Pear & ginger tart

It's Monday morning and a beautiful one at that. No rushing off to the office to deal with unhappy people. No struggling into pantyhose and tottering around on heels. No stress because there are no car parks left at 7.30am. Yes, I'm still loving the country life.

This weekend past has been notable for a few things. First, we ate an excellent birthday dinner in Melbourne on Friday night for my good friend Jane. It was at a place called Gypsy's. Gypsy's takes you by surprise because it's on a suburban street in Beaumaris, wedged between two regular houses. The only thing that gives it away as a restaurant is the big sign splashed across the house. The menu isn't large and consists of five main dishes. I remember them all - slow cooked pork in cabbage, beef and pinot noir stew, roast pork, risotto and harpuki. All were served piping hot and in generous proportions. There are a few other things, including a vegetarian minestrone and a number of dessert options. Trust me, once you have a main, you don't need dessert. Oh, and the bathroom was gorgeous!

Yesterday we drove to Maffra for the markets. It's a pretty drive through Gippsland to get to Maffra and there are some stunning old homesteads to see along the way. I love that old Australian architecture, complete with long, oak-lined driveways that lead you to the main attraction. If it wasn't for the sealed roads and occasional reminder that we're in 2010, you could be driving through pre-WWII Australia. Unfortunately, the markets were not what we were expecting and one truly terrible coffee later, we left. Actually, it's the first time I've thrown a coffee out after one sip. I wanted to go get a refund, but Tim baulked at the idea and reminded me that we really should have known better. I won't explain why.

But the main thing about this weekend just gone is that Ladybug earned her keep by catching a mouse and dispatching of it so quickly and cleanly that we almost didn't realise what had happened. She'd been on guard since Friday night when we got home around midnight and one had run in from the laundry and under the fridge. Tim poked around with a broom handle for a while and it ran, over him (yuck), and took up residence behind the dish washer. The Bug has kept watch ever since and at about 2.30 this morning, she got her reward. It's a downside of living in the country - there are all sorts of creepy crawlies all over the place and it's not a question of keeping a clean house. They're everywhere!

Otherwise, I did a lot of baking with mixed results. One thing that did work well was the pear tart. I'm loving pears at the moment and they're my new snack of choice. Get them while they're just going ripe, but not too mushy, and they are beautifully sweet with a delicate texture and I find them very satisfying. Mmmmm...

Natural progression means a pear tart. This is pretty simple and can be simpler if you just use bought pastry. I made spelt pastry but won't bore you with the details.

Ingredients
Filling:
150g almond meal
150g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, soft but not melted
2 large, free-range eggs
40g plain flour
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla

Pears:
3 pears, cored, peeled and halved
50g caster sugar
2 pieces of ginger, about 3-4cm long each
1 stick of cinnamon
1 large piece of lemon zest
1/2 tsp rose water (optional)

1-2 pieces of short crust pastry.

Grease a flan tin (about 20cm) and line it with the pastry. Dock and set aside. Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Place the pears in the pan with the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, zest and rose water. Just cover with water. Bring to a steady simmer and turn the heat down so it's only just simmering for 10 minutes. Remove, drain and cool.

For the filling, place the sugar and butter in a bowl and with an electric mixer, beat until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and then slowly add the almond meal. Finally, mix in the flour, zest and vanilla. You should have a fluffy, sweet sort of mix.

Spoon the filling into the tin and even it out a bit. Place the pears in a circular arrangement on top of the filling and slightly press in. Bake until it's turning a golden brown. Serve hot or cold.

Chocolate Anzac slice

Over the past few days Tim and I have talked about whether to go to any of the local dawn services, memorials, parades or other events planned for today. We've both done all of that before and while both of us are fully aware of the significance of Anzac Day and respectful of those it serves to memorialise, we really wanted, and needed, a day at home.

This morning Tim and I awoke to the carry-ons of Ladybug. We leapt out of bed and went running to see what was wrong. Nothing was wrong, but the farmer had moved his cows into the paddock that runs alongside our driveway. The Bug was just letting us know. Then we remembered it was Anzac Day and we could still go to the local memorial service if we wanted to. We decided against it.

I personally find Anzac Day services moving and emotional and something that's worth going to at least once in your lifetime. I had an uncle go to Vietnam. My mother says he was never the same after that. Tim had two great uncles die in Japanese POW camps during WWII. His grandfather served in Borneo and was much affected, although people didn't tend to talk much about it then.

We're now living in a very small town with streets named for families that lived here for generations. I imagine that people still remember the names of men on the local cenotaph. I always find it sad that all over Australia, the smallest towns gave the largest percentages of their young men to wars fought almost a century ago.

