Mushroom Vols-au-Vents

Spinach and Cheese Triangles

I made these delicious triangles for a picnic and they were easy and tasted great. I always loved cheese and spinach triangles that came from the freezer, and these ones were very close. The only problem is that the filling wasn't as creamy and cheesy.

I could only find frozen spinach that came in 250g packages so I used that. Once all the liquid has been drained, it's weight decreased even more, but the ratio of spinach to cheese was just right.

The holidays are nearly over so I hope you enjoyed them, and see you soon!

Strawberry Shortcakes

My 50th Post! Don't know why it's significant, just thought I'd mention it.

Up until a few months ago, I disliked the idea of Strawberry Shortcake. I'm not sure if it was the relation to the doll, or the fact that I thought shortbread was dry and yuck. Not anymore though, now that I know I don't have to make a big shortcake but can make small scones and fill it with berries and cream.

I don't quite like the recipe for the scones, though, because it was very thick and hard (...). I also made them too big so it was very difficult for people to actually eat. Next time, I will make thin soft scone disks which can be eaten easier. The strawberries were nice and sweet. And the cream!!!

See you guys in a  few days!

Peach and Cream Cheese Mille Feuille

 I have been eye-balling this recipe since I received my copy of Simply Heaven. When I bought the packet of filo pastry, I wanted to make this but I didn't have time. Yesterday marked the start of the school holidays, so why not make it?

Mille Feuille means thousand leaves in French and is originally 3 layers of puff pastry filled with a cream of some sort. This is a more contemporary version, with cream cheese and canned peaches. For some reason my cooking spray wasn't working properly, so the layers of filo did not stick together. I used the single sheets to make round 3-layered mille feuilles, and the sheets which stuck together for 2-layered rectangular ones.

The canned peaches are coated in a syrup made with vanilla essence and brown sugar. I used my very own vanilla essence which I made a few months ago. It smells fantastic. Spreadable cream cheese is then combined with caster sugar to create the 'cream'.

The result was absolutely delicious. It was fruity and creamy. The crunch of the pastry also adds great texture.

Quiche Lorraine

I've made Quiche before, with vegetables, but never Quiche Lorraine. Quiche Lorraine doesn't have any vegetables except for onions, but some recipes don't have that either. It's just bacon, cream, cheese and eggs. Not at all nutritional, but oh so delicious.

I wanted to make this last week, but I don't know what I did wrong with the shortcrust pastry. I believe the fact that it shrunk whilst blind baking an unbelievable amount was due to me not resting it after lining the tin. They say you should always leave the pastry in the fridge for at least half and hour before, and after, lining the tart tin. The first time, I baked it straight after lining. This time the pastry still shrunk, but not as much. The filling leaked through the sides, which were cracked, but did not affect the taste or look of the Quiche too much.

I also planned on making an acidic salad, with orange segments and almonds, but I didn't have any lettuce left. The Quiche was tasty, but too greasy for my taste. All the bacon, cream and cheese put me off. If I had the salad to go with it, it would have been more enjoyable.

Apple Cannoli

A few days ago, I bought filo/fillo/phyllo pastry, because it was on sale. I've always seen recipes which use filo pastry, but I thought it was an America-only product. Not so, apparently. Filo pastry is basically very thin layers of pastry, layered together with oil in between, and then baked, to produce a crunchy and flaky result. The first thing I made was Apple Cannoli, which is delicious apple filling wrapped in filo pastry. I did not make the vanilla dipping sauce, because I was lazy. It probably would have tasted great, though.

The recipe uses 3 types of apples - 2 Golden Delicious, 1 Granny Smith and 1 Fuji. I just used 4 Granny Smith apples. I also used oil spray instead of brushing the filo with melted butter, all in the name of laziness.

The filling had a slight tartness, and was very delicious (you'd expect anything with this much butter to taste great). The pastry was crunchy and flaky and yum. I can't wait to experiment more with filo pastry.

