. After that, or even after 2 days, I throw in the trash everything that's in the pan and put the broth through a fine sieve.

4. And voila! there you have your great broth. Season it maybe with more salt if you want.

Pics: Singapore, the country of fines.

 

Dumplings or Wontons or Gyozas

My attempt to make wontons is finally here. Something that has been on my list of projects to cook for over 2 years, the day finally came. This recipe of Marion  inspired me. So here is my feeble first attempt to make them. I think wontons or dumplings are much easier than what we think, but they sound quite intimidating. But really just see them as empanadillas. Are you afraid of empanadillas?? probably not. Well, it is the same concept. Also the folding is not rocket science....just do your best, and it will be fine. You will freeze them so that is what holds them together in the soup and don't come apart, the fact that they have been frozen for 2 weeks or 2 months.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can use it to make meatballs, no need of the wrapping and wow they taste awesome too.  Here is my recipe. It is pretty dang asian I must say. My korean friend Crystal thought they were pretty astonishing. 

Shrimp+Pork combo Wontons

INGREDIENTS:

-150 grams of pork minced 
-150 minced prawns.
-1 tbsp grated ginger.
.a pinch of white pepper.
-1/2 tsp sesame oil
-1/4 cup chicken stock
-2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
-1 egg
-25 wrappers of gyoza, dumplins etc.

Pork wontons: 

INGREDIENTS:

-300 grams of pork.

-1 tbs of grated ginger.

-1/2 tsp of minced garlic.

-a pinch of white pepper.

-1 stalk of green onions. 

-a few stems of parsley.

-2 tsp sesame oil.

-3 tablespoon of soy sauce.

-2 tablespoons of cornstarch.

-1 egg.

Another 25 wraps of gyoza, wontons, dumplings.

STEPS: 

1. Just mix everything together well.

2. Add a little to each wrapper and close them up with a little water and set on a plate and freeze. Just set them on some type of paper when you are about to freeze them or they get stuck to the plate in the freezer.

Do you ever get confused about green onions, spring onions, shallots, scallions etc? This article has helped me.

 

Pork ribs and Corn soup

 A wonderful chinese classic that most chinese kids grow up eating. I  can't remember where I saw this soup, thus, I will not have a link and this is my version, but I have made it several times and it has very warm and comforting flavour, bony but sweet. We are back from Australia, where I have gotten lots of inspiration for new recipes. I needed that.

Anyway, I made this one today and was inspired to write it down because it turned out very well.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 litres of water.

.300 grams of pork ribs.

-2 corn cobs.

-some garlic.

-a few green onions stalls.

-1 parsnip in slices.

-some white pepper.

-some black pepper.

-1 tsp of salt.

STEPS:

1. Place some garlic in big pot and sautee.

2. Now add the ribs and brown them a bit for a few minutes.

3. Now add the 2 litres of water and the corn and bring it all to a boil.

4. Now add the salt, the pepper, and add the green onions that you have diced up previously.

5. Bring it all to a boil again quickly and then simmer in low heat.  Slowly you will be getting a great great broth, this is the trick of chinese soups, slowly you stew the bones.

6. You can then remove the ribs and corn and cut it all up to make it all more convenient to eat. I basically cut off the corn kernels and get the meat off the ribs.

So nice! perfect for winter this recipe is. 

Easy Curry Mee

Since we got back from Australia, I have needed some new cooking inspiration. I was bored to death of my old recipes. This recipe is excellent and not hard. Marion's blog has been a great discovery lately. I still can't figure out if she is australian or what, but she definitely makes asian recipes seem much attainable. Also her videos are incredible! so well made. 

After making the dish  Kenton said to me: "this one is for your blog". So here it is. My version is a mild variation from hers, I added potatoes and bok choy. I made this meal for 2 days and for 2 people, so 4 portions. Excellent recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
-1 tablespoon of red curry paste. 
-1/2 tsp of turmeric spice.
-1 tablespoon of normal curry powder.
-1 can of coconut milk.

-1 tsp of sugar.

-3 tbsp. of fish sauce.

-1 stalk of lemon grass.

-3 cups of chicken stock.
-700 grams of chicken thighs (no bones)

-10 small potatoes.

-some parsley.

-some bok choy.

