SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE MANOR

Tonight at The Manor .......
The first course will be pork knuckle baked in an Italian balsamic vinegar served with a simple spinach and tomato salad .
The mains is fillets of ocean trout and blue grenadier in a horseradish mustard crusted dukkah ...these will be served on a bed of brown rice and freekah along with a side of broad beans and carrots .
Service at 6 pm .

 

STRONG FLOUR ........choux pastry

Strong flour has a gluten content of 13- 14 %.
That is why strong flour is important to use in making choux pastry , as it contains more gluten which is needed to make the dough and gives the pastry elasticity .

HELPFUL HINTS

EGGS.........
I am often asked if there is a way to stop the dark rim around the yolks of hard boiled eggs ?
All you need to do is place the eggs in salted cold water then bring to a gentle boil for 7 minutes , then pour off the hot water and place saucepan with eggs under cold running water .
To prevent discolouration of your saucepan when boiling eggs , add a tbs of vinegar or a slice of lemon to the water .

CREAM.......
To make whipped cream go further add a lightly beaten egg white before starting to whip .

CURRY TOO HOT ?
If you have over spiced your curry, ( too strong ) add some tomato sauce , 1 tbs of sugar and the juice of 1/2 a lemon .
Mix this well into your curry .

EVAPORATED MILK
Evaporated milk maybe used in place of egg when making hamburgers ..1 tbs : 500 gm of mince .

EGG REPLACEMENT
Mix cornflour and water together to form a paste in   place of egg prior to coating with breadcrumbs

BROAD BEANS
Adding a couple of mint leaves to the cooking process will enhance the flavour of the beans .

DECONSTRUCTED PEACH MEMORY ...

I was asked to replicate a memory of a Peach Melba ...
These are the details of the Peach Melba once enjoyed on a train ride  in the early sixties .
From memory the Peach Melba had a sponge style base and cling peach slices were used , the cake was no more than 50 cm high .
This dessert was served on a diesel train from Lilydale to Melbourne , it was a scout trip from Gladysdale toYarra Glen .
First let me correct the title of the dish it definitely is not a traditional Peach Melba .
I have researched train menus from the sixties , used my extensive collection of old recipe books  , nothing matches the memory.
Peach Melba  is an individual dessert of poached , skinned and destoned  peaches topped with fresh raspberry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream .
So using the scant details from the memory , I created A Deconstructed Peach Memory...
1 used 2 small round cake pans and a vanilla sponge mix and divided the mix evenly between the pans.
I used only one half of the prepared sponge cakes .
I lightly spread the base of the cake with raspberry jam and placed it jam side down on a plate .
Then I  spread a  fine layer of passion fruit curd over the top and placed the drained cling peach slices  and crushed raspberry jelly  rounds on top .
I bordered the peach cake with halved pavlova discs filled with raspberry frosting .
Then piped unsweetened thickened cream to fill the gaps between the pavlova border and finished off with a fine crumble of pavlova.

CHICKEN AND EGG FRITATTA

The chicken and egg fritatta I served tonight at The Manor

GOLDEN CIRCLE TROPICAL RECIPE BOOK

I have a passion for old cook / recipe books and was thrilled be given the
GOLDEN CIRCLE TROPICAL RECIPE BOOK published in 1955.
The book is in perfect condition ... the ingredients are still available , its just the preparation and plating up that has evolved .

Thank you so much Bev Lorraine ...

RICOTTA FRITTATA

Place in a large bowl 300gm of ricotta cheese , salt and cracked black pepper to taste , 3 lightly beaten eggs , 2 tbs of chopped fresh parsley , 1 tbs of dried dill , 1 tbs of dried chives 150 gm of diced ham and 80 gm of grated mozzarella cheese .

Mix together until ricotta is smooth , pour into a greased flan and bake in a well preheated oven or 25 minutes or until the mixture is well risen and golden .

Serve garnished with black olives alongside garlic bread .

SHORT CRUST PASTRY

It’s not hard to make a good shortcrust pastry.
All you need to do is place 1 cup of plain flour and a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking powder in a food processor along with 60gm of chilled and cubed butter .
Now using the pulse button rapidly , turning the processor on and off nail the butter and flour resembles course breadcrumbs .
In a small bowl beat 1 egg lightly and mix 1 tbs of water and a squeeze of lemon juice together .
Turn the processor back on and our the liquid mix through the feed tube of the processor .
Stop pouring the mixture in as soon as it forms a ball of dough around the blade .
Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 1 hour, before rolling out and shaping .
Chill again for 20 minutes before baking ...It always works .

FLORENTINES

Florentines are my favourite biscuit .
Here is my recipe .......
Preheat your oven to 180 deg C
Spray and line a lamington tray, base and sides with baking paper
Place the following ingredients in a large bowl ...
1/4 cup of mixed fruit
2 and 1/2 cups of honey nut cornflakes
100gm of glacé cherries , coursely chopped .
2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk .
Mix well and make sure all ingredients are combined .
Now  pour the mixture into the prepared pan .
Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned .
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan .
When completely cooled , cut into slices .
Melt 200 gm of a good plain , dark chocolate and dip the base of the biscuits into the chocolate .
Place chocolate side up to set in refrigerator .
These are delicious .

TROPICAL CAKE

Preheat oven to 160deg C
Cream together 125 gm of butter with 180 gm of raw castor sugar .
Add 250 gm of self raising flour and a pinch of salt .
3 tbs of milk
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 mashed banana
Lastly stir through the pulp of 2 passion fruit .
Pour into a well greased cake pan and bake in a well preheated oven for 50 minutes or until golden .

When cool ice with passion fruit icing .

