In My Kitchen - December 2013

Just as I sit down to write this post, which I have been trying to get to all week, Blossom wakes up early from her nap....
....and now I have her on my lap as I type. While Chicky and Poppet giggle hysterically, telling "poo jokes" and chasing each other around the kitchen, Blossom watches longingly. If only the chubby 10 month old was mobile, she'd be able to join in. One day soon, before I have toddler-proofed my house no doubt, she'll be on the move.

But I digress. My kitchen this month hosts several new additions. Some edible, some not, and some in preparation for the holiday festivities.

The girls and I had fun making a gingerbread house last year, and while I made a paper template for the walls, the template didn't move house when we did. I saw this cookie cutter set in Kmart for around $5 (the exact figure escapes me) and couldn't resist. This way the girls can get involved in cutting the walls as well as mixing and decorating. 

I don't really like shop-bought fruit mince pies, but have made my own for the last couple of years and really enjoyed them. In preparation, I have a jar of Robertson's Fruit Mince. This is the only fruit mince that was in my mum's pantry when I was a kid, and it has never even crossed my mind to purchase a different brand.

 

I am yet to pluck up the courage (or find the time) to attempt chocolate tempering, but I figure if I own a digital thermometer, I may be more likely to give it a go. Celia makes it look so easy, maybe this holiday season is the time to try. I picked up this nifty little thermometer from JayCar for less than $25. It is accurate to 1 degree Celsius and can tolerate up to 300C. Unless something goes terribly wrong, my tempering attempts won't reach such extreme temperatures!

I have my eye on a raw carrot cake recipe that I'd like to try. The recipe I saw on a Facebook page, but can't find a direct link to the recipe. When I make it, I'll be sure to blog. The recipe uses raw agave nectar, which I've had my eye on at our local grocer, Malibu Fresh Essentials, for a few months. This was the perfect excuse to pick some up.

Something else I've been keen to pick up, and another ingredient in the carrot cake, is extra virgin coconut oil. I hear this stuff makes a great moisturiser too!

 

Yet another Malibu Fresh Essentials purchase which makes it into my kitchen regularly is pre-packed dried fruit and nuts in various shapes and sizes, these are Nature's Delights brand. Hubby loves cashews, and will often use my measuring cups to hold his post dinner/pre-bed snack of cashews.The "Delicious Mix" of almonds, pistachios, cranberries and white chocolate buttons isn't a regular in our house because it's a bit too naughty, especially at the rate I go through the bag. I prefer a similar mix with raw macadamia nuts and pepitas.

Coffee pods to suit my Map coffee machine are ALWAYS in my kitchen. I normally buy the Gloria Jean's Smooth Classic Blend (pictured right), but Woolworths have started stocking a variety by Macro. Macro make some pretty tasty stuff, so I thought I'd give them a go. I still prefer the Gloria Jean's variety. 

This one was in my kitchen on Monday, then I cooked it, then we ate it. While I often make Teresa Cutter's "healthy schnitzel", I've never made a generic chicken schnitzel before. True story. I saw this simple recipe on Better Homes and Gardens a few weeks ago and gave it a go. The (not-so)shallow frying part made me a little uncomfortable, but damn it was tasty. Served with some oven baked chips and salad, it made a hearty dinner for a balmy summer evening.

Finally, in my kitchen is an assortment of things that really don't belong in the kitchen. For some reason my Garmin has taken up residence on the kitchen bench. This is usually where I dump it after coming in from a run and immediately taking up parenting duties, often before a shower. The teddy has a hole, but I can't for the life of me find it. Until I can remedy the leaking beads, he is off limits for little fingers. Having a house full of girls, there is always nail polish around, and toy jewellery, and hair accessories, and glitter (the remains of a Christmas ball decorating session are in the little container). The white-board marker is to write on the lists I have stuck to the pantry door; one for hubby, one for myself. These lists consist of non-urgent jobs that need doing, that we know in the back of our minds are there but keep putting off. So far the list technique is working wonders. We only put a few things on at a time so it's not too daunting, but wiping things off is very satisfying, as is seeing the work get done.

