Pizza Pull Apart (Scrolls)

Pizza pull-aparts or scrolls

Okay. This is one of those recipes that builds on one you’ve seen here previously.

It’s not difficult, but can be fiddly. It’s certainly tasty and it can be as inexpensive as you want it to be.

Pizza pull-aparts or scrolls

It starts with a basic scone dough (biscuits for Americans) and gets creative soon after. It’s perfect for those days when you want something more substantial for lunch. It’s great for getting the kids involved if they’re underfoot too.

Also, if you have bits and bobs in the refrigerator that you want to use up, but which don’t really add up to a meal on their own…you know what I’m talking about.

Don’t you?

Moving on…

In other words this is more of a process than a recipe.

Start out by lining a cake tin with baking paper. It can be a square or round tin – it really doesn’t matter. If you find paper lining difficult, then grease it well instead. I find that paper makes it easier to remove the finished product when baked. 😉

Line a cake tin with parchment paper

Make yourself some scone dough but, instead of making it into scones, simply flatten it out into a vague rectangle shape. Use your hands and fingertips for this, there’s no need for a rolling pin. Try doing this on a little more silicon/baking/parchment paper sprinkled with flour. It will make rolling it up a little easier.

Press your dough out lightly into a rectangle.

The size of your rectangle will be determined by the thickness of your dough. Try to make it an even thickness all over – about 1 cm or ¼ inch. Try also not to make it too narrow a rectangle. You will be rolling it up and you want to fit a few turns into it!

Turn your oven on and set it to 220°C/450°F.

Spread your dough with a base flavouring. Tomato paste will work, as will pizza sauce. I find tomato-based spreads far too sweet for me and instead use a roasted capsicum spread called Ajvar that I was introduced to by some Macedonian friends (and now I’m hooked!) It’s something that is big among the former Yugoslavian nations, although I understand the Italians produce something similar – although I don’t know what it’s called.

Spread your base with something tasty.

You may use whatever you like.

Basically you are simply adding a moist base for the rest of your fillings and ensuring that there will be no dry stretches of dough in the finished product. Try using barbecue sauce, basil pesto, olive tapenade or a chutney instead.

You’ll find it much easier to spread if you use a spoon rather than a knife to spread it. Scoop it out onto the dough and then use the back of the spoon’s bowl to spread it.

Now scatter with some grated/shredded cheese.

Add some shredded cheese.

Then get creative. This is where you can use the waifs and strays in your refrigerator. You won’t want to put too much on, or it will make the rolling process more difficult.

Add whatever you might add to a pizza: deli meats like salami or shredded ham, chop up a bacon rasher or two and scatter over, if you have some BBQ/rotisserie chicken in the fridge, dice it up and scatter it over. If you are vegetarian, try adding some chick peas/garbanzos or even some kidney beans. You won’t need much.

Add whatever fillings tickle your fancy.

Then add some diced vegetables, I’ve added capsicum/bell pepper in the photo above. Slice a mushroom or two, confetti it with sliced black olives or – and this is yummy – slowly fry some sliced onions or leeks in butter until soft and starting to caramelise, drain on paper towel and add generously.

It’s completely up to you.

If you want to, at this stage you could just place it on a tray and bake it like a standard pizza. It will take 20 minutes at least.

Or you can go on to roll it up like a Swiss Roll, lifting the long edge nearest to you and rolling away. Make it as tight as you can, but try not to put holes in the dough. If you have used a piece of paper beneath it, then use that to help you with the rolling. Some of your filling will inevitably escape from the long end or pop out the short ends. Don’t panic. Push them back in if you can, or consider them a Cook’s treat for while it all bakes.

Roll it as tightly as you can, while still being gentle with the dough.

Then slice into even pieces. I cut it in the middle, then divide each half in half, and so on. Aim for 8 to 9 pieces. Be careful to slice and not chop your roll, you don’t want to squash it beyond recognition. (If you do squash it, don’t worry too much. The taste won’t be affected.)

Divide into even-ish slices.

Now transfer the pieces into your cake tin. Start in the middle and work your way outward in a daisy formation. Be sure to grip the open edge closed as you lift it. It will end up looking a bit like this.

Ready for the oven.

Place it in the top third of the oven and bake for 20 mins before rotating the tin and baking for another 20 mins. It will be done when a toothpick or skewer inserted in a doughy part in the centre comes out clean.

You could sprinkle more cheese over the top at the half way mark if you wish.

The finished result.

Lift it out and serve immediately for best results. Alternatively, wrap in a clean tea towel to cool, and it will be excellent cold for school lunches or a picnic. The cloth covering keeps the steam in and the quickbread soft.

For a slightly crunchy variation, sprinkle some polenta or cornmeal on your surface before you start to press out your scone dough.

Experiment and enjoy!

0 Comments Leave a comment

Frozen yoghurt

In Australia at the moment – to quote Robin Williams’s character in Good Morning Vietnam – “It’s hot! Damn hot!”

It’s hot Down Under.

Which means it would be nice to have something to cool down with, especially with the kids home from school for another week.

Even better, it wouldn’t be so bad to have something the kids could participate in actually making. Something which takes minutes and which wouldn’t end with them climbing the walls on added sugars and artificial colours and flavours.

Ta da!

Ladies and gents, if you’ve been following my latest posts about making yoghurt, then I’m guessing there’s some lurking in your refrigerator right about now. How about using it to make some fruit-flavoured frozen yoghurt with – wait for it! – real fruit and real yoghurt?!

Well, why not?

All you’ll need is some frozen fruit, some yoghurt and something to sweeten it with.

Mango frozen yoghurt.

Unfortunately, this is one of the rare recipes on this site that actually requires a particular appliance. Sorry. You’ll need a food processor.

You could try making this in smaller batches using a stick blender, but I give no guarantees.

So, find yourself some fruit. If you are in a screaming hurry to do this, you can easily purchase bags of frozen berries from the supermarket. If you must. However, it’s summer, there are oodles of different fruits in season right now and going for a song. My local green grocer is selling mangoes for 50 cents each.

