Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie

Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan

Just before I travelled to the USA with my husband (then boyfriend) and sister-in-law, we had communally watched the movie Waitress. Which, if you haven’t seen it, has a large portion of energy devoted to making and naming pies. We had also just finished watching the tv show Pushing Up Daisies, which we referred to as “Piemaker” after the main character who (amongst being able to bring people back from the dead temporarily) makes pies. It’s worth noting, in America “pie” is a dessert. Embarking on a 2 month trip around various US cities, we were primed and ready to indulge in as much pie as we could. And we found the mission impossible.

Back then, my food knowledge wasn’t as developed and my knowledge of good places to eat in the US was non-existant. So partially it could have been where we chose to eat. I think a large part of it is that our trip consisted almost entirely of big cities – not the kinda places that would have the diners and pie shops I’d seen so often in US movies. But it left us with a sense of desperation with every failed attempt to find a restaurant that would serve what us Aussies thought of as quintessential American food. In a twist of irony, literally the ONLY piece of pie we ate in the whole two month trip was in Canada, when we visited Niagara Falls. Despite being good pie, the mere fact we weren’t in America eating it somewhat lessened it as an experience.

Since then, the desire for pie still comes and goes in waves. Sweet pies and in particular fruit pies don’t seem to be as big of a thing here in Australia – meat pies obviously are ubiquitous! Certainly in my family, the custard pie was king growing up. Mum also made apple pies and lemon meringue pie (a personal favourite) but they don’t hold the same comforting sense memories for me as other baked goods. Not wanting to waste all our mulberries on cocktails, I decided to make an apple and mulberry pie. Upon tasting it, Lance’s reaction was ‘you know what, when we spent all that energy looking for pie in America – I think this is exactly what we wanted’. High praise, indeed!

If you don’t have mulberries, you can sub other berries – blackberry would be quite nice. I like the tart/fresh depth of the berries amongst the sweeter, more predictable apple. The cardamom plays particularly well with the mulberries. The pastry is the simplest of pastries, just flour, butter, salt. I like the sweetness of the filling to shine, with the crunch of the dusting of sugar before baking. Feel free to use frozen pastry if you can’t be bothered making it yourself. And finally, the best part of this pie is the thin disc of marzipan hidden in the bottom, which adds another level of flavour with the sweet almondness a lingering background flavour.
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan

Apple and Mulberry Pie  with Hidden Marzipan

Pastry

3 cups plain flour
3/4 cup rye flour
200g butter
1 tsp salt
8-10 tbsp cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water (eggwash)
sugar to sprinkle

Filling

4 pink lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices
250g mulberries, stalk removed
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp corn flour
5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed in a mortar and pestle
1/2 tsp cinnamon
100g marzipan


For the dough – cut the cold butter into small squares and place in a standmixer. Mix the flours and salt together well, then add to the mixer. On a slow speed, mix together until it forms a sandy consistency. Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together. Try not to mix more than is necessary. Separate into two even pieces, form into discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour to rest. (I made mine in the morning, and baked the pie that night).


Prep the apple as described above. Place pieces in a small saucepan with the corn flour, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Mix well to coat the pieces. Add the maple syrup and stir to coat. Places over a low-medium  heat and cook for 5 minutes, just until the liquid goes sticky and apple pieces start to soften. Set aside to cool.

When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 170C.

Grease your pie dust lightly with butter. Dust your work surface lightly and gently roll out the two discs into rounds of pastry big enough to fill your pie dish. Carefully lay one piece into the bottom of the pie dish, ensuring there is no tears. Cut shapes into the second piece (alternatively, just slash steam holes when it's formed).

Between two pieces of baking paper, roll out the marzipan into a thin disc the size of the bottom of the pie dish. Lay this on top of the bottom piece of pastry. Pour over the apple pieces, then scatter the mulberries over the top.

Carefully drape the second piece of pastry over the top, crimping the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with white sugar and pop in the oven for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden.

Set aside to cool 10 minutes, cut and serve with ice cream, cream, custard or a combination of all of the above!

Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan
Baking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden MarzipanBaking up a Storm - Apple and Mulberry Pie with Hidden Marzipan




Sunday, October 11, 2015

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

I don’t know a great deal about the various South American cuisines, other than I enjoy eating most of the flavours. So, with an ignorance of the provenance of mofongo and therefore what is and isn’t actually “mofongo” I am calling this a Kale Mofongo. From what I have read, mofongo is fried plantains roughly mashed together with broth, chicharrones (or bacon), with various pepper and onions as the flavouring ingredients. This has the peppers in the form of chile flakes, and instead of salty bacon, it uses salty anchovies. The kale just makes it much more vege based.


This recipe is barely adapted from a recipe for pasta from the New York Times website. The only two real main differences are the substitution of noodles for plantain and the substitution of rum and broth for water. I figure, why wilt with water when you can wilt with more flavour?? Plus, I seem to have a fairly strong habit of cooking with booze. My love affair with plantains is well and truly continuing. Definitely hunt some down if you can find them!
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Garlic and Kale Mofongo

2 green plantains, cut into 5cm discs, peeled.
3 tbsp olive oil
4 anchovy filets
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons capers, drained and stored on paper towel until ready to use
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, chopped
1 shots (30mL) dark rum, such as Angostura
¼ cup chicken or vegetable stock
Half a lime


Heat the olive oil in a large frypan (preferably one with deepish sides for when you’re tossing everything together) to medium heat. In batches if necessary, fry the plantain pieces until golden on each side, and soft – around 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.


