The Long and the Shortbread of it

9th August 2011 - Margaret Young's Shortbread

Back in the kitchen again and decided to give Margaret Young’s Shortbread a go. This was one of the first recipes that Dad gave me and I’ve been putting off trying it for ages (partly because the concept of Berry Sugar and Rice Flour was just weird).

Anyway, it wasn’t too difficult really. Berry Sugar is apparently just Caster Sugar so once I found the right size bowl and got the mixer sorted out, it was essentially just chucking everything together and watching it mix. That was until I realised I had to knead the mixture for 20 minutes!

Firstly, I have no idea what the point of this was, secondly it was a really sticky mixture so it wasn’t the easiest kneading I’ve ever done and thirdly 20 minutes is a long time to be kneading! I noticed that in the ingredients list that it says ‘3 cups flour + extra to knead into dough’ so I kept chucking in chunks of flour trying to see if it was going to change texture or look like a biscuit mixture in any way. It didn’t really change at all. It was seriously strange since I had no idea what it was meant to look like so had no concept of whether it was good or not.

I lay the mixture out on the bench and cut it into rectangles and then put them on the trays and into the oven. They were really hard to shape! It wasn’t a doughy texture so I’d put it into shape and then try to move it and they’d just sort of blob everywhere. Oh well, I won’t worry about presentation!

(The only photo I have is this one of the piece I was halfway through eating when I realised it was the last piece and I’d forgotten to take pictures)

The other slight issue I faced is that the oven needs to be on 135 degrees, and then increased to 150. Seems reasonable enough, except that our oven doesn’t have any numbers lower than 200. We can pretty much assume where 180 is, but don’t have much to go off apart from that. So whether or not the oven was at the right temperature I would not have a clue, but I trust my guessing skills! Luckily I’m an impatient s.o.b so I continually checked them and was able to move the trays so the ones at the back of the oven wouldn’t go too brown.

When they came out of the oven I was slightly confused about the texture, I think I forgot what shortbread was, but they weren’t really solid even after they’d been in the oven for an hour. They looked like they were the right colour so I took them out and just had to hope that they would firm up as they cooled down.

I had been pigging out all night, but couldn’t resist it any longer so had a sneaky taste of one straight off the tray. When I put it in my mouth, I heard this weird sizzling noise and was looking around trying to figure out what I’d sat the trays on that was burning – before realising that I could hear the shortbread burning my tongue! Such an idiot. I didn’t know what to do so just swallowed it so it would stop burning! Haha.

There was a shit load so I took it all to work and people seemed to go crazy for them. I saw number of people coming back for seconds and thirds (one person told me she had five!) so I’d say it was a pretty good attempt. I got some really great compliments which was nice – some people even preferred the slightly burnt ones so that worked out well. My boss was telling me that she tried it. She said she hates Shortbread so didn’t want to try it, but did after everyone was raving about it. I figured the end of the story was going to be “but it was really good, well done”. Turns out the end was “it tasted like shortbread and I don’t like shortbread” oh well, that’s something I guess!?

Tips: Wait for them to cool before eating them.

Music: Lowrider, Round the World

Since I’m such a cooking genius these days, I decided that I’d cook Pan Fried Perch with Tomato Olive and Caper Salsa (not a catchy name!) at the same time. This wasn’t particularly interesting or difficult, but was OK tasting. Here’s the recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14520/pan+fried+perch+with+tomato+olive+caper+salsa

They Call Me Caramelo

1 August 2011 - Keely's Show Winning Caramel Slice

I finally saw Keely last weekend and was able to get some recipes off her. Although I don't really eat much dessert I was super excited to have some 'show winning' recipes from a real life Kiama Show Girl (contestant)! So I was ready to attempt my second version of Caramel Slice - Keely's Show Winning Caramel Slice.

Conveniently, I had all the ingredients for this one, bar the condensed milk, so I sent Sian to the shops to get that while I got a massage (now writing it I realise I should have felt like some weird upper-class snob having people pamper me and do my shopping, but I actually felt really good about it at the time).

After a dinner of leftovers (Sian had PJ's burgers which she gave a big thumbs up) I got started on cooking my slice. Sian complained about everything, the cold, the music, the fact that she ate too much condensed milk and felt sick... everything! We soon started gossiping about everyone we know and we were much happier for it!

