Cauliflower soup and waiting for solstice

 

It’s that time of year when we in the southern hemisphere gaze longingly at the blogs of our northern friends, with their pictures of sunny skies, water-skiing, salads, peaches and raspberries and sorbets and ice creams, oh, I’m so jealous!

 

It has started to get pretty cold here in Sydney, and I, for one, am really looking forward to this Friday, which is winter solstice. Actually, I’m looking forward to it being after the solstice, because the days will be getting longer and it will be our turn for the warmer months.

 

I can’t say I ‘do’ winter particularly well, but thankfully, there are heaps of magazines and cookbooks out there that are more inspired when it comes to taking advantage of the wintery atmosphere. Like this cosy and very delicious soup from donna hay. I made a pot of this soup and served it in mugs and ate/drank it in front of an inviting panel heater with the cat purring on a cushion beside me.

 

Maybe I could get used to this ‘winter’ thing. Then again, probably not.

 

Cauliflower Soup with Spiced Cauliflower

serves 2-3

 

Ingredients

 

Soup:

2 tblsp olive oil

1 leek, trimmed and sliced

2 tsp crushed garlic

400g cauliflower (about ½ a small cauliflower), chopped roughly

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

2½ cups chicken stock

1 cup cream

Salt and pepper

 

Spiced cauliflower:

1 tblsp olive oil

40g unsalted butter

1 tsp crushed garlic

200g cauliflower, chopped

½ tsp ground cumin

 

Method

 

1. For the soup: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until softened.

 

2. Add the garlic, cauliflower and potatoes and cook for another 1 minute.

 

3. Add the stock, cream and salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with the pan with a lid, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

 

4. Remove from the heat and use a stick (immersion) blender to blend until smooth.

 

5. For the spiced cauliflower: Place the oil, butter, garlic, cauliflower and cumin in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, or until the cauliflower is crisp and golden.

 

6. To serve: Spoon the soup into bowls and top with the spiced cauliflower and butter from the frying pan. Serve with crusty bread, if desired.

 

recipe from donna hay magazine (Jun/Jul 2013)

 

This cauliflower soup is light and tasty, served with crusty bread

Spoon on some spiced cauliflower with crispy bits from the pan.

A true winter warmer.

Kindlech strudel, rolled so fine

 

How are you with ‘getting’ a recipe from just reading it? Or do you find it so much easier – and more inspiring – to see it demonstrated, as well?

Obviously, I’m all for the see-and-do method of recipe-learning. I can count on 5 fingers the number of dishes from Jamie Oliver’s 15 Minute Meals book that I’ve flipped over, but they have become ‘must-makes’ after seeing them on his TV show.

Likewise with Little Paris Kitchen with Rachel Khoo. Seeing her whip up beef bourguignon or chocolate lava cakes in her tiny toaster oven makes me think, “I’d really like to make that and I think I CAN”. Notice how I completely ignore the fact that Rachel Khoo has done a Cordon Bleu cookery course while I have, um, almost every issue of Donna Hay magazine…

Well, I recently saw these Kindlech (strudel pastries) made ‘in real life’ by the Monday Morning Cooking Club ladies.  And I also tasted them and they were amazing, the pastry was so thin and light and crisp, with a filling of jam, sultanas and Nutella that complemented it perfectly. There was no way I’d ever imagine making these myself, but seeing them demonstrated changed all that and I ended up making a more-than-passable version myself at home.

Here is an excellent video from Appliances Online of the same demo that I was at. Watch it and tell me you don’t want to try this yourself.

And here’s the recipe.

Kindlech

makes 4 rolls

Ingredients

Pastry (start the day before):

1 egg yolk

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature, chopped

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g sour cream

240g plain flour

Filling (per roll):

1 tblsp chocolate-hazelnut spread (eg. Nutella)

1 tblsp raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam

2 tblsp sultanas

1 egg yolk, beaten, for glazing

Method

1. For the pastry: Place all the pastry ingredients in a food processor and mix until a ball of dough forms, or mix together with your hands. Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

2. To make the rolls: Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line baking trays with paper.

3. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to soften slightly. Cut the dough into 4 equally-sized pieces (each piece makes one roll). Knead each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface, then, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough thinly into a rectangle about 30cmx15cm (12”x6”). The pastry should be so thin that it is a little translucent.

