Salted Caramel & Macadamia Cheesecake

Posted on 17 July 2013 by Linda Peek

Salted caramel desserts are very “in” at the moment. I first tasted this combination of flavours in Brittany, where you can buy a salted caramel spread in jars to eat on toast like Nutella. The Bretons also use it as one of the many fillings you can choose for crepes sold by street vendors in the region. I know it’s not good to eat too much, but Matthew and our two boys are very keen on anything salty and this includes salted caramel desserts.

Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi created this delicious caramel and macadamia cheesecake. All I have done is to add salt to the caramel sauce, cut down a bit on the biscuits in the crust and the sugar in the cheesecake filling.

Base:
About 130g plain sweet biscuits (I used 9 Digestives)
40g unsalted butter
Filling:
500g ricotta cheese, at room temperature
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod or 2 tsp essence
Topping:
150g macadamia nuts
90g caster sugar
Sauce:
65g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
100ml cream
½ to 1 tsp salt, to taste

Base: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Lightly grease a 20cm spring-form cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Whiz biscuits to crumbs in food processor. Melt butter in microwave, add biscuit crumbs and mix. Tip into the cake tin and flatten with the bottom of a glass to create a level base.

Filling: In a bowl with electric beaters or in a food processor, mix all ingredients for filling until smooth. Scrape into cake tin and bake for 50 mins or until set in the middle. Cool then refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight, covered.

Topping: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Spread macadamias over a baking sheet and roast for about 15 mins or until light golden brown. Watch them carefully – mine got a bit too brown as you can see in the photo. Remove and set aside. Place sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently until it turns golden-brown. Do not stir, but you can lift and swirl from time to time. Add nuts and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Pour onto a tray lined with foil or non-stick baking paper and leave to set. Chop roughly with a large knife, leaving some of the nuts halved or whole.

Sauce: Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add sugar and stir constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, dark caramel. It may split, but that doesn’t matter. Add cream carefully – it will splutter – and stir to combine. Sieve to remove any gritty bits then cool.

To serve: Remove sides and base of cake tin and place cheesecake on a serving plate or board. If you want to present it whole, spoon the sauce in the middle, allowing it to spill over the sides a bit and scatter the nuts over the top. Alternatively arrange slices on individual plates, then decorate with the nuts and spoon over some of the sauce. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

Serves 10

Salmon with Bois Boudran Sauce

Posted on 4 July 2013 by Linda Peek

We eat salmon fillets about once a week. It’s quick and easy and we love it. Sometimes I spread the fish with a mixture of grated fresh ginger and Thai sweet chilli sauce and bake it in a very hot oven on lightly oiled aluminium foil for about 8 minutes. Other times I pan fry or bake the seasoned salmon and serve it with this sauce, adapted from a recipe by French chef Michel Roux. It’s really just a thick herby, tomatoey vinaigrette.

In 1967 Roux opened Le Gavroche in London with his brother Albert. The restaurant became the first in England to win three Michelin stars. In 1972 they opened The Waterside Inn, which went on to become the first restaurant outside France to hold three Michelin stars for over 25 years and is now run by Michel’s son Alain.

This sauce is great to have in the fridge because it goes with all sorts of things and keeps for at least a week. In fact I think it improves after a day or so. It goes well with roast chicken or steak and is absolutely delicious served in half an avocado. The original version uses tarragon which definitely gives the sauce a distinctive flavour. But fresh tarragon is not always available, so vary the recipe with different herbs and see what you like best.

1 cup mixed fresh herbs, loosely packed (see note)
3-4 French shallots, peeled (or substitute one small onion)
¾ cup vegetable oil e.g. canola
2 Tbs white wine vinegar or lemon juice
½ cup tomato ketchup
A few drops of Tabasco
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place chopped onion or shallots in a pan with water, bring to the boil, then drain thoroughly. Place herbs and onion in food processor and chop finely. Scrape into a jar with a lid, add remaining ingredients and shake well to combine. Serve at room temperature on grilled or pan-fried salmon, roast chicken or steak. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

Makes about 1.5 cups

Note: the original recipe used chervil, chives and tarragon. In the photo I used dill, parsley and coriander. Use whatever you have available.