A gorgeously ripe, in-season mango.

So, I bought a few, peeled and sliced them up and popped them in a ziploc bag in the freezer overnight. Just before Christmas I did the same with a punnet of strawberries I found on sale. Here’s how to go about it if you’ve never done it before.

1. Wash your fruit.

Wash your fruit well and allow to drain.

2. Cut out any soft bits (especially with strawberries) and slice up larger fruits, like mangoes.

Prepare your fruit so you freeze only the best bits.

3. Put them into something you can seal well. A tupperware freezer container or ziploc bag will do nicely. Squeeze out all the air you can from bags, if using. Then freeze.

Seal into an airtight container and freeze.

Simple.

Now to make your frozen yoghurt you’ll need to set up your food processor with the metal blade. The plastic one won’t work.

Trust me on this.

Add your frozen fruit.

Place your frozen fruit in the food processor bowl.

Blitz for about 30 seconds, or until decently pulverised. Add a good drizzle of sweetener: this can be honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, golden syrup or even a few heaping spoonfuls of brown sugar.

At this point, it’s important to bear in mind the properties of your fruit. The coldness of the dish will affect your perception of its sweetness, it will seem much less sweet. The strawberries in the pictures were passing sweet at room temperature (the way I like them) but were pretty tart in their frozen state. They needed a fair whack of honey to make them palatable at sub-zero temperatures.

Now add your cold, straight-out-of-the-refrigerator, yoghurt all at once and blitz again for about a minute.

Add your yoghurt and blitz.

Taste for sweetness.

The frozen fruit will have caused the yoghurt to start to freeze and your mixture should resemble soft-serve ice cream already. Feel free to eat it immediately. 😉

The finished product.

Alternatively, place it in a container in your freezer. This mixture will set quite solidly as it is lacking the additives that commercial blends have and which make them scoop-able straight from the freezer.

Take it out of the freezer about 20 mins before you are wanting to serve it. So, if you want it for dessert, take it out as you serve up your main meal…

This firm setting property makes it ideal for popsicles, paddlepops or ice lollies though! Pour your mixture into moulds and you’ve got the ideal cool down when your kids come back from their first stinking hot days of an Australian school year.

The popsicle moulds were bought at Aldi...

These popsicle moulds were bought at Aldi…

Better yet, they can help with pretty much every aspect of making the things – short of using the food processor. Just be prepared for some mess…

Frozen Fruit Yoghurt

Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

300g frozen fruit

500g chilled yoghurt (Greek, full fat, skim, soy, whatever…)

3 tablespoons honey or to taste. (You can substitute maple syrup, agave syrup, golden syrup or corn syrup if you wish)

Method

Fit the metal chopping blade into a food processor.

Add your frozen fruit and pulse for around 30 seconds or until the fruit has a relatively even texture. One or two larger pieces just add interest to the finished product.

Add your sweetener and pulse briefly.

Add all your yoghurt and blend until smooth.

May be served immediately, or frozen for several weeks in a sealed container.

Remove from the freezer at least 20 minutes before serving (or risk tears and sprained wrists).

Variation: Pour into popsicle moulds for individual treats. If you don’t have any moulds, then try using small plastic cups or tumblers with a paddle pop stick inserted into the mixture.

Run hot water around the outside of the mould to help release the treat.

0 Comments Leave a comment

How to make Yoghurt

My latest batch of homemade yoghurt

Making yoghurt is one of the simplest things you will ever do. Trust me.

If you have a large family that loves the stuff, it will also be one of the most frugal things you ever do. Indeed, once you’ve got the process down, you can start getting them to take over from you.

The key to all of this is to remember that yoghurt has been around since the Stone Age.

It’s not complicated.

My latest batch of homemade yoghurt

Mind you, there’s a few things we do for safety now, that weren’t done then – and our implements look a little different – but it’s still pretty much the same. All of which means that it’s pretty much idiot-proof.

To make yoghurt, you will need milk (cow’s milk, goat’s milk, soy milk) and either culture or starter. This post will use starter.

Find a plain yoghurt you like and that can be your starter. Hard, isn’t it?

Okay, I’ve been told to be more serious. Ahem.

All yoghurts contain bacteria which have digested the natural sugars in the milk and helped to transform the proteins. (For more detail read Yoghurt 101.) When you decide that you wish to try making this all happen under your roof, you’ll need to start by getting yourself some yoghurt.

In the chiller section of the supermarket you will find myriad yoghurts ranging from low-fat to sugar-free and everything in between. What you need to look for is a small tub of natural yoghurt.

When you find one, look at the ingredients label. It should contain nothing more than milk, milk products and cultures.

Greek yoghurt label

If your label says live cultures, then that’s even better.

You don’t need anything that has stabilisers or food numbers on it. Those ingredients are used to thicken the final result. They often do not have the required numbers of bacteria in them and, if you were to use that product as your starter, you would end up with something that resembles cultured buttermilk and you would hate me forever. Don’t do that.

See the additives. Avoid. The blurring is the label, not my photography…

Also, be aware that Greek yoghurt is not only a type but is also a method of making yoghurt. Use it as your starter by all means, but it will not set firmly. If you prefer the taste of Greek yoghurts to those formed with L.acidophilus then make your yoghurt from it, but know that it will require straining to achieve the firmness of the yoghurt in the tub you have purchased.

This isn’t at all difficult, but you may wish to try something that will give setting satisfaction first. 😉

If you find locating something this simple and unadulterated difficult to do, then try using a packet mix yoghurt for your first shot and putting aside some of that as your starter. Be pragmatic.

Packet yoghurt mixes can be handy but not terribly economical…

As an aside, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with using powdered mixes like these. Just be aware that they also use stabilisers – which can exacerbate some allergies. Also, there is no budgetary advantage to doing so. A packet of yoghurt mix costs around AUD$4.50 as does a litre of yoghurt at the supermarket. A litre of milk costs $1 or so. If you have several children eating several kilograms of yoghurt a week, making your own from scratch is much more economical.

