Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers & Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

These two recipes to me, scream Winter comfort food. I have made the Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce numerous times recently. The original recipe, from the Monday Morning Cooking Club’s second book ‘The Feast Goes On’, says the sauce is enough to feed six. I find when mixed with cooked pasta (any kind will do!), I can feed three or four for dinner then still have enough leftovers for three lunches. This kind of cooking makes the organised side of me very happy. Good dinner? Check! Lunch for work sorted? Check! 

When I made this pasta dish over the June long weekend, I was secretly patting myself on the back. Not only was I going to be able to feed five people at home that weekend, I might even have some leftovers for lunch the next day. Winning, right?! 

I forgot however, to take into account that my brother, who was staying that weekend, eats enough food for like two people per meal. So, no leftovers for me. And even if there were some, the likelihood of them being eaten by said brother for breakfast (yes, breakfast) the next morning would have been quite high. 

If you do make the sauce and happen to have leftovers, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. 

These two recipes served in the same evening, make for a great Italian style feast. I would cook the tomato sauce before, make and serve the zucchini flowers as they were ready then, cook some pasta, warm up the sauce and serve that as the main for the meal. 

A note on the zucchini flowers: The recipe for the batter can easily be doubled if you are cooking more. The zucchini flowers should be served immediately after cooking, as they are not quite the same when re-heated. 

Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers

Ingredients: 

8 zucchini flowers 

1 ball buffalo mozzarella 

Handful basil leaves, shredded

¼ cup grana padano (or parmesan) cheese, grated 

Ingredients for the Batter: 

100g self raising flour

¾ cup ice cold water

Pinch of salt 

Vegetable oil, for frying 

Method: 

Wash and dry zucchini flowers, ensuring the insides of the flowers are free from any residual dirt and the stamens have been removed. 

Mix the basil and grated cheese together. Tear pieces off the buffalo mozzarella and use to stuff the flowers. Add some of the basil and grated cheese and twist the top of the flowers to seal. 

Prepare the batter only just before it is needed. 

To prepare the batter, gently whisk all the ingredients together with a fork (the mixture will be lumpy). 

Heat a shallow fry pan with some vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Coat the flowers in the batter, then place one at a time (or three or so at a time if using a larger pan), and allow to cook for 1 minute or so on each side. Ensure all of the batter has cooked. 

Place on paper towel to drain any excess oil after cooking, and serve immediately. 

Recipe Adapted from ‘Maggie’s Harvest’ by Maggie Beer (Penguin Group, 2007), pp. 182-3. 

Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

2kg very ripe tomatoes 

x 2 large red onions

x 2 cloves garlic

200g dried black olives 

¼ cup capers, drained 

8 anchovy fillets, chopped 

Olive oil 

3 tbsp tomato paste 

½ cup grated parmesan cheese 

1 bunch basil (leaves only), chopped 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Drizzle some olive oil between two large baking trays. Roughly slice the tomatoes (approximately 1 cm slices), and divide between the two trays. Slice the onion and place one onion in each tray. Divide the black olives, capers and anchovies between the two trays. Drizzle with more olive oil crush one garlic clove over each tray, then toss all the ingredients to coat. 

Reduce the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and place both baking trays in the oven. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Cook until the tomatoes and onions have softened and reduced, and there is still some liquid left in the trays. 

Remove from oven and combine the two trays into one. Stir through the tomato paste, parmesan and basil. 

Serve with freshly cooked pasta, topped with a little extra basil and grated parmesan. 

Reference: ‘The Monday Morning Cooking Club: The Feast Goes On’ by Lisa Goldberg, Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Paula Horwitz & Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins Publishers, 2014), p.74.

More Cake! Two Lovely Cakes from 'Tasty Express'

Ok. Now for the second part of my cake apology. Two cake recipes from ‘Tasty Express’.

After attending a Cook Republic workshop with Sneh Roy a little while ago, it re-inspired me to getting cooking from her lovely cookbook, ‘Tasty Express’ again. I was in the mood for cake (nothing unusual about that right?!), and couldn’t decide between the lemon cake and the rose and pistachio cake. So I made both. 

