Stairway To Foodies Heaven

Instant Entertaining

2008-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Donna Hays Instant Entertaining is must have cook book for an easy yet stunning entertaining menu.

Ingredients
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 red apples, thinly sliced
80g rocket leaves, washed
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper
150 g goat's cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 180degC and arrange 8 x 1 1/2 tablespoons of parmesan in circles on a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool.

Toss the apple and rocket in the combined vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange on serving plates with the goat's cheese and parmesan wafers.

Recipe and image from Donna Hay Instant Entertaining

Pumpkin Scones

2008-05-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Serves 12 Cooking Time Prep time 15 mins, cook 40 mins

250 gm peeled jarrahdale or Queensland blue pumpkin, cut into 3cm pieces
300 gm (2 cups) self-raising flour
½ tsp ground nutmeg
75 gm (1/3 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
40 gm butter, softened
1 egg yolk
For brushing: milk
To serve: butter

Preheat oven to 200C. Place pumpkin in a steamer over a saucepan of boiling water, cover and steam until tender (about 15 minutes), then transfer to an oven tray and bake for 10 minutes to dry out. Cool, then pass through a coarse sieve.

Sift flour, nutmeg and 1 tsp salt into a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat icing sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, add egg yolk and beat to combine. Using a wooden spoon, stir in pumpkin, then half the flour mixture. Add remaining flour mixture and, using your hands, bring together to make a dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth (dough should be a little sticky).

Roll out to 2cm thick and, using a 5.5cm-diameter cutter dipped in flour, cut rounds (without twisting cutter) from dough and transfer to a lightly greased oven tray. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Brush tops with milk and bake until golden and sound hollow when tapped (10-15 minutes). Serve hot or at room temperature with butter.

Note Different types of pumpkins have varying moisture levels. Keep this in mind when bringing the dough together, as you may need to add a little more flour for ease of handling.

WORDS Belinda So RECIPE Adelaide Lucas PHOTOGRAPHY Teny Aghamalian STYLING Vanessa Austin Published by Gourmet Traveller

Pumpkin Soup

2008-05-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

1 brown onion, peeled, wedged
600g pumpkin, peeled, cut into chunks
400g potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
1 litre vegetable stock
2 fresh bay leaves, or dried if fresh unavailable.
4 whole peppercorns
Cream to serve

Place onion, pumpkin, potatoes, stock, bay leaves and peppercorns in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.

Simmer uncovered, until potatoes are soft, you may need to top up with water if too much liquid evaporates.

Remove bay leaves and puree with stick blender until smooth.

For extra smooth soup you can pass it through a fine sieve.

Serve with cream and freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Jerusalem Artichoke & Potato Soup

2008-05-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

1 brown onion, diced finely

2 garlic cloves, sliced finely

500g jerusalem artichokes

500g potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
1 cup vegetable stock
water
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil and butter in a saucepan over a low heat, when melted add the onion and garlic and sauté slowly for a few minutes, without browning. Gently scrub the Jerusalem Artichokes until well cleaned and remove any dark skin with a paring knife.

Cut them into chunks and add them with the diced potatoes to saucepan. Stir until well coated in oil and butter and sweat for 5 minutes before adding stock and then water to cover them. Simmer uncovered until they are soft.

Use a stick blender and blend until smooth. Push through a fine sieve to remove skin. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The cheese wafers are from Donna Hay, Instant Entertaining. Preheat oven to 180. Arrange grated parmesan or pecorino in 2" circles on a baking paper lined tray and bake until melted and browned around the edges. set aside to cool.

Pecan and Butterscotch Self Saucing Pudding

2008-05-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

I love this pudding, especially in the winter, it is very easy to make and it a wonderful alternative to chocolate self saucing pudding, the nuts give it a unique flavor and texture, not too rich but still sweet enough for the discerning sweet tooth. This recipe was sourced from a Australian Womans Weekly publication.

Ingredients
Melted butter, for greasing
65g (1/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
185g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour
125mls (1/2 cup) milk
1 egg
80g butter, melted, cooled
2 tbs golden syrup
75g pecan nuts, chopped
Icing sugar, to serve
Thickened cream or vanilla ice-cream, to serve
sauce
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
1 tbs cornflour
60mls (1/4 cup) golden syrup
310mls (1 1/4 cups) boiling water

Method
Preheat oven to 170°C. Brush a 1-litre (4 cup) ovenproof dish with the melted butter to grease. Place the dish on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place the brown sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Sift the flour over the brown sugar and stir to combine.