-some lime (optional)

STEPS:
1. Add some oil to your saucepan or wok and add the red curry paste. Move it around but don't burn it! 
2. Now add the turmeric and curry and stir.
3. Now add the chicken thighs and get them golden with all the spices around for 10 minutes. Cook the chicken at this stage in low heat.
4. Now add the coconut milk and the chicken stock and the lemon grass stalk, and stir well. Do not let it boil because coconut milk curdles unfortunately. Let it all come together for 10 minutes in medium heat.
5. Now add the fish sauce, the sugar, the pinch of salt.
6. Now add the boiled potatoes cut in quarters, the bok choy in small pieces and some parsley.

That's it.  Serve in big bowls. Wow this curry is very very good. I was very impressed. It is a bit like laksa  but not as intense. A perfect winter meal with potatoes. Yum! 

Pics: Singapore, eating laksa.

Pickled Cucumbers or "Pickles"

Pickled vegetables! 

Did you know that you can pickle any veggies? Basically it is the art of preserving food with vinegar, a brine made of vinegar, water and other spices. 

I had been after this recipe for a long time, I had to conquer it to be a true homemaker. And here it is, a great blog post of Kitchn that is just beautiful to look at. I love this food blog.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 medium very fresh cucumbers.

-1/2 cup of vinegar.
-1/2 cup of water.

-1 tablespoon mustard seeds.
-pinch of salt.

-3 or 4 tablespoons of  white sugar 

-1 star anise.

-3 bay leaves.

-some blackpepper corns.

STEPS:

1. Put in a pot all the ingredients that I write in the list except for the cucumbers and heat up slowly for 15 minutes until it comes to a simmer, this way all the flavours come out and mix. 

2. In the meantime, slice up the cucumbers and place in jar. (Some blogs out there say you need to get water out by adding salt to the cucumbers for a while in a bowl and bla,bla, but seriously I don't see the need for that, they taste awesome freshly cut).

3. Now bring the liquid to a boil raising the heat and when it is bubbling, quickly pour over cucumbers in the jar and close them right away tightly.

That's it. Now let it cool and then place in fridge.  If you want them to be very sweet, add 1/2 cup of sugar, but more sour 1/4 cup is good. This is totally a country town recipe, isn't it? 

Pic: Australia, Victoria.

Homemade Minced Garlic

                                                             

We just got back from Australia where I have been using minced garlic to cook all the time. Basically all recipes begin with this if you want some kind of flavour in your food. I get to Spain and no minced garlic in supermarkets, not a chance to find that here. People in Spain would think it is absolutely ridiculous to buy or make minced garlic but it saves so much time!  

So I have googled how to make it yourself and oh! so easy. All you need is:

INGREDIENTS 
-3 garlic knobs.
-olive oil.

-a pretty small jar.

-a food proccessor.

STEPS:

1. Peel all the garlic cloves and put them food processor for 10 seconds.

2. Place in jar and fill it up with oil slowly, stirring the garlic so it is all coated with oil, which is the preservative.

I am so happy to have garlic ready to go for any recipe in the fridge. It lasts in the fridge for 6 months!  This recipe is for everyone.

Pickled Red Onions

I have loved these pickled red onions that I still needed to do from my list of meals to cook and conquer  from last year. It's so incredible that sometimes in life you are into cooking, and then suddenly you are not AT ALL. So last year was my cooking year, but this year it has definitely been NOT my priority (I am sure you have noticed giving my lack of publishing). 

How important it is to ride the waves of the moment!!! because moments come and then they just leave! and the chance may not be there anymore to explore any given topic, like this one. 

So! after this long prologue, here is this simple yet impressive recipe that Courney Adamo published the other day in her Instagram, and remided me that I yet needed to learn to pickle vegetables. 

So here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
-4 small red onions or 2 big ones. 
-1 cup of water.

-1/2 white vinegar.

-1/2 apple vinegar.

-2 +1/2 tablespoons of honey.

-1 teaspoon of sugar.

-2 + 1/2 tsp of salt.

-1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes.

STEPS:
1. So this brine could not be more simple! Just slice all the onions thinly and place in jar. 
2. Add all the ingredients in a little pot and bring to a simmer for 1 minute.
3. Add the brine into the jar and let it sit there until cools off. Once it cools off place in fridge.

That's it. They are pretty great these onions for sandwiches, salads, a bit of a crunch and colour and obviously it takes away the spiciness of the onions, it changes the flavour. A great easy recipe that will make you feel like you have achieved true womanhood.