Apple Sponge Pudding

Brr, it's cold. Pudding time. I've been making this apple sponge pudding, on and off, for the last year or so. It's so good! Basically it is just a layer of cooked apples, covered in a light sponge batter. It's warm and comforting, but not stodgy or heavy. Super delicious! The original recipe is from Jamie Oliver's website, but I've tweaked the recipe to satisfy the apple-loving contingent in my household. I reduced the quantities of cake batter to make a very thin layer, barely covering the apples. Boom. "Best dessert you've ever made".

It's quite quick to make, especially if you have an electric hand-held whisk, but if you were feeling energetic then all you'd need is a normal whisk and some arm power!

Ready for the oven

Baked

Apple Sponge Pudding

Apple Sponge Pudding

As I mentioned above, I have made this pudding a number of times, and if you want a thicker layer of cake, simply double the quantities of the sponge-layer ingredients. When I make it with the double-quantity of sponge mixture, it turns out thick and fluffy, as per the below picture.

Apple Sponge Pudding - double sponge

Whether made in double or single quantities, I like it best served hot out of the oven, drenched in hot vanilla custard. Gah! Perfect cold-weather treat!

Custard

Apple Sponge Pudding
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients
For the apple layer:
3 apples
25 grams caster sugar
1 tablespoon water
For the sponge layer:
25 grams caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
30 grams self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice

Method
To make the apple layer:
Peel, core and chop the apples into approx 1-cm chunks. Place in a small saucepan with caster sugar and water. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples are softened. Set aside.
To make the sponge layer:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter a baking dish. (I used a 18 x 24 cm oblong baking dish). Place the caster sugar and egg in a small mixing bowl, and whisk with an electric mixer until thick, aerated, and pale in colour. Gently whisk in the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and mixed spice, and fold in gently until combined. Place the apples in the pie dish, and top with the eggy batter. Use a spatula to spread it out to the corners.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the sponge topping is golden brown and cooked through.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Serve plain, or with vanilla custard or ice-cream.
Serves 3-4

Sandwich!

So last weekend, I made this awesome eggplant parmigiana sandwich. You make an eggplant parmigiana, you make a focaccia, you put the eggplant parmigiana IN the focaccia and then shove it in your face. Amaze! I saw the recipe in Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food (which is a fantastic book, by the way!) and knew I just had to have it! The only problem was that Jamie's recipe serves sixteen people (ahem), and even using all of my amazing mathematical prowess, I could only scale it down enough to make it a four-person parmigiana... so there was nothing else to do but throw an eggplant parmigiana-themed dinner party!




We invited fellow eggplant-enthusiasts (yes, it's a thing) Jenni and Jimbo, and I decided to make tiramisu for dessert, because it fit in with the Italian theme and JJ both love coffee. As a bonus, I'd been looking for an excuse to formalise my mum's old tiramisu recipe which a friend scribbled on a piece of scrap paper for her 20 years ago. It essentially says: "6 egg yolks, 500 grams mascarpone, coffee, alcohol and sugar to taste, savoiardi biscuits, cocoa on top". (Spoiler alert: the tiramisu worked, hooray! I wrote down all the quantities I used and I'll publish the recipe here soon!) The espresso martinis were added to the menu because, espresso martinis.

When friends ask what they can bring, my habitual answer is: "alcohol", so that it doesn't mess with my menu (heh), but I have to stop saying that, as we have way too much booze at home! Over the years we've amassed dozens of bottles of wine and spirits, but we almost never drink at home, especially throughout the week, and only if it's a special occasion or if we've got friends over. Our wine racks and liquor cabinet have literally run out of room!

So this time I asked JJ to bring snacks, "like chips and dip or something". They brought this...

Cheeeeeeese

Speaking of alcohol, Sandra was on cocktail duty, making Pimm's Cups with freshly muddled strawberries, citrus and cucumber. Soooo tasty.

Cocktail Station!

I was super organised and had done all the cooking and preparation in the afternoon, so I was free to get stuck into the cheese and cocktails until it was time for dinner. Here's the focaccia! (Confession time: I also bought a back-up focaccia, just in case mine didn't turn out right. But mine did. Phew!)

Focaccia dough

Homemade Foccacia

Also, how good is grilled eggplant? Scroll down for the full recipe, but basically it is layers of grilled eggplant, basily tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Boom.

Eggplant!

Here it is, all topped with melty mozzarella and baked.

Eggplant Parm

Focaccia

Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich

It was super yum. I was actually impressed that the eggplant parm sandwich managed to sustain structural integrity as I was eating it - much less messy than anticipated! Although having said that, everyone else ate very daintily with a fork and knife on their plates.

Then it was time for dessert! Plus cheesy 90s music because, well, why not! The espresso martini was perfect with the tiramisu (good job, mixologist-Sandra!) So much caffeinated alcoholic goodness.

