Recipe of the Week: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Why Cinnamon Swirl Bread?

There is no better two smells in the world to me than freshly baking bread and cinnamon.

Freshly baked bread of all sorts from savoury to sweet has a unique buttery sweet aroma with a very slight sourness from the warm remains of yeast. Cinnamon on the other hand has an overwhelmingly earthy aroma that from childhood has warmed my heart and at the risk of sounding very deep, has centred my soul.

It is amazing how smells can bring you instantly into other places and times reminding you of memories nearly lost. That is why I love cooking. This recipe is simply that – the joy of cooking.

Ingredients
15g fresh yeast or 1 1/2 packets of 7 g dried yeast
20g sugar
310ml tepid water
500g bread flour
15g salt
Extra flour for dusting
30g cinnamon
15g caster sugar

Method
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in half the water. Rest for 1 minute until it becomes slightly foamy.

In a large bowl place the flour and salt, make a small well in the centre and pour in the yeasty water. With your fingers slowly mix the flour and water together by making circular movements from the centre moving outwards until the water is soaked in.

Slowly add the rest of the water and oil into the centre and mix to make a slightly moist dough. Depending on your flour you may need a little less or more water so take your time and add slowly.

Flour your workbench and lightly flour your hands. Turn the dough out onto your surface and sprinkle with a little more flour. With the palm of your hand push the dough away from you and with your fingers pull the dough up and fold it towards your palm. If it is a little sticky at first add a little more flour. Continue to do this for up to 5 minutes until the dough is silky smooth on the surface.

Make the dough into a roundish shape, lightly flour the top and place it on a floured baking tray. Cover with a warm damp tea towel and leave in a warm draught free area.

In the mean time put the oven on 200 degrees Celsius and spray a 23 cm x 12.5 cm loaf tin with oil. In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon.

After 40 minutes to an hour the dough should have doubled in size. When it has, using your fist punch the dough to deflate it (this is called knocking back). Return the dough to your work surface and knead a few times for it to become smooth again.

Working the dough with your hands spread out into a 30-40 cm by roughly 30-40 cm square. Don’t worry if you can’t get the bread that large on the first working. Try leaving the bread to rest for a minute and try again.

Once spread out sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Starting at one end roll the bread dough up until you have a long sausage and seal the end with a little water. Cut the sausage into 8 even lengths and place in the oiled bread tin so you can see the swirl.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before placing in the oven. Once the bread is in the oven turn the heat down to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the base sound hollow when you tap it.

Enjoy warm with butter and jam, or use to make into a fantastic bread and butter pudding

Makes 1 loaf.

Bon Appetite

Make your own...Onion Jam

Onions are fantastic. Yes they may make you cry when slicing or give you a somewhat unpleasant breath, but over all onions have the all-essential role in the food world.

Onions are famous for playing the supporting role in an ensemble of foods from stocks, sauces, soups and stuffings. However onions are also great at assuming star roles such as French onion soup, pickled onions, deep fried onion rings, and one of my old time favourites from culinary school glazed onions.

Eaten raw they are pungent, but cooked slowly they release an amazing sweetness.

Onion jam turns ordinary onions into a show stopping condiment. With an earthy depth of sweetness, and the acidity of balsamic vinegar, this jam is great added to cheese such as fettas, goats and cheddars, serving with sausages, steak, lamb and cold meats and is essential to add to gravies to give a fantastic earthy richness.

Ingredients
1.5 kilo brown onions, peeled and sliced thinly
150g brown sugar
250g balsamic vinegar
1/2 bunch lemon thyme
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt


In a large heavy based pan add the onions with the oil and a teaspoon of salt. Turn the heat on the lowest setting cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take the lid off and stir well. Continue to cook on medium low for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.

After an hour the onions should look transparent and glossy. Turn the heat on full and add the brown sugar and thyme leaves. Continue to stir constantly because they will stick very easily.

After 15 minutes add the balsamic onion and stir. Cook for 5-10 minutes and take off the heat.