To change tracks slightly, I think it's great that we have an every day reminder of something so important, albeit in the form of the Anzac cookie. These tasty morsals are something every Aussie kid has grown up with and thankfully people keep on baking and sharing them. This year, inspired by a recipe my friend Dimi shared with me, I made something slightly different - chocolate Anzac slice. It's every bit as easy as making cookies, and perfect for your lunch box.

Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup sugar
250g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
4 tbsp hot water
4 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp bicarb soda
melted chocolate - optional

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line a flat baking tin or lamington pan with baking paper.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, coconut, sugar an cocoa.

In a medium sized pan, melt the butter with the golden syrup. Add the vanilla. In a cup, mix the bicarb with the water and add to the completely melted butter mix. It will froth up. Add this to the dry ingredients and combine well.

Press the mixture into the tin and bake for 15-20 minutes. When cool drizzle melted chocolate across, cut into squares and keep in an airtight container. Oh, and enjoy!

Passion fruit pavlova roll

My love affair with passion fruit continued over the weekend. I've now used all the passion fruit curd I made last week, but I still have plenty of little gems clinging to the vine and ripening daily. I suspect they won't last much longer but I will enjoy them while they're here.

On the weekend I decided to attempt a pavlova roll. I must confess that meringue isn't my best thing. Whether I follow a recipe or not, I find it a bit of a hit and miss affair. That being said, I've been dying to make pavlova for ages and since I had loads of passion fruit curd left, I thought I'd give it a go. I've seen pavlova rolls in books and magazines over the years and think they look really pretty. I also figured they'd be a little different to serving great big slabs of pavlova, especially since Tim is not a pav fan.

After doing some research, I decided I should keep things simple. Just egg white, sugar and a little vanilla. No messing about with cream of tartar, vinegar or corn flour. I wound up with a lovely thick, glossy meringue mix. I spread it on the paper hoping for the best and slid it into the oven. Then I waited and watched. I worried about how unevenly it rose in the oven, but once I took it out and it cooled, it evened out. I was quite pleased with how the whole thing came together, and enjoyed the sliver I tried when I cut the ends off so it would fit on the plate. Then I gave it away.

Why on earth would I do that, you say? Partly because there's no point going to the gym and then coming home and stuffing yourself on sugar and cream. But mainly because we have stumbled into the kind of neighbourhood one can only dream of. It's a place where people actually care about their neighbours (not in a weird, Desperate Housewives sort of way) and make an effort to get along. For example: whoever is out first brings in the next door neighbour's rubbish bins. If one guy is edging his lawn, he edges the lawns on either side of his house. People share home grown veg, kids ride bikes in the street with the knowledge that they're safe, and on the rare occasion that Ladybug wanders, I'm immediately allerted by calls of 'Ladybug's wandering down the street!' so that I can quickly retrieve her. Go the country life!

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar plus 2 tbsp extra
1 tsp vanilla essence
pulp from two large passion fruit
1 cup passion fruit curd

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

In a perfectly clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and then the sugar gradually, in about four goes, whisking constantly so it disolves completely. The mixture should look glossy and feel very thick when it's ready.

On a lamington pan lined with baking paper, spread the egg mixture out as evenly as you can. Cook for ten minutes, or until it's very lightly golden.

While it's cooking, tear off a piece of baking paper that's longer than the tray, place it on a flat surface where you have some room to move, and sprinkle with about two tablespoons of caster sugar.

Take the meringue out (don't worry if it's risen unevenly) and turn it upside down onto the prepared paper. Pull the paper off the back of it and let it cool for a few minutes.

Mix about 2/3 of the whipped cream with about 2/3 of the passion fruit pulp. It doesn't have to be completely combined, just sort of mixed in toghether. Spread the mix onto the meringue before it cools right down. [If you want to, you can just put 2/3 of the whipped cream and top with fruit of your choice, such as strawberry or mango].

Roll the meringue from one of the long sides. Take your time and try not to panic. The paper should fall away as you roll. Place it on a long plate and top with the leftover cream mix and drizzle with passion fruit pulp, or alternatively, decorate with more fruit. Refridgerate until you serve it.

NB: To test whether the sugar has dissolved properly, rub a little between your fingers. If it feels gritty, you need to keep whisking.

Passionfruit in season

I am lucky enough to have a passion fruit vine in my new back yard. At the moment the fruit is in season and I'm enjoying them with a passion (very bad pun intended). I never used to get in to these little gems of the fruit world, except for special recipes. Now that I have a vine, I'm out there checking every day for ripe fruit. I love the combination of sweet and sour, the colour of sunshine when you open them up, and the crunch of the seeds.