Yoghurt will last for quite some time when properly stored in a refrigerator, but you need your starter to be relatively fresh so check the dates on any fresh yoghurt you may buy.

Next, you will need to get your milk and equipment all in the one place.

You will need:

a large saucepan or pyrex jug,
a thermometer (or your clean finger),
a small bowl,
a dessertspoon,
a whisk or fork,
a large bowl or covered container,
something to keep your yoghurt warm in.

Make sure everything is as clean as possible. The only bacteria you want to grow is that in the yoghurt culture.

Now, heat your milk. If it is raw milk it is safest to bring it to a boil (at least 85°C or 180°F) and then let it cool to the desired temperature. If you do this on the stove top, use a large saucepan and watch it carefully to avoid having the milk boil over.

Otherwise, you can heat your already pasteurised milk in the microwave using a large Pyrex jug – which is my preferred method.

I heat my yoghurt in the microwave, using a large pyrex jug.

It’s much easier to wash up the jug, I find, and then pouring it into the container in which I want it to ferment is much easier than pouring it from a saucepan. One litre of milk straight out of the refrigerator needs only 3-4 minutes on HIGH in my microwave and then I can place it on my counter and wait for it to cool down.

Allow your milk to cool to between 47°C (116°F) and 32°C (90°F). You can use a thermometer to test this or wash your hands and use a finger – since the Stone Ages, remember? – dip in a finger and count to ten, the milk will feel uncomfortably hot, but bearable.

This is important. Yoghurt bacteria are like yeast. Too hot and the bacteria will die, too cold and they will remain dormant.

While you are waiting for your milk to cool, place two dessertspoons of your starter culture into a small bowl. A good rule of thumb is one dessertspoonful (2 teaspoons) of starter for each 500ml of milk.

Pace your starter culture into a small clean bowl.

Then, when your milk has cooled sufficiently, place half a cup or so into the bowl and whisk well.

You want the result to be quite smooth.

Blend your culture thoroughly into a small amount of warmed milk.

It won’t break, there’s no need to be delicate.

Blend well.

Now reintroduce the liquid in the bowl to the rest of the warmed milk, again blending well.

Introduce your culture mix to the rest of the milk and blend well.

You’re pretty much done. Now all you need to do is maintain the temperature for 6 to 8 hours. My mother used to put the mix in a bowl with its own lid, wrap it in a towel and place in on the internal water heater overnight. I know some people swear by placing their yoghurt into an oven with just the pilot light on.

You could place it into a thermos or vacuum flask.

Some place their heated milk into a preheated crockpot or slowcooker. To do this preheat your slow cooker on High but switch it off when you add your yoghurt mixture and then wrap the whole thing in a towel overnight.

You could place your sealed container into a foam insulated box, esky, cooler box or chilly bin with a filled hot water bottle for company.

I use a commercial yoghurt making device that is a simple, plastic-covered foam flask.

The yoghurt ‘flask’

I place my yoghurt mix into a plastic container with a screwtop lid, half fill the flask with boiling water, pop the container in, put on the lid of the flask and leave it overnight.

You simply half fill it with boiling water.

Add boiling water and then your yoghurt mixture.

I like using this because it’s so convenient. Firstly, I can simply take the set yoghurt out in the morning, wipe off the container and put it in the fridge as it is. Secondly, the flask itself takes up very little room and can be popped in a corner, on the dining table or anywhere else with very little trouble.

I will be offering one of these in a competition for my readers in the next few days.

I also like not having large containers of warm liquid to juggle (and most likely spill everywhere).

It is far better to make smaller amounts of yoghurt often, rather than large amounts infrequently. Your yoghurt depends on the freshness of the starter culture so, if you keep your own stocks ticking over, you will be able to continue using your own yoghurt as a starter for longer.

It’s also easier to cope with a litre or two at a time in your refrigerator than it is to cope with a gallon of it. Trust me.

Make up your yoghurt of an evening and it will be ready for the refrigerator first thing in the morning. Try not to leave it to ferment for any longer or it will become quite sour. Go about your day and let it set – leave it alone.

That evening it will be ready for you to strain off the whey, divide for portable lunches or breakfasts, flavour or use in other recipes.

Just remember to put a few spoonfuls aside to start off your next batch!

You may wish to enrich your yoghurt with milk powder or cream. This isn’t necessary, but it can give you a much firmer yoghurt. I shall include instructions for how to do this in the recipe below, but plain old milk is fine. 🙂

I will be posting a few ideas for how to use your yoghurt in the near future.

How to make Yoghurt

Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

I litre fresh milk

¼ cup skim or full cream milk powder

1-2 tablespoons fresh commercial yoghurt

Method

Rinse all equipment in boiling water to sterilise.

Heat-proof glass mason jars with loose fitting lids are ideal for incubating and storing your yoghurt.

Pour milk into a saucepan and then blend in the powdered milk until thoroughly dissolved.

Bring gently to a boil.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool until tepid – 45°C.

Place your culture into a small bowl and add ½ a cup of your cooled milk. Blend well with a fork or a whisk.

Reintroduce this mixture to the rest of your heated milk. Again, stir well.

Pour the culture mix into an incubating container and keep warm for at least 6 hours.

Do not disturb your yoghurt while it is setting!

When the yoghurt is set it will have a thin layer of clear, yellowish liquid surrounding it. This is whey and is perfectly normal (and edible).

Place your containers into the refrigerator to cool and set more firmly.

When you wish to eat the yoghurt, you may stir in the whey (it is high in protein) or strain.

Reserve several tablespoons of your yoghurt to act as your starter in your next batch.

Looking for things to make with your yoghurt? Try these:

Frozen yoghurt

2 Comments Leave a comment

Yoghurt 101

A Potted (Yoghurt) History

Yoghurt is a food that has been with us for millennia – at least since we started collecting milk from animals and storing it for any length of time.

It’s a foodstuff that started out big in Central Asian cultures back in the Neolithic (ah, the good old days!) and which has really only spread into the Western world since the 1900s.