Store in sterilised jars while hot, allow to cool and keep in a dark place. Otherwise store in any container and keep in the refrigerator.

Makes 1-1.5 litres.

Will keep for 1 year.

This Week's Recipe: Walnut and Parsley Pesto

The simple addition of herbs transforms any meal from ordinary to extraordinary. A simple and easy way to transform your meals using fresh herbs is with a salsa verde or pesto.

This ‘pesto’ uses an all time favourite herb in a new light. The walnuts add earthy creaminess as well as crunch while parsley that unique way of producing a grassy aroma and fresh flavour the minute it touches warm food.

This pesto is fantastic to add to pasta, or tossed through boiled baby potatoes, as a dip with fennel, celery and radishes or served with any meat or fish.

If you want to make a simple, yet more substantial pasta simply add smoked trout or smoked chicken, oven roasted cherry tomatoes and ricotta. Or for a vegetarian version add broad beans, peas and Parmesan.

Ingredients
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves picked
100g walnuts
2 slices Italian crusty bread, torn
2 cloves garlic
250 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
Salt
Pepper

Method
In a food processor place the parsley, walnuts garlic and bread. Process slowly adding the olive oil in a steady stream until the mixture becomes a thick coarse paste.

Season with the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper.
Store in an airtight container covered with a little drizzle of oil in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

To use bring to room temperature.
Makes 1- 1 1/2 cups.
Bon Appetite

Food for Thought: Rhubarb

Rhubarb is an ingredient that intrigues me. Technically a vegetable, rhubarb is regarded as a fruit. Although beautifully pink, rhubarb tends to be sour and highly acidic. While having a history in medicinal purposes rhubarb is in fact not very nutritious and is mainly made up of water, not to mention that they leaves are mildly poisonous.

Having said that ,rhubarb still intrigues the culinary world, having come into popularity with a history of being the ‘good for you’ food. Simply cooked with sugar, added to sauces, made into stuffings and desserts rhubarb always creates a fantastic flavour sensation.

Facts and Details
Rhubarb Rheum rhaponticum is part of the sorrel family and although treated as a fruit it is in fact is a vegetable. Rhubarb is a cool weather perennial plant that requires the winter dormancy period to store energy and stimulate the next season’s growth.

Unknown to many rhubarb does not ripen and turn red like with fruit and the depth of pinkness in the stalks consequently does not indicate sweetness. There are known to be 60 different varieties of rhubarb grown throughout the world today.

In Australia rhubarb is not sold by variety, however a few that are superior are the Cherry Cultivar and the Ever Red. Rhubarb is grown in open fields and is available all year round. In winter Australian rhubarb is thinner and deeper in colour where summer rhubarb grows faster due to stronger and longer amounts of sunlight resulting in greener large and tougher stalks.

In Europe however, where rhubarb has a popular history, it is sold in two forms: forced and garden. Garden rhubarb grows out doors in the warmer months in natural climates. Forced rhubarb, however is cultivated during the cold winter months in a unique way.

The Candle Lit Rhubarb
Forced rhubarb is grown in North England in a region known as the Rhubarb Triangle. In this region rhubarb is left to grow unharvested for two years, where is stores energy from the sun. In winter the rhubarb is transferred by hand into dark nursery sheds to be ‘forced’.

Here rhubarb is left to grow in dark candle lit warm sheds. The darkness, warmth and wetness mean that the rhubarb concentrates on growing longer. Unlike garden rhubarb, which grows fast with sunlight, forced rhubarb is tricked into growing, and does it slowly. The warmth of the dark nurseries tricks the rhubarb’s hormones into triggering growth. Without light they feed on the energy they have stored in their roots for the last two years.

This results in a bright pink stalk that is tender and sweet and retains its colour after cooking. They are also characterised by their tiny curled iridescent green leaves.

History
Indigenous to Asia rhubarb was originally not grown for consumption but was regarded as an important drug. The rhubarb root was used for many illnesses especially regarding the stomach, lungs and liver.