It all seemed pretty easy. I was kind of rough with my measurements as usual, but everything appeared to go to plan. After each stage it needed 15 minutes in the oven so in these blocks of time Sian and I sat down to play Yahtzee. The chocolate was slightly disastrous as the bowl was too hot to hold, so I was pouring it while holding the bowl in a tea towel. The tea towel then dragged in the chocolate I'd already poured. It was not my most coordinated effort ever! Needless to say both my pyjama top and the tea towel were covered in food and had to be thrown into the wash (not before I misplaced the hand towel and instead used my pyjama top for a replacement).

Anyway, it was all ok. I couldn't find my slice tin (potentially never had one) so cooked it in other dishes instead. It didn't make much difference, except that it was kind of hard to get out at the end. I of course took it to work and everyone scoffed it in seconds! What pigs! I got lots of compliments on it (partly because I asked for them, but also because it was delicious) and everyone seemed happy.

For my comparison of the two Caramel Slices, I was going to say this one wins out! However, I just looked at the recipes and they're almost identical, apart from about 20 grams of butter and 5 minutes in the oven. I think the reasons I liked this one better are as follows:

1. I forgot what the other one tasted like

2. Last time I cooked it in Mum and Dad’s oven and I think the caramel overcooked (although that recipe has it cooking 5 minutes less so I'm not sure how that works)

3. People at work will eat anything I bring them so their compliments made me think it was better than it was.

Tips: Don’t play Yahtzee with Sian, she's annoyingly good at it.

Music: Gotye (was totes uninspiring and boring)

Do you know the muffin man?

Very Very Easy Muffins - Emily - 20 July 2011

I apparently can't stop cooking at the moment so after another walk in the rain I decided to give Emily's Very VeryEasy Muffins a go.

I was seriously multitasking while making these muffins. All at once I was making a quiche for dinner (no pastry, easy, delicious), making the batch of banana and coconut muffins, putting the apples in to bake for the apple and cinnamon muffins and icing my face after waxing (I've got seriously sensitive skin). It was quite the production!

Needless to say, the kitchen had never seen such a mess! The muffins were as easy as Em had said. The bananas (although practically rotten) cost me $6 which was a total rip off but it really was as easy as combining all the ingredients and putting the mixture in a muffin tin (which I had to buy especially). I made 9 out of this batch and they cooked perfectly after 20 minutes.

I cut the apples up into the right size, tipped a load of brown sugar mixed in water over them and added some cinnamon to the top to bake them. They cooked in about 10 minutes and tasted really yum. I forgot to mix the butter in until the very last minute so the mixture was really runny and buttery. I added a bit more flour until it was the right texture and tipped it into the tin. They also made 9, cooked in 20 minutes and were amazing.

I of course took them to work for everyone to try and they seemed to disappear pretty quickly which is always a good sign! Very easy and something I'm sure I'll make again! The apple ones in particular were a hit!

Tips: When creating a mess in the kitchen, don't leave the container of flour in the sink with its lid off as when you turn the tap on, it could be a disaster!
Music: Sian had Friends on so I watched that - the Barbados episodes – amazing!

and the quiche just FYI

The Apple of My Eye

Mother Nank’s Apple Crumble – 16 July 2011

Apparently, Jen was getting the royal treatment this weekend! After the lasagne was such a hit, I was pretty excited to see how Mother Nank’s Apple Crumble might go down.

I got some new oven proof dishes from Alex for my birthday and this was the perfect opportunity to use them. I cooked the lasagne in the big one and the apple crumble in the medium dish and the four ramekins.

This recipe looked pretty simple, but I did run into some trouble when I was writing the shopping list:
"Oi Sian, how do you spell cinnamon?"
"Does it matter? It's just your list."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure I even know how to say it. Which ones are m's and which are n's?"
I should be ashamed, but it's a tricky word!
After preparing the lasagne without any dramas I was feeling good for the dessert. I cut up all the apples (my coring skills leave a lot to be desired) and coated them in the cinnamon and mixed spice. It was again quite simple, just a matter of combining everything up. I used my mixer, but it didn't seem to combine it properly. I think it was the butter. I’m not sure if I should have melted the butter first or perhaps blend the sugar and butter together first, then add the other ingredients, but it really didn't hold together very well. I figured it'd change in the oven somehow and hold together.

