Galliano Champagne Cocktails

The Galliano Champagne cocktails rimmed with almond and sugar 'dust'! We're a bunch of classy dames-we expect no less!

AUGUST COOKING CLUB-ALMONDS!

The Almond - arguably one of the most versatile nuts around, was the star in this month's cook-up, and I think our cooks did it justice with their dishes.

First up was a heady aperitif mixing Galliano with champagne served in flutes rimmed with a fine dust of sugar and almonds. Can you taste it? I still can - delicious! We nibbled at a selection of smoked almonds, spiced almonds and almonds that had been salted and left in a fine kernel much like that of a pistachio, a perfect teaser really.

Our starter was a fine Almond and Tofu Tart drizzled with a deep emerald emulsion of basil oil that really lifted the nuttiness factor a good few notches - it was unctuous and the pastry was beautifully short and crisp. It was pretty substantial, and paired with a good leafy salad would make a great lunch dish too.

Our newest member, CookV put her thinking cap on and created (via some pretty thorough trials) a dish of boned leg of lamb, which had been stuffed with a mixture of ricotta, peppadews, spinach and various spices before encrusting the entire thing with crushed almonds and roasting it to perfection. Succulent and tender medallions were served atop a fresh and vivid herb pilaf. The ricotta provided plenty of moisture while the peppadews added a bright flecks of crimson and extra sweetness to the dish. Served alongside was a clean, piquant salad of green beans, feta and pinenuts.

While I would have gladly had more, I had to make sure there was enough room in my maxi dress to hide the blancmange made TWO ways, for dessert!

CookEl, thanks to some experimenting with different recipes couldn't quite decide which was she liked it best, so luckily for us she let US decide! One was made just with almond milk and was perhaps the more delicate of the two, with a fair bit more wobble and therefore closer to a true blancmange. It was served with poached strawberries and wild Iranian figs (thank you, CookEl for your laborious efforts tracking this elusive ingredient down!) The other blancmange was made with the addition of buttermilk. In taste it was not not unlike a pannacotta, which I love anyway so it was win/win either way! It was served with a fresh citrus segments that cut through the rich creaminess perfectly.

Special mention must also go to CookN, whom, only having returned from a holiday just two days previous, found some time amidst all the unpacking and washing to whip up some fabulous, home made almond facial scrubs! I've posted some pictures so you can get an idea of the feast we polished off effortlessly!

Do you have any suggestions for themes the Cooking Club could try out? Let us know and we will see what we can do and report back. :-) September holds something different for us so watch this space to find out what the CC cooks get up to next month!

Chai-Spiced Mascarpone Honey Cake

Tea was the theme this month and I was on dessert. Yay! My favourite course!  Watching Masterchef has inspired me to put more effort into how I present my food, and I know my efforts will be appreciated at Cooking Club.  I set my sights high after browsing through the book "A Neoclassic View of Plated Desserts", a book which is aimed more at chefs and people with lots of cooking experience I think! 
I had been thinking of doing something with Chai Tea so this recipe was perfect. It has five elements to it:

• Honey Cake
• Mascarpone Mousse
• Sauteed Pears
• Pumpkin Rum Raisin Creme Anglaise
• Pear Chips

 And the original recipe also had a Caramel stick, but I ran out of time!

Chai-Spiced Mascarpone Honey Cake

The day before I made the Mousse, sauteed the pears, made the pumpkin puree, as well as making my own Spiced Rum to soak the raisin's in overnight for the Creme Anglaise.  Sounds like a lot, but it was easy to have a few of these on the go at the same time.
Then on the day I made the cake, the creme anglaise and the pear chips.  I brought all the separate finished components with me to CookB's house then put it together before serving.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it was, especially with working this in with making lunches and dinner and keeping the kids from tearing the place down.  But I really enjoyed it since I spread it over 2 days so could take my time and experienced a lot of new skills.

I'm taking the easy approach, and if you are interested in the recipes for the Honey Cake, Mousse and the Sauteed Pears then go to http://ourkitchen.fisherpaykel.com/2010/03/chai-spiced-honey-cake/comment-page-1/#comment-1838 Thank you Susie for your help!

PUMPKIN RUM RAISIN CREME ANGLAISE
 70g Black and Yellow Raisins
90ml Spiced Rum (Rum mixed with Orange Zest, Star Anise, Clove etc)
240ml Milk
240ml Heavy Cream
2 Whole Cloves
1 sml Cinnamon Stick
4 Large Egg Yolks
85g Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
Pinch Salt
85g Fresh Pumpkin Puree (I roasted half Butternut Pumpkin, skin side up in roasting tray with 1 cup of water for about an hour.  This is way too much but I used the rest in a pastabake meal, yum!)

1. In a small bowl combine the raisins and spiced rum and soak overnight.
2. In a saucepan, scald the milk, cream, cloves and cinnamon stick.  Cover the pan and let it steep for 10mins.
3. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar and temper them into the milk mixture.  Cook gently, stirring, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Strain and mix in the vanilla extract and salt.
4. While the mixture is still hot, pour it into a blender and process with the pumpkin puree until smooth.  Strain and chill over an ice bath.
5. Add the raisins to the cooled cream.