That's what's going on in my kitchen this month. To see what's happening in some other kitchens around the world, head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. I may not be back before the fat man comes, so Merry Christmas everyone!

In My Kitchen - September 2013

That's right folks, it's September, and my first "In My Kitchen" post since January. Actually only the second post since Blossom was born. I've been busy, very busy. In the few weeks after Blossom's birth we bought one and sold two houses, Chicky started school and I started running again. We moved into the "new" house (which is actually about 50 years old) in March and while I have been mostly working on rearing three little and very individual princesses, Hubby has been working on making the house our home. There is plenty of time to talk about that, as the renovations will likely go on for the next 25 years. Needless to say something had to give, and that was the blog. I'll ease myself back into things by telling you about what is in my new (read: old and manky) kitchen in September.

This is the oven that was in the house when we bought it. 

The only thing it's got going for it is the lid. It has a hinged lid that closes over the 5 (who needs 5??) burners. The kitchen is short on usable cupboards and bench space so I often use the top of the stove as my main prep area. Both stove and oven are gas, which is fine. I'd never used a gas oven before and had no idea what "gas marks" meant. Where I was looking for a temperature gauge I found the numbers 1 through 8 plus a star. The element is at the bottom of the enormous oven, and while it is fan-forced, heat circulation isn't even. I burned the bottom of everything for the first few weeks. Long and low seems to be required for even cooking. I much prefer quick so I'll be opting for a smaller electric oven when we do eventually re-do the kitchen. And while I do like a gas stove, the burners seem to have way too much gas coming through. There is no such thing as low, and simmering looks more like boiling. While I seem to be doing a lot of complaining, I am making do and it has helped me to figure out what I want out of a stove/oven.

In June a friend of mine asked me to make her 3 year old's birthday cake. This was an egg-free, dairy free cake for a child with allergies (recipe to come). I thought it was about time I bought a cake board as I have been wrapping my chopping board in birthday wrapping paper if ever I wanted to display a cake in the past. This pretty thing was only a few dollars at my local supermarket.

It had been a long time since I had done a chocolate order, and while I was making do with buying odd bits of decent quality chocolate at the supermarket when needed, I was running out of cocoa so it was time to replenish stocks. In my kitchen is a dangerous amount of Callebaut and Sicao chocolate.Well actually there is a little less than what is pictured as I got stuck into making some banana choc chip muffins, chocolate ice cream and choc chip cookies as soon as it arrived.

The online store I buy my chocolate from also had these cute chocolate transfer sheets on sale. I've never used a transfer sheet before but look forward to prettying up some chocolate soon.

My birthday was in June and instead of buying me a token gift, my mum asked me to buy something I wanted and she'd reimburse me. It took me a couple of months to decide what I really wanted but settled on a 30cm Cuisinart Saute Pan. I didn't actually know such a thing existed until I went shopping for a "deep frypan with a lid", only to be told I meant a saute pan. Sure, call it what you like, this puppy is awesome. I use it for pasta sauce, curry, stir-fry, anything really. I always make enough dinner for the 5 of us plus leftovers so this pan gets a workout most days. And it's so shiny! Thanks Mum!

The final part of my kitchen I will showcase this month is a gift from my local Maternal and Child Health Nurse. At Blossom's 3 month check-up she asked how we were doing and how everyone was adjusting to the new addition. I explained what a whirlwind the last few months had been and maybe she saw something I was trying to suppress, as she reached into her filing cabinet and handed me "Top Tips to Help You Reduce Stress". It lives on my pantry door and I consult it daily. I think we're doing ok.

There are a few more exciting things in my kitchen, but I'll save them for next time. Head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to see what's going on in some other kitchens.

In My Kitchen - January 2013

Happy New Year! The first In My Kitchen post for 2013 is a little bit exciting. My family and friends were incredibly kind this festive season and I am proud to showcase a few new trinkets, as well as a few indulgent summer treats.

