WHERE DID THE WEEK GO ?

3 COOKING CLASSES .......... Tuesday and Thursday
Swiss Roll   and Risotto Milanese


CORPORATE CATERING........GHD  Engineering ..Wednesday
Salmon Blini
Mini quiches
Savoury Quinoa spoons
Curried wingettes
Cheese and Nut Platter
Balsamic Melon


LATROBE CITY ..HEALTHY LUNCHBOX OPTIONS .. Friday
Non dairy Lasagne
Quinoa and Taboulieh  Wraps
Tuna , Avocado and Lemon salad
Whole Baby Beetroot and Mixed Bean Salad with Honey  and Walnut
Balsamic Melon and Pear platter.


AFTERNOON TEA @ CHURCHILL HUB ..Saturday
Scones and cream
Macarons
Homemade spring rolls
Homemade sausage rolls
Fruit cake
Chocolate Cake
Homemade quiches
Sandwich fingers
Lemon slice
Lemon syrup cake


THE MEAL OF THE WEEK AT HOME
Pearl Barley and Chicken Risotto ...Saturday night


 

SIENA / PANFORTE.....IT`S ALL IN THE SHAPE

Siena  is  Italian and also known as  Panforte . It is a rich  cake from Sienna , containing  glace fruit and nuts and served in small wedges.
 Siena Cake  is baked in a round pan .Siena Slice  is baked in a slab tin .
Same basic ingredients  in both .....
Optional......( 60gm of melted dark chocolate can be spread over the cake .... 35 minutes prior to  the end of baking.)

Preheat your oven to 150 deg C .

Line the base and sides of a round 20 cm springform tin with baking paper.

Mix together  2/3 cup of toasted  hazelnuts.(.roughly chopped.)
3/4 cup of roughly chopped blanched almonds
1 cup of finely chopped mixed  candied peel.
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of sifted plain flour.
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of ground nutmeg

Put 1/2 cup of castor sugar into a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of clear honey , heat gently until the sugar dissolves and boil steadily until a sugar thermometer registers 115deg C..
.( WHAT NO THERMOMETER  ?? Its OK ..you can check the temp by dropping a little of the syrup into a cup of cold water ..if it forms a ball the temp is right )

Remove from the heat immediately.
Stir through the nut mixture .
Spoon into the prepared tin .
Spread evenly ...dampen your hands and press the mix down firmly .
Bake for 35 minutes.

Allow to cool in the tin , then turn out and sprinkle the top liberally with icing sugar sifted with cinnamon .

Great recipes for Panforte  can be found in Margaret Fulton  Baking ..pg 221.
Womens Weekly Classic Cakes pg 161.

PEACHES HAS A NEW OUTDOORS HOME

CASTLE GARDEN MENU ... MONDAY 30 TH JUNE ...FRIDAY 4TH JULY.

MONDAY 30TH
BAKED BARRAMUNDI  WITH GINGER AND SPRING ONIONS
Magic Foods pg 291

TUESDAY 1ST JULY
THREE PEPPER PORK
Seasons ..Donna hay.. pg 194

WEDNESDAY 2ND JULY
WARM FREEKAH AND CHICKEN SALAD
Noelene

THURSDAY 3RD JULY
ORANGE BEEF WITH BROCOLI AND RED CAPSICUM
Magic Foods pg 271

FRIDAY 4TH JULY
PENANG FISH CURRY
I Love Spice
Pg 142






 

LAUFAS` LEMONY SUNDAY TREATS

LAUFAS LEMON  'BROWNIE '....SLICE AT THE REAR

LEMON SYRUP CAKE  ON THE LEFT

LEMON SYRUP LOAF ON THE RIGHT...

Mmmmmm  delicious .!

PEASE PUDDING ...MRS BEETON 1893.

" The ingredients for pudding for 7 or 8 persons
1.5 pints of split peas , 2 ounces of butter 2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste ...."

" Put the peas to soak overnight in rain water, and float off any that are worm eaten or discoloured .
Tie them loosely in a clean cloth ,
Leave a little room for them to swell , and put them onto boil in the rain water , allowing 2.5 hours after the water has simmered up.
When the peas are tender , take them up and drain , rub them through a colander with a wooden spoon , add the butter , eggs , salt and pepper .
Beat all well together for a few minutes , until all the ingredients are well incorporated .
Then tie them in a floured cloth very tightly .
Boil the pudding for another hour , turn it on a dish heated in front of the fire  and serve very hot.
This dish should always be served with boiled leg of pork  and is an exceedingly nice accompaniment to boiled beef. "

 

COOK `S BE AWARE

The weather I can`t control but the fire is warm and cosy .

The  recipe I found on sugar packaging called Celebration Cake is causing concerns ....this recipe so called a celebration cake is nothing like what I have been taught to make ...A celebration cake is full of dried fruit , glace pineapple, apricots , and traditionally dark rum....

Yesterday Laufa and I hosted an afternoon tea at the Churchill Hub for 15 guests . Laufa prepared a lemon brownie , again nothing like the traditional brownie .

Brownies are American by origin....They are a cross between a cake and a biscuit , there are 2 basic types .... the fudge type brownie and the cake /biscuit type.

Laufs` brownie was a slice  with a glossy icing , the slice was delicious but the name was very deceiving .
Be warned ...Take care when downloading recipes from the net , what is published on the net is not always correct.
 Cross reference what you want to make with credible recipe books or a good culinary dictionary because names of foods can be so varied and whimsical.

I just looked up the recipe Laufa used yesterday for the lemon brownie on the net , the so called celebration cake recipe I have in front of me   uses sour cream and orange  in place of natural yoghurt and lemon  that was used in the lemon brownie.

They are the same recipe .

 celebration cake 'muffins ', but definitely not traditional celebration cakes.

 the iced slices at the rear are supposedly 'brownies '

 

 

There is a tradition and history to  our food ....There are some things that can`t be improved upon but if you recreate a recipe by adding to or substituting with ....the original is no longer the same so use some of your creativeness to give your recipe a new name.

Research ..Merle Parrish for a great brownie recipe ...Merle`s Kitchen pg  184
Margaret Fulton`s...Encylopedia of Food and Cookery. Brownies ..pg 63.
Celebration Cake
Women`s Weekly Classic cakes ...pg 145