I know. Weird, eh?

Coz it feels like it’s always just been a thing.

Basically, someone (somewhere) kept some milk at a warm enough temperature that the bacteria it carried started to multiply and change the proteins of the milk. They then tasted it and decided it was good.

They were right.

Make your own yoghurt in next to no time.

What is yoghurt?

It’s highly nutritious and endlessly delicious. High in protein, tolerated well by people who may usually have difficulties with ingesting dairy products and full of microbes that may help a gut worn down by living and digesting in the modern world.

That last bit, my friends, means that eating yoghurt can help you, as a denizen of the modern-day, get some of your zing back while adding a tang to your diet.

It’s also incredibly easy to make – takes me 5 mins work and a few hours waiting – and can be made at a marked saving from buying commercially produced stuff.

Which is also good, because you can never be quite sure just what is in that tub of yoghurt you’ve just brought home from the supermarket, especially when food numbers get involved.

SAfety concerns

This last bit is really very important. Milk naturally contains many different types of bacteria – there are the ones that make yoghurt and there may also be the ones responsible for listeria, salmonella, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, brucellosis, and Q-fever as well as your good, old-fashioned e coli. Milk is a highly pathogenic liquid, keep it warm enough and all of those bacteria will grow – right alongside the beneficial bacteria that turn it into yoghurt.

In Australia, all commercial milk is pasteurised to render these bacteria harmless and thereby extend the life of the milk and protect the population from preventable diseases.

So, in ancient times, one could simply have left a bowl of milk somewhere warm and it would have become yoghurt all on its own without any real human intervention. Equally, it could have turned into yoghurt with a strong TB flavour and just a soupçon of salmonella. This can also happen today with raw milk.

All raw milk must be heated to kill the native bacteria. Boil it and then cool before adding your culture.

Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

Why make your own?

Umm…because?

Yoghurt is one of those things that can save you a small fortune if you are a large user. A litre of milk costs $1 in many supermarkets at the moment and a kilogram of plain, natural or Greek yoghurt can cost between $4 and $5.

Flavoured and diet yoghurts often contain more stabilisers and sweeteners than they do actual nourishment in the form of milk proteins.

Check out this video from our wonderful consumer advisers at the ABC’s The Checkout.

Apart from the sugar or artificial sweeteners, you are also looking at maize thickeners, and other thickeners made with soy-based lecithin, agar agar (406) and caraganeen(407). Not to mention a whole host of other things I could not hope to cover adequately here.

Note the numbers on this supposedly natural yoghurt.

These are often added to low or no fat yoghurts to remediate the texture of the product once the fats have been removed. The fat gives it the thick creamy texture that feels so good in your mouth, remove that and it becomes a somewhat thinner liquid with a greatly diminished taste.

However, if you make yoghurt with skim milk there are other ways to make it thicker without adding emulsifiers or stabilisers – and I will show them to you.

This is what the ingredients list on natural yoghurt should look like:

Greek yoghurt label

As you can see it contains milk, milk products and some latin words which name the cultures it contains.

You can use this yoghurt to make your own at home. You can then go on to make flavoured yoghurt for school lunches etc.

How to make your own yoghurt.

In order to make your own yoghurt, you need milk. This can be Cow’s milk, goat’s milk or even Soy Milk. You may wish to enrich your milk by adding cream or well-dissolved powdered milk.

You also need cultures. The four main commercial bacterial strains used in this country are: Lactobacillus acidophilis, L. bifidus, L. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus.

The last two are most often seen together in Greek yoghurts.

You can buy cultures online, or you can buy a tub of natural yoghurt at your supermarket and use a few spoonfuls of that. The fresher the culture the better your chances of achieving a good set.

You will need something to heat your milk in, something to measure the heat of the milk with and something to store your yoghurt in as it ferments.

Basically, you warm your milk, stir in the culture and leave it to sit overnight.

So, you will also need either a warm place or a way to maintain the heat of your yoghurt for at least 6-8 hours.

My mother used to mix her yoghurt in a bowl, wrap it in a towel and place it on the (internal) hot water heater overnight.

You could place your yoghurt in a thermos or vacuum flask, in a small foam cooler with a hot water bottle, you might even use a slow cooker turned to low, or place it in the oven with just the pilot light on. There is no need for fancy electronic yoghurt-making gadgets that make it all seem so very difficult. Really, truly.

The yoghurt ‘flask’

I actually use a yoghurt maker that is nothing more than an insulated flask. It’s meant to be used with powdered yoghurt-making mixes, but works just as well with the technique I will describe in my next post (this one has been long enough!).

Add boiling water and then your yoghurt mixture.

I’m planning on giving one of these away shortly, so stay tuned. There will also be quite a few posts to come which will show many different uses of your yoghurt that go beyond a breakfast item.

My latest batch of homemade yoghurt

0 Comments Leave a comment

Basics – How to boil an egg

Egg cups don't have to be fancy and can help build vocabulary...

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be writing about boiling eggs, I should have declared them mad, MAD I tell you!

I hated boiled eggs with a passion. The smell mostly. The texture of the whites was also quite off-putting.

Apparently, it all harks back to when I was an infant and my mother was advised to feed me coddled eggs. In our particular case it was a raw egg, just heated.

Eww.

However, I decided a year or so ago that I was now quite a long way from being an infant and really should demonstrate my adulthood and try again.

It took quite some time to find a method that worked and didn’t result in broken shells, or rubbery eggs. Or stink the house out.

Mind you, I still can only palate them if they are accompanied by Vegemite toast.

Anyway, here goes. This method is the one I have settled on. It results in much less – ahem – aroma and the shell stays intact until I want it broken.

I keep half a dozen eggs on my counter in a cute little china egg carton thingy I found at 70% off in a kitchen wares shop.

A frippery.

This way, I always have a room temperature egg to begin with (reduces risk of breaking) as well as some ready for spur-of-the-moment baking.