Both cakes are simple to make, yet yield great tasting cakes. It is unusual for me to make cakes without some kind of icing, and though it might seem strange to leave a cake un-iced, these two cakes are quite perfect as they are. Not that the perfect-ness of these cakes should ever have been doubted. They are Sneh’s recipes after all. 

Lemon Cake 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

220g caster sugar 

Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons

3 eggs 

225 g self-raising flour 

Juice of one large lemon 

125ml milk

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift in the flour, and add the lemon juice. Beat for a few seconds, then add the milk and mix until just combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and tap the tin gently to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. 

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack. 

Serve warm or cooled. 

Original recipe from ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy (Ebury Press, 2014), p.192, or via Cook Republic blog.

Rose & Pistachio Cake with Fresh Raspberries 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

220g caster sugar 

1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

1 tbsp rosewater

2 eggs

300g plain flour 

2 ½ tsp baking powder 

¼ tsp salt 

165ml milk 

70g Greek yoghurt 

60 g frozen raspberries 

65g pistachio kernels, chopped

Icing sugar, for dusting

Fresh raspberries and cream, to serve 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, orange zest, and rosewater for 6 minutes on low speed. Mix until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well to combine. 

In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter mixture, milk and yoghurt and fold together until just combined. Gently fold through the frozen raspberries and pistachios. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden and cooked through. 

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh raspberries and cream. 

Original recipe from ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy (Ebury Press, 2014), p.195.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking on the link below!

A Rose Pound Cake

Many apologies for my almost month long absence from here. It’s funny (or scary, rather), how quickly time can pass you by. I have a few recipes up my sleeve to share, and they all revolve around cake. So in an attempt to make up for my absence I am presenting you with not one, but three cake recipes! All is forgiven now, right?! 

The first cake (shared in this post) is a rose pound cake, and in a separate post I will share two amazing recipes from the book ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy. If any of you follow the Sneh’s blog ‘Cook Republic’, you’ll know that these cakes will be good! 

. . .

This pound cake from Trine Hahnemann’s ‘Scandinavian Baking’ is the first thing I have made from this book. I had been wanting her book for quite a while, and once I finally got my hands on it, this rose cake jumped out at me. 

The original recipe says to ground your own almond meal from whole almonds. As I have been trying to get through my (almost) life time supply of almond meal, I just used that. But feel free to use which ever is easiest for you. I also had to use rose syrup instead of rose jelly in the icing, which I think is why my icing as particularly runny! If you don’t have any rose jelly/jam, I would suggest using a rosewater based glaze icing like the one used here. 

Ingredients: 

250g butter softened, plus extra to grease the tin

200g almond meal 

250g caster sugar 

4 eggs 

150g plain flour 

2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk 

Ingredients for the Icing: 

6 tbsp rose jelly

200g icing sugar

Pink food colouring 

Unsprayed rose petals, optional 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 1.5 litre loaf tin with butter, and line the base with baking paper. 

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Sift the flour and baking powder and mix with the almond meal. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture with a spatula. Add the milk and mix to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for one hour. 

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely. 

Make the icing by gradually adding the icing sugar to the rose jelly until the icing is smooth. Add a little pink food colouring if you want the icing to be a brighter pink. Add a little water, and whisk until the icing is smooth, and not too runny. 

Place the cake on a serving dish and spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Top with unsprayed rose petals if using. 

Original recipe from ‘Scandinavian Baking’ by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille Publishing Ltd, 2014), p.135.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!

How to bake with Quinces

I have loved quinces for quite a while now. We always buy Maggie Beer’s quince paste to have with cheese and biscuits, but I have to admit for quite a long time, I really didn’t know what quinces were. 

When you actually see the fruit, they look nothing like you’d expect, sort of like large lumpy pears. They aren’t a fruit that is eaten raw however, slow cooking is the only way to go for quinces. 

I have attempted cooking quinces three times now. Only once successfully. The key as I have now found, to the deep and rich ruby colour is to cook the quinces with the cores, and remove them after. Apparently lots of pectin is in the cores, which helps the quinces turn that lovely ruby colour. I have also found that poaching them in the oven, is much easier than doing it on the stove.