It is believed that Marco Polo was the first to bring the drug from Asia to Europe where it became so popular that it tripled the cost of opium.

Rhubarb is thought to have first been consumed between the 17th and 18th century when the English opted to eat the stalks as a means to get the drug into the body. Rhubarb became a very popular vegetable in England during war times as it grew easily and was known to be good for you – in which specific ways however, many were unsure. Interestingly this did not stop parents feeding rhubarb stalks to children with a bag of sugar to dip in when sweets were to expensive.

Although rhubarb has a reputation as being very good for you it is in fact mainly made up of water. It does however contain vitamin C, high levels of calcium, and is rumoured to speed up your metabolism. It is interesting to consider however, that to make rhubarb taste great one generally need to add a fair amount of sugar, making is nearly impossible to be consumed in a healthy way.

How to Cook
Rhubarb traditionally is stewed with a combination of sugar, orange zest or vanilla. This method of stewing is also usually used as the base for many sweet dishes such as soufflés, fools and trifles.

Rhubarb’s natural sourness is a fantastic way to enhance the flavours of other ingredients and brighten more neutral ones.

Today rhubarb is matched alongside meats and fish to add a surprising spectrum of flavour. Rhubarbs sourness makes it perfect for relishes and is incredibly refreshing making it a perfect dessert.

Traditionally Stewed Rhubarb
Place rhubarb cut into 1.5 cm length into a non reactive pot with a generous amount of caster sugar, the zest of an orange, a couple of tablespoons of water and cover with a lid. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes then lift the lid and stir. Cook for a few more minutes until soft.

Cool and store in the refrigerator. Add to custard, ice cream or eat with natural yoghurt for breakfast.

Savory Rhubarb Relish
750g rhubarb stalks, cut into 2cm lengths
500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 onions, finely sliced
250ml white wine vinegar
250ml white wine
300g light soft brown sugar
2tablespoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cardamom pods, bashed slightly
1teaspoon ground allspice
1teaspoon ground ginger
1tablespoon salt

Place the rhubarb, apples and onions in a heavy-based, non-reactive pan with the vinegar and wine, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add the sugar, mustard seeds, cardamom, allspice, ginger and salt and continue to simmer for 45 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally, until it is thick.

Remove from the heat for ten minutes, and then spoon the chutney into hot, dry, sterilised jars and seal. Keep in a cool, dry place for two weeks before opening.

Makes 1 litre.

This relish adds a tangy and spicy balance to gamely meats and oily fish. The rhubarb has a tendency to turn slightly brown during long cooking but the taste is still fantastic.

Rhubarb and Walnut Stuffing
1/2 bunch rhubarb, finely diced
150-200g fresh breadcrumbs
2 small white onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
3 tablespoons walnuts, chopped roughly
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper

Sweat the onions garlic and rhubarb in a little oil until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the walnuts and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in 150g of breadcrumbs. Add the egg and mix well. If the mixture looks a little wet add some more breadcrumbs. You want the mixture to feel slightly moist in your hands and can to clump together.

Use as a stuffing for a loin of pork or chicken.

Make your own...Confit Garlic

Confit is a traditional French method of cooking and preserving foods in oil or fat. Originally it was the poor in France who used the method to preserve meats when refrigeration was not available. These days however, confit foods, especially poultry are popular in many trendy restaurants.

Confiting is ever so easy to do and makes any one look like a fabulous cook. Confit garlic is fantastic in roasts, added to mash potatoes or tossed through any green vegetable turning the simple into spectacular.

When you cook garlic slowly sugars are released, creating a delicious sweet and earthy depth to these some times potent bulbs and makes them soft and creamy like butter.

Ingredients

6 bulbs of garlic
3 cups vegetable oil
2 sprigs thyme or rosemary

Method

This is not really a recipe, but more a guideline to follow. Feel free to change the quantities, however I suggest using the above recipe as a minimum. It is easier to cook the garlic evenly in large amounts.

