What Kim Ate

I’m addicted to the green leaves of baby spinach.

Baby spinach, capsicum, tomato, egg and emmental cheese with balsamic vinaigrette.

Baby spinach, feta, sundried tomatoes and tuna with balsamic vinaigrette

We got silverbeet in our organic veggie box delivery this week. I’m not a fan, I’d much rather have spinach…

However, I made a Silverbeet and Potato soup and it was nom (maybe even nom nom). So if you already like Silverbeet it may even be nom nom nom.

Enjoy. (Thanks to Martha at NZ Lifestyle)

Silverbeet Soup

200g silver beet washed & chopped
400g diced potato
1 onion sliced
1 clove garlic sliced
6 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons lite sour cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Soften onion and garlic in oil in soup pan, add potato, cook until onion is soft. Add stock and silverbeet. Cook gently until potato is cooked. Puree with a food processor or kitchen wand. Add sour cream and parmesan.

Serve with toasted pitta or crusty bread.

Thomas made what is known in our house as Potato croutons to sprinkle on top (crunchy small pieces of potato roasted in the oven).

We had a fudge making session. What an awesome idea! The fudge that really stood out was the Russian Fudge made by Michelle and Catherine.

Image by dragonflyblue

Russian Fudge

3 1/2 cups White Sugar
125 g butter
3 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 g sweetened condensed milk (half a standard tin)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Method

Place all the ingredients except the vanilla, into a medium-heavy saucepan. Warm over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 15 — 20 minutes, until it reaches the soft ball stage (120°C).

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Beat (you can use an electric mixer) until the fudge is creamy and thick and has lost its gloss. Pour into a greased 20 cm cake pan. Score the top and break into pieces when cold.

*I’ve had trouble with the edmonds recipe but this one almost never fails. I find the trick to it is to keep the element at the same temperature, or on the same setting (low seems to be best on our gas hob), gently melting the ingredients together, stirring constantly, making sure the sugar dissolves. This makes for smoother, creamier fudge! YUM. It will come to boil on its own, in its own time, no need to turn the element up. Once it boils, try to stir it as little as possible, only to prevent it catching & burning. I put a drop into a glass of cold water to test for the soft ball stage.

Be sure to beat it well until quite thick & it will begin to set around the edges of the pot. Then you know it is ready :)

And never double the recipe!! This equals sure failure :P believe me!

(Recipe and comments from Jenna via Catherine)

I made ciabatta! It had a chewy crust and tasty crumb and everything!

The overall process is as follows (recipe adapted from here):

1. Make a sponge of yeast, water and flour. Leave it for 12-24 hours.
2. Make a dough by adding more yeast, milk, oil, flour, water and salt. Leave to rise.
3. Separate and shape dough loaves, being careful to preserve as much air as you can. Leave to rise.
4. Bake in the oven.

What You’ll Need

• 2½ tsp dry yeast
• 950g/3½ cups sifted bread flour (strong/high gluten)
• 5 tbs. warm milk
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 2-3 tsp. salt
• water
• Baking paper
• Baking/pizza stone (optional, can use a tray)

The Process

Make the sponge

• 1 tsp. dry yeast
• 250ml/1 cup warm water
• 350g/1½ cup sifted bread flour (strong/high gluten)

1. Take a medium sized bowl and add the warm water and yeast.
2. Leave it to sit for five minutes to go frothy (and thus prove the yeast is working).
3. Add the flour and stir together.
4. Cover with cling film and leave to sit in a coolish spot for 12-24 hours (not the fridge).

Make the dough

• 1½ tsp. dry yeast
• 5 tbs. warm milk
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 250ml/1 cup warm water
• 600g/3 cups sifted bread flour (strong/high gluten)
• 2-3 tsp. salt
• (possibly some additional warm water/flour to achieve the right consistency)

1. Take a large mixing bowl and add the warm milk and yeast.
2. Leave it to sit for five minutes to go frothy (and thus prove the yeast is working).
3. Add the sponge mixure, the oil and the water. Mix together.
4. Add the first two cups of the flour and the salt and mix together.
5. Keep adding flour until the dough gets to the right consistency. It should be quite moist but still possible to be worked by hand. (See notes below).
6. Knead the dough until it is nice and smooth.
7. Oil a large bowl, place the dough in it and cover.
8. Leave to rise in a warm place until tripled in size.

Create the loaves

From this stage on we want to do our best to keep as much air in the bread as possible. Don’t punch down or squash the dough, and try to minimise handling.

1. Lightly flour as many pieces of baking paper as you intend to make loaves. (This just makes it easier to handle.)
2. Divide the dough into 2-4 pieces (I suggest either flattish and rectangular or more loaf-like) and put one onto each piece of baking paper.
3. Cover and leave to rise for another hour or so.

Bake in the oven

1. Preheat oven and tray/baking stone to 200c.
2. Turn each each loaf upside down and transfer to another piece of baking paper (reuse the ones used so far).
3. Use the baking paper to transport the loaf to the oven.
4. Spray/brush the loaves with water three times within the first 10 minutes of cooking.
5. Cook for a total of 15-25 minutes (depending on loaf size) until bread turns golden.

All done. Eat the yummy bread!