PEAR CHIPS
These were my favourite part of the dessert as they were so easy and I will definitely do again.

1 firm Bosc Pear
50g Icing Sugar

1. Preheat a convection oven to 95C. Using a mandoline or deli slicer, cut the pear into slices about the thickness of a coin. (The thinnest you can go without any holes as then the pear almost looks translucent when dry).
2. Dust a silicone baking mat with half the sugar.  Place the pear slices on top and dust witht he remaining sugar.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until pears are dry.

ASSEMBLY

1. Cut the cake in eight 3" circles and cut a circle from the centre of each.  Sauce each dessert plate with the creme anglaise and place a cake circle in the centre.  Fill the hole in the cake witht he mascarpone mousse.
2. Arrange 3-4 pear slices on top of the cake.  Place a small quennelle of mousse on the pears.  Garnish with a pear chip and a caramel stick if you wish.

 I will definitely make each recipe again but maybe separately as an accompaniment to other desserts I make.  I loved the rum soaked raisins in the creme anglaise and will definitely take that idea, maybe even just with a basic egg custard to jazz it up. I have saved the rum that the sultana's were soaked in and think I may do a simple boiled fruit cake with it, as I was not going to pour it down the sink!

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE MACARONS!

Well, my curiosity finally got the better of me. After seeing that amazing macaron tower (by Adriano Zumbo) on Masterchef this week, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

There are several great patissiers in Perth producing amazing macarons. Notably Choux Cafe in Cottesloe (Emmanuel Mollois) and Jean Pierre Sancho in the city (if you are fast enough to get your hands on some-they sell out fast!). I tasted my first macaron two weeks ago, a pistachio flavoured one and it was heavenly.

Today I had the opportunity to plan and cook a romantic meal for the husband and I, and decided to forgo the usual pudding and try my hand at macarons instead. Admittedly I was rushed, and my piping skills need brushing up, but these actually formed a good crust and were soft and chewy on the inside.

For the chocolate ganache I pulled out Willie's Peruvian Black cacao (100% pure cacao) and used a good raspberry jam. The result - pretty good for a first attempt! The recipe is from Epicurious. Any tips from macaron lovers out there?

COOKING CLUB JUNE 2010-HERBS

Okay, the theme for this month's cooking club meet, is HERBS. I am on starters/entree this time around and I am excited (great theme, CookN!)

Going on the success of my 'invention' last time, I am going to try it again. Notably, the ingredients are much simpler, the recipe- based on classic salad/dressing combinations so I am hoping to get a good result. The 'invention' this time, will come in the form of a jelly. Haven't quite decided-either lemon balm and apple or red grapefruit and kaffir? And when I say jelly, I mean firm cubes, not a wobbly, runny type. I'm hoping to add a different textural dimension. Watch this space. In the meantime this is the salad recipe:

Lobster, Pink Grapefruit and Mixed Herb salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 ruby red grapefruit, peeled, cut into segments

2 purple Asian shallots, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup round mint leaves

1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves

1/2 cup coriander leaves

1/2 cup Thai basil leaves

2 cooked lobster tails, shelled, cut into medallions

Vietnamese dressing

2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tbs fresh ruby red grapefruit juice

2 tbs sweet chilli sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs fish sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method

To make the dressing, combine the lemongrass, garlic, grapefruit juice, sweet chilli sauce, sugar, fish sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Combine the grapefruit, shallot, mints, coriander and basil in a large bowl. Drizzle with a little of the dressing and gently toss to combine. Place evenly among serving plates. Top with the lobster and drizzle with remaining dressing to serve.

JUNE 2010 - CHILLI AND CHOCOLATE

The theme of Chilli and Chocolate for this month's cook-out meant we were certain to CookEl's starters of Cauliflower and Green Chilli Pakoras set the tone for the evening. Crisp, golden batter studded with kalonji seeds enclosing the steaming, sweet florets of cauliflower were outstanding. The similarly treated green chillies were just as tasty and had a hint of smokiness and a decent bite and heat which were perfectly tempered by the zingy yogurt of the accompanying raita. SUPERB!

Next came the Poussins in Cacao. These were received well (?) and despite the generous portions, all that remained was a pile of carcasses-which can only mean they pleased the discerning diners who were probably a little unsure of the flavour profiles used in the marinade and basting sauce. I think Willie would be proud ;-)

CookA's task was to come up with appropriate sides/vegetables which given the chose ingredients required considerable forethought. She attempted a tamale of corn meal and spinach which must be credited-its not easy to cook something you've never even seen or eaten before. The honeyed, roasted pumpkin wedges and crispy potatoes turned out to be the perfect foil to the slightly bitter richness of the poussins.

