Love a Lemon Pound Cake

I miss my local Starbucks.  I miss the custom frappes I used to order and I miss the cakes.  Whenever I am in New York, I have to have cake from Starbucks.  I am quite partial to the gingerbread, but my stand out favourite would have to be the Lemon Pound Cake. 

What to do when you are not in New York and have a yearning for Lemon Pound Cake?  Do what I do - find a recipe!

I had to do a little trawling of the Internet to find a recipe for Lemon Pound Cake that used lemon juice, rather than lemon essence (Yuk!).  I am pretty sure I have found a recipe that is so bang on, that whenever I taste it I am taken back to my Starbucks on Lexington and 78th...

Click here for the recipe

My friend Louie invited me out for lunch today so I baked this cake to take out for afternoon tea.  When I made the glaze, I made a slight variation by scraping half a vanilla pod into the mix to cut the sharpness of the lemon and to add a yummy vanilla seed speckle to the top of the cake.   

I always love eating this cake the next day as I feel that it tends to get even more moist over time. 

Lucky for me, Lou gave me some cake to take home so I will enjoy an extra slice tomorrow with my morning tea.

By the way, this recipe makes delicious lemon cupcakes that are sublime with lemon and cream cheese frosting... 

Until next time...

Kitty xx

Mushrooms/Fungi/Funghi etc

I love mushrooms.  Especially sauteed in butter and garlic with a little chopped parsley, heaped high on a piece of toasted cibatta.  Yum!  Now that's breakfast!  There are so many varieties of mushrooms and fungi - so many I don't even think I will even try to name them.  One variety I have just become newly acquainted with and can't get enough of are Porcini mushrooms.  (Yes I know I bagged the hype previously - I stand corrected!)

 

I was lucky enough to be able to 'trade' some dried porcini's for a bag of risoni, with an Italian lady from where I work.  I ended up with 20g which roughly equates to about $4 worth, so I have been using them sparingly and with great love and care.  The flavour from these mushrooms is just incredible.  They have given new life to a once bland mushroom risotto, my veal ragu is alive with flavour and my bolognese sauce now has a little extra 'sumpin' sumpin''.

I am going to be so sad when I run out.  I need to find out Anna's source... I need more of the 'good stuff'! 

By the way, if anyone has some black or white truffle that they wish to trade for fresh pasta let me know.  I am dying to believe the hype.

In the meantime, I urge you to go and try some of the many different varieties of mushrooms available.  You will discover new flavours and textures and I guarantee you will find it really hard to go back to just buying button mushrooms again.

Mixed Mushroom Ragu

300-500g of mixed mushrooms (enoki, oyster, portobello and button for example)
a good knob of butter
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, sliced finely
salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese

Clean any residual dirt off the mushroom caps by brushing them lightly.  Do not wash!  Cut larger mushrooms into smaller chunks or slice.  Quarter button mushrooms and cut the ends off the stems of the enoki.  Heat butter in a frypan and add thyme and garlic.  Add your mushrooms (hold back the more delicate oyster and enoki as they cook very quickly) and be sure they get a good coating of butter.  They will collapse very quickly.  Turn down the heat and add the oyster and enoki mushrooms.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve on toasted cibatta or with pasta with a good drizzle of olive oil and grated parmesan.

Until next time...

Kitty xx

Toad in the Hole

Toad in the hole would have to be one of my all time favourite cheap eats for breakfast.  It is simple - a slice of bread, with a hole cut in the middle, fried in butter and a little olive oil.  Crack an egg into the hole, fry and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of Tabasco.  I love the crispy buttery goodness the bread takes on from cooking it in butter and oil in a frypan... 

This breakfast is also a fond food memory of my childhood.  I remember my Mum and Dad making them for me as a kid and I always found it funny that the egg was called a 'Toad'.  To this day I still don't really know why, other than the fact that it is 'something' in a hole.  Why not call it a rabbit? or a mole?  With my addition of Tabasco, I am re-naming mine:

Fire in the Hole!