Whisk together the milk, egg, butter and golden syrup in a bowl or jug until combined. Add to the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to beat until a smooth batter forms. Stir in the pecan nuts. Pour the pecan butter into the greased dish and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.

To make the sauce: combine the brown sugar and cornflour in a bowl and then sprinkle the mixture evenly over the pecan batter in the dish. Stir the golden syrup into the boiling water and then pour this evenly over the brown sugar and cornflour mixture.

Bake the pudding in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until a cake-like topping forms over a rich butterscotch sauce and a skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with cream or ice-cream.

Superb Marinated Pork Fillet

2008-05-12T03:57:00.000-07:00

Roasted on Rhubarb

This is one of favorite no time to cook recipes you can prepare earlier in the day and when your ready to eat put in the oven for ½ an hour. If you can find rhubarb wedged apple works well too. I have also used chicken fillets as well, cut in half length ways, but you may need to vary cooking time.

1 large handful of fresh sage
2 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
2 pork fillets, trimmed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 slices of prosciutto
12 long sticks of baby rhubarb, washed

First bash up half your sage with a pestle and mortar or use a metal bowl with a rolling pin. Add your garlic and smash. Add 5 tablespoons of olive oil, then rub the mixture all over your pork fillets and allow to marinate for an hour if possible.

Preheat the oven to 220c. Lightly season the pork and drape 5 slices of prosciutto over each fillet - any excess marinade can be rubbed onto this as well.

Cut your rhubarb into finger-sized pieces and place in an appropriately sized roasting tray (preferably not aluminium as it will taint the rhubarb) i have also used wedges of apple when rhubarb unavailable. Place the pork on top of the rhubarb, almost tucking it into bed. Sprinkle over the rest of your sage leaves and drizzle with olive oil.

Get yourself a piece of greaseproof paper, wet it and scrunch it up. Then lay it over the meat and tuck it in round the sides. Cook in the preheated oven 15 minutes, then remove the paper and cook for an extra 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. Pour any juice that comes out of the meat back into the roasting tray. Serve the meat with the rhubarb, the lovely juices from the tray and roast potatoes.

Recipe Jamie Oliver

Baked goat's curd and lemon tartlets

2008-05-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

with blackberry and honey ice-cream
Serves 8

Tartlets
180 gm goat’s curd
100 ml pouring cream
2 eggs
55 gm (¼ cup) caster sugar
1 lemon, finely grated rind and juice only
For dusting: icing sugar

Blackberry and honey ice-cream
80 ml (1/3 cup) milk
4 egg yolks
35 gm caster sugar
30 gm honey
250 ml (1 cup) pouring cream
50 gm blackberries

Shortcrust pastry
75 gm caster sugar
300 gm plain flour
150 gm unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
125 ml (½ cup) pouring cream
1 egg yolk, whisked

For blackberry and honey ice-cream, heat milk in a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale, then gradually whisk in hot milk. Return mixture to pan and stir over low heat for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Do not boil. Remove from heat, add honey, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl and cool. Add cream and blackberries. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze ice-cream until required. Makes about 800ml.

For pastry, combine sugar and flour in a bowl and, using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add cream and mix until combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease eight 9cm-diameter loose bottomed tart tins. Cut pastry into eight pieces and, working with a piece at a time, keeping remaining pieces in the refrigerator, roll out pastry onto a lightly floured work surface to 5mm-thick. Line a prepared tart tin with pastry, prick base with a fork and return to fridge. Repeat with remaining pastry. Place pastry-lined tart tins on an oven tray, line with baking paper, weight with pastry weights or rice and bake blind for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove paper and bake for another 10 minutes or until pastry is golden and dry. Brush with egg yolk and cook for another minute.

Reduce oven temperature to 160C. Combine goat’s curd, cream, eggs, sugar and lemon rind and juice in a jug, then pour into prepared tartlet shells. Bake for 18 minutes or until set. Serve tarts at room temperature, dusted with icing sugar and blackberry and honey ice-cream to the side.

Gourmet Traveller Fare Exchange
RECIPE Jonathan Kemble, Star of Greece restaurant
PHOTOGRAPHY Brett Stevens STYLING Yael Grinham

Brown Chicken Stock

2008-05-04T03:39:00.000-07:00

White chicken stock looks quite anemic, so in order to give it more depth of colour the first thing to do is brown the chicken carcass. This also gives the stock a lot more flavour.