Tiramisu & Espresso Martini

Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich

Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food

For the Focaccia

3.5 grams dried yeast (half a sachet)

500 grams strong bread flour

Extra virgin olive oil

For the Eggplant Parmigiana

2 medium eggplants

Olive oil, for frying (you will need lots)

2 cloves garlic

4 sprigs of basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

75 millilitres red wine

800 grams tinned crushed tomatoes

200 grams mozzarella cheese, torn up or finely sliced

50 grams breadcrumbs

50 grams Parmesan cheese, grated

50 grams rocket leaves

Method

For the Focaccia

Whisk the yeast into 300 millilitres warm water and set aside for 5 minutes. Place the flour and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and knead slowly using the bread hook until the dough comes together. Turn the mixer up to medium and keep kneading for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough to de-gas it (heh), then push it out into a large rectangular shape on a baking tray. Poke it all over with your fingertips, to make dents all over the dough. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle generously with sea salt and pepper. Set aside in a warm place to prove for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the focaccia for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Eggplant Parmigiana

Slice the eggplant crosswise into half-centimetre thick rounds. Brush with olive oil and grill or pan-fry until cooked through and softened. Set aside.

Finely slice the garlic and basil stalks (reserve the leaves for later). Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the garlic, basil stalks and oregano. Cook for a few minutes or until lightly golden. Pour in the red wine and allow to bubble away. Add the crushed tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Lightly oil a 20 x 30cm roasting tray with high sides.

Cover the base with a third of the eggplant slices, followed by a third of the tomato sauce, basil leaves, mozzarella, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make three layers in total. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and piping hot all the way through. Allow to stand for 30 minutes before cutting into portions and stuffing into the focaccia, adding rocket leaves.

Serves 4-6

Matcha and sesame-crusted tuna with soy butter potatoes

Hey hey! Quick recipe post today because I am in a super hurry but totally want to share this recipe with you! (And yes, I've got a November "Unblogged Files" coming up but it's taking ages and I'm only halfway through writing it - it was a very busy month!)

So tuna. I saw a nice piece of tuna at the local fishmonger, and thought I'd do something with it that I'd seen on Jamie's 15 Minute Meals - coating the tuna in green tea, black and white sesame seeds and searing the outside to a nice crust. Jamie used the inside of a green tea bag; I used that Kenko matcha powder that I was given as a sample.

Crusting the tuna

As an accompaniment, I tried a recipe from Bill Granger's Everyday Asian - boiled potato pieces cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, butter and sugar, and served with chopped spring onions. It's a contemporary, unique idea, and as soon as you sprinkle the spring onions over it smells so Japanese. Love it!

Cooking the potatoes

And here's dinner.

Matcha and sesame-crusted tuna with soy butter potatoes

Matcha and sesame-crusted tuna with soy butter potatoes

Rare tuna

The crusty ends

The matcha and sesame seeds give a gentle bitter toastiness to the tuna, without overpowering the delicately flavoured fish. It's a great combination.

Soy butter potatoes

I love tuna, I love potatoes, I love Japanese flavours. Winner winner tuna dinner!

Matcha and sesame-crusted tuna 
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's 15-Minute Meals

Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon each black and white sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon matcha powder
125 gram piece fresh tuna fillet
1/2 teaspoon olive oil, for frying

Method
Place the sesame seeds and matcha powder on a chopping board and mix to combine evenly. Roll the tuna fillet in the mixture until all sides of the tuna are coated.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over high heat, then cook the tuna for forty seconds a side, until seared on the outside and still raw in the middle. Set aside on a clean chopping board to rest for a few minutes. Slice into one-centimetre slices and arrange on a serving plate. Serve with soy sauce for dipping.
Serves 1 as a meal or 2 as a starter

Soy butter potatoes
Adapted from Bill Granger's Everyday Asian

Ingredients
2 medium-sized kipfler potatoes (approx. 200 grams in total)
15 grams butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
Sprinkling of finely sliced spring onion greens

Method
Peel the potatoes and cut into irregular chunks. Boil the potato in salted boiling water for approximately 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place the potatoes back in the hot and dry saucepan, followed by the butter, soy sauce and caster sugar. Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the liquid has mostly been absorbed by the potatoes. Sprinkle with spring onion greens to serve.
Serves 1 generously or 2 less so

February was a pretty big month for me, not least of all because I spent the first two weeks of February in Malaysia!  (Many, many blogposts to come).

Here's what the rest of my February looked like.

I made a few zillion trips to Axil Coffee Roasters... seems I haven't run out of excuses to drop in!  I've tried enough of the menu now to know that there are a couple of less-than-inspiring dishes on offer. However, it's mostly delicious, and I still think it's the best coffee in the area.