In my kitchen is a Map Bella pod coffee machine and an accompanying milk frother. This was courtesy of my mum for Christmas. We debated earlier in the year whether easily accessible, good tasting coffee in my kitchen was a good idea and remained largely undecided. When my mum generously offered to buy us (and my brother and sister) one of these babies for Christmas, my sleep deprivation answered for me. So far I have maintained self control and limit myself to one coffee per day. This morning I even gave an iced coffee a go, and think I have found my new best friend. The unit itself is small and quiet and has nestled into my kitchen quite comfortably. You can see by the lack of sheen on the milk frother that it is getting used, or maybe that's just a reflection of my cleanliness.

The girls saw the coffee machine and immediately thought of babycinos, so in my kitchen is a packet of marshmallows ready to go. Pascall is the only brand of marshmallow that I allow through the door.

 

In my kitchen is a copy of Superfoods, courtesy of a Secret Santa that we did with Hubby's family. This book provides all the justification I need that consumption of 70%+ cocoa chocolate will improve my life. It's ideals of acceptable quantities differ a little to my own, but let's not focus on the fine print. The book also provides some lovely recipe suggestions for each of the Superfoods. Thanks Secret Santa!

 

 

A not so secret Christmas hamper from my sister-in-law included some cool kitchen trinkets. She is a shameless Ikea junkie, so most of them were courtesy of the Scandinavian mega-store. The most interesting was this cheese grater, complete with "catch bowl".

 

 

 

Another favourite from the hamper was this silicone ice-cube tray, which will inevitably get used for making chocolates in my kitchen.

 

 

In my kitchen is a copy of Vegetables: grow them, cook them, eat them, which I bought from the Book Depository a few months ago when getting some Christmas presents for the kids, and completely forgot about. It was a kind of Christmas present to myself when I found it. The book provides useful information about how and when to grow different vegetables as well as what to do with them.

 

 

In my kitchen (well not anymore as I polished off the packet yesterday) is this shameless indulgence. I used to be a massive fan of licorice bullets. Home brand was fine, wrap some dodgy chocolate around a piece of hard/chewy licorice and I was happy. That was before I discovered Macro Organic Milk Chocolate Coated Licorice. This is the stuff dreams are made of. The chocolate is divine, the licorice is soft, and the pieces are large balls, not dissimilar in shape to a chocolate-coated almonds. I vow never to buy the cheaper counterpart again, but I must also promise myself I will only rarely purchase the Macro variety as I will eat all 180g in one sitting, stopping only to vomit.

 



 

In my kitchen is a jar of Beerenberg Tomato Chutney. Hubby has had time off work over Christmas and New Year, and so we have had lots of sandwiches/wraps as easy lunches and dinners that don't require leftovers to take to work. What they do require though, is a good chutney. Beerenberg (apart from being awesome because is has the word "beer" in the title) make some pretty tasty chutneys. Our favourite is probably the Taka Tala, but our supermarket was out and this is a good substitute.

 

In my kitchen is a new lunch box and drink bottle. This is bitter sweet for me, as they are Chicky's. At 4.5, she will start WA kindergarten in a few weeks. While she is more than ready, and super excited about starting school (she picked the lunchbox and drink bottle when we went shopping this week), there will be two and a half days a week that my baby won't be with me. For a full time mum, that's hard to take. If I'm not in labour on her first day of school (which is entirely possible), there will be tears, and they won't be Chicky's.

 



 

Finally in my kitchen this month, is light! We have 4 down lights in our kitchen, but we haven't had all 4 working at the same time for as long as I can remember. For the longest time I got by with just one above the main kitchen bench, but then the week before Christmas that one gave up too. Last week hubby replaced all 4. I'm finding all that light a little overwhelming, and it makes my often filthy kitchen floor so much more obvious. It does make food preparation safer though!

 

That's what's happening in my kitchen as we begin 2013, and in the month that our 3rd child will be born (unless she decides to be fashionably late). To see how some other people are beginning 2013, visit Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

In My Kitchen - December 2012

Oh my, I cannot believe we are in December already, with only 2.5 weeks until Christmas! I thought I'd better get into the spirit of the pending festivities and fill my kitchen with a few Christmassy things.