I chicken carcass
I carrot
I onion
2 sticks celery
I leek
Vegetable oil
A sprig of thyme
I bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoon white flour

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the carcass in a roasting tray and put in oven for 15-20 minutes.

Chop carrot, onion, celery, leek into large chunks. Heat some oil in a pan and add the chopped vegetables, along with the thyme, bay leaf and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until golden brown, stirring frequently. Add the tomato puree and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the mixture is a rich brown colour.

Five minutes before taking the chicken carcass out of the oven, lightly dust with flour. The flour not only acts as a thickening agent to the stock but stops it becoming greasy, as it soaks up all the access fat. This way the stock becomes really beautiful and transparent. Return the carcass to the oven for 5 final minutes, then pick the bones out of the tray and add them to the pan of vegetables. Top up the pan with just enough water to cover the bones. It is very important to use cold water so that any fat or grease left on the vegetable or bones will solidify and rise to the surface, where you can skim it off. If you use boiling water it will disperse the fat throughout the stock. Bring the stock to the boil, turn the heat down, skim the scum off the top and let it simmer for an hour. Pass through a sieve.

Makes 1 Litre, will keep in air tight container, in fridge.

Extracted from Kitchen Heaven by Gordon Ramsay.

Braised shank of lamb with parsnip purée

2008-05-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

I love this particular cut, as it’s the part that people tend to forget. When I was little I grew up eating either leg of lamb or shank. The shank is a cheap, very earthy cut of meat and easy to cook, as you can start it off and then forget about it for a few hours. It benefits from a slow cooking process - the longer you cook it the better. During the process you can actually watch the meat slide down the shank, and the bone is great for presentation. If you’re not a confident cook, this is a good cut to start with. Why serve it with parsnips? Well, I’m fed up with potatoes always being served with lamb. The sweetness of the purée really cuts through the richness of the meat. Parsnip goes hand in glove with lamb - two of the cheapest ingredients and they sit beautifully together. Words by Gordon Ramsay

Serves 4

Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small lamb shanks
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
½ a head of garlic
A sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
a sprig of fresh rosemary
2 star anise
300ml dry white wine
1 litre chicken stock (see recipe under stock)

Parsnip purée
100g butter
4 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
100ml double cream
Sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper

1 Heat a little olive oil in a large pan. Season the lamb shanks and brown them all over in the oil, then remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil to the pan, add the chopped vegetables, garlic, herbs and anise, and cook gently until browned. Pour in the wine and cook until it has reduced down to a syrup. Put the shanks back into the pan and pour on the stock. Season to taste.

2 Cover the pan and cook gently for 2½-3 hours until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, make the parsnip purée. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat and cook the parsnips until completely soft and falling apart (about 25 minutes). Add the cream and bring to the boil. Season, then liquidise to a smooth purée. Keep warm.

3 Remove the lamb shanks from their liquid and keep warm. Strain the stock, pour it back into the pan and cook over a high heat until it forms a sauce consistency. Serve each shank with a good spoonful of the parsnip purée, and pour over the sauce. Lovely with some simple steamed broccoli or green beans.

Extracted from Kitchen Heaven by Gordon Ramsay,

Coconut Pistachio Brownie

2008-05-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

1 cup Moist Flakes Coconut
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eegs
½ flour
1/3 cocoa
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 175°C. Grease and paper line a slice tin. Combine butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence in a bowl. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add with ¾ cup coconut flakes and pistachios in to butter mixture.Mix together well. Spread mixture evenly over base of tin. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup coconut flakes over the top. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the tin. Col completely in tin. Cut into squares.

recipe sourced from the packet of Mckenzies Moist Flaked Coconut.

Ultimate Dining Experience

2008-04-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

We recently dined at the flying fish restaurant in Sydney, although we had been there before it was still amazing, you can enjoy your sensational meal overlooking the bay with views of the Sydney Opera House.

If your ever in sydney and love seafood you wont be disappointed.