Notes for next time

• I would like to increase the openness of the crumb (i.e. more holes). The advice I’ve seen indicates that you need to make the dough even wetter – but then it gets very hard to work. The suggestion was to knead the dough in the bowl (or use a mixer).
• Someone else suggested doubling the olive oil.

I made these Stained Glass Biscuits for a pot luck dinner we hosted last night.

They’re a little bit gimmicky but very fun to make. The recipe below is from OHbaby.

Lollies smashed up

See through biscuits!

My hints:

1. To smash lollies put them inside a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin. Otherwise you will be finding lollies bits all over your kitchen for weeks to come.

2. The larger holes seemed to work better.

3. Fill the holes completely with the lollies.

Ingredients:

• 125g Butter
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Golden Syrup
• 1 Egg
• 2 1/2 Cups Plain Flour
• 1 Tablespoon ground Ginger
• 1 Teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2 bags of Coloured Boiled Lollies

Method:
Beat butter, Brown Sugar and Golden Syrup until light and creamy. Add egg, beat well.

Stir flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into creamed mixture, mix until just combined.

Turn onto floured surface, knead 1 minute, adding a little extra flour if dough is sticky. Wrap dough in plastic wrap
and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to moderate 180C.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 4mm thick. Cut into large shapes as desired. Cut out a smaller shape in
centre of each. Place on baking tray lined with paper.

Finely chop or crush coloured boiled lollies. Spoon chopped lollies in heaped mounds into cut-out centre of dough
shapes.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool before moving.

Recipe sent in by Gemma Cartwright of Taranaki

It seems crazy to post about sorbet on one of the coldest days we’ve had in a while. Oh well, save this great recipe from the Mediterranean Food Warehouse for a nice sunny day!

The peach flavour is amazingly intense. The man at the Food Warehouse swears it’s because of the quality of the Spanish canned peaches that they supply. I’m sold.

Ingredients:
• Caster sugar 250g
• Water 125m1
• Spanish peaches 1 large tin drained reserving the syrup
• Lemon juice 2 tablespoons

Method:
Gently heat the caster sugar the water and the syrup until the sugar has dissolved.

Set aside to cool. This will make more syrup than you will require, but it can be used for other purposes.

Purée the peach halves with the lemon juice until smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove any lumps and hard bits. The ripeness of the fruit will dictate how much syrup to add. Start with 1/4 cup measures, then taste. Add a little more syrup when the required taste is achieved because the frozen sorbet is so cold, you need a little more syrup to bring out the fruit flavour.

Remember to let the sweetness work in contrast with tartness, which is achieved by adding a little more lemon juice. But don’t add so much that you overpower the fruit. If using an ice cream machine, churn the purée to the manufacturer’s instructions. Otherwise place the purée in a large dish and freeze.

Check it every 20 minutes and break up the crystals with a fork. When it has reached the desired consistency, place in an airtight container, smooth down and freeze until ready to use.

Sorbets should eaten immediately they are ready but at least within 2—3 days as they begin to lose their fresh flavour.

Serves 4 – 6

We successfully hunted paua.

Paua Sandwiches

You will need

* Two paua per person (legal size of course!)
* Lemon
* Herbs and flavourings of choice (lemon thyme, sage and garlic worked well)
* Butter
* Two slices of bread per person
* Frying pan
* Fire

Instructions

1. Remove the paua from shell by slipping a knife in and cutting through the muscle.
2. Remove icky bits, just leaving the large muscle.
3. Cut the paua into fine slices and put into a plastic bag.
4. Squeeze lemon into plastic bag and mix well.
5. Leave for a bit.
6. Butter the bread.
7. Fry the paua in the butter.
8. Add the herbs and garlic towards the end of the frying.
9. Put paua between bread and eat.

I made Berry Tarts from the Nov 2008 Taste magazine. The Tarts were nice but not nice enough to bother making again. The pastry cream that the tarts used was very, very good. I made another batch of it the next day and Thomas and I ate it without the Tarts.

Pastry Cream

- 250 ml milk
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 3 egg yolks
- 60g caster sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornflour

Heat milk with cinnamon quill in a saucepan. Bring to boiling point.

Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy. Whisk the hot milk into the egg mix.

Return the mixture to the saucepan, and whisk in the cornflour. Return to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes (or until thickens), whisking constantly. The pastry cream will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

This dip is a classic and so simple to make.

- 1 small cucumber, peeled and grated
- 300g of natural Greek yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place cucumber, yoghurt, parsely, garlic and black pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.
2. Cover and put in fridge for at least an hour before serving.
3. Serve with Turkish bread.

Much easier to make than I’d always supposed and much harder to photograph :-)

This lovely recipe bought to you from: How Stuff Works

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:

- 500 grams fresh spinach leaves
- 1/4cup butter
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190 C. Grease 1-1/2- or 2-quart soufflé dish; set aside.

2. Bring 1 quart salted water in 2-quart saucepan to a boil over high heat. Add spinach. Return to a boil and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach is crisp-tender. Drain spinach and immediately plunge into cold water. Drain again; let stand until cool enough to handle. Squeeze spinach to remove excess moisture. Finely chop spinach.

3. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat.

4. Stir egg yolks into saucepan until well blended. Add spinach and cheese; mix well.

5.Beat egg whites in clean large bowl with electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into spinach mixture until egg whites are evenly incorporated. Pour into prepared dish.

6.Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.