After an appropriate amount of time for our lasagne bellies to recover, I popped my crumble in the oven (don’t tell my green friends, but I left the oven on the whole time so it would keep the house slightly warmer) ready to continue impressing Jen. It only needed about ½ an hour all up and seemed cooked through and delicious.

I served it with ice-cream (which I accidentally left on the kitchen floor for ages while I was cooking the lasagne) and it tasted great. However, it looked like absolute shit! The crumble didn't stick together at all and it just ended up in a big mush with the apple and ice-cream. It tasted great, but presentation was not my strong point. Jen seemed to like it though which is great news.

Jen and I only had a little one each so hopefully people at work will scoff the rest.

I look forward to Jen's review, I think it'll be a good one!

Tips: Figure out what I did wrong with the crumble, and do it differently so it sticks together a little bit more.
Music: Sparkadia, The Great Impression.

As Nutty as a Fruit Cake

04 July 2011 - Alex's Pumpkin Fruit Cake

Back on the desserts again because I was too hungry to wait the time it took to cook something for dinner, instead I scoffed some leftovers and decided to try Alex's Pumpkin Fruit Cake.

It all seemed pretty straight forward so I turned up the music and got into it. I chose A Perfect Circle after rediscovering my love for them when rocking out one of their songs on Guitar Hero the day before.

Anyway, the cooking started and I cooked the pumpkin without any problems and made sure it had time to cool down.

For my birthday I got a super dooper mixer thing, so I used that to mix the butter and sugar. I'm pretty sure I'll NEVER get sick of getting to use the ruler on the side of the butter to cut the right amount, it's my favourite thing in the world! Small things ha?

For some reason, the lid got stuck on the mixer...like, really stuck! To the point where I couldn't stop laughing even though it was hurting my hand and i was jumping up and down trying to get the lid off! Eventually I did get it unstuck and was able to continue with the cooking process. I think I added more lemon than it said and I have no idea how much flour ended up in there! I was measuring the cup over the bowl and it overflowed so I just thought for the second cup I'd do a bit less... but it also overflowed so I can't tell how much ended up in there. Probably pretty close to two cups after I tipped some out.

I popped it in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes to make sure it wasn't going to burn the top. It wasn't quite brown enough on top so I left it in for another ten minutes and then I covered it in foil. It was probably in the oven for 55 minutes or so all up. I kept poking it with a skewer because that's the only way I know how to test it. Sian said you can tap the top of it to see if it sounds cooked so you don't have to poke it. Seemed reasonable, so over she came and whacked it on the top and said "does it sound right?" to which I of course answered "how would I know... does it?" She had no idea... brilliant method.

I found other jobs to do so I could keep listening to A Perfect Circle for the rest of the night and could continue singing all the parts of a round in one of their songs.

I of course brought the cake into work and after making my colleague cut it according to my strict directions (fruit cake has to be in rectangles not triangles!) everyone went nuts for it! I got lots of compliments and a number of people said it was so good that they went back for seconds. One (ex-chef) even asked me for the recipe! Well done me!

Tips: Cover it with foil after around 40 minutes.
Music: A Perfect Circle, Thirteenth Step

Satisfying Rita

27 June 2011 - Date and Walnut Loaf

After a big weekend in Bathurst it was back to the real world where I showed uncharacteristic restraint at afternoon drinks having only a diet coke and a water... I barely recognise myself!

This was my first go at cooking on request and when Rita gave not-so-subtle hints and asked for something with dates and nuts that she can smear butter on... my choices were pretty limited. But I found a recipe online and with Rita's approval I was ready to cook Date and Walnut Loaf.

I found some dates in the pantry...but the wormy maggoty looking thing I found in there wasn't appealing so it was off to the shops. We had golden syrup in the pantry so I didn't bother with the maple but everything else was fine.

This was not at all complicated. I mixed it all together and chucked it in the oven without any dramas. The pan was the wrong size but I didn't think this would matter. I put the timer on for forty minutes...but forgot to press start. They've said it before and they'll say it again... I am my father's daughter!

It was on for around 40 minutes and when I checked it, it wasn't ready but was very brown, so I covered it with foil and put it on for another ten. I checked it with a couple of minutes to go and it wasn't ready, but it was done the next time the timer went off, and all was good.

Our oven doesn’t seem to cook evenly as one side is quite a bit darker than the other side. I think the outside is kind of tough so it was maybe in the oven for too long all up.

