Carrot, Sage & Thyme risotto with Ashen Goats Cheese

This is one of my girly recipes that only comes out when Mr Bake and Bloom is away on business or I have a girlfriend coming over, it’s just too pretty for men to appreciate. (And Mr Bake & Bloom tells me off about the insane amounts of butter I use when I cook, that’s why he is so cute & skinny nowadays) If you’ve always been scared of preparing risotto as many people are don’t be…I mean, if you can work a spoon you can make risotto. The key to making it nice & smooth is not to break apart the rice (which makes the rice gluggy), I tend to never lift my spoon from the bottom of the saucepan that way I am not smashing up the little pieces of rice, merely massaging the starch from them.

I am not a real fan of cheesy risottos so this one really ticks all my boxes with just a crumbling of ash coated goats cheese (if you can’t get the soft ash coated kind just use any soft mild goats cheese) & some beautiful little purple thyme flowers.

Carrot, Sage & Thyme risotto with Ashen Goats Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 2 & 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup verjuice or a sweet young white wine
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 large brown onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped sage + extra leaves for garnish
• 3 thyme sprigs + extra for garnish (if you can get it with flowers on it looks super pretty)
• Ashen goats cheese
• 1 heaped tsbp of butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & white pepper

Method:

1. Bring the stock & verjuice to a slow boil in a saucepan & then turn down to a very low heat
2. Peel & dice the onion & roughly chop the garlic & add to a large saute pan with the oil, butter (save about a teaspoon) & garlic over medium-low heat
3. When the onion is softened add the rice & stir until sticky & translucent
4. Using a ladle add one spoonful of stock & gently stir into the risotto until adsorbed, repeat with another ladle of stock
5. Continue adding stock & stirring frequently until rice is about half cooked (about 12-15 mins) & add the grated carrot & herbs
6. Continue adding stock until the rice is soft, add the last ladle of stock & turn the heat off. (about 28-35 mins)
7. Add the reserved butter, salt & pepper to taste & allow to rest with a lid on for 3-4 minutes
8. Serve topped with extra herbs & crumbled goats cheese & a cold glass of pinot gris

Eh Canada! Pear & Maple tarte tatin with Praline Pecans & my conclusions on the Pacific Northwest

O.K I have no intention of re-inventing the wheel here, classic tarte tatin is beautiful, perfect. This is simply cheeky twist on the theme, get it? French Canadian?

I had something similar at a restaurant in Whistler on Christmas eve, it was full of promise but failed to deliver. I can’t understand for the life of me why though, tarte tatin is such a simple desert for even the most unskilled of home cooks to prepare when given the time & attention it needs.

Pear & Maple tarte tatin with Praline Pecans

Ingredients:

• 1 Beurre Bosc pear
• 1/2 a cup of the best quality Canadian maple syrup one can acquire without resorting to the black market
• 1/2 a cup of halved raw pecans
• 1 sheet of all butter, premium quality puff pastry
• 1 tsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp thickened cream

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c/355f
2. Cut your pear in half & scoop out the core with a teaspoon or a Mellon ball. Try to make the hole quite shallow & then cut about 1cm off the back (round side) off the pear to make a flat surface & help it cook more evenly.
3. In a small saucepan heat half the maple syrup over low heat & cook the pears face down for about 8 minutes
4. While the pears are cooking chop half the pecans quite finely & sprinkle evenly over a sheet of pre rolled puff pastry & gently press them into the dough either using your hands or a rolling pin. (This is a great tip from Jamie Oliver to make nut studded pastry)
5. Remove the pears from the heat & place caramelized side up on the pastry, cut around the pear with about 2cm extra to wrap the bottom of the pear in the pastry.
6. Brush with a little extra maple syrup & transfer to a baking tray caramelized side down.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry is browned & flaky
8. Meanwhile add the remaining maple syrup (saving a tablespoon or so for presentation) and whole pecans to the saucepan over low heat
9. Add the butter & cream & continue cooking over low heat until praline thickens
10. Remove pears from the oven & serve with ice cream, praline pecans & drizzled with extra maple syrup (and serve to your salivating boyfriend for breakast)

There is some kind of unspoken affinity with Australians & Canadians, I have felt it my whole life before I even really knew where Canada was on a map. Perhaps it something to do with the rest of the world kind of taking us for lovable oafs (and the fact we don’t  really care what the world thinks of us anyway), perhaps it’s just our shared love of a beer, a laugh & our genuine zest for life.

I knew for me Canada was going to be life-changing but in the end for different reasons than I believed.