This week I've gotten totally addicted to passion fruit curd. It's a bit of a problem since I'm spending more time at the gymthan I have in years. I don't want all the crunches, lunges and squats to be in vain. But passion fruit curd is so divine, it's hard to keep away from it. It's also so simple and quick to make, and really versatile in its uses. For example, use it as a cake or tart filling, on English muffins or toast, or spooned lavishly over ice cream or meringue.

Today it took me literally under half an hour to make some small, short crust tart shells, filled them with passion fruit curd and topped them with meringue. I placed these under the grill for a few minutes until they started to brown then let them cool. They're perfect to eat alone as a treat or with a dollop of rich, thick cream.

But enough drooling! Here's my recipe for passion fruit curd. I've used 170g of passion fruit pulp because if you're not lucky enough to have a vine, that's the size of tin it comes in.

Ingredients
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
170g passion fruit pulp
3/4 cup caster sugar
150g cold butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

In a bowl over simmering water, vigorously whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until the mixture starts to froth and thicken. Don't stop mixing because you don't want to wind up with scrambled eggs. This could take 10 minutes or so but it's worth it. You'll know when it's ready because it becomes pale and frothy. Add the butter and keep whisking while it melts and combines.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the passion fruit pulp, lemon juice and zest. Let it cool down and then refrigerate.

I don't bottle mine as I use it within a few days usually, but this can be properly sealed and preserved if you want to.

Classic Aussie Trifle

The new kitchen, and especially the beautiful stove, has inspired me to start cooking again in earnest. Looking through my mother's trusty black covered 'Good Housekeeping' that was the only cook book I remember growing up with, I thought I'd branch out into the wonderful world of of Swiss rolls. How hard could it be, I asked myself?

I managed to come up with an edible version of a basic jam-filled Swiss roll from spelt flour (I didn't want to be left out), but I wasn't thrilled. They're such dry cakes and unless you pull them out of the oven at exactly the right moment and then move quickly, they crack and don't roll properly and generally suck. No problem. That's what trifles were invented for - to make dry cake appear appealing.

Is trifle an Aussie invention? I always assumed it was. What other country could bring together jelly, custard, cream, fruit and alcohol in such a horrific fashion??? Brought out every hot summer holiday, it was the bane of my existence as a kid. I hated it. I hated the smell of it, the cheap, mock-cream filled Swiss rolls soaked in far too much sweet sherry, covered in tinned fruit, jelly and sweet, sweet cream. YUCK!!! Thank God (and I sincerely mean that) my mother never made trifle. It was just that every single other mum, aunt and neighbour did, clearly labouring under the false impression that trifle was the height of sophisticated desserts and should be served as often as possible to kids who must politely accept man-sized portions slopped into plastic dishes, or risk being considered spoiled and badly mannered. Sigh...

Taking inspiration from some old recipes, I put a decent trifle together, although I opted for individual glasses, instead of throwing the whole lot together in a large bowl. Although, you could do that if you like it the old-school, hope it stays together while you're serving, look. Tim, my mum and I have enjoyed trifle this time around. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients

1 packet Aeroplane jelly crystals, raspberry flavour

1 large jam filled Swiss roll

600ml thickened cream

1/4 cup sherry (actually I was out of sherry and used Dubonet)

1/4 cup custard powder

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1 large can peach slices, drained (825g)

1 punnet strawberries

flaked, toasted almonds to garnish

Make up the jelly as instructed and pop it in the fridge until it starts to set but can still be poured. Make up the custard by placing the custard powder with a little milk and the sugar in a small pan and stir into a paste. Then add the rest of the milk and bring to the boil, slowly, without burning. Take off the heat and cool a bit. When cool, stir in 1/2 cup of the cream. Whip the remaining cream until stiff.

Cut 6 slices of Swiss roll, about 2 cm thick each. Place one slice each in 6 large glasses or individual sweet bowls. (Alternatively, you can make this up in one large bowl). Gently spoon some alcohol onto each slice of cake. Pour the jelly over each slice of cake and place back in the fridge until properly set.

When the jelly is set, arrange the peach slices on top . Pour over the custard, followed by a generous helping of whipped cream. Place sliced strawberries and toasted almonds on top.

Chocolate tart

The memories of my weekend of excesses has not died away just yet. I've been caught looking wistfully through my window at work, thinking of three pleasant days spent going to markets, eating, and chilling out with friends we hardly ever see. Chocolate plays a big part in these memories.

