Divine caramel pavlova

I promised you a pavlova recipe to use up those left-over egg whites from yesterday’s chocolate tarts.

Well here it is; another of my cousin Kerrie’s scrumptious creations.

INGREDIENTS:

4 egg whites

¾ cup of caster sugar

¾ cup of brown sugar

1 tblsp of cornflour

1 tspn of white vinegar

Cream, whipped

Chocolate, grated or shaved

METHOD:

Beat sugars and egg whites until it forms just firmer than soft peaks. Fold in cornflour and vinegar. Spread the mixture to form a circle onto baking paper on a baking tray, then pop it into the oven at 120°C (100°C fan-forced) for about 2 hours.

Let the pavolva cool in the oven with the door open.

To serve, top the pavlova base with whipped cream and shaved chocolate (or anything else you fancy).

And here’s how it looks when served: crunchy on the outside; marshmallowy and yummy on the inside.

The pavolva base can be stored in an airtight container until later if you want to make it ahead of time or have it on hand to impress unexpected visitors.

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Here’s my cousin Bartholomew giving it his seal of approval.

Tags: caramel, pavlova

Delicious chocolate tarts

It’s always a joy to see my gorgeous cousin Kerrie, but double the pleasure when she comes bearing food, as she is a stellar cook.

At a recent family morning tea, Kerrie had baked up a storm and we are still trying to work off the extra inches —but hey, was it worth it!

Here’s the first instalment of the recipes she so kindly consented to share. These chocolate tarts are absolutely devine.

Stay tuned for more goodies in coming days!

CHOCOLATE TARTS

(Makes 18 tarts)

INGREDIENTS:

Tart bases:

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup ground almonds

(also nice to add some crushed walnuts if you have them)

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

125g melted butter

Grease standard-sized muffin tins. Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into the base of each muffin tin hole and up the sides.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (160°C  fan-forced).

Chocolate custard:

½ cup caster sugar

2tblsp cornflour

300ml cream

100g dark chocolate

4 egg yolks

METHOD:

Grease standard-sized muffin tins. Mix all the base ingredients together and press mixture firmly into the base of each muffin tin hole and up the sides to form a tart case.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (160°C  fan-forced).

Combine caster sugar, cornflour and cream in a saucepan. Cook, stirring  constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat and stir for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks and chocolate. Stir until the  chocolate melts and is smooth. Spoon the chocolate custard mixture into the tart shells (each tart will hold about one-and-a-half tablespoons of chocolate custard).

Return the filled cases in the muffin tins to the oven for 10 minutes.

Stand for about 10 minutes, then pop the muffin tins into the refrigerator to set completely.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You will have 4 egg whites left over, which is perfect for making tomorrow’s recipe: a small caramel pavlova!

Thanks, Kerrie!

Tags: chocolate, custard, tarts

Pea and ham soup

June 1 may be the first day of winter in Australia, but winter doesn’t begin in the Lipscombe household until the first pot of pea and ham soup makes its appearance for the year.

Our pea and ham soup is not for the faint-hearted — it adds a new meaning to ‘hearty’, as you can literally stand your spoon up in it!

It’s the best comfort food for lunch on a cold winter’s day and it freezes well to take to work for lunch through the week.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 large ham hock
500g green split peas
1 cup of pearl barley, rinsed
3 large brown onions, chopped
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
3 bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place the ham hock in a large boiler of water and bring to the boil, cooking for just a couple of minutes — this helps remove any impurities or scum on the hock skin. Remove the hock and set aside; discard the water and wash the boiler in preparation for cooking the soup.

While the hock is blanching, chop the vegies (I put my vegies as they’re chopped into a large Glad cliplock bag, as there are a lot of vegies here and I can just discard it when I’m done — one less thing to wash up!).

Add a good splash of oilive oil to the boiler and add vegies, cooking for about 10 minutes until they’ve started to lightly brown.

Add the ham hock and remaining ingredients to the vegies and add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and cook on a slow simmer for around 3 hours — you’ll need to stir occasionally, as this soup can stick, and top up water periodically as needed, depending on how thick you like your soup.

At the end of the cooking process, remove the ham hock. Strip the meat from the bone, shred it and return it to the soup. Stir through and serve with crusty bread.

Bon appetite!

Tags: Cooking, pea and ham, recipe, soup

Bread-and-butter pudding with caramel sauce

I had people around for dinner on the weekend and decided that bread-and-butter pudding would be good for dessert.

I went looking for a recipe and, as is my usual practice, ended up combining a few recipes to make one that I was happy with — I hate doing that whole bain marie thing, so I wanted to be able to just cook it in the dish I was going to serve it in.

Here’s what I came up with and it turned out a triumph. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo, so we’ll just have to have it again so I can add a pic to this post. Ah well, a dirty job, but I don;t mind taking a hit for the team.

Ingredients
8 slices of stale bread (you can substitute croissants, brioche or panettone for the bread if preferred, but they are probably a bit too rich if you plan to serve the pudding with the caramel sauce below)
6 large eggs
350ml cream
250ml milk
Dash of vanilla (to taste)
1/3 cup sultanas
Castor sugar (add 1/4 cup of caster sugar to the custard mix for sweetness if you don’t plan to serve the pudding with the caramel sauce)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 195C. Grease a medium-sized baking dish (or line it with baking paper if it’s not a very sturdy dish to avoid it overcooking on the bottom and sides and then grease the paper). Lightly butter the bread slices on both sides.

2. Put eggs, cream, milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Add buttered bread slices to the mixture, pushing them doewn into the liquid. Cover and refrigerate for around 30 minutes until bread has absorbed some of the mixture.

3. Arrange half of the bread slices on the bottom of the dish, tearing slices where necessary to cover the base. sprinkle half of the sultanas over the bread slices, then pour over about one-third of the liquid. Add remaining bread slices in the same manner as before and sprinkle the remaining sultanas, pour over remaining liquid and dust with caster sugar.

4. Cook in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes until top is golden brown and the custard is firm. Serve with caramel sauce.

Caramel sauce

Melt 100g of butter in a saucepan. Add 1 1/3 cups of brown sugar and stir constantly until the sugar is melted and the mixture begins to caramelise.  Add 1 1/3 cups of cream slowly, stirring constantly over a low heat until the caramel sauce starts to thicken. Decant into a heatproof jug for serving.

Tags: bread and butter pudding, caramel sauce, dessert, pudding

Chicken Paella

Here’s a great recipe that everyone seems to really like — even kids.

I first came across it in Australian Good Taste magazine in 2007 and you can now find it online here. Since first making it, it has become a family favourite. Like a good curry, it also tastes great the next day. I did change the original recipe a little over a couple of makings, and here is my version.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (you can substitute with sweet paprika if preferred)
• 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
• 8 skinless chicken thigh fillets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 250g chorizo sausages, roughly chopped
• 1 large brown onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed (you can substitute  with garlic powder if you want to avoid garlic breath!)
• 1 litre prepared chicken stock
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 400g can diced tomatoes
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 3/4 cup corn kernels (optional)

A couple of hints
* Wear disposable plastic gloves when coating the chicken, otherwise the tumeric will discolour your nails badly.
* Mix the spices and coat the chicken on a sheet of Glad Go-Between — you can then throw it away when that part of the preparation is finished and it will protect your benchtop from staining from the tumeric.
* You may need to add a little extra water at the end if you find the paella a bit dry or the rice is a bit too crunchy for your liking.

Tags: Chicken, Chicken Paella, Cooking, Paella, Recipes