Home-made Pizza

Posted on 30 May 2013 by Linda Peek

A proper Italian pizza has a thin, crispy crust and minimal topping. Nothing remotely like the thick, soggy versions sold in many fast food chains. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana says that when cooked a pizza base should be no more than 4mm thick at the centre, though it will be thicker around the edges. And they should know, they invented them.

When our kids were growing up pizza featured regularly on the menu. The pizza delivery motorbikes never came to our house because my view is that anything home-made is better than the bought version, not to mention cheaper. At the time our offspring thought they were deprived, but now they have their own families and also make their own.

For a larger group make 3-4 times the recipe and form the dough into balls. Have the toppings ready in small dishes and let people choose their own. With a salad and a bottle or two of vino you’re all set for a casual meal which appeals to all ages.

15g fresh yeast or 7g dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups plain flour (preferably 00)
1 Tbs olive oil
½ to ¾ cup warm water

Mix ½ cup warm water with yeast and sugar. Leave for 10 minutes. Sift flour and salt into a bowl, add oregano, oil and yeast mixture. Mix well, adding more warm water until you have a firm, not sticky, dough. If preferred make in a food processor or in a mixer with a dough hook.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth and springy. Form into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and leave at room temperature for an hour, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, cover and refrigerate overnight to prove more slowly.

Preheat oven to its highest temperature. If using, put pizza stone in the oven to get really hot. Knead dough lightly and form into a ball (or two balls) and leave, covered with a tea towel for about 20 mins or until doubled in size.

To assemble pizzas place a ball of dough on a lightly oiled pizza pan and press out to size using oiled fingers, working from the middle out. If using a pre-heated pizza stone, or a wood-fired pizza oven, press dough out into a large round on a well-floured pizza paddle.

Arrange toppings on pizza – be sparing – less is more. Slide onto stone if using one and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Time will vary depending on your oven. Our outdoor wood-fired oven shown in the photo heats up to over 400°C, so pizzas only take about 3 minutes. In an ordinary oven they can take up to 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Makes one very large or two medium pizzas

Topping suggestions:

Tomato sugo (sold in jars to go with pasta) with thinly sliced mushroom, sliced pepperoni or chorizo and grated mozarella
Pesto with sliced fresh buffalo mozarella and sliced fresh tomatoes
Pesto, peeled prawns, grated mozarella and pine nuts
Additional toppings: stoned olives, anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, extra oil, fresh herbs

Instant Pavlova

Posted on 29 April 2013 by Linda Peek

We were staying with our daughter and son-in-law in Newcastle last year when they hosted an Australia Day party for about 30 friends plus kids. We ran out of time to make the desserts and bought a couple of pavlovas from Woolworths supermarket. I always make my own and was quite impressed with these bought ones which were moist and marshmallowy in the middle and crunchy on the outside. Not as good as a home-made one, which has more crunchy bits, but not bad. Once you’ve added the whipped cream and fresh berries they’re pretty good as an instant dessert.

When I was shopping for the Easter weekend Woolies had their large pavlovas, which they say serve 20, for half the normal price. So I bought one. Then I started to wonder how to make it look more home-made.

The answer is to use a stacking ring and cut circles from the pavlova. Top with the cream and fruit and voilà – an elegant dessert in no time at all. If you don’t use it all, the rest of the pavlova will keep for several days, so you can cut more circles and serve it again. If you think the pavlova circles are too big, cut them in half horizontally, then you will get twice as many smaller servings.

If you don’t have stacking rings you can make one by cutting the top and bottom off an empty metal can with a suitable diameter. If it’s deep enough top the pavlova with the cream and fruit before removing the ring, as I did for this photo, which results in a neater finish.

I doubt if anywhere other than Australia and New Zealand sells pavlovas in their supermarkets, so I’m afraid this blog post won’t help people living in other parts of the world!