1-2 slices bread (pref rye or sourdough)
1-2 eggs (pref organic, cage free)
smidgen of butter and olive oil
salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce

Cut a hole in the middle of your slice of bread - freestyle it or use a small glass or cookie cutter.  Heat your butter and oil in a non-stick frypan.  Slide your bread into the pan and coat both sides with the oil and butter.  (Fry your 'hole' as well - no need to throw it away).

Crack your egg into the 'hole' and fry to your liking.  (If you like your egg runny, you may want to flip your bread to toast both sides before cracking in your egg).  Season to taste.

For my money it is a great breakfast for the weekend - especially when the pantry is looking a little scant and you wake up feeling like you ate a box of kitty litter.  With all the fast food establishments offering breakfast these days, it is a cheaper, home cooked alternative.  As for healthy, everything is OK in moderation.  I just have to resist the temptation to make 2 as a sandwich filled with bacon, lettuce and tomato... The possibilities are endless...

Until next time...

Kitty xx

Corn Cakes @ Canteen

One of my favourite meals to enjoy 'out' is breakfast.  I love it more than going out for dinner.  It was my day off and once again I found myself at Canteen.  (Some people go to India to find themselves - I go to restaurants, go figure).  Canteen is my favourite little 'find' for breakfast and brunch.  Along with the delightful food, they do seriously good coffee and the service is fantastic. 

I was able to sit in the nook by the window, so I sat with my paper and my espresso and watched the world go by.  One thing I am not shy about is dining solo.  The downside is that there is only one plate of food and I miss the sharing.  I saw the owners of my other favourite restaurant having breakfast sitting outside - so this reassured me that the food must be good if chefs eat here.

The special was crepes with blueberry compote and lemon curd.  I really enjoyed the last sweet breakfast that I had there - French toast brioche with banana, but this time I felt like something savoury.  I told the waitress that I was undecided over the crepes and the corn cakes.  She said that the corn cakes were her favourite item on the menu.  I ordered them on her recommendation and I was not disappointed.

On the plate were 3 generous corn cakes, along with bacon, slow roasted tomato, guacamole and rocket.  The guacamole was a nice addition to the corn cakes, as was the bacon.  The tomatoes were so deliciously sweet, I could have eaten a whole plate of them alone.  I also liked the balsamic reduction that was drizzled around the plate.  It added a nice acid sweetness that was so in harmony with the tomatoes... Oh yummy...

The waitress asked me if I was enjoying my breakfast - I had no words other than 'MMMMM!'  I am absolutely certain I will order this dish again.

Meanwhile, I had a go at making my own corn cakes over the weekend.  They were really good only for the fact that I am still kicking myself for forgetting to buy baby Italian tomatoes to roast as an accompaniment... 

The recipe I developed is just a basic pancake batter made savoury with a good hit of Tabasco and a little finely diced shallot.  I added corn kernels and seasoned with salt and pepper.  If you need a more detailed recipe, just let me know. 

Until next time...

Kitty xx

Cupcakes for a Cause - Or, Just Because!

Cupcakes are great.  They are tiny cakes.  They take the pressure off baking a whole cake.  They don't have to be cut, they mostly never fail and you can cover a multitude of sins with a good thick slathering of frosting.  I love baking them and sharing them at work or just to have in my cake tin to gobble away at will.

Two of my friends at work approached me about making cupcakes for the RSPCA cupcake day, to raise money for 'all creatures great and small'.  I jumped at the chance, being one who isn't shy about showing off her baking or cooking prowess.  The whole conundrum for me was - what kind of cupcakes to make?

I instantly wanted to go with my favourite flavour - chocolate, though I wanted to make this a special kind of cupcake, something interesting and something that would sell.  I decided to try to make a chocolate mud cupcake - just because everyone loves the decadence of a mudcake, I think it is the caloric/heart attack appeal that makes them so desirable.  I wanted to make cupcakes that were such a guilty pleasure you feel the need to go to a Confessional after eating.