Apple Tart

Continuing the list of things I made when guests came over last time is apple tart. Now, apple tart is not the same as apple pie. Apple pie has a top layer of pastry, and tarts do not. I think apple tarts are easier to make solely because you don't have to fiddle around with another layer of pastry. I've never actually made an apple pie before - shocking, I know. Another reason why I prefer to make tarts is I don't have a pie plate, and it's the shape of the plate that gives the pie its rounded shape. But I will get around to making an apple pie, promise.

This apple tart is a recipe by Paula Deen, from Foodnetwork.com. When I first read the recipe, I was surprised that the crust had no sugar or salt, and had sour cream. Always curious, I decided to make it as apples were on my mind.

I do not have a food processor, so I simply rubbed the butter into the flour until it resembled fine breadcrumbs, and added the sour cream. I used about half a tablespoon more sour cream, because I was working by hand and the cream wasn't distributed evenly enough. The dough was... interesting to work with. Don't worry if the base of the tart looks a bit thin - it's perfectly fine. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I blind baked it with weights, although I doubt it made much of a difference though, so next time I won't weigh it down.

The 'custard' mixture almost overflowed, but didn't which was good, but the glaze made too much. I would recommend halving the recipe for the glaze. Oh, and if you can't get orange juice concentrate, just use plain orange juice, much cheaper and I don't think you can get the concentrate in Australia. This tart was a hit with the guests who each had two slices. I will be definitely making this again.

Recipe

Obtained here.

Makes 6 servings.

Crust


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (114 grams) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons sour cream

Filling

About 6 medium apples, peeled, pitted, and sliced (I used Granny Smith)
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze

1/2 cup apricot preserves or jelly
1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate (Or just plain orange juice)
Mint, for garnish
Whipped topping, for garnish


1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

To make the crust:

2. Place the flour, butter, and sour cream in a food processor and pulse to combine. When the dough has formed a ball, pat with lightly floured hands into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and 1/2-inch sides, or a round au gratin dish.

3. Bake for about 18 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Let cool while preparing the filling.

4. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling:

5. Peel and thickly slice the apples. Arrange the apple slices in overlapping circles on top of the crust, until it's completely covered. Overfill the crust, as apples will shrink during cooking.

6. Combine the egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and flour and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples.

7. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until the custard sets and is pale golden in color. Cover with an aluminum foil tent if the crust gets too dark.

8. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, remove the side wall of the pan.

To make the glaze:

9. Combine the preserves or jelly and orange juice. Spread with a pastry brush over the top of the warm tart.

10. Serve the tart warm, at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with fresh mint.

Caramelised Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets

Remember how I made a batch of goat cheese the other day? Well by itself, it tasted bland and I didn't quite like it. It's probably the fact that I've never tasted commercial goat cheese before, or goat milk for that matter. But why would I dive head-first into cheesemaking with goat cheese? Well it was to make Caramelised Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets. I've searched online, and it seems only goat cheese goes well with caramelised onions in this recipe, so as to avoid paying more for commercial cheese, I made my own.

Cheesemaking involves heating milk to a boil and adding acid, like vinegar or lemon juice to it, to separate the curds and whey. Once separated, the mixture is poured into a colander lined with a cheesecloth (I just used a kitchen towel) and the whey is strained out. Depending on how dry you would like your cheese, you can tie the cloth up and let it drip for an hour to further extract the whey. In my opinion, goat cheese should not be overly dried.

Because I didn't know just how salty commercial cheese is, I was wary of adding salt. I add a teaspoon, tasted, added some more, tasted again. I seriously could not tell the difference. As much as I hate to say it, it really depends on your taste. I didn't add any herbs because I didn't have any on hand, but herbs would have added a nice touch.

