Thursday, September 4, 2014

Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa




Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa

 Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
I know it’s not summer yet, but strawberries have started popping up more and more at markets and grocers and supermarkets around me. I had avoided temptation to buy the out-of-season and therefore expensive fruit…until I came across a punnet for .99c. I could resist no longer. Strawberries are delicious. Knowing that they weren’t in their peak season and therefore not going to be the sweetest they could be, I thought I would roast them to intensify the flavours. This salsa is sweet and juicy and warm. Perfect for tacos in these nights that still have a chill. I’ve used ancho chili powder because I wanted the smokey flavour, but didn’t want it to be “hot”, and ancho is a very mild chili. Feel free to use what you have. The corn adds a pop of texture and creaminess to the smoke.

I served these in tacos using shredded leftover roast pork fried with a tin of lentils. So apart from the roasting time of 15 minutes, this is the perfect midweek (taco) dish because it takes no more than 10 minutes prep time. Leftover roast chicken (or one from the supermarket or takeaway) would also go really well with this salsa and still be a quick meal. Add your own accompaniments if desired, such as cheese or shredded cabbage!

And check out my shopping spots if you can't find ancho chili powder


Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa

Roasted Strawberry and Corn Salsa

250g punnet strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp ancho chili powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp honey
pepper
½ cup corn kernels (if frozen, thaw by rinsing under water and draining well)
2 tbsp finely shredded basil

Preheat the oven to 170C

Mix the olive oil, chili powder, salt, honey, pepper in a bowl until evenly distributed. Stir in the strawberries and corn kernels, coating them well. Tip out onto a lined baking tray.

Put the dish in the oven and roast for 15 minutes until strawberries start to soften and go a bit jammy. Scatter basil leaves on top.

Serve!

Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili SalsaQuick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa
Quick Post - Roast Strawberry, Corn and Ancho Chili Salsa

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue

Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
 Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery


Despite being told on more than one occasion that I talk too much, I often find myself lost for words. If there’s something I’m passionate about, and have limited scope to get out all of that passion, I end up not knowing where to start or what to say at all. So I just don’t. It’s with a little bit of embarrassment that I finally do this post. I took this photoswith Jen to post over a year ago, but I wasn’t sure exactly where to go with the story, so I just didn’t do anything with them.


My whole life, most of my family holidays have been to the South West region of WA. Just a few short hours’ drive south of the city, the air changes, the scenery changes and you just automatically start to relax. Even knowing I’m going ‘down south’ soon makes me feel calmer. As I have grown, my appreciation of the area has too. And nothing more so than the food and wine. There are so many amazing local produce-driven restaurants in the area now. And, of course, there’s the wine. I’ve grown from being a nothing-but-sweet-whites drinker to a heavy reds drinker and everything in between through my south-west education. And the Margaret River wine region provides them all. I’ve lost count of how many wineries I’ve visited down south, but my absolute favourite of all time is 
Cape Naturaliste Vineyard. The wines here are absolutely phenomenal. And then there’s the owner and frequent cellar door host, Jen.



Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery

I first met Jen when I was on honeymoon. Lance proposed to me in the most epic and romantic way possible on Molloy Island, so when it came time to choose our honeymoon destination, it was pretty obvious that we should spend it there as well. We spent just over a month chilling out down south, and it was on a limousine wine tour that we were introduced to Cape Naturaliste Vineyard. We just clicked with Jen the instant we met her, she’s so warm and open. We chatted about everything under the sun and the topic of food came up, as it often does with me. She’s quite the foodie herself (her winery is even hosting a Gourmet Escape Event!) and she told me about her go-to dinner party dessert - White Chocolate Mojito Cheesecakes. Something easy and decadent all at once. She even left us at the cellar door and ran up to her house to find the cookbook the recipe was in and brought it back down to photocopy for me. So it makes sense for this post to go back to where it all began.

You can find the recipe for the original cheesecake recipe on the taste.com.au website. Here, I’ve simplified it even more and made the texture runnier so that it is no longer a cheesecake, but a delicious sweet dip. As with most fondues, you can change the dipping items to suit what you have at home. I always like to use some form of ginger biscuit, because it goes really well and as a nod to the original cheesecake base. Lightly salted tortilla chips work well, as does most fruit sturdy enough to dip. Unlike most fondues, this one is actually served cold. And so is perfect for entertaining as the weather becomes decidedly more Spring! I like to serve it alongside a normal cheese platter and with a glass of white.