If you live in America, this may not be advisable, read this article for why. If you wish to have one for breakfast though, try making a note to get one out of the fridge the night before…

So, place your egg in a small saucepan and cover with tepid water.

Cover your egg with coldish water

Place the lid on your saucepan and bring it to a boil.

Once it reaches boiling point, and by this I mean a nice rolling boil and not just a simmer, take the whole thing off the heat. Put your saucepan elsewhere and leave the lid on.

Set a timer for three minutes, for well set whites and soft but not runny yolks. If you are having toast, put it on to cook now. 🙂

When your timer goes off, retrieve your egg from the water. The water will still be hot. Please be careful. Sigh.

I bought myself this rather nifty scoop from Kmart for $2. It saves my fingers every time. I scoop my egg out and roll it into a waiting tea towel – because it’s HOT.

Scoop out the egg.

I place the scoop straight into the cutlery holder to dry and simply empty the saucepan and place it onto the rack to drain. If you wish to do the full washing up thing with them though, then by all means feel free…

Now you can go about getting into your egg however you want. I’m going to describe my boiled egg ritual for those who are also uncertain and for those who know nothing of this strange foodstuff.

I’ve invested in a few ‘egg only’ gadgets in the last year. I’m quite clumsy with my MS and that often doesn’t exist comfortably alongside delicate items like, oh I don’t know…eggs, maybe? Hot eggs?

Egg cups don’t have to be fancy and can help build vocabulary…

Also, I had that whole not liking them thing and anything to make the process more pleasant really helped me get over the ick factor.

And I can work eBay. ‘Nuff said.

So, I pop my egg into an egg cup that I got from the great emporium that is Kmart and then cut off its top with this egg topper thing that makes the world a nicer place to be – especially first thing in the morning.

My MS-proof egg topper

It basically cracks the shell all the way around, without piercing the egg itself,

enabling you to insert a knife into the break and cut the top off, without getting shell all the way through your egg.

This is important to the boiled egg phobic amongst us. Really.

Once my egg has lost its cap,

My ideal 3 minute egg

I remove it from the shell using a little egg spoon I found on the aforementioned eBay.

That would be the one on the left. It fits perfectly inside the shell, scooping out the egg easily without crushing the shell to pieces and getting it all through the egg.

One shell without its egg

I’m sure you could just eat the egg straight out of the shell with it, but I use it to scoop the whole thing out and put it on my plate with my toast. Then I mash it onto my toast with a fork.

Because I can.

Breakfast: Boiled egg and Vegemite toast fingers.

You may wish to dip your toast fingers (soldiers) into a runny soft boiled egg. Try only cooking it for 2 minutes.

Experiment to find the timing that works best for you. Larger eggs will take longer to cook, as will eggs that are straight out of the refrigerator; you be the judge.

If you want a hard-boiled egg for a cold lunch, cook it for at least 4 mins and then put it into a bowl of cold water immediately afterwards. It will be a lot easier to peel and not have that green circle around the yolk that happens sometimes.

Oh… and if you happen to be eating on your deck and then you happen to end up with just a touch of Vegemite on your fingertip, then I suggest sharing it with your cat¹. The B vitamins are great for their coat – and their tongues tickle.

Truffles’s daily vitamins.

Good kitty.

¹I’m sure this will work just as well for dogs.

0 Comments Leave a comment

Orange-Ginger Biscotti

Orange Ginger Biscotti

This is the biscotti that I love the most and I post it here especially for my friends, Angelina and Carolyn.

I think they love it almost as much as I do.

Orange Ginger Biscotti

I’ve mentioned before that I am a ginger fiend and this contains tiny little specks of absolute deliciousness in the form of some of Buderim’s best.

But more on that later.

I discovered this recipe on www.foodfit.com, according to the printout I have in my Biscotti file.

My Biscotti file.

The thing is though…it doesn’t seem to be there any more. It’s disappeared sometime in the last 8 years or so.

Too spooky for me, as The Boy would say.

Never mind, I’m about to pop it up here for all of you wonderful people to enjoy and especially for Angelina and Carolyn. 🙂

This biscotti recipe uses crystallised ginger cut into tiny little pieces. I prefer to use Buderim’s Naked Ginger, which is the same sort of thing but without the traditional coating of sugar.

Buderim Crystallised ginger

I find it not only reduces the sweetness a little (of course) but also makes it much easier to cut up! I don’t end up with sugar clinging to my fingers and my knife/scissor blade and sticking to everything…

Sugar, sugar everywhere…

It’s just nicer. I also like to use a few pieces of this particular product snipped up (using kitchen shears) into my breakfast yoghurt or porridge. However, for this post, I used the regular stuff for those of you who don’t have access to Buderim’s products. (I’m so sorry for you all!)

But back to the biscotti.

It’s relatively easy to make. The flour, sugar, ginger and white pepper are all sifted together.

The original recipe called for black pepper, but I think white pepper is better, aesthetically-speaking.

The biscotti nibbler isn’t distracted from the jewel-like flecks of ginger in their biscuit by little black specks…

Hmmm, is it just me?

Sift together your flour and spices.

Stir them up a bit. Then add the orange zest and finely chopped ginger.

Add the zest and the finely chopped ginger.

Stir it up a bit more. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together 3 large eggs and 4 tablespoons of the oranges’ juice.

Make a well in your flour and add the liquid to the dry.

Add your egg mix to your flour mix…

Mix well, until it forms a stiff dough.

I have to admit that I have NEVER made a stiff dough with this recipe. Ever.

It usually looks like this:

This is a dough that is somewhat less than stiff…

According to the recipe, I should then put the batter on a lightly sugared surface and divide and roll it into 4 pieces.

Nothing is ever not going to happen like that isn’t. It doesn’t need the extra sugar, for a start.

I simply line a baking tray with silicon paper and then scoop the batter out onto it in two roughly straight bits. Like this:

Let’s just say we rolled them in sugar and stuff, okay?

No-one has ever complained that my biscotti are not geometrically perfect. They know better than to speak with their mouths full.