Left: Coconut, Passionfruit & White Chocolate Muffin Right: Strawberry and Pistachio Tart

The muffin was a little dry and disappointing, whilst the strawberry and pistachio tart was a well-made example of the classic fruit-topped crème pâtissière-filled tart.

Left: Cafe Latte Right: Bircher Muesli with kiwi/spirulina & dukkah-coated pear

Cute presentation of the muesli!

Top left: Potato hash with bacon and poached eggs Top right: Veal ragu with gnocchi Bottom left: Steak sandwich with potato salad Bottom right: Pappardelle with smoked fish (trout?) and capers

The steak sandwich was huge, and served with a heavy, mayo-based potato salad, which I felt was a poor match.  The other dishes on this visit were uniformly impressive - particularly the richly flavoured, slow-cooked veal ragu.

Inspired by Axil's veal ragu, one night I made my own veal stew with herbed ricotta gnocchi.


I'll blog the meal in detail soon, but just wanted to give a brief description now.  The stew recipe comes from Cook with Jamie, (previously made here), and I adapted the gnocchi recipe from a Donna Hay recipe.  I made the stew extra soupy, and fried the gnocchi in brown butter - very rich but so delicious!

Dessert that night was Nigella's chocolate brownie bowls (from Kitchen).
I tried carbonated coffee for the first time at the South Melbourne Street Fair.  St Ali had set up a little stall at the fair, offering the carbonated coffee, mocktails with cold-drip coffee, iced coffee and regular old espresso.



We brought a little picnic, all carried in my funky new picnic cooler-bag, complete with plastic wine glasses, plates and proper cutlery!



We brought some breads and other sweet nibbles from the Phillippa's event goody bag (sultana and orange bread, baguette, hot cross buns and biscuits), as well as some cheeses which were given to us at the Yarra Valley Dairy - the Juno and white savourine goats cheese log.  And crackers and fresh figs!

My friend Alaina brought some goodies that she bought at King & Godfree - super-hot salami, a curtain (!) of proscuitto, sun dried tomatoes and lovely marinated olives.


No trip to the beach is complete without fish and chips, and we grabbed a late lunch from Shark Shack in Rye.  It was incredibly busy that day, and we had to wait quite a while for our order, which gave me some time to ogle all their deep fryers, hehehe.


I felt really sorry for the staff in the shop - it was boiling hot in there, there were queues and queues of people, and loads of massive phone orders.  (The guy in front of us carried his order out in a crate!)  But, we got our food in the end and it was very fresh and very tasty, despite the volume of customers.

Mmm... salty and oily.  The perfect beach-day treat!
March is shaping up to be a busy month for me - I've got a little trip to the Goulburn Valley coming up, as well as a couple of MFWF events, some birthdays and some family celebrations too.  Blog-wise, I'm gonna start blogging my trip to Malaysia very soon - yay! Can't wait to share my Malaysian foodie adventures with y'all!

Hello hello!  When there is Christmas feasting, there are also leftovers!  We've finally finished all the leftovers, and I think we're all a bit sick of turkey and ham around here!  Having watched endless episodes of Nigella, Jamie and Gordon's Christmas programs over the break, I was tempted to try my hand at all sorts of big fancy pies to use up the leftover meat, but I thought that would defeat the purpose by creating even more leftovers.  (And don't forget you can't reheat leftover food more than once).

Whilst I did make one batch of pasties, and one sandwich, this year I found that the best way to use up the leftover ham and turkey was to serve it in thin slices to add protein and bulk to a fresh, healthy salad.  Much more suitable for our warm weather, don't you think?

Ham & Leek Welsh Pasties

I made Nigella's ham and leek Welsh pasties again (Kitchen), to use up leftover ham and petits pois.  These have ham, leeks and white sauce on the inside and are encased in a shortcrust pastry.  Lovely with a nice cold cider as an accompaniment.

Turkey and Ham Sandwich

This monster of a sandwich consisted of thick slices of white bread, lettuce, tomatoes, ham, turkey, and a thick smear of crème fraîche mixed with chives.  The crème fraîche mixture, apart from providing a tasty chive flavour, prevents the sandwich from getting dry (especially as turkey can dry out in the fridge).






Marinated Mushrooms with Walnut and Tahini Yogurt




THE SWANSON

I couldn't help it.  In the fridge we had a turkey leg, and we had slices of bacon.  How could I not make one? In honour of my favourite TV character, Ron Swanson from the hiii-larious Parks and Recreation, I made "The Swanson" - quite simply, a turkey leg wrapped in bacon.

"The Swanson"

Ron Swanson - what a legend. Photo source: Eater.com

And on that note I conclude my Christmas posts for the year! Hope you all have enjoyed the festive season as much as I did this year!