1 bought pavlova
Cream, whipped until thick
Fresh berries or passion fruit pulp

Spray the inside of a stacking ring lightly with some vegetable oil, to make removal easier, then cut circles from the pavlova. If the ring is deep enough, top with cream and fruit, if not do it afterwards. If liked drizzle some raspberry coulis around the plate.

Bircher Muesli

Posted on 14 April 2013 by Linda Peek

In about 1900 a Swiss doctor named Maximilian Bircher-Benner developed a healthy, easily-digested dish for the patients in his hospital.

Bircher Muesli soon became a light evening meal or breakfast dish throughout Switzerland and northern Germany. In the latter half of the 20th century muesli spread to the rest of the Western world and became a commercial product.

Bircher Muesli makes a nice change from the toasted granola-style ones you buy or make yourself. You can always add some crunch via the toppings.

1 cup porridge oats (not the quick-cook variety)
1 cup plain yoghurt
½ cup milk
2 eating apples, cored and grated, including skin
Toppings:
Extra milk
Sliced banana
Fresh berries
Plain yoghurt
Honey to drizzle
Dried fruit, nuts, coconut

Mix oats with yoghurt, milk and grated apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with extra milk and a selection of toppings. Keeps in the fridge for two days.

Note: I like the fact that this muesli is all ready to serve in the morning, when I have less time to spare for things like grating. However, if preferred, soak oats with yoghurt and milk and add grated apple when serving. Some recipes use fruit juice instead of milk, but I prefer milk.

Carrot Avocado and Orange Salad

Posted on 11 April 2013 by Linda Peek

I often make a salad using avocado and orange or grapefruit segments, which go well together. A recipe with the addition of oven-roasted carrots appeared recently in the Canberra Times and came from a cookbook called A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield. I read through the method and found it unnecessarily complicated, so I made a few changes. I also added some honey to the dressing. Here is my tweaked version.

1 bunch baby carrots (about 750g)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 rounded tsp cumin seeds
1 rounded tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp dried crushed chilli (or use some fresh)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 large oranges
2 large avocados
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tsp honey
Coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Preheat oven to 200°C. Toast cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over moderate heat for a minute or two, or until fragrant. Place in a mortar with garlic, chilli, a tsp of salt, some pepper, 4 Tbs of the oil and crush to a paste. Scrub and trim carrots but don’t peel. Leave a small bit of the greenery at the end. Place carrots in a large baking dish which holds them in one layer. Add paste, mix well to coat. Add ¼ cup water then place in the oven to roast for about half an hour, stirring halfway, until tender and starting to brown a bit. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile remove peel and pith from the oranges with a serrated knife, then remove each segment by cutting each side of the membrane. Place segments in a small dish and squeeze what’s left of the oranges over the top to remove all the juice. Peel and slice avocados lengthwise.

Arrange carrots, drained orange segments (keep juice) and avocado slices decoratively in a serving dish. Place cooking juices from the carrots in a jam jar. Add orange juice, lemon juice, remaining 2 Tbs oil, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Shake well and drizzle over the salad. Top with the fresh coriander and serve.

Serves 4

Baked Ham with Gratin de Pommes de Terre Dauphinois

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Linda Peek

Matthew and I met in Geneva in the 70s when I was working for the British Mission to the UN and he was working for the Aussies. We were each there for 3 years and did lots of skiing and eating, but we didn’t meet until he was just about to leave. Somehow we worked things out and here we are decades later!

In Switzerland baked ham is served in many restaurants, invariably accompanied by gratin de pommes de terre dauphinois – or spuds dauphin style in English! Indeed, there’s one place we used to frequent in Geneva which serves nothing else. Ham and potatoes baked with cream, cheese and garlic go so well together – it’s a marriage made in heaven.

A chest freezer in the garage allows me to take advantage of special offers and freeze excess produce from the garden, such as tomatoes and cumquats. Early in the New Year our local supermarket was selling off legs of smoked ham with a good discount, so I bought one and stuck it in the freezer.