It is then baked in a moderately hot oven for 15 mins, during which the ‘logs’ double in width (and the scraggy edges kind of smooth out). When they are firm to the touch, they get taken out and cooled on racks for about 15 mins.

See? They look okay, don’t they?

During the cooling period the oven is also turned down a tad.

When your logs are cool to the touch, that is the time to wield your serrated knife. With gusto.

The importance of the serrated knife is explained here.

Slice (saw) your biscotti into slices about 1 cm or ½ an inch thick. Traditionally this is done on a slant, you don’t have to follow tradition. If you’d prefer straight and not diagonal slices, then go for it.

Slice your biscotti.

Your biscotti will seem somewhat cake-like, be gentle with them.

They are now placed back onto the baking trays and popped back into the oven for another 10 mins, until golden brown. If they aren’t getting to be crisp, then turn them over and pop them back in for another 5-10 mins.

Ready for the second baking.

When they are getting to golden, take them out. Remember they will continue to harden after they are taken out of the oven.

Place back on the cake racks and cool completely. Then dunk them in something worthy of them.

Prepare to munch.

I’m going to reproduce the recipe as it is in my biscotti file, but if you don’t have a firm dough and don’t want to make play-do type sugar-coated sausages with it, then see above.

Orange-Ginger Biscotti

Servings: 40
Time: 90 mins
Difficulty: medium
Print

Orange-Ginger Biscotti

2½ cups plain flour

1 cup sugar

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda (bi carb)

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper (black or white, your choice)

pinch salt

3 fresh oranges (zest and juice)

3 large eggs

¾ cup finely chopped candied ginger

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/350ºF.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment or baking paper. (Don’t skip this, it will get messy.)

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, soda, ground ginger and pepper.

Add 1 tablespoon of orange zest to the bowl along with the finely chopped candied ginger. Mix.

Squeeze your oranges and strain and reserve 4 tablespoons of the juice.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the juice and eggs together.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a stiff dough forms.

Scrape dough onto a lightly sugared work surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece with the palm of your hands into a log slightly shorter than your baking sheet.

Place two logs on each baking sheet, several inches apart. The logs will double in width during baking.

Bake for 15 mins, or until the logs feel set or firm to the touch.

Place the baking sheet on a cake rack and allow to cool.

Reset your oven to 150ºC/300ºF.

When your logs are cool to the touch, place them on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice them into 1cm/½ inch wide diagonal slices.

Lay the biscotti out onto papered baking trays in a single layer and bake for a further 10-15 mins, until they are dry and lightly toasted.

Place on racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Will keep at least 2 weeks.

4 Comments Leave a comment

Sugar Body Scrub

A non-food item from the Budget Bounty kitchen today.

Two reasons:

It’s too hot, and
I’m tired of cooking.
So there.

Instead, here’s something to contribute to a bit of self-pampering. It’s also a great DIY gift idea for kids to make for future Christmas or birthday gifts.

Sugar Scrub…

A few years back, sugar scrubs were on sale everywhere.

A few years back I was wondering why anyone would buy something that was so simple and inexpensive to make…

At this time of year skin suffers.

Whether you are in the summer of the Southern Hemisphere, or in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, you are more than likely to be having some dry skin issues right about now. Dull, itchy skin does not a good holiday season make.

Take a few minutes and some affordable ingredients and make yourself a nice exfoliating/moisturising scrub for your morning tub.

All you need is some sugar and some Sorbolene.

Really truly.

Sorbolene is a great all-round moisturiser as well as often being recommended for treating dermatitis and eczema. It is quite affordable and I can usually buy mine in 2 litre bottles for less than AUD $10. These bottles last for years at a time…

It also works far better here than more expensive lotions. These tend to separate; you will end up with a container half-filled with a concrete-like sugar substance and half-filled with water.

Don’t do that.

Get yourself a container in which to put some sugar. You want something with a wide mouth that you can fit your hand into. I use an old Tupperware microwave container, but a wide-mouthed jar or a plastic takeaway container would also do.

A very old Tupperware microwave container.

Whatever you choose, make sure it has a tight-fitting lid. This will be living near your shower if you are anything like me, and you will be wanting to keep it relatively water free.

Fill your container ¾ full of plain, white, table sugar.

Put some sugar into your container.

Now, if you wish, you might want to add a few drops of essential oil. I don’t particularly like the smell of Sorbolene, so a few drops of a scented oil make this a much nicer product for me.

Don’t compromise and use any old scented ‘oil’ that you’ve spent mere dollars on here. Essential oils are expensive, but you use them a drop or two at a time and they will last for years if stored correctly. In my small collection I have a bottle that I’ve had for 20 years; it’s only half full now but still smells as wonderful as the day I bought it.

Go to a local health food shop or similar and look at the range – both scents and prices. A lavender oil isn’t going to cost you as much as a Damascus Rose oil, and Peppermint Oil will cost even less.

It’s up to you which scent you get. Do a bit of research on aromatherapy using the interwebz, if that’s something you think you’d like to pursue. One school of thought has it that citrus scents help us to wake faster and feel happier, so if you are a morning grump some grapefruit oil in your morning shower scrub might help you along…

My little stash of essential oils.

Also, be aware that some oils may interfere with medications when absorbed through the skin and some should not be used in certain situations such as pregnancy. Check with the person you are buying them from.

If you can’t make up your mind, try sandalwood oil. It’s a nice starting scent and has been used as a perfume since forever (actual archaeological term).

So, shake a few drops of oil onto your sugar. I mean a few. These oils have a very strong scent.

Add a few drops of scented oil to your sugar if you wish.

You’ll be able to see the oil against the sugar as in the photo above.

Use a fork to break up the lump that will form with the oil and mix it through the rest of the sugar.

Now add your Sorbolene a tablespoonful at a time, mixing thoroughly with your fork.

Add your Sorbolene bit by bit…

It will start to come together. Continue adding the lotion until you have something that resembles toothpaste in consistency.

You’re looking for something that looks like a gritty toothpaste.