Yes the people were fantastic, yes the scenery was pristine, amazing. The thing that has left me changed for life though is my expectations for customer service.  I am loathe to say anything unpatriotic about Australia because I love my country & the freedom it affords me, however after experiencing first hand the level of care & experience for customer service in Canada I fear eating out at home is never going to quite satisfy me again. It was faultless, seamless, inspiring how we were always greeted with the most sincere of smiles. We were checked on by the managers & often also the chefs, doted over by all the staff. We felt like royalty & the food was fit for kings (for the most part)

I was deeply inspired by the quality of the produce in Canada. I visited the farmers market on Granville Island & could have easily pitched a tent & lived amongst the fruit & veggies for the rest of my life. You can’t imagine how sad it was for me not cooking for a month with such wonderful produce available.

Canada around the holidays looks like a Christmas card, I even saw a real holly tree with berries & stuff! I was just so impressed with Canada I cant wait to go back one day & stay a little longer.

Canada you have won my heart.

G’day U.S.A. Chocolate Brownie Pie & a few observations about my travels in America

Look at it, stare into it’s velvety darkness. (& ignore my rudimentary crust making skills)

I wracked my brain with ideas for my American inspired recipe. I just had too many things I wanted to do…peanut butter cups, BBQ ribs, red velvet cake, rice krispie treats. I needed to simplify.

What do you think of when you think of classic “Suzie homemaker” style American baking? For me it was pie and brownies, and then lightning struck. Pie crust- brownie filling…YUM. I googled it & it turns out that brownie pie is a real thing so I can’t take all the credit but I decided to wing the whole recipe. (Generally not an advisable way to go about the science of baking) So I started with a chocolate cookie crust & filled it with a decadent brownie filling. The resulting pie is hauntingly chocolaty with a delicious crust on top.

In a lot of ways this pie is like America, it looks a bit rough around the edges but it’s filling is sweet & charming.

Chocolate Brownie Pie

Ingredients:

Filling

• 130g good quality dark chocolate (I used organic Rapunzel chocolate from Germany because I am fancy)
• 1 cup caster sugar
• seeds of half a vanilla bean
• 2 large free range eggs, lightly whisked
• 1/2 a cup of salted butter (you could use unsalted, but I like a bit of salt with my chocolate)
• 1/2 a cup of plain flour

Crust

• 1.5 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (oreos would be excellent)
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 tsp cocoa

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150c/300f
2. Place the cookie crumbs & cocoa in a bowl & add the melted butter, stirring with a fork
3. Press the wet cookies into a pie dish (try to get the crust thinner than I did…I was totally lame at it last night) It helps to press it with a water glass
4. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes & allow to cool until the filling is ready
5. Turn the oven up to 180c/355f
6. In a microwaveable bowl, melt the butter & the chocolate for around 1-2 minutes, checking & stirring intermittently
7. With a fork whisk in the vanilla & sugar
8. Allow to cool to near room temperature & whisk in the eggs then sift in the flour & stir until combined
9. Pour into the pie crust & bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes
10. Remove from the oven, allow to cool & refrigerate overnight
11. Serve sparingly with whipped cream & strawberries

To be honest I didn’t expect to like America (just read on) from all my preconceived notions I expected there to be flagpoles on every front lawn & hillbillies chasing pigs down the street in “pick up trucks” (TV has done this to my brain people)

The thing that made America great for me was really the people, I’m really sweet on you guys.  Generally I found Americans to be super polite (It would never occur to an Aussie to call someone Sir or Ma’am) really friendly & downright endearing. I met a few people from Texas & I have to say their accents turn me to mush, it’s so dang cute.

I really like the whole Suzie homemaker, wholesome, soccer mom thing America has going on. And I really like the word “Y’all”.  A stewardess said Y’all on a plane & I just about melted.

Another thing that really got me was the whole freedom of speech thing. My policy in foreign countries is don’t discuss anything controversial (politics, religion or race) Now Mr Bake & Blooms father is a man of a different generation, before political correctness. A true blue old country Aussie, he calls it how he sees it & then repeats it until he is out of breath. I gotta tell you, every time he spoke to someone (particularly in Nevada with the right to bear concealed arms) I was terrified of what he would say. I seriously thought we might end up the victims on an episode of “cops” with some of the things he blurted out to total strangers. The amazing thing was, no one was offended, they simply respected Bob’s right to say what he thought. That’s nice…if you tell an Aussie something they don’t agree with they will probably call you a d*ck-head & proceed to tell you all the reasons you are wrong & they are right (we swear a lot)

And I think that’s great (the acceptance part, not the d*ck-head part)

Now we come to the food, oh the food. Do you know I had never eaten (or in some cases even heard of) the following:

• Pulled pork
• Sliders
• Artichokes (how the heck did I ever live without artichokes)
• Tri tip beef
• Matzo ball soup
• Red velvet cake
• Orange cheese (I love your orange cheese, all our cheese is white)

Sad right? But you have opened my eyes to a new world of gluttony deliciousness.

Thanks for having me America