I wasn't sure how to make cupcakes with universal appeal to both men and women - I can't imagine that men feel all that masculine chomping on a fru-fru decorated cupcake... Or is this not a problem?  I also want to create a 'signature' for my cupcakes - similar to how Sprinkles Cupcakes in LA have the dot, I want to make something that makes my cupcakes stand out.  I know this is for charity, but I can't help but feel a little competitive!  After careful consideration, and pondering what I have done in the past to make my cupcakes memorable, I decided to anoint each cake with a generous flourish of icing - for visual appeal as well as lick-a-bility!

So a week out, close to the big day - I decided to have a practice run using a mud cake recipe I found.  I bought some good quality dark chocolate, and I found some brown cupcake wrappers and sprinkles to coordinate with my 'muddy brown' theme. 

The list of ingredients are pretty stock standard for a chocolate cake recipe, the only thing that brought me to my knees was the amount of sugar it called for - 480 grams!  That and the fact that once I got into the various stages of the recipe my kitchen resembled a demolition site with all the mess I was making!

This recipe yields a generous batter - enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or a tall, dense cake if you chose to bake it as a cake.  The batter was rather thin and I was a little concerned that it would be too thin.  I put the cupcake trays into the oven, did a little kitchen prayer and hoped that all was well in my baking world.

After a nervous wait and many little 'peeps' through the oven door, I tested them with my skewer and it came out clean (Hooray!) I left my cupcakes to cool. (I am always so impatient when it comes to this stage).  I was pleased with how they looked coming out of the oven, so this was a great start.  I started on my chocolate butter cream which I then generously piped onto the cupcakes and then decorated them my assorted little decorating accoutrement.

As this was a trial bake, I took some to work to share with my baking colleagues and also amongst friends.  The best compliment I think I could have asked for was that it was the best cupcake 'ever'.  I also got kudos on my butter cream.  I can't help but feel a little proud. *Cheesy grin*

The big day arrived on Monday, I went to work with Chocolate Mud Cupcakes, Lemon Cupcakes and Red Velvet Cupcakes.  Lou and Kel who baked with me brought along Vanilla, Hummingbird and Banana.  I think we had over 6 dozen cupcakes in total!  It was a successful morning, yeilding over $200 in sales and donations to give to the RSPCA.  It was fun to share our baked treats with everyone.  My Chocolate Mud Cupcakes were a sure fire hit - I could have made 4 dozen and there still wouldn't have been enough to meet the demand!

I really want to share the recipe with you but at the moment I just want to be selfish and keep it to myself for a little while.  It is just that good.  (Plus I know people who want it already for their own cafe).  If you ask me nicely maybe I will share it with you when I am ready.

Until next time...

Kitty xx

Fajitas can be made from your pantry, not just a packet.

I used to really love a brand of 'make at home' Mexican food, available from the supermarket.  Without naming the brand directly, Marty Robbins sings about falling 'in love with a Mexican girl' in this 'Old' town... Get my drift?

Anyway because I have this weird aversion to preservatives and ingredients labelled with numbers I always try to find a way to make my own versions of the store-bought ones.  I usually find that the ones I make taste better.  The best part is that the ingredients are really simple - they use basic spices most people use often or have lurking in the back of their pantry anway.

I love Fajitas and these ones taste really light and are full of flavour.  I even lighten them up a little by using European yoghurt in place of sour cream.  They go really well with the corn salsa as well.  Enjoy!

