A touch of France

This morning we went to the Choux Cafe in Swanbourne, a small patisserie in the 'burbs! It was very sweet, mismatched tables and chairs, with room to seat around 15 people. I arrived first, and there was a table big enough for our group so I ordered a vegetable quiche and sat down to wait.

The quiche was lovely! Different flavours from the usual, the pastry was nice and flaky and the filling not your usual egg and cream mix. It inspires me to be more adventurous in my cooking.



After savouries of course it was time for sweet things! Between us we sampled most of the cabinet^* - macarons, Paris brest, eclairs, chocolate croissant and escargot. Yum! I had eclair au cafe, it was heaven to eat! The pastry was not soggy at all despite sitting in a display cabinet and the creme patisserie was a great texture.

As we were finishing they also put out samples of the macarons, so I got to try a few of them too.

^* Okay so a bit of poetic licence applied here, there were a lot more different and varied sweet treats that we did not have room for.

Images from Choux Cafe

Mango Mania!

February and March are mango months here! Mum and Dad have a massive mango tree in their backyard and Mum has been supplying me with more mangoes than I can eat comfortably. C does not voluntarily eat mangoes; apparently he overdosed on them when he was living in Queensland! More for me I say.

We have been promised a tree of our own when we build our house, and I am looking forward to being able to harvest mangoes. I will have to start investigating good recipes to use the mangoes, at the moment I eat them fresh and I can also freeze the flesh but that is the extent of my experimenting.

Nana's Crab Cakes

Earlier this week I saw tasty looking Crab Cakes on the Munch+Nibble blog. They intrigued me by way of being baked in muffin tins!

Quite coincidentally (I promise!) C decided to go crabbing on Tuesday. I love fresh crabs, and he has not disappointed me yet this season and come home with quota! We disagree slightly on the best way to eat them but I have a set of seafood tools my sister gave me a few years ago and they get a good workout!

Tuesday night saw me up to my elbows in fresh crab. Cooked to perfection by C, and I had them with some garlic and vingar. Yum!

Wednesday, still with crab in the refrigerator, C decided that he wanted to make crab cakes. The recipe that we used is my Nana's Fish Cake recipe, with crab used in lieu of fish!! Simple really.

All proportions are approximate, we did not actually measure anything. Except maybe the eggs, they come already measured!

Flesh of four cooked crabs
100g white fish fillet, cut into small pieces
2 rashers of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 onion, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup plain flour
splash of cooking sherry

Fry onion until it is translucent.
Mix together crab, fish, bacon and onion.
Mix in the egg, flour and sherry.
The mixture should be sticky.

Heat oil in frying pan, enough to give a few milimeters coverage.
Drop approximately 1/4 cups of mixture into the oil.
Cook until golden on under side then flip over and cook until other side is golden.
Drain on paper towel.

We served the cakes up with a salad of rocket, feta, lebanese cucumber and cherry tomatoes, and I also had some steamed rice.

Notes
- We have used beer in the past rather than sherry. It still works.
- We used plain flour but are planning to try self-raising next time around.
- All measurements are approximate.
- This is a good recipe to use fish that has suffered from freezer burn!!

Image belongs to Janette Larobina Photography.

City of Perth - Eat Drink Perth

During the month of March in the City of Perth they are running Eat Drink Perth, encouraging the people of Perth to head into the CBD and try some of the foods on offer. There are some breakfast and lunch specials, and the best offer that I can see is 20% off selected food books at Boffins!

Wooh. Check it out.

Rhubarb Muffins

C's Mum has recently given us some rhubarb. We've made rhubarb crumble, and I thought that I would try a rhubarb muffin! I turned to the cookbook that I own, optimistically^* called "Baking bible".

2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
100g butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
1 1/2 cups finely chopped rhubarb
3 tablesppons raw sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 220C. Grease muffin tins.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and combine.
In a separate bowl mix together milk, butter and egg.
Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and combine, then stir in rhubarb.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. Springle over cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Notes
- There was excessive amounts of sugar/cinnamon on the bench when I turned out the muffin. I would suggest reducing the mix by a third.
- I had to double check that this was an Australian recipe, with Aussie tablespoons, after the effort with the cinnamon sugar!


