Green bean salad

It's an exciting time of year. The veges are flourishing, the garden is luscious and the weather is finally behaving like Perth in Summer.

While basking in the glory the other afternoon, I didn't realise Chicky and Poppet were harvesting. Before I could turn around they had hands full of dwarf beans and peas and Chicky was asking how we could use them for dinner. I have to admit I hadn't any plans for dinner, so they had me thinking on my toes. We had eggs in abundance, freshly picked greens and a couple of capsicums I rescued from the birds a couple of days prior. The verdict: poached eggs and green bean salad.

To make the salad I blanched the beans for a couple of minutes then transferred them to iced water. I chopped a handful of fresh basil (also from the garden), mixed it with the peas, beans, chopped capsicum, a finely chopped spring onion I found in the fridge and a generous amount of parmesan cheese, then drizzled the lot with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The result: a cold, crispy, very fresh green bean salad. While I can't take any claim over the parmesan or olive oil, this was a surprisingly self-sufficient meal. Having the extra vege plot in the front yard is really reducing our dependence on supermarkets. This is only one meal, and we are a long way from "self-sufficient", but it is encouraging to say the least. Here's to a summer of cool, fresh food!

Ginger Shortbread People

I was up at 5am this morning to walk/run with a very patient friend who doesn't seem to mind that I can't run more than a couple of kms at a time at the moment and is happy to walk the rest with me, even if we are STILL getting swooped by magpies in December! Everyone else in the house was awake when I got home and once the breakfast thing was over I'd been up for so long it felt like it must be midday. It was 7:30. What do you do when you've done everything by 7:30am? Bake (while waiting for another friend to bring much needed coffee).

I have a basic shortbread recipe that you can add to, to spice it up a bit. I got this from a Super Food Ideas magazine a few Christmases ago. I used it to make Ginger Shortbread People.

Basic Shortbread
250g butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar (I use raw)
2 tsp vanilla extract (I use home made)
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup rice flour, sifted

Additions to make it Ginger Shortbread
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/4 cup rice flour

1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. If making ginger shortbread, add ginger and golden syrup, beat to combine.
3. Add flours and combine (including the extra 1/4 cup rice flour if making ginger shortbread).
4. Roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Refrigerate for 30 mins.
5. Preheat oven to 160C (140C fan forced). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
6. Cut out "people" shapes and and place on trays, being careful not to "snap" the dough as it is quite firm when cold. If decorating with M&Ms etc, do this now, otherwise shapes can be iced once cooked and cooled.
7. Bake for 8-10 mins or until just golden. Cool on trays for 5-10 mins then transfer to a wire rack.

Aside from the refrigeration time, these were really quite quick to knock up, and they have the added bonus of being egg-free for those with allergies. I halved the dough and put half in the freezer for another day, and still made about 15 small gingerbread people (of which I've eaten far too many today). The 4 little people that were here this morning all gave them the thumbs up, and it even kept my friend's little boy still and happy long enough for me to cut his hair! 

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!