The chocolate tart I made really takes the cake. (Does that even make sense???) I got the recipe for the filling from  'The Naked Chef' by Jamie Oliver. He calls it Simple Chocolate Tart. It is simple. Simple but effective if you're after that slightly stunned silence as people take the first bite and don't know quite what alternate universe they've fallen into where creamy chocolate rules the world and nobody worries about desserts being fattening. The awed expressions of your guests alone should make this one worthwhile. Not to mention the satisfaction of melting mouthful after mouthful until you feel like you shouldn't eat any more but can't help yourself because it's just so damned good...

Ingredients

1 tart shell, baked blind (or just go buy one)

315 ml double cream

2 level teaspoons caster sugar

smallest pinch of salt

115g butter, softened

455g best quality cooking chocolate

110ml milk

cocoa powder for dusting

Place the double cream, sugar and pinch of salt in a pan and bring to the boil. As soon as it has boiled, remove from the heat and add the butter and chocolate. Stir until it has completely melted. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, stirring in the cold milk until smooth and shiny. Sometimes this mixture looks like it has split. Allow to cool down a bit more and whisk in a little extra cold milk until smooth. Scrape all the mixture into the cooked and cooled pastry shell with a spatula. Shake the tart to even it out and allow to cool for around 1-2 hours until it is at room temperature. Dust with cocoa powder. The filling should be smooth and cut like butter. 

And it did... 

Now I made the pastry shell but not using Jamie's recipe. The filling is what makes this amazing. Definitely a sometimes food, and totally worth it. 

Boozy poached pears with caramel and meringue

This weekend was cold and wet in the 'Berra. No matter. All the better for staying inside and cooking. Especially cooking with alcohol. Tim walked in after a trip to the hardware store and was just about overcome by the heady fragrance of cinnamon, orange and sweet wine wafting through the entire house. I couldn't get him out of the kitchen after that! 

This dessert was inspired by a very posh version that I saw in a magazine, made of ingredients I've never heard of. This is my version and it worked well. While it's cooking it sort of smells like Christmas and then it looks classy and tastes gorgeous. As with most of what I cook, it's really simple too so don't let the different components put you off.

Caramel

395g can sweetened condensed milk.

So simple!!! Take the label off the can and pierce two small holes in the top of the tin. Then put the tin in a small pan and fill with water until about 1cm from the top. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a vigorous simmer. Remember to top the pan up with boiling water every so often. Let it simmer for about 3-4 hours and you should get a lovely thick caramel. Let the can cool for a bit, remove the caramel and refridgerate. Mine could have been thicker, but I didn't leave it long enough. 

Pears

2 medium sized pears, peeled and cored if you can. Leave the stems on. (you could actually fit two more in the pan and use the same amount of syrup ingredients, but it was just Tim and me and I didn't want to waste so we had leftover syrup instead.)

Syrup

2 cups water 

1/4 cup caster sugar + 2 tbsp extra

1/2 cup sweet wine (or you could use sherry)

1 cinnamon stick

2 strips of orange peel

Put all the ingredients in a pan, except for 2 tbsp caster sugar. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently. Place the pears in the pan, cover and simmer for about an hour. They should not be mushy! If the pan lid won't fit on the pears without pressing down on the stems, put a large bowl over the top - I actually used the rice-cooker bowl. 

When done, remove the pears, orange peel and cinnamon stick, put in the extra sugar and boil down until it's a little bit thicker. You can add another splash of wine or sherry if you want to. Let it cool a little bit before using. 

Meringue

1 egg white

1/4 cup almond meal

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp corn flour

1 pinch salt

Put the egg white into a small bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it starts getting stiff. Then slowly add the sugar, corn flour and salt and beat until very stiff. With a wooden spoon, very gently fold in the almond meal. Take your time and don't slap the air out of the egg whites.

On a piece of  baking paper, mark out two circles with pencil. Turn the paper over and onto a baking tray so you can still see the marks. Lightly dust with corn flour - I use a pastry brush. Halve the mixture between the circles and spread until even. Cook for about 15 minutes in a low-ish oven - I used 150ºC fan forced.

To assemble: 

On a plate, put the meringue circle down and top with a small amount of caramel. Place the pear gently on top, and spoon over some of the syrup. Garnish with strips of orange zest. 

If this isn't enough sugar for you or your guests, place a small bowl of the caramel and one of the syrup nearby for people to help themselves.

Baked ricotta cheesecake with saffron apricots

At long last, a killer cheesecake recipe that isn't too bad for you and a real joy to make. It's so simple. I don't make cheesecake often and I've been meaning to try this recipe out for ages. It's from an old edition of Delicious and looks divine, tastes better and is gluten free.  No story tonight - just a fabulous recipe.