The tartlets were okay, but the crust was too hard. I opted to make my own shortcrust pastry, but I didn't know what went wrong. It was extremely hard, and shrunk every time i rolled it out. They were placed into the fridge for 20 minutes and blind baked for 10 minutes. I made less than planned because the cases that were not in tartlet cases flattened into discs of thick pastry. I caramelised the onions, and they were delicious. Onions are my favourite vegetable when they are cooked, but I don't quite like them when they're raw. They make me cry too much. I topped each pastry case with a quinelle of caramelised onion, and a quinelle of goat cheese. They looked very cute. I brought them to a picnic with a bunch of friends, along with a batch of ham and pineapple pizza scrolls. Adults seemed to like the tartlets, but children seemed to stay away from them and took the scrolls instead.

Now that I have tried cheesemaking, I may make my cheeses from now on. With cheeses so expensive these days, people really should start making their own.


Recipe(s)

Goat Cheese

1 litre goat milk
1/8 cup lemon juice or vinegar
Salt and herbs
Candy thermometer (I had to use this because I didn't know when to take off the heat)
Cheesecloth, or a clean kitchen towel
Colander
Large bowl


1. Pour the milk into a large pot (Do not use aluminium) and heat on medium-low heat.

2. Heat milk to 180-190°F (82-87°C) and take off heat. Pour the lemon juice or vinegar into the milk and stir. Leave for 15-30 seconds to let the milk separate.

3. Place the colander over the large bowl and place the cheesecloth over the colander.

4. Carefully pour the milk into the colander and stir constantly.

5. Once most of the liquid has drained down into the bowl you can tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and attach to a stick, like a wooden spoon. Let hang over a bowl and let drip for 1-1.5 hours.

6. Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and season with salt and herbs.

~

Caramelised Onion and Goat Cheese Tartlets

Obtained here.

Makes about 20 tartlets.

2 tbsp olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 sheets shortcrust pastry

Butter

100g fresh goat's curd

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy-based pot. Add the onions and thyme and season with salt and pepper, cooking over medium heat and stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes.

2. The onions on the bottom should become quite dark but not burnt - when it darkens, remove from heat and allow to sit for 3 to 5 mins for the onions on top to sweat and soften those underneath.

3. Stir well, return to the heat and continue to cook for about 10 mins until the onions are completely soft and dark, golden brown, removing the pot from the heat occasionally to allow further softening. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C.

5. Lay the pastry sheets out on the bench and cut into 5cm circles. Line buttered tartlet cases (you could also use muffin trays) with the pastry and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake blind for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool.

6.Spoon equal amounts of caramelised onion and fresh goat's curd into cases and serve.

Apple Tarte Tatin

The good thing about the school holidays is that it gives me time and an excuse to make more food. I don't have to worry about school the next morning or an assignment I have to complete. I am feeling so happy right now because I am creating something every day. First it was Hot Cross Buns, then the Lemon and Orange Tart, and now it's Apple Tarte Tatin.

This recipe is from 'Ultimate Cake' by Barbara Maher. I decided on it because it was easy to throw together and my neighbour had some apples that I could use up (Yeah, she's very nice). I made a large Tarte and several small ones, but the big one was consumed (by 10 people) before I could shoot it.

The pastry (pâte brisée, which means shortcrust pastry) came together pretty well, but it all started to get a bit wonky when we moved on to the caramel. It says to put 90 grams of butter and 100 grams of granulated sugar into a saucepan and heat until golden brown. I used caster sugar the first time round, thinking it wouldn't make a difference. I also stirred like crazy in the beginning, which was another mistake. My head started spinning as the sugar clumped together under the layer of melted butter and bubbled like crazy. I don't have words to describe it. It was quite disheartening and rather unsightly.