Peel the garlic cloves and place in heavy based casserole dish along with the sprigs of thyme or rosemary. Cover the cloves with oil and cook on a low heat.

Continue to cook for 40 – 60 minutes or until the cloves are lightly golden and soft.

Allow to cool for five minutes before transferring into sterilised jars. You want the garlic and oil to still be hot. This will help seal the containers for storage. Store in sterilised jars three to four months, or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to six months.

Use the oil for sautéing and frying to add a wonderful garlic aroma to your food. Add the garlic in anything from sauces, spread on crusty bread and even salads.

Bon Appetite.

Recipe of the Week: Tomatoes Braised in Olive Oil

Why Tomatoes Braised in Olive Oil?

Nothing beats the flavour of a vine ripened, earth grown tomato. This might sound strange to some and have them asking aren’t all tomatoes grown in the ground and on a vine? The answer is no.

Unfortunately today most tomatoes that are sold are hydroponic- meaning they are grown in a soil-less medium. The other sad fact is that many tomatoes are picked before maturity and left to ripen in factories or in brown paper bags on the kitchen bench.

Having said that however, I still love tomatoes. You will find me at growers markets and grocers sourcing out tomatoes that are tasty and locally grown. To me the perfect tomato has a fire engine to blood red hue, is bursting with juice and has a unique sweet yet tart flavour.

I have come accustomed to having to eat tomatoes that don’t fit this description and so, have come up recipes that make any tomato taste better.

This recipe is perfect all year round but is particularly good during the winter months when food just doesn’t have that same sweetness.

Ingredients
4 medium vine ripened tomatoes, peeled
1- 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 bunch basil leaves
1 teaspoons caster sugar
Sea salt
Pepper

Method
In a heavy based casserole dish place olive oil, basil and garlic cloves. Cook on a low heat until the garlic is soft.

In the meantime place the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove from the water and peel off the skin using the back of a small knife.

Add the peeled tomatoes, stem side down and season with sea salt, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar. Cover and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Turn carefully and season again with salt, pepper and the rest of the sugar. Cook for a further 20 minutes or until tender making sure to baste with oil every now and then.

Serve warm or at temperature with crusty bread and goats cheese. Serves 4.

Store the tomatoes in their oil in the refrigerator for up to a week. To serve bring back to room temperature.

Bon Appetite

This Weeks Recipe: Whole Orange and Almond Cake

Why Whole Orange and Almond Cake?
There is nothing more delightful than the fragrance of whole cooked oranges. The smell alone is enough to make me smile and feel somewhat better inside, however the taste too is an amazing delight. Removed from the citrus sharpness you get with orange zest, this cake becomes flavoured with sweet yet slightly bitter oranges, and stays ever so moist.

This recipe is adapted from a few different Jewish recipes for flourless cakes. It is perfect for afternoon tea or dessert and can be made a day or two ahead and stored in an airtight container.

Ingredients
2 oranges, scrubbed well to remove the waxy coating
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, softened
6 eggs, separated
300g ground almonds
1 tablespoon baking powder

Method
Place the oranges in a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour until completely soft. Allow to cool before cutting in half to remove any pips.

Preheat oven toe 200 degrees Celsius. Butter and line a 24cm springform cake time.

Put the oranges in a food processor with the sugar, butter and egg yolks and pulse until the orange is broken up. Add the almond meal and baking powder and pulse to combine.

In a very clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. An easy way to tell this is to turn the bowl upside down. If the egg whites stay still they are ready.

Gently fold a few tablespoons of the orange almond mix into the egg whites. Continue to fold in the orange almond mix in three batches until evenly combined.

Pour into the cake tin and place in the oven. Cook at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for 50 – 60 minutes, or until the cake starts to come away from the edge.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before un-moulding to cool completely on a wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar.

Serves 6-8.

Bon Appetite

Food for Thought: Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts have a bad reputation. Many will have memories of bitter, grey, watery and mushy cabbage like bundles that they were forced to eat as a child. Brussels sprouts however, if cooked correctly taste deliciously nutty, and are never grey or bitter.