^*I say optimistically, it does not have a scone recipe in it!!! I would think that a scone recipe would be essential for any baking bible!!

Banana Ricotta Pancakes

Over ripe bananas, leftover ricotta and no bread in the house? Make pancakes!

I looked for recipes a few weeks ago, but they looked like too much effort - separate eggs and whip up the whites etc. Oh, and at that point I did not have any bananas, just the ricotta!

So... I just threw a few ingredients together and voila! Brunch.


I really liked the texture - crispy on the edges and squishy and banana-y in the centre. I drizzled on a bit of maple syrup to add some sweetness.

1 overripe banana
1/2 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
ricotta
milk

Put banana in medium bowl. Squish with your whisk.
Add flour and baking powder. Mix together.
Add egg. Mix some more.
Add ricotta. Mix again.
Add milk. Mix it in.
I made a batter that is slightly thicker than my normal crepe pancake recipe.

Heat up a frying pan on a low heat. Grease with butter between pancakes. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan. Flip it over when the bubbles on the edges burst. Let it cook for 20 seconds or so before removing from the pan.


I ate as I went, so not sure of the exact number I made, will guess it was around eight. It should be more than enough for one person.

I use butter throughout cooking, I have tried to not use it but the pancakes just stick and the bottoms burn so I gave up trying to be healthier.

Rainbow cake

I really like the Rainbow Cake by Aleta of Onnomicon. She has made it using packet diet cakes, and I am sure that you could get the same effect with a plain butter cake or vanilla cake of some form and suitable food colours.

I find the FAQ that she has posted highly amusing, it sounds like she received some less than intelligent questions regarding the making of this cake.

What a fun cake!

Quiche and more cupcakes

I have found the recipes on Exclusively Food to be very easy to follow and quite tasty! I used the mini quiche recipe to make two types of quiche - mushroom & feta, and cherry roma tomatoes & basil. The tomato quiches were especially nice due to the tasty tomatoes!


photo of my cupcakes by my friend GB

I had not tested the White Chocolate Mudcake recipe; I was confident that the results would be good and I was very happy with the result! My sister-in-law-to-be K iced them for me with the Sour Cream and White Chocolate Ganache, however we were a little rushed for time to get them ready and there was not enough time to let the icing cool enough before it was piped onto the cakes.

I would like to do some more experiementing with icing types and styles, and perhaps invest in some more and varied piping systems!!

Short-black cupcakes

photo of my cupcakes by my friend GB

As a general rule I have found the recipes of Donna Hay to be easy to use and to taste yummy! One that is no exception is her chocolate cupcake recipe in the Chocolate cookbook. These cupcakes appear as "Short-Black Cupcakes", and the cupcakes themselves are light and chocolate-y.

The first time that I made these I made the icing in the book; it is an unbaked meringue, beaten egg white and icing sugar and coffee. I did not have too much success with the icing, it was sticky and difficult to work with. It may have been easier to use a piping bag. I found that the icing did not hold its shape for too long either. The biggest drawback was that my pregnant friends were unable to eat it due to the raw egg! Last time I made the cupcakes I tried the chocolate fudge icing from the same cookbook. It tasted yummy however was far too runny to pipe so instead of being able to pipe chocolate poo onto my cupcakes I kind of splodged it on with a knife.

This time around I decided to make a coffee icing, and did a quick search online to find something that looked suitable. I found this recipe from taste.com.au. It seemed to be a little heavy on the wet ingredients (butter and milk) but I thought that I would give it a shot and could adjust it in future if I needed to.

The cupcakes were yummy, and looked cute too! I used a gold metallic cupcake wrapper to contrast with the browns of the chocolate and coffee.

125g butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
100g dark chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.
Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
Sift over the flour and cocoa, and beat until combined.
Fold through the milk, stir in the chocolate and spoon the mixture into 4 x 12 hole 25mL capacity mini-muffin tins lined with paper patty cases.
Bake for 10-12 minutes of until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Cool on wire racks.