Another try, with granulated sugar, and we were off to a good start, until I realised you shouldn't stir. So as the sugar edged towards the same fate, I cranked up the heat and told my neighbour not to stir. Both of us watched the pot of bubbling sugar and butter in earnest, hoping it would work. After about 5 minutes, I decided to move the pan to a bigger flame. It bubbled more fiercely and colour started creeping in. For a second we were rejoicing, but then the sugar started burning. We quickly moved it back to the small flame and dropped in the apples. They cook in the 'caramel' for 10 minutes and are then moved away. In the end, we ended up with what looked like caramel but I'm not sure that it actually was.
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The rest of the procedure worked quite well. Preheated the oven without exploding, greased the tin without droppinng it, placed the apples into the pan without breaking. The only problem was that I rolled out the pastry too much. It was too thin so once I inverted it, the base broke into a few large pieces. That wasn't a problem though, as it was gobbled up well within 5 minutes. The individual ones weren't so bad either, but I only baked them for half the time.

I hope everybody enjoyed their Easter as I certainly did. Now it's time for me to relax as it's the school holidays.

Recipes

Obtained from 'Ultimate Cake' by Barbara Maher

For the pastry

1 quantity pâte brisée

For the topping

1.5kg small dessert apples

90gr butter

100g granulated sugar

Cake Tin: 24cm moule à manquer tin or heavy-based, shallow, round cake tin

1. Allow the pastry to come back to room temperature. Remove the cores from the apples with an apple corer. Peel and cut them in half.

2. For the topping, put the butter and sugar into a large saucepan or deep fryer pan. Heat gently until melted. Cook, stirring now and then, until the mixture starts to caramelize and turn golden brown.

3. Take the pan off the heat and add the apple halves. Gently turn them over in the mixture until well coated, return to a high heat and cook, stirring gently now and then, for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened even more and the apples are golden brown.

4. Pack the apples tightly into the bottom of the tin, rounded-side down. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface into a circle slightly larger than the top of the tin. Lift carefully on to the apples and tuck the edges down well around the fruit.

5. Bake in the preheated oven (220°C) for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to rest in the tin for 5 minutes so that the juices have time to set slightly; but do not leave longer or the caramel sauce and the apples will stick to the base of the tin and not to the tart.

7. Run a round-bladed knife around the edge of the pastry and carefully turn out the tart on to a plate. Leave to cool slightly. Serve warm with whipped cream.


Pâte Brisée (Shortcrust Pastry)

180g plain flour, sifted
Pinch of salt
100g chilled butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1-2 tablespoons iced water


1. Sift the flour once more, together with the salt, into a large mixing bowl or on a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre.

2. Cut the chilled butter into pieces and add to the flour. Lightly rub the butter and the flour together with the tips of your fingers, lifting the mixture and letting it fall back down, until you have a fine, crumb-like mixture.

3. Add the caster sugar to the bowl and stir in with a fork, making sure it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

4. Mix the egg yolk with the water until well blended. Drizzle over the mixture while stirring continuously with a small, round-bladed knife.

5. Work swiftly yet lightly, continue to stir everything together until the mixture starts to stick together in little lumps.

6. Gently bring the small lumps of pastry together using the heel of the hand until they form a rough ball. The quicker you do this the better.

7. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour

Lemon and Orange Tart

Happy Easter! Bring on the eggs, the bunnies and the chocolates!

I was originally planning on posting about the hot cross buns I made. Unfortunately, due to my camera's bad (sucky) viewfinder, I was unable to take a good, clear, shot. I've got a Fujifilm S5000, and it is 3 megapixels! 3!!! Currently, I'm saving up for a Nikon D90. Much better image quality and overallness.

So instead, I'm posting about a tart I made yesterday. I made it with my neighbour's kid, who was visiting from Queensland. Apparently, he likes cooking too, but he doesn't have much experience... Quote: 'It says 2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, so I think it means just 2 eggs, because there are yolks in the eggs...'

I know. But we worked together and created a beautiful Lemon and Orange Tart, taken from 'Heavenly Desserts' by Linda Fraser. It was delightfully tart and sweet at the same time.