5. Spread the choc-hazelnut spread and jam over the pastry, right to the edges, then sprinkle with sultanas. Roll up from the long edge to form a log, then place seamside-down on the baking tray. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

6. Brush the rolls with beaten egg yolk, then prick the rolls a couple of times with a sharp knife (to let air escape and prevent cracking). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

7. To serve, use a sharp, serrated knife to cut each piece diagonally into 10 slices.

The cut slices can be stored in a foil-lined airtight container for up to 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Monday Morning Cooking Club

Ingredients, including apricot jam, Nutella, sultanas.

Cut the dough into 4, and each piece makes 1 roll.

Spread the jam and Nutella onto the thinly-rolled pastry. You can also add chopped walnuts as well as sultanas.

When cool, cut each roll into pieces to serve.

Take my word for it: these are seriously good pastries, very moreish and just as good the next day.

Tabitha cat licking her chops at the thought of CRUMBS! 

On another note, I really should move that kitchen stool so that Tabs can't jump on it.

AWW! Cookbooks and Peanut Butter Crinkles

Hello, lucky ducks! Do I have a deal for you! It’s another 2-in-1 blog post.

Thanks to AWW Cookbooks (via ACP Books) for sending me 3 new Australian Women’s Weekly books to review. I am an absolute cookbook fiend, so I was very interested in having a sticky-beak at these. And, as with all AWW cakes, the recipes have been triple-tested, so you know they are reliable.

 

The Bumper Book of Kids’ Birthday Cakes is a compilation of favourites from previous books, and it includes some new ideas, as well. You will probably see your own childhood favourites here (eeek! There’s that Dolly Varden cake with the doll stuck in the middle of it with a pouffy marshmallow dress!).

While some of the cake designs are probably a little ‘homely’ or not that sophisticated, it does make them more accessible and achievable. 

There is also an excellent step-by-step section, showing basics such as how to cover a cake board, preparing the cake for decoration and how to cut fondant icing. There are some basic cake recipes included, too.  All in all, this is a great book if you have children or lots of birthday parties to cater for.

Cake Pops contains dozens of designs of cake balls on sticks. There are some very pretty ideas for engagement parties or weddings (the Turkish Delight Bouquets [seen on the cover] are covered in tiny sugar flowers, squeee!), while the Holidays section of the book has ice cream pops and cake pops in the shape of snowmen and Christmas trees. Lovely photographs in this book.

I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty with some of the goodies from this book, so stay tuned.

I’ve left the best till last.

The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits is one of my all-time favourite books. I have been making biscuits and cookies from this book for years, and it has all the classics, such as Anzac biscuits, shortbread, meringues and chocolate crackles.

This is a reissue of the original book (first published 1982) and you can tell it’s from the 20^th century because there’s not much in the way of food styling in the photos, except for maybe a silver service tea-set in the background. It doesn’t matter, though, because the recipes are the stars.

Here, I’ve made some Peanut Butter Crinkles from the book. They are peanutty and melt-in-the-mouth, and so retro, and… just Beautiful Biscuits!

I was focusing on the front biscuit and failed to notice a hovering Tabitha cat.

Peanut Butter Crinkles

makes about 40

Ingredients

125g butter, softened to room temperature

½ tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1¼ cups plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line baking trays with baking paper.

2. Place the butter, vanilla, caster sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter in a bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until smooth and creamy.

3. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

4. Roll teaspoons of the dough into small balls, and place onto prepared trays. Leave about 4cm/1½ inches between each ball, to allow room to spread. Use a fork to flatten each ball in a criss-cross pattern.

5. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until lightly golden. Leave on tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Biscuits can be stored for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from Australian Women's Weekly The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits (ACP Books)

Ingredients, including brown sugar, caster sugar, plain flour, vanilla extract, peanut butter, baking soda and butter

Roll the dough into small balls, then flatten and make a cross pattern on them with a fork

Really beautiful biscuits, truly melt-in-the-mouth