Fajitas - Recipe inspired by Jamie Oliver - Jamie's Ministry of Food

1 tsp smoked paprika (or sweet paprika if you can't find smoked)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more or less to taste)
pinch cayenne pepper (or more if you like it 'muy caliente!')
Olive oil
1 lime
1/2 red pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 green pepper, sliced into strips
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 or 2 skinless boneless chicken fillets, sliced thinly
8 flour tortillas
small tub of European yoghurt

For the Corn Salsa
1 can corn kernels, drained and rinsed (or 1 cob fresh corn, nibblets cut off cob)
1/2 red onion, finely diced
pinch dried chili flakes
1 small Lebanese cucumber, peeled and de-seeded
1 avocado, peeled and diced
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 bunch chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

Mix paprika, cumin, chili and cayenne together in a bowl.  Add enough oil to make into a runny paste (about 2 tbs should loosen it up enough).  Put chicken fillet slices into a bowl and pour over spice paste.  Mix thoroughly to coat well.  Put your frypan on high heat *do not add oil to the pan* add your chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.  Add peppers and onion and turn along with the chicken, until the vegetables soften slightly.  Turn the heat off and squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lime.  Mix well and season to taste.  (The lime juice gives the chicken a nice twang and mixes with the juices to make a nice thick gravy).

For the Corn Salsa - Heat a frypan with 1 tbs olive oil.  Add corn, onion and chili and cook until onion is softened (about 5 mins).  Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 5 mins.  Add the juice of half a lime, along with the cucumber, avocado and chopped coriander.  Mix to combine. *This salsa, mixed with grated cheese makes a great filling for Quesadillas too.

Warm tortillas in a microwave oven or a warm dry pan.  Serve Fajitas with yoghurt and salsa.

Ole!

Until next time...

Kitty xx

I've never been to an Italian Wedding but I made one...

The weather is still cold and wintry, which means the soup pot is a permanent fixture on the hob until the weather warms up.  This also means that at the farmers market there are the most amazing winter vegetables available.  White turnips, purple turnips, parsnips, cauliflowers... all these wonderful veg for roasting and making thick and satisfying soups.  Oh so tempting!

Last week I bought some Kale and Cavolo Nero.  For those unfamiliar with these veg, they are related to the cabbage family.  Cavolo Nero is also known as 'Italian Cabbage', though it looks and feels more like a tougher, leathery form of silver beet.  Kale on the other hand looks more like a thick, plasticky lettuce.  (For any Americans, Kale is closely related to what you know of as 'Collard Greens').

Both are very high in vitamins and have a deliciously earthy flavour when cooked.  My mission was to use these two ingredients in soups.  I ended up making two soups, Italian Wedding, in which I used kale in place of escarole (endive) and a Minestrone, where I used the Cavolo Nero in place of spinach.

Out of the two soups I made, I have to say that the Italian Wedding was my favourite, I think because of the meat balls which, in a soup are a satisfying and surprising addition.  The Kale gave it a nice earthy flavour.  It made it taste 'healthy' if that makes any sense! 

Here is my version of Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

400g minced beef or pork
1/4 tsp onion powder (or a little grated onion, I find onion powder just easier)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp chili flakes
Pinch salt
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
8 cups chicken stock
1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup risoni or orzo
Small bunch Kale/Cavolo Nero/Spinach/Endive, chopped
Olive Oil
Grated Parmesan

To the mince, add onion powder, oregano, chili, salt, breadcrumbs and egg.  With clean hands (or a wooden spoon) mix well together to combine.  Using wet hands, form into small meatballs and set aside in the refrigerator for about 30 mins. 

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbs olive oil and add carrot, celery, garlic and onion and fry for about 3-5 mins or until onion is translucent.  Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Add risoni or orzo.  Heat a frypan and add 1tbs olive oil.  Add meatballs and fry until golden all over.  Add browned meatballs to the stock mixture.  Bring to a simmer and add your chosen greens.  Simmer until greens wilt slightly.  Season to taste and sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese over the top.

Serves 4.


So there you have it.  I had an exciting weekend fossicking at the markets for some new veg (for me finding new greens is exciting!) and used them in a nice new hearty soup, which I am sure is going to become part of my Winter repertoire.

Until next time...

Kitty xx