Check out Cape Naturaliste next time you're in the Margaret River Region, I promise you won't be disappointed!


Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery

White Chocolate Mojito Fondue

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup packed mint leaves
zest and juice of 4 limes
1/4 cup Bacardi (or other white rum)
100g white chocolate
500g Philadelphia Cream Cheese (2 blocks)

to serve
strawberries
gingerbread
apple or pear slices

In a small pot, stir together the sugar and water over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Leave for 5-10 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy. Add the mint leaves, lime zest, lime juice and rum. Stir well, then set aside to cool to room temperature. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing down with a spoon to get all of the minty limey goodness out.

Chop the white chocolate roughly and place in a glass bowl. Microwave in 30 second bursts until melted, stirring between each go. You'll probably only need to do it twice. Set aside to cool for around 5 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse the cream cheese to break up. Then blend for 30 seconds until smooth and soft. Add the white chocolate and blend to combine. Lastly, blend in the minty lime syrup. Mix on a high speed for 2 minutes or until completely smooth and combined. 


Pour into the serving bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours to chill and set slightly.

Serve with fresh fruit slices and gingerbread biscuits for dipping!


Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
 Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery
Friend Inspiration - White Chocolate Mojito Fondue - Cape Naturaliste Winery

 
*Disclaimer - whilst I might be biased because I love Jen, her wines have won a bunch of awards

Monday, September 1, 2014

Shopping with Skamp



Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping
I am currently helping out in the creation of a community-based cookbook as part of the Beaufort Street Festival. This is the third year of this fantastic little book that pairs community recipes with recipes from restaurants and businesses in the Beaufort Street area. It’s still early stages still, but it’s already been a fun and eye-opening experience into the world of cookbook creation. One of my duties so far has been helping with recipe testing – checking to see if recipes submitted are well written, easy to follow and delicious. I’ve also submitted a few of my recipes for consideration *fingers crossed one makes it into the book!!* and received a little bit of feedback from a few recipes. The thing that struck me most about my feedback is something I guess I already knew, but it was good to be told. Some of the ingredients I use aren’t that easy to get for some people in Perth. After seeing my feedback, I considered the recipes that I tested – and similarly those recipes for me would’ve been difficult to complete just a few years ago. Things like chipotles, masa flour, pomegranate molasses were all things I have in my cupboard but a lot of folks might not have heard of.

Another complaint was that some of those ingredients, because they are specialist can also be a bit pricey. One recipe called for 2 tbsp of hazelnut meal. I didn’t give using a small amount of hazelnut meal a second thought, because I always have hazelnuts I can process into meal and I use in a bunch of recipes. But for someone who doesn’t, it costs a lot of money to either buy a whole bag of hazelnut meal or even hazelnuts to process for one recipe.

With all of this in mind, I thought I would create a post of places that I shop at in Perth. And if you do buy something for one of my recipes and have a bunch of a foreign ingredient leftover and want suggestions of what else to do with it – please, email me!




Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

Cannington Fresh - The Nanna Shop
The nanna shop is a grocery store around the corner from my house, to read this post to find out why it’s called The Nanna Shop. They stock a great range of fruit and veg, as well as continental goods like meats, cheeses, pickles. They have bulk bags of nuts for reasonable prices as well as some being able to be bought by weight. They have kilo bags of some more unusual flours, such as rice flour, chickpea flour, polenta as well as a decent selection of dried beans. They have a fairly good Asian section, and lots of other random vinegars and sauces. And I buy tonnes and tonnes of tinned beans here! Being so close to my house, this is usually my first port of call for unusual ingredients.

Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

Kakulas – Freo and Northbridge
These are probably my favourite shops in all of Perth for food. Sacks full of almost every type of flour, pulses and grain imaginable, for sale by the kilo. This is awesome for trying a new ingredient without buying more than you need. A large range of spices, continental jarred goods, teas, coffee, dried fruits, nuts and cheeses. The smell of these stores alone is worth the visit. I favour the Fremantle one, but only because I love ambling around Freo.
Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

The Re Store – Leederville.
Cheese and smallgoods reign supreme here. Famous for their lunch rolls, for that very reason. Awesome ‘obscure’ alcohol section, including a bunch of fun bitters. Good range of pasta and Italian goods. Decent range of the more unusual spices and condiments.
Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

Fresh Provisions – Mt Lawley
Excellent range of dried spices, good range of pre-packaged more unusual grains and flours (large GF range). Good range of different sauces from a variety of cuisines. Good range of cheeses and cold meats. Gourmet and artisanal ice cream.
Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