Rita added her butter and seemed pretty happy with it, she thinks it was about 5 minutes too long in the oven and this is why the outside was tough. It seemed to disappear pretty quickly at work and people were loving it so I was happy all up!

Tips: It seemed to go from undercooked to slightly tough really quickly so keep an eye on it.
Music: Ladyhawke

(Don't know why this page is so dirty, I must have sat it in some crap at some stage or another)

Looking at your big brown-ies

02 May 2011 - Lib's Brownies (Sandra’s recipe)

After the raging success that was Beer Butt Chicken, I decided not to muck about and to get onto my recipe early this week. I only collected this one this weekend, but couldn’t wait to try Lib's Brownies (Sandra’s recipe).

Had a relatively good day at work, the rest of my team came back from annual leave which was nice so I'm no longer a loner. Got lots of compliments on the top I was wearing and felt pretty rocking...until at 4pm it was pointed out to me that I had left the tag on and you could see it through the shirt. Damn it!

Anyway, I came home and got stuck into making my brownies. I couldn't find coffee powder at the shops (wtf is it anyway?) so I just left it out. When I went to pour the vanilla into the mixture, I looked up at my stereo to see what was happening with my music...and put in at least three times as much as I was meant to. Oh well. I also added extra walnuts because there weren’t many left in the packet and I thought why the hell not. It was all very simple and I was seriously loving the sound of my own voice singing along to Lauryn Hill.

I couldn’t find a lamington tin, so I just chucked it in another dish instead. I popped it all in the oven and went out for a sneaky beer at the pub – I’m clearly both dedicated to my cooking and concerned about burning the house down!

I returned to a house that smelt amazing! I wasn’t sure if the brownies were cooked, but after ½ an hour they looked good enough so I took them out and watched amazing loser finale. Great night.

Turns out that since I didn't have the right dish they didn’t cook properly. The pieces that were around the sides of the dish cooked fine, but the middle isn't really cooked so it got stuck to the foil and was borderline runny. Sian said it was nice but this sort of food its WAY too sweet for us so we didn’t eat much. I don’t think the icing was necessary. They would have been nicer without in my opinion.

Sian and I took a container to work each to earn us some brownie points (oh, the wit) and hopefully get rid of them. I heard one comment, from Lauren; “they’re not too bad”. Brilliant – oh well, at least I can judge her for eating brownies at 9.15am. Everyone else seemed to like them and they were can by lunch so it can’t be too bad.

Tips: Careful with the vanilla, use the right dish and if you’re not too much of a sweet tooth, don’t worry about the icing.

Music: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill- Lauryn Hill.

Anybody wanna peanut?

3rd April 2011 - Granny's Peanut Biscuits

After a weekend at home for a wedding I was able to collect lots of cool new recipes (and lots of cool new bruises). Was an amazing wedding, caught up with everyone who has ever lived in Kiama, fell down the stairs in the pub and watched one of the best couples I know say “I do”.

I knew it was going to be a hectic week as I was going away for a work love-in and had a million other things on, so I got straight to it and cooked Granny's Peanut Biscuits.

Granny can't write anymore, so I was able to scan this recipe from mums scrap book so I could still have Granny's writing. The biscuits were super easy and were quite nice in the end.

I hadn’t seen anyone else make them before so I'm not sure if they e the right texture and they felt really really weird. I think that that is something to do with the egg. I didn't so much beat it, as just kind of chuck it in, but it was ok.

I was sure to make the biscuits much smaller this time, but they weren't as sweet as the choc chip ones so probably would have been fine anyway. They went brown really quickly but I probably left them in for about 12 minutes. Some of the larger ones probably could have done with a bit longer, but I took them to work and they were gone within a day, so I'm not going to worry.

Tips: watch them in the oven, as they really do cook quite quickly

Music: Ray LaMontague

That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

23^rd March 2011 – Super Amazing Chunky Choc-Chip Cookies by Cath.

I am on a roll! Back in the kitchen tonight and decided to have a go at a dessert as Naomi was here for dinner, so I tried one of my new recipes Super Amazing Chunky Choc-Chip Cookies by Cath. It was slightly confusing as for some unknown reason, this recipe was in the meat section, but I managed to find it.