KIWI FRUIT ICY POLES

2 Kiwi fruits will make 6 icy poles
You will need  6 icy pole moulds with 6 icy pole sticks .
This is a child friendly recipe .
So let’s peel the kiwi fruit with a sharp knife .
Slice each one into 6 equal sized rounds .
Place 2 slices of kiwi fruit in each mould.
Now grate the zest of 3 limes and squeeze the juice of the 3 limes , place in a small bowl and add 85gm of castor sugar , whisk until the sugar dissolves .
Now  add 250 gm of cream cheese at room temperature with 450 gm of natural yoghurt .
Beat until everything is well mixed and smooth .
Push the icy pole stick into the kiwi fruit and spoon the yoghurt and lime mixture in and around the icy pole stick .
Place the moulds in an icy pole stand and place in freezer overnight .
To unmould hold the base of the mould in lukewarm warm for 20 seconds .
YUMMO !!!

BANANA BUNS

Cream together 125 gm of butter / marg  with 125 gm of castor sugar .
 Add 2 mashed bananas
Mix together 180gm of plain flour with 60 gm of custard powder and stir into  the banana mix .
Light beat 1 egg ( room temp ), and stir through the dough .
Lastly add 1 tsp of baking powder .
Grease muffin pan .
Divide the bun mixture between the muffin holes
Bake in a moderate oven 20 minutes .
These are delicious .

AROMAS

Imagine  sitting in a dining room lit only with candles , inhaling the distilled essence of fine wine the  spicy tones of a duck confit , liver pate , fresh baked bread , white peaches and fresh strawberries still warm from the bush .
Then there is  toffee, honey , coffee , feijoa , quince , cheese , chocolate , garlic, sun ripened oranges,lemons ,freshly watered tomato plants and the memories that last long after you have inhaled their silky aromas.

THE SANDWICH

The sandwich theorem , frequently used in calculus and real analysis, states that if a real - valued function ( the filling )lies everywhere between two other real valued functions ( the bread ) , which both converge to the same limit , then the “ middle function “also converges to that limit .
The ham sandwich theoremcan be used to prove mathematically that a single cut can divide two pieces of bread and the filling each exactly in half .
                                              _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich 

CHICKEN FILO

Preheat your oven to 180 deg  C .
You will need 2 sheets of filo pastry for each person you are serving .
Brush  each sheet of filo pastry and place together on top .
Now you will need 1 skinless chicken fillet per person .
Slice the chicken fillet and sprinkle with sumac .
Now in a bowl mix together 1 cup of sliced  mango (I am  using canned and drained mango because I can’t get fresh mango .. (out of season May 2020 ) with a sliced red chilli .
spoon between the chicken fillet slices season with cracked pepper and salt .
Now you are ready to fold the pastry over tucking  in pastry sides to make a neat and closed pastry parcel ...
Lay parcels on a baking paper covered  baking tray , spray each parcel with cooking spray .
Bake for 15 minutes and then place a sheet of baking paper over the parcels ... to prevent over  colouring ... continue to cook for 15 minutes .
Delicious ...!

FEIJOA SLICE

Preheat oven to 180 deg C
BASE .....
Line a 20 cm square baking pan with baking paper .
Using a large bowl mix together 280gm of plain flour , 1/2 cup of  rolled oats , 1/2 tsp of baking powder , 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of salt ....set aside .
Cream together 125gm of marg / butter ( @ room temp ), 100 gm of brown sugar with your electric mixer until light and fluffy .
Add 1 lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of the dry mix till well combined .... then add an extra 2 cups of the dry mix ....set aside the remaining dry mix.
Mix on a low speed til the mix comes together .
Turn mix out into the prepared pan , use the back of a spoon to press mixture into the base of the pan
Please the base in the oven until it starts to turn golden around the edges ... (about 12 minutes )
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan .
FILLING .....
Place in a large bowl
2 cups of peeled feijoas , chopped  ( about 15 small feijoas )1 tbs of brown sugar, 1 tbs of plain flour and 1tsp of cinnamon and mix together .
Now pour this mix evenly over the base .
Use your hands to crumble the remaining dry mix over the feijoas .
Place  the slice back in the oven for 20 minutes or until crumble topping turns golden .
Your kitchen will be full of amazing feijoa aromas ..
Remove from your oven and serve hot with thickened cream or ice cream , or allow to cool in the pan    And slice into squares .....
This keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge ....

SPAGHETTI WITH BLACK OLIVES AND ANCHOVIES

This is delicious and so very simple ...
You can prepare your own pasta  or  use 400gm of dried spaghetti pasta,  ( if you are able to find flour or pasta in the supermarkets  COVID 19 , May 2020 )
The dish uses both olive paste and olives
OLIVE PASTE ......
Place 2 anchovy fillets ( in oil , drained ) ,3 tbs of tiger nut flour or almond meal , 100gm of black pitted and sliced olives ,1 tsp of rinsed  capers and 1 tbs of rice bran oil in a blender  and pulse till smooth
Transfer to a bowl and set aside .
THE SAUCE.......
Heat 150 ml of rice bran oil in a fry pan over a low heat  , add 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped,
1 red chilli finely chopped and stir with a wooden spoon .
Sprinkle in a handful of chopped flat leafed parsley and mix thoroughly .
Add 1 can 400gm of diced tomatoes , season lightly with cracked black pepper and sea salt .
Cook over a medium heat , stirring often .
Add the olive paste and 50gm of sliced , pitted green olives .
Turn off the heat .
PASTA
Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water until el dente .
Drain .
CONSTRUCTION
Place the sauce back on a low heat .
Add spaghetti and a handful of chopped basil leaves , toss gently to combine .
Serve in a large warmed bowl in the centre of the table so everyone can help themselves .