Second Ave IGA – Mt. Lawley
First place in Perth I found chipotles in adobo sauce. For that reason alone, it holds a special place in my heart. Large range of imported goods, cheeses, cold meats. Good range of ‘different’ chocolates and treats. Gourmet and artisanal ice cream. This is usually my first port of call for unusual ingredients when I’m shopping in my lunch break, as it also has a better range of ‘normal’ stuff than Fresh Provisions, who deal more solidly in gourmet. So I can get it all at once.
Shopping with Skamp - Perth Food Shopping

Markets on Manning – Opposite Curtin University, Belmont
This is my most-frequented Farmers’ Markets. Good range of fruit and veg and often have a stall called “Spice West”, which is where I’ve gotten most of my more unusual spices from, such as smoked chilli powders (chipotle and ancho) as well as annatto seeds, which has allowed me to finally make the most authentic Peurco Pibil!

This is obviously by no means an exhaustive list of specialty shops in Perth – they are just the ones I frequent the most. Have you got any other shops in Perth that you think I should check out? Email me!

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing


I don’t eat a great deal of cake. When I was a kid I baked a lot, and I love it…but there’s not a huge need for cake in my day-to-day life and I wouldn’t want it to go to waste, so I don’t bake terribly often. Which is why there isn’t a great deal of desserts on my blog, seeing as this is more a food diary more than anything else. This means, when I do have to bake cake for something, I tend to go ridiculous. These cupcakes are ridiculous.

I was designated cupcakes for a Cousins’ Catch-Up games night, and these are what I brought along. This chocolate cupcake recipe is my go-to chocolate cake/cupcake recipe. It is simple, it’s easy and the cakes are always great. It produces a nice, moist and fluffy cake. I then cut a little hollow to fill with salted caramel, because I’m obsessed with my caramel at the moment. You’ll remember it from my Salted Caramel ChocPavlova, and I used it for Chocolate Tacos, and for my bacon bark and Lance has taken to making salted caramel and melted chocolate dessert nachos with it. Oh. My. Goodness. That is delicious. You should do that. And then I added icing. I must admit, I’m not a big buttercream fan. To me, buttercream icing is just plain icing you used to make when you were a kid, but then it got a fancy name and now it’s the shizz. But really, it’s just butter and icing sugar. Nice and it definitely has it’s place, but nothing spectacular, and too much when piled high on a cupcake. I tend to scrape half of it off. Give me cream cheese icing with that delicious cheese-cakey tang and you have me won, though. This cream cheese icing is peanut butter flavoured. Because peanut butter and chocolate is a match made in heaven. You'll see I used Maple Peanut Butter - that's because it was the only smooth peanut butter I had. You can mimic that by adding 2 tsp maple syrup to normal peanut butter. To just make it the most ridiculous cupcake ever, I then topped it with peanut praline. Epic, yeah?

These are not for the faint hearted. They are *quite* sweet. I recommend keeping them refrigerated after icing them and taking them out around 30 minutes before serving. The warmer they are, the sweeter they are. You can tone them down a bit by having just the cupcake and icing, but at Cousin’s Catch-Up Games Night, I play to win!

Speaking of ‘when you were a kid’…we played Nightmare that night. Do you remember that ol’ VHS game? Yeah, it was awesome…my little maggots!



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing



Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups plain flour
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
85g butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

1 cup icing sugar
250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4 tablespoons Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Caramel Sauce
Peanut Praline, chopped

Preheat oven to 170. Line a 12 cupcake tray with cases.

In the bowl of a standmixer, blend together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and butter on a slow speed until it combines to look like breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Pour half of this into the flour mix, then beat on high to make sure there are no lumps. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly pour the rest of the milk mixture in a steady stream. Mix for another minute or so until completely smooth.

Spoon batter into paper cases until 2/3 full, then place in the oven for 20-15 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. Let cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whilst cooling, make the icing. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, blend the peanut butter and cold cream cheese until combined. Add the icing sugar a little at the time and beat on medium high for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Don't overmix as it can separate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When cool, use a thin pointed knife to cut a cone shaped circle down into the centre of the cupcake. Slice the pointed bottom off (and eat!!) and reserve the circular 'plug'. Spoon 1/4 tsp or so of caramel sauce into the hole, then cover with the cake 'plug'.

Use a knife or piping bag to decorate the cupcakes with the peanut butter cream cheese icing

Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing
Winning at Cupcakes - Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Peanut Cream Cheese Icing