250g butter
450g pure icing sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons instant coffee

Cream butter and sugar.
Dissolve coffee into milk.
Gradually add coffee mix into the butter and sugar, beat until well combined.

Notes
- I increased the cupcake recipe by one and a half and made 72 cupcakes.
- I have decided that I need another 24 hole mini muffin pan. The 12 hole pans are just too annoying to use.
- The icing was a bit runny. I would increase the amount of icing sugar next time to 500g or more!
- Also the coffee in the icing was very strong, so I would consider playing with the amount of instant coffee that I use.
- I want to get some electronic kitchen scales. The mechanical ones that I have are just a little too imprecise.

Soda Cafe

I went out for dinner tonight with a group of uni friends. My friend T was back in Perth for a few weeks and his Hungarian girlfriend Z came to visit his home and meet his family and friends.

T & Z wanted to eat near the ocean, and so we all met at Soda Cafe in North Beach. The sun was setting as I arrived and I espied T & Z enjoying the sunset!!

The menu at Soda Cafe is a bit different; I was tempted to try a dish of crispy pork belly with crab and sichuan salad. It sounded very interesting... but I settled for something more familiar, in the beef fillet, potato & valdeon gratin, brocollini and jus, due to a desire for vegetables without having to order an extra dish! It also boosted my red meat quota for the week.

I was not sure about whether or not I wanted to have dessert, when I noticed that they had Churros on the menu. Yum! The Churros were quite light and delicate, with lots of sugar and the chocolate sauce was not too sweet and a little bitter. I enjoyed my dessert very much, and it made me more inclined to try and make my own.

I would definitely wish to return to the Soda Cafe and try more of their menu. The only down side for me is the 20km drive to get there!

images via Soda Cafe

Peronality test... by coffee?

The West discusses a new book, The You Code, explaining how the type of coffee you drink is an indication of your personality type.

I am a non coffee drinker, and apparently this means that I am frightened of life.

Here I was thinking that I did not drink coffee since I did not wish to conform, when all along it was because I am scared of being an adult!

Actually I drink iced coffee; I did not see a mention of that in their list.

Honestly, tea is just so much more exciting.

Picture from Oxfam Shop. Even though I do not drink it, I like to buy Fair Trade.

chana masala

Another recipe to try, this time from Smitten Kitchen. She calls it chana masala; this is most likely the correct name but it is looks to be a more authentic and exotic version of a simple recipe I have for "Chick Pea Curry".

This recipe looks exciting, it uses fresh tomatoes and dried chick peas (no tins!) and lots and lots of spices.

Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart

I really want to try this Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart recipe posted by Tartlette. It sounds tasty and is so beautifully photographed too!

What a wonderful way to work through the mountain of bananas that I have "frozen and forgotten".

Blueberry Muffins

It is my last day in the office I am currently working in. It has been a quick visit this time around - seven weeks only - but I would still like to take something in. I have worked with the guys before, and when I was last in that office they had a "Muffin Club" organised for every Friday.

Muffins are fairly easy to whip up, and rather than pay for some from Croissant Express (I am feeling a bit tight for cash!) I thought it would be straightforward to make some this morning before I head in.



I grabbed my trusty Donna Hay simple essentials: fruit cook book and I am trying the blueberry muffin recipe. I do not think that I have made this particular mix before, but they are all pretty similar.

2 cups (300g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup (80mL) vegetable oil
1 cup (250g) sour cream
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Combine the flour, sugar, eggs, oil and sour cream in a medium bowl and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture with the blueberries and stire to combine. Spoon the bluerry mixture into lightly greased 1 cup (250mL) capacity muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Makes 6.



Notes
- I used 1 cup of self-raising flour and 1 cup of wholemeal self-raising flour. I like the texture of the wholemeal flour.
- When recipes call for vegetable oil I use light olive oil
- I did not have enough sour cream so it is half sour cream and half greek honey yoghurt. Usually I would substitute natural yoghurt but I made do with what is in the fridge!
- I am making smaller muffins, so the same volume - 6 x 250mL - will give 18 x 1/3 cup muffins. At least that is how I do the maths!