I'm a bit of a sucker for Better Homes and Gardens, and while I rarely buy their magazine, I did splurge on the Christmas edition. In it I found some gorgeous gingerbread Christmas trees made out of star cookie cutters. The originals specified 7 or 8 cutters per tree, but I found these cute concentric star and Christmas tree cutter sets at my local Matchbox store and thought they'd be perfect.

I tested the stars out last weekend and created a few gingerbread trees. I had some pink egg-white icing in the freezer from an excessive batch a few weeks ago. I know green would be more appropriate but it was a trial run, and a successful one at that. I think these will feature as edible centre-pieces at Christmas lunch.

I also found some festive mini cupcake liners which I plan to use for mini mince pies...

...and some cute "candy" (or chocolate) moulds.

I also tested these out, using the lemon-flavoured Callebaut callets from the sample pack I bought a little while ago. Strangely the lemon-flavoured callets are green, but that works well for Christmas! The tree chocolates are milk (34%) base and lemon-flavoured trees. The father Christmas shapes are made from a 70% cocoa base, with father Christmas' hat made of left over lemon. Hubby put my first set of moulds in the dishwasher and melted them. Luckily for him they were less than $5 so I bought another set to make more for the big day.

 

There are also a few non-Christmassy things in my kitchen at the moment. The lovely Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial sent me some mahlep spice so I could test out Barbara's Kaak Cookies. I made a third of a batch of these tonight (sorry, I didn't take a photo), as the original recipe specifies 1kg of flour and that would just mean way too many biscuits. The result is a bit like a shortbread but with a lovely spicy hint. I just adore the smell of the mahlep and get a pleasant surprise every time I open my pantry at the moment

 

Celia also included in my surprise parcel, this beautiful mould. I pressed the Kaak cookies into it before baking, but unfortunately most of the design is lost in the oven. If anyone has any ideas what else I could try this mould out on, I'd love to hear them.

My rhubarb plants are earning their keep at the moment, and while the fruit (is it fruit?) is plentiful, rhubarb crumble is making its way onto our dessert menu. I'll post the recipe one day soon.

 

My mum has an over-excited lemon tree (as opposed to my lemon tree that has taken 8 years to produce 4 lemons). Last week she gave me a few and so last Sunday I made a lemon meringue pie. I'll post the recipe to this one too, one day soon. I have to admit I am lazy and never make my own pastry, but those frozen flan cases are cheap and taste so good! Plus, a lemon meringue pie is never about the pastry, so why stress over something I'm not good at? I should also admit that there isn't actually any of this left in my kitchen anymore. While the girls weren't particularly taken by it, hubby and I managed to polish it off over a few days.

That's what's going on in my kitchen at the moment. If you'd like to see what's happening in a few other kitchens around the globe, particularly as silly-season approaches, head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for some links. Happy Christmas baking!

In My Kitchen - November 2012

As summer approaches, Perth's weather continues to be bizarre. Last weekend we were fishing on the boat in 34C temperatures. This weekend we're back to trousers and jumpers, dodging the storms. After spending the morning out yesterday, there was no way I had the inclination nor patience to go grocery shopping in the afternoon. So I stayed home, used what I had in the house, and baked. Here's what was in my kitchen yesterday (all the edible parts have already been consumed).

The baking began because we ran out of bread, so I baked a loaf of Mixed Seed Bread. 

 

With fresh bread in the house and the weather being foul, I couldn't resist making a pot of Teresa Cutter's Vegetable Minestrone Soup. This soup, with bread makes a hearty dinner that everyone will eat.

Without grocery shopping we had few snacks in the house, and Poppet always wakes up from her nap starving, so I thought I'd make a batch of biscuits. Trolling through recipes I'd never tried before I found a link to this cookie recipe at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Like Celia, I used wholemeal spelt flour, cranberries (as I had both in the pantry at the time), and 54% Callebaut callets. The result was a chewy, chocolatey, tangy cookie that everyone in my house approved of. Several went missing before making it to the cooling rack.

While I was busy baking away, Chicky (who did help with the cookies) decided to work on a creation of her own. I believe it consisted of water, whole macadamias and flour initially. She mixed them together then covered it with plastic wrap to....umm....rise maybe? I'm not sure what she thought might happen.