We had friends coming to Woodlands for lunch and as we’ve all had time to get over the festive season I decided it was time to get the ham out of the freezer. There are lots of different recipes for glazes and below are three of my favourites. Basically anything sweet and sticky will do. The gratin recipe is one I picked up on a card in a supermarket while living in Geneva, so it’s very authentic. Gruyère is the traditional cheese for this dish. Other hard cheeses such as Emmenthal or Cheddar will work but the flavour will be different. Forgot to take a photo, so you’ll just have to use your imagination!

Glazes for Ham

Brandied Apricot Glaze:
1 cup apricot jam
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbs vinegar
1 tsp hot English mustard
¼ cup brandy

Citrus Liqueur Glaze:
1 cup concentrated orange juice (or other juice)
¼ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbs Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Pineapple-Orange Glaze:
¼ cup pineapple juice
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbs orange marmalade
1 Tbs honey
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tbs brandy

Heat all ingredients for glaze in a saucepan, stirring until dissolved. If chunky, push through a sieve, then cool.

To Glaze the Ham:

Remove rind from ham by running your thumb around edge just under skin, loosening and pulling as you go. When you have pulled it to within 15 cm of the shank end, take a sharp pointed knife and cut through rind around shank end in a zigzag pattern, then pull off the rest of the skin up to this edge.

Make parallel cuts through fat at 2-3 cm intervals, just through the surface, not deeply, first one way and then the other to achieve a diamond effect. If liked stick cloves into each diamond space.

Place ham in a large baking dish. Brush with chosen glaze and bake at 180°C for about 45 minutes, brushing with more glaze every 10 minutes or so. It’s ready when it’s an even amber colour all over. Serve hot or cold.

Store the ham on a large plate or chopping board in the fridge. Place the plate inside a cotton ham bag or substitute an old pillowcase. Every time you use the ham rinse the bag in cold water and wring it out tightly. This will help to keep the ham fresh and moist for up to 4 weeks.

Gratin de Pommes de Terre Dauphinois

1 kg potatoes
200ml milk
100ml cream
50g butter
50g grated Gruyere cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Preheat oven to 180°C. Peel potatoes and slice thinly. Place in overlapping rows in a greased shallow, oven-proof dish, seasoning as you go with salt, pepper and half the garlic. Mix milk, cream, the rest of the garlic and nutmeg and pour over. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender – test with a knife. Turn oven up to 220°C and remove foil. Sprinkle with the grated cheese, dot with butter, cut into small pieces and bake for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Serves 6-8

Bailey’s Tiramisu with Berries

Posted on 5 April 2013 by Linda Peek

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert consisting of sponge fingers (lady fingers or Savoiardi), egg yolks, mascarpone and a liqueur or fortified wine, traditionally Marsala. There are countless variations on this theme. This version uses egg whites instead of yolks, honey instead of sugar and Bailey’s Irish Cream instead of Marsala.

2 Tbs instant coffee powder & ½ cup boiling water
Or ½ cup strong espresso coffee
2 Tbs Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur
8 Savoiardi sponge fingers
250g mascarpone, at room temp
1 Tbs runny honey
2 Tbs Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur, extra
2 egg whites
Cocoa powder for dusting
Fresh berries to serve

Mix coffee with boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add Baileys. Break each sponge finger into three and add to coffee mixture, stirring to coat. Place 4 pieces of sponge finger in each of six Martini glasses. Divide any remaining coffee mixture among the glasses, pushing down to squash the sponge fingers a bit. Place mascarpone in a mixing bowl. Add honey then Baileys and mix well. In another bowl whip egg whites till soft peaks with electric beaters. Mix into mascarpone, then divide mixture among the six glasses. Chill several hours. Dust with cocoa through a sieve. Serve with berries on the side.

Serves 6

Caprese Salad

Posted on 30 March 2013 by Linda Peek

Caprese Salad is a very simple dish consisting of sliced tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozarella with fresh basil, olive oil and seasonings. It’s one of the best ways to enjoy perfect tomatoes in summer. In the photo I used Farmhouse-style cottage cheese from Costco instead of mozarella. But you could substitute any soft, mild-flavoured, sliceable cheese such as “queso fresco” (widely available in South America), goat’s cheese or a creamy feta. It won’t be an authentic Caprese Salad without the mozarella, but it will still taste good.