And you’re done.

If you are making it as a gift, feel free to add some food colouring to pretty it up a bit. See the pic at the top where my hand slipped and too much colouring went in…

To use, simply get under the shower and apply by rubbing onto your wet skin. The sugar will exfoliate and remove any rough or dry skin patches and the sorbolene will trap moisture and leave you feeling silky smooth all day.

The best part is that you won’t have to skimp on using it because it is so simple and affordable to make!

This scrub can also be made using oil instead of Sorbolene, but that will add considerably to the cost and may make your bath/shower quite slippery and dangerous for you (or anyone who uses it after you!).

You may also wish to try using table salt instead of sugar. This is NOT something that everyone could tolerate. Make a small test sample and try it somewhere that isn’t too sensitive before you go making a big batch for all over use.

You have been warned.

And a brief reminder, this is a Body scrub. It’s not advised to use this on the delicate skin of the face…

2 Comments Leave a comment

December 18, 2014

Sharon

Christmas biscotti platter

Christmas is the time of year I start baking hard, thick, crunchy, chunky, seemingly inedible biscuits and giving large amounts of them to my friends.

No. I’m not mad.

Christmas biscotti platter

Biscotti is an Italian word that shows the origin of the English word ‘biscuit.’ Basically it means cooked twice, like rusks or zwieback (also meaning cooked twice), which is why the American use of the word continues to confuse me…

Moving on from etymology, these things are wonderful. Really truly.

They started out in the dim, dark pages of history as a way of making food travel-proof. Dry out your bread and it won’t go mouldy. Simple. Think, ships’ biscuits and Horatio Hornblower. Which means you can make them now and happily eat them in a month’s time.

Biscotti came into my life about 8 years ago and, from then on, I just wanted to share the joy.

A thick, sticky dough is mixed, shaped into logs, baked in a moderately hot oven for a bit, allowed to cool, cut into thick slices (about ½ an inch thick), baked in a slightly cooler oven for a second time until thoroughly dried out and then kept in an air-tight container until dunked into a warm beverage – usually coffee, but tea and hot chocolate rock too – and then delighted in tremendously.

first baking…

Italian friends tell me that they also work well dipped in a glass of vin santo …

They usually contain nuts, like whole blanched almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios, dried fruit, like cranberries and, sometimes, coconut. They are also quite low in fat as most recipes contain neither butter nor oil. They do contain lots of flour and quite a bit of sugar though, so don’t go thinking of them as anything resembling a health food.

That said, a biscotto is not something you would inhale in the way you might a sweet biscuit or cookie, so you are less likely to start scoffing them down in large quantities. One will usually be sufficient.

There are endless variations. It all depends on your imagination and your knife.

To make biscotti you need a good, serrated knife.

Now, that’s a knife…

If you don’t have one, then tears will be the inevitable outcome. I speak from experience.

You are baking something so that it will be crunchy; if you then try slicing that it will simply disintegrate into (delicious) crumbs under your blade. That is bad.

A serrated knife is the only thing that will save your biscuits and your sanity.

Slicing biscotti

Get one. That is all.

Once your biscotti are thoroughly baked and cooled, they will keep for Aeons in an airtight container.

Really!

Well, quite a number of weeks anyway.

Which is why they make such great Christmas gifts.

I figure that most of the people I know already have all the ‘stuff’ they could possibly need and don’t really need to find the space for yet another knick knack they don’t really like. Probably they will be overloaded with sweet biscuits/cookies, cakes and chocolates as well.

Managing mass biscotti baking like this on a budget can be quite doable. The flour and sugar is something that I already have in store, but I buy a bit extra. Then, in the months leading up to baking, I add one packet of special ingredients to my shopping each fortnight. A packet of blanched almonds one week, a packet of crystallised ginger the next shopping week and so forth. Then, in the week before I start to bake, I buy 2 dozen eggs and I’m set to go.

Second baking

I make a different batch (recipe) of biscotti for each person on my Christmas run. So, if I’m wanting to give them to 5 different people, I make 5 different types of biscotti. Then I divvy them up, wrap in cellophane and deliver on Christmas Eve or roundabouts.

Because they store so well, I can easily make a different batch each day for a week instead of having one huge baking day. They all go into a large Tupperware Cake Taker until it’s time for them to leave the premises.

Big box of bikkies

They are easy to mix and shape, but take a lot of time to bake. If you are suffering through one of the sweltering hot versions of the Australian Christmas Season, then do this late at night with all the doors and windows open.

I’ve recently moved away from my friends and can’t give them biscotti this year, so I shall share some of the recipes with them on here instead. 😥

There will be quite a few biscotti posts to come….

Biscotti recipes on Budget Bounty:

Caraway and Lemon Biscotti

Coconut Almond Biscotti

Orange Ginger Biscotti

2 Comments Leave a comment

December 12, 2014

Sharon

Today in the Budget Bounty kitchen, we revisited the fruit cake recipe in the last post.

I lovingly spooned the batter into two mini bundt pans that I have. Thinking that we could have one on the way to Christmas and pop one into the freezer for some time in the New Year.

mini bundt pans

Given the smaller amount of batter in each ‘tin’, I worked on reducing the time accordingly. I decided to bake them at the same temperature for 40 minutes, before taking them out to test and rotate.

After baking…

And this seems to have been just right! They’ve worked well with that timing.

For those of you reading who have a much better grasp of icing/frosting/decorating than I do (and a bundt tin or two), imagine something like this decorated to resemble a Christmas Wreath!

And don’t they look precious?

Whaddayathink?

(Mine will just get a dusting of icing sugar, I think.)

This would work just as well with other pan shapes, if you happen to have smaller loaf or round tins in your cupboards.

TTFN.

0 Comments Leave a comment

The Easiest Fruit Cake. Ever. (Last minute Xmas Cake)

The pieces of ginger are clearly seen in the clices.

The easiest fruit cake ever.

Yes, yes, I know, you don’t like fruit cake. Nothing personal, but…it’s just not your thing.