Never to be outdone-CookB presented us with beautiful poufs of Chocolate Souffle, for which she had also slow-roasted some new season Quinces in butter and honey and whipped up a glossy, rich and moreish sauce of chocolate with a hint of chilli. DIVINE.

CookN finished the night off with little steaming cups of Hot Chocolate (again, using some more of the Venezuelan Black cacao and fresh, WA produced Banister Downs Milk) scented with ginger, cinnamon and other spices. GORGEOUS.

Our newest member-CookV could not be with us but kindly found some time to whip up a delectable batch of Chilli Chocolate & Caramel Slice - they were perfect! Firm but yielding layer of dark chocolate infused with a subtle but definite heat atop a gooey, buttery caramel and toothsome (read perfect) biscuit base. Thank you and WELCOME!!

*sigh* Were we 'chocolated' out? Not me.

POUSSINS BASTED WITH CACAO

HELP! If you can think of a better name for my dish-let me know. It could do with a bit of 'sexing' up!

For our June session of Cooking Club, I chose the theme of "Chilli & Chocolate", although not necessarily used together. For months I have had in my possession, 3 gleaming, dark, smoky and intoxicating bars of Venezuelan Black 100% cacao. They had been sitting in the darkest, coldest corner of my fridge awaiting a befitting fate and finally, the time had come to make their debut. I did not want to fail the cacao OR my fellow foodies by neglecting to do some research in the kitchen to see what the best medium would be.

The first thing I tried was a shoulder of pork. The idea for the recipe came from Willie Harcourt-Cooze, the brains (and literally, the brawn) behind the product. A cocktail of heady spices, along with some of the cacao would be injected into the joint before being rubbed all over with fennel seeds and salt and then roasted to achieve a crisp crackling with a flavoursome meat underneath. My version of this turned out to be a little bland, and missing any definite hit of the cacao.

Back to the drawing board. After some more Googling I discovered a recipe for Partridge basted in Cacao & Goose Fat. Lets face it-that sounds disgusting but I was intrigued by the concept of basting the bird. So the long and short of it is I ended up with the concept of a marinade to infuse the bird with some base flavours and then layering with the cacao throughout the roasting process.

At this point I would like to credit my VEGETARIAN husband with giving me some ideas for the marinade-the best one probably was to use some Youngs Double Chocolate Stout instead of wine. This, he reasoned, would help with 'layering' the flavour of chocolate. I agreed-although feared it would be chocolate overkill. You might be more game (pardon the pun) to try it.

I used poussins but you could also use chicken marylands or other game birds and adjust the cooking time.

Here goes:

6-8 Poussins, spatchcocked

Marinade

2 cups shiraz or merlot

3 Tbs brown sugar

4 bay leaves

handful of fresh thyme sprigs

1 cup orange or grapefruit juice

2 strips of orange peel (white pith removed)

2 Tbs Juniper berries, crushed

approximately 80g grated cacao

a little chicken stock

Method

1. Place the marinade ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer for 10-15 mins.

2. While marinade is cooling, rinse your poussins and pat dry with kitchen paper. Place them skin side up in a large baking tray. (I used a disposable, aluminium baking tray) and pour over the cooled marinade.

3. Roll your sleeves up and massage the poussins with the marinade until thoroughly coated. Cover and marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

4. Take poussins out of fridge and bring to room temperature about 1 hour before cooking. Remove poussins and wipe excess marinade off. Set aside two cups of the marinade.

5. Heat 2 Tbs oil in a large frying pan and brown the poussins on both sides, this might only take a couple of minutes. Take care not to burn the skin (the sugar in the marinade may cause the skin to burn if the heat is too high).

6. Place poussins in a clean baking tray, skin side up. Season with sea salt-you can afford to add a little more as the marinade is sweet.

7. Place 3/4 cup of the reserved marinade in a bowl and add the grated cacao. Mix well to dissolve the cacao-warm it up in the microwave if you need to. This mixture will be used to baste the birds as they roast. At this stage, SMELL the mixture-you want to make sure there is a reasonably strong smell of cacao otherwise all you will taste in the end is the red wine.

8. Baste the poussins generously before roasting them in a hot oven (about 200 degrees).

Baste every 10 mins or so, until the poussins are just pink (insert a skewer into the thickest part of the meat and make sure the juices are clear). Remove from the oven , give them a final baste and cover with foil. Rest for 10 mins.

To make a sauce, strain the pan juices (after resting) into a small saucepan, and add a little more grated cacao and stock. Season to taste and simmer for a minute or two. You should get a hearty, savoury gravy with a slightly bitter but definite cacao finish on the palate.

I am desperate to try this again, if for nothing else but to hone down the measurements. Quantities I have given above, are approximate as I created the marinade as I went on the day - I suppose many new recipes begin that way!

Please give it a try, it really rates as the most original, innovative dish I have ever created, and it was pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself!. Feel free to re-invent it to suit your tastes, thats what cooking is about. An evolving process with a few ground rules to guide the way. Send me an email if you would like to discuss :-)