Later in the day she came back to the creation to complete the final steps. This involved adding some flowers from the garden, something that might be a spring onion (I didn't actually see it before it was added), and stirring with a plastic spoon. She is heavily influenced by the story Wombat Stew at the moment, after a little friend introduced her to the idea recently. Our garden (and now my kitchen) is filled with buckets/cups/containers of water plus <insert random ingredients here>.

While Poppet was less interested in the creative process than Chicky, she did bring me some lovely flowers from the garden yesterday afternoon, and left them on the kitchen bench.

 

A toy camel made it into the kitchen this week, and got left on the bench during the bread-making process, so he got covered with flour. 

The final item that technically isn't in my kitchen anymore (because I ate it), was a block of House Blend, 70% Cocoa content chocolate from Bahen & Co, a small, family-operated chocolate facility in Margaret River. The owner is a cousin of a friend and she gave me a block of this to try recently. I haven't tried any of their other varieties, but the house blend has a unique, almost fruity after taste and is very "adult". It is gorgeously smooth, yet a piece or two is all you need to satisfy that chocolate craving. I look forward to trying some of their other varieties.

 

That's about all that's happening in my kitchen at the moment, but head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to have a peak into some other kitchens around the globe this month.

In My Kitchen - October 2012

Wow, I think this is the first In My Kitchen post that I've managed to get out at the start of the month! Maybe I'm a little excited about some new toys, or maybe I've been doing way too much baking (and eating) that I'm feeling in touch with my kitchen this month. Either way, here's what's in my kitchen this month.

My recent discovery of The Book Depository has been a little dangerous. My debut purchase involved a heap of kids books, put away for Christmas, some running/exercise books and of course some foody books. I'm a sucker for fast, easy recipes, so couldn't say no to Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food. This book is great for ideas when you've got some staples in the pantry, are short of time and lack inspiration. Slater shows you how to prepare common ingredients, several different ways which I love. His recipes are also open to interpretation so you can totally work with what you've got in the fridge. There are no pretty pictures, so if that's your thing then it might not be for you, but if you often find yourself preparing dinner shortly before you want to eat it, this book is great!

Because I am an unashamed sweet tooth, I couldn't go past Slater's dessert version: Real Fast Desserts. I have already tried out his Chocolate Almonds and they were a big hit, so I'll be giving a few more of these recipes a go soon.

I normally order my dark chocolate two ways. Callebaut brand 54% callets in a 2kg bag, which I use for muffins and biscuits as the callets are small. I also buy a two-pack of Sicao Classic Dark (also 54%) 1.5kg bags. The Sicao brand is a little cheaper than Callebaut but I consider the quality to be comparable. The Sicao callets however are large (akin to Nestle melts) and while they don't work well in bite size treats, they are perfect for melting. Sicao have recently changed their product coding, and confusion at the distributor meant I received 1 packet of 54% and 1 packet of 70% (which happen to be the smaller callets). This is great for me because I haven't before experiemented with 70% callets. If I can stop myself from eating them all straight from the container, I might test out some darker recipes.

Another exciting part of my recent chocolate delivery was a Callebaut flavoured sampler pack of chocolate buds. This includes about a cup measure each of cappucino, strawberry, lemon (interestingly these are green, not yellow), caramel and orange flavoured buds. I lifted my self-imposed chocolate ban today and made some Apple Caramel Muffins (below).

Apple Caramel Muffins
These are a variation of my favourite Banana Choc Chip Muffins, made this afternoon because I was out of bananas.

60g butter, melted
2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour 
1/3 cup raw caster sugar 
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 apple, grated with skin on
1 cup caramel buds

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Mix flour, cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Lightly whisk eggs with milk, add to flour mix along with apple and melted butter.
4. Mix with a spatula until batter just comes together.
5. Add caramel buds and mix to combine.
6. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and bake for 12-15 mins or until just beginning to brown.

 

I kind of added lib with this recipe and hoped it would work. It did. I'm not a massive caramel fan so find the caramel buds a little sweet but the combination of flavours definitely works. Now I have to think of some interesting recipes for the other flavours.