We enjoyed the degustation menu which consisted of

Flying Fish seafood tapas

Yellow fin tuna with sweet crackling pork and ruby grapefruit

Seared white scallops with a warm cauliflower pannacotta, asparagus salad and black truffle

King Island marron tails with leek tortellini, trompettes and blue swimmer crab bisque emulsion

Lemon, lime and orange sorbet

Pan fried Mulloway with potato fondant, boudin noir,zucchini blossoms and pork jus

Dessert tasting plate

Coffee and petit fours

Images sourced from the flying fish web site

Gourmet Baked Mushroom on Sourdough

2008-04-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I have used this recipe as a starter for a dinner party, a light meal and it would also make a fab breky with some crispy pancetta on the side. This recipe was sorced from Taste magazine

Bash olive oil, garlic and basil.

Brush flat mushrooms with basil oil and season with salt & pepper. Place two halved cherry tomatoes cut side up on mushroom and bake in oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile: brush a slice of sourdough or pane de casa bread with basil oil. Bake in oven for 6 minutes.

Place rocket on bread then mushroom. Sprinkle with crumbled feta and drizzle with basil oil.

Garnish with basil leaves.

I don't know where is recipe came from.

Rocket & Spinach Pesto Spaghetti

2008-04-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

This is a great pasta that is packed full of freshness, you can add some oven roasted cherry tomatoes or pumpkin, or even some cooked salmon pieces. Make the pesto as close to serving time as possible as it tends to loose its bite.

½ bunch rocket, washed, ends trimmed and dry
½ bunch spinach, washed, ends trimmed and dry
3 garlic gloves
35g parmesan
35g pine nuts

Lemon rind of 1/4 of a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
80ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Bashed all of the dry ingredients in a mortar and pestle until it is a very thick chunky paste. Stir in lemon juice and olive oil to make it a pesto consistency. If you add the liquid too soon it makes it messy to bash up the dry ingredients. You can add a little bit of lemon juice earlier if it is too dry to bash.

Cook thin spaghetti in a large saucepan until al dente. Drain well and return to the pan.

Add the rocket and spinach pesto to the pasta and toss until well combined.

Serve with finely grated parmesan, lemon juice and rind.

Mediterranean Rice Salad

2008-04-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

I am not sure where this recipe came from, my mother in law gave it to me. It is my most favorite salad and i have also made this using pasta instead of rice.

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 12 Minutes

2 cups white long grain rice
2 cups chicken stock
420g drained corn kernels
1 cup semi sundried tomatoes
½ cup pine nuts, toasted.
8 green onions
½ cup green olives, sliced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
Mustard Dressing

½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1 glove garlic
salt & pepper

Place rice in a large sieve and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a medium saucepan; add the rice, simmer covered, over low heat for about 10 minutes until the rice is just tender, and all the liquid is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork and leave to cool.

In a jar combine all mustard dressing ingredients and shake.

Place the rice, corn, tomatoes, pinenuts, onions, olives and basil in a large bowl.
Just before serving add the mustard dressing. Season to taste.

Hummingbird Cake

2008-04-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

150g (1 cup) plain flour

75g (1/2 cup) SR flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

200g (1 cup – firmly packed) brown sugar

450g cab crushed pineapple in syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

45g flaked coconut

2 large ripe banana’s, mashed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

180ml vegetable oil

60g chopped pecans (optional)

Soft butter, for greasing

CREAM CHEESE ICING

30g soft unsalted butter

60g cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

240g icing sugar, sifted

40g pecans, roasted and chopped (optional)

Method Sift flours, bicarb, spices and place in mixing bowl with sugar and a pinch of salt, stir to combine. Drain pineapple, pressing the liquid out with back of a spoon. Reserve 1/4 cup of syrup and add with pineapple to the flour mixture. Add vanilla, coconut and bananas, and sir to combine. Add eggs and oil and stir until until well combined, then fold through pecans. Spoon mixture into a greased and base-lined 20cm round cake tin and bake at 180 for 40 minutes or until cake teaster comes out clean. Cool cake in tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooling rack. For cream cheese icing: using an electric mixer, beat butter, cheese and vanilla until smooth. With motor running on slow speed, gradually add icing sugar and beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cake and sprinkle with pecans. Cake will keep, refrigerated in an air-tight container for 2-3 days. I think this cake gets better the on day 2 and even better on day three, so this is a great one to make a day or two ahead, I suggest a day so you can take the left overs home.

Recipe soured from Gourmet Traveler Party Food Cook Book.

Hello & Welcome

2008-04-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

I will be posting my favorite recipes and must try recipes here so stay tuned for the first step