To me, slow cooking and poaching feels like such a Winter-y thing to do. Probably because here in Australia, having the oven or stove on for hours at a time in Summer just isn’t practical! The fruits that lend themselves to such methods of cooking are also in season in the colder months. Though it seems few fruits and vegetables aren’t available almost year round. Quince is one of the rarities that only appear in green grocers or farmers markets once Autumn starts. Which to me is a very clear sign that Summer has come to an end, and it’s time to get Winter baking! 

I found this recipe for Quince Butter via Sophie Hansen of Local is Lovely, who never fails to impress me with snippets of country life and delicious recipes that can be found on her blog. When I saw the recipe, I just knew it would work much better than my last attempts. And it did. I didn’t follow the recipe to the end, just until I had poached the quinces. Though I don’t doubt that quince butter would be as tasty as it sounds! 

I used some of my poached quinces to make a frangipane tart (based on this recipe), then used some to make quince and vanilla muffins. I added four tablespoons of the poaching liquid to the muffin mixture, along with an extra quarter cup of self raising flour, one teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, topped each muffin with small pieces of poached quince and sprinkled them with raw sugar. 

I froze the muffins after they had cooled, and we are still enjoying them. The frangipane tart however, is long gone! 

Any left over poached quinces can be placed in a jar with the poaching liquid and stored in the fridge. 

Donna Hay’s Harissa Chicken with Gremolata

Now that the weather seems to have truly turned to Winter, warming and comforting dishes are in high demand. This recipe for Harissa Chicken by Donna Hay, fits the bill perfectly. The spiciness of the harissa warms you to your bones, while the gremolata subtly cools the kick and adds a wonderful depth of flavour to the dish. 

This dish is also quite easy to make, which is always a winner when you want warmth with minimal effort. 

The original recipe stipulates the use of mixed olives, but since my obsession with dried black olives remains unwavering, I used those. Either work well, just use whatever you like or can easily come by. 

Ingredients: 

8 x 220g chicken thigh fillets, bone in and trimmed

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 cup mixed or dried olives

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp harissa paste 

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup chicken stock 

sea salt and black pepper

400g truss Roma tomatoes (still on vine if possible) 

Ingredients for Gremolata 

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp shredded lemon zest 

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

Method: 

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the chicken, garlic, olives, tomato paste, harissa paste, sugar and chicken stock in a large baking dish, trying to evenly distribute the tomato and harissa pastes amongst the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with aluminium foil and roast for 1 hour. 

Whilst the chicken is in the oven, make the gremolata by combining the all the gremolata ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. 

After the chicken has been roasting in the oven for 1 hour, increase the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius and remove the foil. Add the tomatoes to the baking dish and cook for a further half an hour, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Serve with the gremolata. 

Original recipe from ‘The New Classics’ by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2013), p. 145.

Cook Republic Workshop - May 15,2015

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a Cook Republic Workshop with Sneh Roy of Cook Republic and Katrina Meynink of The Little Crumb. The workshop was on how to pitch, write, style, photograph and publish a cookbook. 

My obsession with cookbooks is probably well known by now, so it might not come as much of a surprise that I would love to someday have one of my own. 

Lots of great and really useful advice was given by both Sneh and Katrina, and it was great to hear about both their experiences around publishing their cookbooks. I did find myself becoming memorised at the prospect of beginning such a project, and partly because I was sitting directly in front of Sneh’s enviable bookcase, all filled with cookbooks! I kept noticing books I hadn’t seen before, or ones that are on my ‘to be bought (at some time in the future) list.’ There were also carefully decorated corners of the room, so photogenic I sat there making a mental list in my mind of all the photographs that could be taken in this amazing space. 

By the end of the day all the advice, stories and ideas were swirling around in my mind, and it felt like I was walking away better equipped to tackle my own cookbook project sometime in the future. 

If you ever get the chance to attend one of the Cook Republic Workshops, do! It was a lovely day filled with extremely useful advice, warming cups of tea and wonderful food. All in all, a day well spent in my opinion! 

Thanks again to Sneh and Katrina for a wonderful day!