Head over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and check out what some other bloggers have in their kitchens this month.

Chocolate for Sharing

Last week my chocolate order arrived. I can't economically buy Callebaut chocolate locally so I source it online from a Victorian distributor. This means I buy in bulk, two or three times a year. Six kilos of extremely high quality chocolate of various cocoa contents and a kilo of cocoa powder landing on my doorstep is very dangerous. It is perhaps even more dangerous because its arrival coincided with the arrival of another recent purchase, a copy of Nigel Slater's Real Fast Desserts.

I have drawn the line at three chocolate creations for the week, because anyone who knows me, knows that self-control is not my strong point when it comes to chocolate. Fortunately visited friends on Sunday for a BBQ, so I used this as a bit of an excuse to pull out some of the chocolate. On the menu was: Chocolate Almonds from Nigel Slater's book, Oreo Truffles and a favourite from my childhood, Chocolate Crackles.

Chocolate Almonds
This really is as easy as it sounds.

2-3 handfuls of shelled almonds
100g dark chocolate (I used Callebaut 54%, any darker and Hubby complains)
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (I used Callebaut dutch-processed)

1. Dry fry almonds until they are fragrant
2. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water.
3. Spread cocoa over a piece of grease-proof paper.
4. Dunk each almond in the chocolate, thoroughly coating, then roll it in the cocoa. Place on a piece of grease-proof paper to set.

I only coated half of my almonds in cocoa as Hubby really does complain if he can taste cocoa. The rest were all mine. Slater says "you'll wish you had made more", and he was so right but so wrong. These were ridiculously easy to eat, and if I had made double, I would have eaten double, in the same amount of time.

Cheat's Chocolate Crackles
This is yet another very easy recipe that the chocaholic should approach with caution. When I was a kid I loved chocolate crackles, until I went to someone's birthday party and tasted the overly sweet, copha-filled monstrosities that I later discovered followed the traditional recipe. This is how my mum makes chocolate crackles, and as far as I'm concerned it is the only way to make them.

200g milk chocolate (I used Callebaut 34%)
Cornflakes (yes, cornflakes, the volume varies and I never measure)

1. Line a 12-cup muffin tray (or 24-cup mini muffin tray) with paper liners.
2. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water. 
3. Add a handful of cornflakes to the melted chocolate, lightly crushing as you add them. Mix.
4. Continue adding cornflakes, a handful at a time, until all cornflakes are coated and no melted chocolate remains in the bottom of the bowl.
5. Spoon mixture into the paper liners (you may need more or less liners depending on how much of the cornflakes you used).
6. Refrigerate until set hard.

You may be saying "eeewww", but trust me, these are the best! Maybe it has to do with the slight saltiness of the cornflakes, or the more structured texture as opposed to a rice-bubble version (you could of course use rice bubbles if you prefer), but no matter how old I get, I still adore these and love that my girls are now old enough for me to make them for them as a treat.

Oreo Truffles
These were the last, and most evil chocolatey treat I made on the weekend. I was first introduced to these tasty morsels a few years ago at a kids birthday party and could not believe that the combination of ingredients could create something so rich and adult-tasting.

2 x 150g packets Oreo biscuits
170g cream cheese (I used Light Philadelphia)
200g milk chocolate (I used Callebaut 34%)

1. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water. Turn off heat but keep melted chocolate over the pan of hot water. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
2. Break up Oreo biscuits into a food processor, then whiz until finely crumbed.
3. Add cream cheese and whiz again until combined.
4. Roll teaspoon sized portions of the Oreo mix into balls and coat in melted chocolate. Use two forks to remove the balls from the chocolate without deforming the shape too much.
5. Set the balls on grease-proof paper and refrigerate until cold.

I took these to a BBQ on Sunday night, and they were a massive hit. It's always fun getting people to guess what's in these, as unless you've had them before, it's very hard to pick. This batch made 37 truffles, but only about 30 of them made it to the BBQ.

While I had a fun weekend in the kitchen, with no real baking involved, I think I need a self-imposed ban on chocolate this week. My baby and my behind will thank me later.