It was the first time I made and actual full-sized tart. I've made tartlets before, but this was a completely different story. The pastry was very hard to work with, and was crumbling on us. Plus, when I took the shell out of the oven, I got this massive burn. It looks like I got stung by a jellyfish or something. But the filling was delicious. We made our own Lemon Curd and folded that into some whipped cream. I didn't whip the cream enough, I think. I whipped it to medium peaks when I should have to stiff peaks. This caused the filling to not hold it's shape that well. It still tasted darn good. It is adorned with a crown of orange slices, which added sweetness and colour. All-in-all, it was a success. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Yes, that is a Wii controller in the background. We were playing Wii!


Recipe

Obtained from 'Heavenly Desserts' by Linda Fraser

Serves 8-10

115g plain flour, sifted

115g wholemeal flour
25g ground hazelnuts
25g icing sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
115g sweet butter
60ml lemon curd
300g whipped cream or fromage frais
4 oranges, peeled and thinly sliced


1. Place the flours, hazelnuts, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 30-45ml cold water and process until the dough comes together.

2. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Roll it and line a 25cm flat tin. Be sure not to stretch the pastry and gently ease it into the corners. Chill for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

3. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or bread crusts. Bake blind for 15 minutes, remove the paper and continue for a further 5-10 minutes, until the pastry is crisp. Allow to cool.

4. Whisk the lemon curd into the cream or fromage frais and spread over the base of the pastry. Arrange the orange slices on top and serve at room temperature.

Apple Turnovers

Ugh! Global Warming... Hate it, hate it, hate it! I hate the fact that we are getting 30 degree days in Autumn, when there should be wind and cool weather. I also hate the fact that our school uniform is made of crappy material that air doesn't travel through, making me, and a whole lot of others, sweat all through the day. I definitely prefer cool windy days that go to as low as 15 degrees. This heat makes me grumpy. Absolutely grumpy.

Talking about Autumn, apples are officially in season. I prefer crisp, juicy apples, as opposed to those soft apples that make you wonder whether they're actually fresh or not. But when it comes to baking, I alsways use Granny Smith. They are so easily distinguished with the fully-green skin. I made a beeline for the apple section the other day and bought a few to make apple turnovers with.

There are many different types of turnover recipes out there. Ones that have sultanas and nuts, others with only apple. Some say to cook the apples first, but the recipe I always use does not. I was searching for an easy apple turnover recipe when I had leftover apples, some time ago, when I came across a recipe on Youtube. I realised that it was the most easiest recipe I had found, so I tried it out. Though I've never actually tried other turnovers, I stuck with this one. It hasn't failed me yet.

Because the recipe says to add 3 tablespoons of orange juice, I had a bit of cinnamony orangey syrup let at the bottom. When I first made it, I did not know any better, so I drizzled that over the filling before rolling it up. During baking, it managed to seep out and turn itself into a burnt caramelly mess that adhered itself to the turnovers. It wasn't only unsightly, it tasted gross. So after that, I always refrain the collective juices at the bottom.

I sprinkled white sugar on top of the egg wash and it contributed wonderfully. Some granules did not melt but that did not matter. It was great paired with the tartness of the apples. I could not get a good photo of a whole turnover because all the photos were blurry due to the crappy lighting.


Recipe

Obtained here.
Makes 8 turnovers

3 cooking apples (I used Granny Smith)
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed at room temperature
1 egg
1 water or milk
Extra sugar, to sprinkle


1. Preheat oven to 200°C

2. Cut the puff pastry into 8 equal squares by making a cross in each sheet

3. Peel, core and chop the apples roughly into 1 centimetre cubes

4. Add orange juice and orange zest and stir to combine

5. Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon and mix thoroughly

6. Divide the mixture evenly among the puff pastry squares, making sure not to get much of the collective juices onto the squares

7. Fold each square over the filling, making a triangle. It may be necessary to remove a few pieces of apple.

8. Using a fork, crimp the two short edges of the triangle by pressing the twines onto them. Poke one set of holes on top the triangles to allow steam to escape

9. Whisk the egg and milk or water thoroughly, and brush liberally onto the turnovers.

10. Sprinkle liberally with sugar and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top

11. Take out of oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.