To the same pan, add a little more oil if the plantains soaked up a lot. You want the bottom of the frypan to be well-coated. Add the anchovies, chili flakes and a fat pinch of salt. Fry, stirring, until the anchovies have dissolved and the chili flakes are toasted, around 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and the capers, cook for 5 minutes. Add kale and rum and cook until kale goes bright green and wilts and about half of the liquid has evaporated. Add the plantains and stir through, mashing as you go with your wooden spoon into the oily, garlicky kale. Everything should be coated with the flavoured oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then squeeze some lime juice over the top just before serving.

Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo
Plantain Love - Garlic and Kale Mofongo

Monday, September 28, 2015

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Last time I travelled to New York, I fell in love with plantains. Head over heels. In every guise that I ate them. I have spent the two years since mourning their absence in my life. Hopefully checking out tales of plantain sightings in Perth from the definite to the more vague. None were fruitful (ha!) Then one day a few weeks ago, I walked into The Nanna Shop, and there they were in all their (at the time) green glory. I bought some without thinking. Without concern that I’d never pay $7.99 a kilo for bananas or potatoes – but here I was paying that for plantains. I finally could relive some of the dishes I had loved whilst travelling. I started with simple tostones – twice fried plantain chips. Just as crispy and salty and delicious as I remembered! Then I did a bit of a search for more plantain recipes both online and in my Cuban and Peruvian cookbooks. I came across a Dominican recipe for plantain gnocchi with a beef short rib ragu on the Saveur website. Not much one for the price of beef ribs, I decided to use that recipe as a flavour guideline and mix it up a little to make my life much easier by switching to a slow cooked blade roast. So no removal of bones, no straining the vegetables out of the sauce, everything just cooked and eaten together. It also meant changing the plantain gnocchi with yuca flour to mashed plantains with white rice – skewing things a bit further to the Cuban style of serving. I’d love to experiment with a plantain gnocchi one day (although yuca flour is probably well out of the equation!)

The flavours here an big and punchy. The meat has a decent heat kick – feel free to add more or less cayenne depending on how hot you like things. There’s a subtle acidity from the vinegar and tomato paste, but it’s well tempered by the big beefy flavour and the creamy crème fraiche added just at the end. The plantains should be yellow, this means a slightly sweeter mash that has an almost limey brightness to it. The rice and tomato salsa are fairly standard additions, adding bulk, texture and freshness. I loved this meal. So much. The beef here then lasted for a subsequent 4 meals, including a hungover quesadilla morning for four.

And I was delighted to learn that they still had plantains on offer this weekend just gone, so I am restocked again. This time I bought enough that I might even be able to hold off until a few go black and try them that way!
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains

(barely adapted from Saveur)
2kg beef blade roast, fat layer removed and discarded
2 tbsp. rice bran oil
2 brown onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, diced
3 sweet paprika, diced (sub 1 red capsicum)
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. cayenne
3 tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups beef stock
200mL crème fraiche
2 yellow plantains
White rice for serving
Tomato salsa (2 fresh tomatoes, 2 spring onions, handful of coriander and flat leaf parsley finely diced and tossed together)

Heat the base of your slow cooker to medium high and add a slick of oil. When the oil is hot, brown the blade roast on all sides, around 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, stirring here and there until translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, paprika and salt, and cook a further 10 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Stir through the smoked paprika, pepper, basil, thyme, cayenne and tomato paste. Add the vinegar and beef stock, stirring to pick up any bits stuck to the bottom.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then place the beef back in gently. Place inside the slow-cooker, cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is falling apart.

When the meat is ready, prepare the plantains. Without peeling, cut the plantains into cylinders around 4cm long. Place in a shallow glass bowl, add ¼ cup water cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes, or until the plantains are soft. Remove the peel, then mash the plantains with the water remaining in the bowl. Season with a little salt.

Shred the beef with two forks, then gently stir through the crème fraiche. Serve with plain white rice, tomato salsa and mashed plantains

Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)
Plantains in Perth - Beef Ragu with Mashed Plantains (Slow Cooker Love)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Simple Sides - Pink Grapefruit Beets

Simple Sides - Pink Grapefruit Beets



This is just a really quick post about what is one of my favourite side dishes at the moment. I really love the earthiness of beetroot, and our tree is currently laden with pink grapefruit which led to this experimentation. Ordinarily, I add a little balsamic when I roast my beets, but the grapefruit juice brings a brightness with the acidity, rather than the richness that balsamic vinegar does. The ginger adds a little bite and the pink peppercorns add a dill-like freshness to the whole situation.

This is great served alongside a roast and if you have leftovers, they make the best salad with grains and a little Greek Yoghurt or goat’s cheese.


Simple Sides - Pink Grapefruit Beets


Pink Grapefruit Beets

8 baby beets, peeled and quartered
1 pink grapefruit, zest and juice
Thumbsize piece of ginger, peeled and grated
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pink peppercorns
1 tbsp olive oil


Preheat the oven to 170C

In a casserole dish, pour in the baby beets, olive oil, zest, ginger, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Pour over the grapefruit juice. Cover the casserole tightly with a lid, or alfoil, then pop in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the beets are tender.

Remove the lid/alfoil and pop back in the oven for a further 15 minutes so the juice reduces a little.


Serve, drizzling with the reduced juices.


Simple Sides - Pink Grapefruit Beets
Simple Sides - Pink Grapefruit Beets