Brussels sprouts although rated the most un-liked vegetable in the world, are at the same time, one of the world’s healthiest foods.

It is time to get brussels sprouts back in the good books. Forget memories from you childhood and re discover this delicious super food.

Facts and Details:
Brussels sprouts belong to the Brassica genus, which includes vegetables like the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and few varieties of Asian cabbage like vegetables.

About Brussels sprouts:
Different varieties of brussels sprouts most likely originated in Ancient Rome, however it was only in 1200’s that brussels sprouts as we know them today were cultivated in Belgium, and most likely got their name from the countries capital.

Brussels sprouts taste the best when grown between 15 to 18 degrees Celsius. It is also believed that they taste even better when the frost has hit them in early stages of growing.

What many people don’t realise is that these sprouts don’t grow straight from the ground like their relatives the cabbage and broccoli. They in fact grow like buds in a spiral form on the sides of thick stalks, maturing over several weeks from the lower part of the stalk to the upper part.

When choosing brussels sprouts look for ones that are small and bright green in colour. The leaves should be tightly attached to the bulb. If available buy them attached to the stalk. They are usually available like this at fresh food markets around Australia.

The Unpopular Sprout?
Brussels sprouts are most likely attributed as being such a disliked vegetable from old fashioned cooking methods, where vegetables were boiled until grey and mushy. Over cooking brussels sprouts like with cabbages and broccoli releases sulphur compounds in the vegetable that give off an unpleasant smell.

If cooked correctly brussels sprouts don’t smell bad or are bitter, instead they have a delicious nutty flavour.

The Super Food:
Brussels sprouts are considered to be a super food as studies have shown that they contain phytonutrient sulforaphem, which enhances the bodies natural defence system and also can protect against disease including cancer.

Apart from helping protect against disease they also contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and are a good source of dietary fibre.

How to Cook:
The most important rule when cooking Brussels sprouts is to NOT over cook them. Having said that however, there are a few recipes that call for brussels sprouts to be cooked for hours. They are however, required to cook on low heat in duck or goose fat, an ultimate delight for any food connoisseur.

Brussels sprouts most commonly are boiled, however they are perfect roasted, lightly pan fried or tossed in butter and herbs. Try matching Brussels sprouts with lemons, almonds, mustard, Parmesan cheese, blue cheese, chestnuts, nutmeg, onions and parsley.

To boil brussels sprouts perfectly remove any loose leaves, but leave the stem in tack. Cut a cross in the bottom of the sprout. This helps in an even cooking, however some believe that the ‘cross’ leaches flavour. I disagree with this theory as the cooking process is shortened with the aid of the cross, speeding up the cooking and keeping a tasty nutty flavour as apposed to the mushy version you get from over cooking.

Bring salted water to the boil. Place the sprouts in the water and boil for up to 8 minutes depending on their size. You know they are ready when a knife slides in smoothly but with a little friction.
Drain very well and serve.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients:
500g small Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon pine nuts
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Trim Brussels sprouts and cut into quarters. Toss in olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Spread out in a baking tray and roast for 15-20 minutes. In the last few minutes add the pine nuts.

Serves 4 as a side dish with meat or fish.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Apples.

500g Brussels sprouts
100g pancetta, cut into cubes, if unavailable whole, sliced pancetta is fine cut into strips
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon seeded mustard
100 ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Following the instructions about prepare the brussels sprouts. Boil in salted water for 4 minutes until they are still crisp in the middle and drain.

In a large fry pan heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and pancetta until the onions are translucent and the bacon crispy. Add the apples wedges and turn the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 5 minutes.

In the meantime cut the Brussels sprouts into quartes. Add the brussels sprouts to the pancetta and apples, add the stock and mustard. Continue to cook until the stock has reduced and the sprouts are just cooked.

Serves 4 as a side dish with meat, or 2 as a main course.