Hadn’t seen Naomi in a million years so it was awesome to get to show off some skills! I put her to work straight away and made her put all the chicken and vegies on the skewers for the kebabs we were having. We just chatted away as we do, about a student who is in love with her, about this amazingly fat kid Sian showed us (60kg 3 year old!), at what time of the day we poo… you know the usual stuff!

The cookies seemed to go well, I bought choc buttons instead of chips, because I thought they’d be more chocolatey which they were. I mixed all the ingredients together as per the recipe, before realising I’d made a mistake. When it said to add the sugar, I forgot their were two types, so the brown sugar just got chucked in at the last minute. Didn’t seem to make a difference to be honest.

Watched Loser and cried pretty much the whole way through. Damo got on a bike and peddled, the Commando smiled and was like well done to his girls – it’s way too much!

Cookies were yum. I cooked them for 10 minutes and then turned the oven off and left them in for another two minutes and they seemed to work out really well. Naomi seemed to love hers and I thought it was nice except I don’t really eat much sweet food so it was a bit full on for me. I’ll take one for Simone to make sure it’s OK and give the rest to Granny and Grandad (what a good Granddaughter).

Tips: Add all the ingredients as per the recipe and make the biscuits quite small as they are really sweet.

Music: Queen

Jocelyn is Banana Man.

12^th January 2011 – Ann’s Banana Cake by Linda.

Back to work this week (eleven new recipes). It’s been a stressful time.

Did so many stupid things in one day I surprised even myself

1. Realised that I’d published my blog on the wrong address. ‘Coach potato baker’ will be my next blog about training potato bakes into fine athletes.
2. Was freezing in the office so went home to get a jacket, but forgot to take my keys and couldn’t get in so had to stay freezing all day.
3. Emailed Sian to tell her of stupidity and wrote ‘Oh know, how stupid’ in my email. New gramma low.

Made myself feel better by cooking Ann’s Banana Cake by Linda. I couldn’t be bothered cooking dinner so went for a treat instead. Not sure what I’ll do with it as we don’t really eat cake, but I’m pretty sure if I take it to work Sim will eat it.

I quite enjoyed cooking a dessert. There was lots of fun stuff to do! People who don’t eat eggs rarely get to play with them, so that was lots of fun. It took all my willpower to not squeeze it to crack it in my fist… by I resisted! I got to use my scales on the ‘ounce’ setting to measure out four ounces of butter, and now learnt how to spell ‘ounce’.

Sieving the flour was my favourite thing of all time and I got to practice a new stirring technique – folding. Was basically the same as all my other stirring techniques. Seemed to go well and I enjoyed doing it (while pretending the dishwasher wasn’t in fact flooding around my feet).

May be a brilliant chef, but definitely not a clean one!

Cake tipped out of the pan brilliantly and tastes really good. I think the edges are a bit tough, but the middle is delicious. Simone said it’s “wreally good” with a mouthful of cake, so that’s a good sign!

Going to Bali next week, so speeding it up a bit to make sure I still get enough done.

First showcase this weekend – Ash might be a tough judge so I’ll have to nail it!

Tips: I only cooked it for 43 minutes (don't know why, just thought it seemed like a good amount of time... worked a treat).

Music: Blues Traveler.

If you’ve never felt the heat, get into the kitchen.

26^th December 2010 – Pam’s Cherry Ripe and Aunty Pat’s Caramel Slice

Got an early start on the challenge and cooked Pam’s Cherry Ripe and Aunty Pat’s Caramel Slice.

Was very excited to be in the kitchen, but waited until everyone went out. Alex was at home and ‘helping’ me with the recipes, but I totes didn’t need her (except that I had no idea how to melt copha or what it was meant to look like when it melted – complex I know)!

V excited when I got to write a note at the bottom of the recipe (NB/ chop cherries first).

Reluctantly took to the two slices to the Secret Santa Party at Carly’s house (there was enough to feed an army and considering my friends don’t eat much, I thought I may have over-catered) but they were both a hit! Sarah loved them and said she liked them equally – which as it was Sarah, I know was the truth! Most of it got eaten and John (Carly’s dad) had a red hot go at the leftovers. Success.

Got eight new recipes from secret santa attendees. Lots to try! Can’t wait. Was an inspiration to Jenna who went and bought the same book for herself.

Tips: I think the Caramel was slightly overcooked. I used mum and dad’s oven but will next time leave it in for slightly less time.

Music: Loud Genius of Sonia Dada.