Drizzle with your best extra-virgin olive oil, then season with crunchy Maldon-style sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. A little balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze (which is thicker) is a good addition. A loaf of fresh bread – preferably Italian – a bottle of wine and lunch is ready.

1 kg vine-ripened tomatoes
About 250g fresh buffalo mozarella (or substitute – see above)
Fresh basil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Maldon style salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Balsamic vinegar or glaze (optional)

Cut tomatoes horizontally into thick slices, discarding both ends. Slice cheese. Arrange tomatoes and cheese on a shallow serving dish, as shown in photo. Sprinkle with torn up basil leaves, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar or glaze, or let people add this if they like at the table. Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4

Polenta Muffins with Smoked Salmon

Posted on 24 March 2013 by Linda Peek

When we were living in Paris our daughter Catherine was studying for an Arts-Law degree at the Australian National University in Canberra. She rang one day and said “Hey Mum, I’ve been thinking, when again am I going to have the chance to learn French with free accommodation in Paris?” Always a good negotiator it seems she had it all worked out. Within a month Catherine joined us in our apartment on the 8th floor of the Embassy building in the 15th arrondissement, having arranged to take a semester off uni.

A few days later the Ambassador’s butler Thierry rang. He had heard our daughter was in Paris and wondered if she would like to work at a cocktail party. We found a suitable black skirt and a white blouse and off she went to their apartment on the top floor of the building adjacent to ours.

Matthew and I were attending the party and when we arrived Catherine was busy handing out canapés to the guests. Having worked in several Canberra establishments, including Tilleys in Lyneham, she looked quite at ease. We were chatting in a small group, which included the Ambassador, when Catherine came past again with some delicious hot canapés. As Matthew reached out to take one she whipped the tray away, adding in a stern voice “You’ve had two already!”

The Ambassador was mortified and apologised profusely to Matthew. He said he had never seen this waitress before and she would never be hired again. When we explained who she was we all had a good laugh. The reason she was keeping a close eye on what we ate was because we had been on a diet for a week in an attempt to lose a couple of kilos. Daughters take their duties very seriously.

After a three week intensive course at the Alliance Française Catherine landed a job in a restaurant called Ze Kitchen Gallerie in the Latin quarter. I thought they would give her an easy job filling water glasses and bread baskets, but she was thrown in at the deep end with ten tables to serve each night. She survived and lived to tell the tale – in French!

If you need something quick to make when friends pop round for a drink, these savoury muffins take no time at all and are delicious filled with smoked salmon or gravlax. Best eaten the day they are made.

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup polenta
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 egg
1 Tbs olive oil
¾ cup milk
To serve:
250g cream cheese at room temperature
1 Tbs lemon juice or lime juice
2 Tbs snipped chives or chopped dill
6-9 slices smoked salmon or gravlax
Pickled cucumber with red onion (see below)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Mix all ingredients for muffins and use to fill mini-muffin trays. I used silicone ones which don’t need greasing. Amount per muffin will depend on the size of the trays. Mine hold about a heaped teaspoon of batter. Bake for 10-15 mins or until golden. Cool.

Mix cream cheese with snipped chives or dill and lemon juice. Cut muffins in half and spread about half a teaspoon of cream cheese on the bottom half, then a small piece of smoked salmon or gravlax and some pickled cucumber and onion, drained and patted dry with paper towel. Spread a little more cream cheese on the lids and stick back onto the muffins. If preferred leave out the pickled cucumber and onion altogether, or substitute a slice of commercial gherkin or a couple of capers. Arrange on a serving tray and garnish with a few more herbs. Best eaten fresh on the day they are made.

Makes about 30

Pickled Cucumber and Onion
Thinly slice one or two Lebanese cucumbers or half a Telegraph cucumber and layer in a jar with a small, thinly sliced red or white onion. Add enough vinegar and water to cover – about half of each – about a tablespoon of sugar and half to one teaspoon of salt. Shake then marinate for several hours before using. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

Café Cat

Tag Archives: summer