From Delicious magazine, Issue 54, October 2006, page 116

Ingredients:

250g dried apricots

2 tbsp brandy or sweet wine (I used brandy)

1/2 tsp saffron threads

1 1/3 cup (295 g) caster sugar

1 kg low-fat fresh ricotta

1/2 cup lemon curd

1 tsp vanilla extract

grated zest of 1 lemon

40g cornflour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cinnamon quill

6 cardamom pods, bruised

Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 170º C. Grease a 20 cm spring form cake pan.

Combine the apricots in a bowl with the brandy and saffron, then stand for one hour. I stood them at room temp and used a little more brandy.

Meanwhile, place 1/3 cup caster sugar in a food processor with the ricotta, lemon curd (I used bought stuff because I was feeling lazy), vanilla, lemon zest and cornflour, and pulse to combine Add eggs and process until smooth. I actually used a mixer because I don't have a processor and it worked just fine. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top, then tap several times on the bench top to remove any air bubbles. Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the oven comes out clean. (took closer to an hour for me, so keep an eye on it) Turn off the oven, leave the door slightly ajar, then leave the cheesecake to cool completely. 

Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 cup sugar in a pan with 1 1/4 cups cold water (310ml). Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then add cinnamon, cardamom and apricot mixture. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.  Transfer the apricots to a bowl, then increase the heat to medium-high and simmer syrup until thickened. (Keep an eye on it, stir regularly and don't let it burn). Pour the syrup over the apricots and cool completely.

Dust the cake with icing sugar, slice and serve with apricots and syrup.

Sam's Tart

Now, to be clear and up front, I am not talking about Sam's girlfriend, who if you are reading this, we all know you're a very nice girl. I'm talking about Sam's other tart - the apple one we made. It was nice too, but in a different way.

It sort of started as a 'we're bored and procrastinating' project. We both had other stuff to do, but just didn't feel like it. Out of guilt, we decided to do something constructive. So tart it was.

We made it up as we went along, and it was really good. Because we used a whole lemon in it, it's quite tart (no pun intended), and if you prefer it less so, just swap some water for lemon juice and don't use quite as much zest along the way. If you prefer almond to hazelnut, that would also work, but I had hazelnut meal in my pantry so that's what we used in the filling.

Also, probably leave the pastry in the fridge for about an hour. We left it half an hour out of sheer impatience and it was harder to keep in one piece when we rolled it, although as you'll see, it worked out just fine.

Sam and I cut this right down the middle and he took half home. I hear anecdotally that it mostly didn't make it home. Of course Tim wondered (out aloud) whether I'd just eaten half the tart in one sitting. My answer, now official, is no. No I did not.

Ingredients:

For crust:

2 cups plain white or spelt flour (I used spelt - the special needs thing)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tsp cinamon

115g softened (not melted) butter

juice of one lemon

zest of one lemon (finely zested)

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, sifted, plus about half of the zest. Cut up the butter into blocks and rub it in until the mixture is crumbly with no big chunks of butter left. Then pour in the lemon juice bit by bit, until you hae a working pastry mixture. If you need some more liquid, just use water, but don't make it too sloppy.

Knead it together very gently and don't overwork it. Wrap the ball of pastry in plastic and put in the fridge for an hour. When it's nice and firm, roll it out on a floured surface and line a 23cm tart tin with it. Put it back in the fridge for about 10 mins or so - just give it a chance to cool down a little bit. Turn the oven on to 180º.

Blind bake the pastry shell - for heaven's sake, put some baking paper down before you use your beans, weights or whatever! I forgot to last time (see Lemons & Limes) and it was a disaster! Thankfully, I got my act together on this occasion.

Bake until just a bit brown.

For filling:

1 cup hazelnut meal

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbsp cinamon

50g butter

2 large apples - peeled, cored and sliced

1 tbsp lightly pan-roasted pecan pieces

remainder lemon zest from above

1 tsp caster sugar

In a pan on low heat, mix these ingredients together until a paste starts to form. If you want it sweeter, mix in some more brown sugar.

Spread this in the baked tart shell. It won' be a thick layer but that's ok. There's enough going on with this one to make up for scant nut filling. Arrange the apple slices on top, sprinkle with the caster sugar, lemon zest and pecan pieces. Again, if you want it less zesty, forgo the extra lemon zest on top.

Bake until it's all starting to go brown, but don't overdo it. It doesn't matter if the apple isn't completely soft and mushy. The only place for mushy apple is in a pie or in a jar of baby food.

Serve this tart with something plain, like unsweetened cream, vanilla ice cream or custard. I think the custard works particularly well.

Thanks Sam!