You’re aware that it’s a tradition, but you really just think you’ll pass this time — Okay?

Nope.

Not happening.

You have to try this cake. If I had a dollar for every time someone who detested fruit cake then told me how much they ♥LURVED♥ this one, I’d have enough to make many more of them.

This group of people includes The Boy, who was *adamant* that I do a post on it!

Yum!

I must confess that I don’t like your regular, traditional dark fruit cake either. It does nothing for me at all.

In fact, when my 19 year old self was copying the original handwritten recipe from my grandmother’s notes sometime last century, I wondered if I was going nuts. I mean, seriously… why would I want to make a fruit cake? However, in the interest of preserving things for posterity, and thinking my mother might like one sometime, I kept on with it.

Many years later, I decided to update it a bit. I find sultanas travel best in small quantities, but whole cakes full of them are rather uninteresting.

Note: I know this recipe doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a budget dish, the fruit is not inexpensive (about $10), but we should all have at least one special occasion card up our sleeves and this is a special occasion dish.

Master Cake decorator, I am not.

I changed the dried fruit in the recipe to a fruit medley product I found in the supermarket that contained dried apples, peaches, pears and apricots – alongside a small quantity of sultanas.

Angas Park Fruit Medley rocks.

The weight (375g) wasn’t quite up to the 500g that was called for, so I decided to make it up with something a little bit special.

I am a ginger fiend. I love the stuff. So, when I saw 125g packs of glacé ginger from our friends at Buderim, I knew that had to go in as well.

Glace ginger

It did and it was a triumph.

I’ve even served this up to our Governor-General and his wife, and can proudly boast it has Vice-Regal approval. So there.

If you don’t like ginger (wha..?) feel free to substitute glacé cherries instead. If you must.

Also, there is no alcohol in this recipe. If you absolutely must have booze, you may wish to use it to soak your dried fruit, I give no guarantees as to the results having never tried it this way.

This is the easiest, simplest cake to make. It takes about 10 mins of preparation – total.

It will disappear in about the same amount of time (once you get past all the “but I don’t like fruit cake…” stuff).

Don’t bother getting your electric beaters out for it, they’ll struggle. Instead, arm the nearest, largest child with a wooden spoon and get them to mix it. Say it’s a tradition. Invoke Santa and good and bad lists if you must.

Do this even if it’s August and you’re serving it that evening.

You will need a large bowl and a mug. The mug is important.

The mug.

This is the mug I have always used for this recipe. It doesn’t matter which mug you use (you can’t have mine, sorry), but try to use the same one throughout. It’s a matter of proportions, you see.

Empty your 500g of dried fruit into a large bowl and then add a mug of hot, black tea. Leave overnight. Only soak your dried fruit, any glacé fruit will be added later.

Soak your fruit overnight

It will plump up and start looking luscious. My fridge was rather full when I did this part, so I used a smaller bowl for it.

The next day, cut your glacé fruit into quite large chunks (or leave whole) and mix through the soaked fruit.

Add your glaced fruit to your soaked

I’ve discovered over the years that small pieces just disappear into the background and that – strangely! – some people don’t like ginger.

Leaving the pieces on the large side means that you get a definite zing from them and it’s easy to pick them out if they aren’t wanted.

The pieces of ginger are clearly seen in the clices.

The pieces of ginger are clearly seen in the slices.

Now, lightly beat your egg and mix it through the fruit. It’s much easier to do this now than after adding the dry ingredients, trust me on this.

Working in your large bowl now, sift in two mugs of self-raising flour and then add one mug of brown sugar. Stir.

Add your fruit to your dry ingredients.

This will be a stiff mix, there may be enough liquid left in your fruit to make a batter, or there may not. It depends on ambient humidity and the relative positions of the stars…

Should your mix be too dry, simply add splashes of plain old water until it all comes together. It will look something like this.

The mixed batter.

Using a spatula, scrape into a lined cake tin of whatever shape you fancy. I usually bake this cake in a silicon, Christmas tree-shaped cake mould, simply because I have one.

Deck the halls…

Bake at 160ºC or 325ºF for 2 hours, turning the pan at the halfway point.

Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes, before turning out to finish cooling on a rack.

I cut off the “muffin top” to create a flat base. The removed piece then becomes the Cook’s treat. Ahem. It’s the only bit I let myself eat of this or I would be in deep trouble, both calorically and blood sugar-wise. The cake then gets turned over for presentation.

Slice off the muffin top for easy preparation. Use a serrated knife.

It’s the underside of this ‘crusty bit’ that you’ve seen in the pictures of slices above.

Decorate and serve.

Brace yourself for all the “I don’t like fruitcake” claims.

You have been warned.

Easy Fruit Cake

Servings: 15
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

500g dried fruit (or a mix of dried fruit and glacé fruit). Use whatever mix of soft, dried fruit you like, just make sure that the pieces are all around the same size.

1 mug hot black tea

1 large egg

2 mugs self raising flour

1 packed mug brown sugar

Method

Soak dried fruit in hot tea overnight.

Heat oven to 160ºC or 325ºF.

Cut glacé fruit into large chunks and mix through soaked fruit.

Beat the egg with a fork and mix through the fruit.

In a large bowl sift Self Raising Flour and add in brown sugar, breaking up any lumps.

Add the fruit, stirring with a wooden spoon or large spatula until a stiff batter forms. If the mix is too dry and flour remains unincorporated, add splashes of cold water until it is all mixed in.

Place batter in a prepared tin (a regular loaf or square pan will work well) and bake for 2 hours in the top third of the oven.

Turn the tin at the 1 hour mark.

Cake is baked when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 30 mins before turning out.

Allow to cool completely before serving.

This cake freezes well, either whole or in slices for a lunch box treat.

All gone…

7 Comments Leave a comment

	Jennifer Crockett on The Easiest Fruit Cake. Ever.…
	Sharon on Interesting times…
	concombre54 on Interesting times…
	Doon on The most important tool in you…
	Sharon on Chocolate “Paddle Pops…