How good was the long weekend.  Five consecutive days off should happen more often.  As promised over the break I got into a little cooking.  It was rather convenient as the weather was pretty poor.

Ever since it aired on TV last year I have been wanting to cook the Caramel Parfait Glace.  This was a dessert challenge against a chef.  I had time off and ran out of excuses so it was time to get into the kitchen.  The first challenge was the shop.  Battling the supermarket before public holidays is never fun.  People seem to have panic in their eyes and they feel the need stock their pantries like a Cold War bomb shelter.  I easily found everything I needed except funnily enough the cream.  This recipe requires 1 litre of cream and all that was left was two small cartons extra light!  I jumped in the car and visited two more supermarkets before I got what I needed.

As this recipe had many processes I decided to break it up over many days and just cook one little bit at a time.  This was both time efficient and gave me some space to do the washing up.  I used so many bowls, measuring scoops, beaters and spatulas that I needed to have a washup break between each processes.

Overall this was a very challenging and satisfying recipe.  I really enjoyed making each process and they were all something new.  The salted caramel was sooo good, I couldn’t help eating it all by itself.  As a result I was buzzing around the house for hours on a sugar high before I crashed into a caramel induced coma.

Less than 48 hours till Masterchef 2011, lets see what they will serve up this year.

Why is it that when you plan something, get excited, make preparations, get more excited and then go to bed you always wake up the next day sick.  Somehow the 24 hour bug knows when to strike.  It must be written into the damn virus’ genetic code.  It sits dormant in your body until expectation and anticipation reach a threshold amount that then it pounces, like a tiger.

Last week I was all prepared for the Food Bloggers Mad Hatters Picnic and then was overcome with the temporary and inconvenient ailment of the 24 hour bug.  This meant I was in no state to partake in the festivities which was quite inconvenient and annoying.  I have looked at some of the posts of the picnic and it looked like great fun, so I am a little disappointed I had to miss it.

In preparation of for the big day I made a chocolate, pandan and coconut tiramisu.  It was inspired by some lamingtons that my sister made for me.  I wondered what would happen if you removed the coconut from the outside and cream from the inside.  Hence the tiramisu was born.  It tastes great and you cannot see the crazy green filling.

Whilst making this dessert I tried to extract the flavour from a pandan leaf.  I tried doing it three ways: 1) by boiling it like a tea, 2) blitzing the hell out of it in the food processor and trying to extract the juice and 3) squeezing the results of the prior two experiments in some cheese cloth.  The result was about 25mls of fluorescent green liquid and a house that smelt for days like pandan.  Complete fail!!  But some pandan essence came to the rescue and all was good.  In the end a very good dessert and I am sad you guys could not have a try, maybe next time.

On a positive note I woke up on Sunday morning feeling bright and cheerful like a rainbow after a hail storm.

Chocolate, Pandan and Coconut Tiramisu
Serves 4 Ingredients
125g	Thickened cream
2 1/3 cups	Icing sugar
1 tsp	Pandan essence
100ml	Coconut Milk
¼ cup	Cocoa powder
400g	Sponge finger biscuits
½	Pandan Sally cake
¼ cup	Desiccated coconut
Method
Using an electric mixer to beat the cream and 1/3 cup of icing sugar until soft peaks form. Add  pandan essence, coconut milk and mascarpone and fold to combine. Sift 2 cups of icing sugar and cocoa powder in another bowl.  Mix in warm water until a runny slurry consistency is achieved. Cut a sponge finger biscuits in half (like a fish fillet). Dip the sponge in the chocolate mix and place in serving dish.  Repeat this process until the bottom and sides of the bowl is lined. Using a piping bag cover the biscuits with a thin layer of mascarpone mix. Cut the crusts off the Sally cake and slice into 1 cm slices.  Spread chocolate mix onto both sides of the cake and layer on top of mascarpone mix.  Pipe another layer of mascarpone onto the cake layer. Dip whole sponge fingers into chocolate mix and cover the top of tiramisu.  Dust with desiccated coconut and refrigerate.

I like cooking and eating sweet things as much (or maybe even a little more) as the next person.  A little morsel of un-adulterated sin in ones mouth will cheer you up no matter what the mood.  Unfortunately I have one issue.  I have no finesse in the field of baking.  It’s as if a sledge hammer is a cooking utensil.  I can make things that taste great but I can’t make things that are visually appealing.  All my desserts look kind of weird and deformed.  As a result I have a serious case of dessert-envy-itis.

The symptoms of Dessert-envy-itis manifest themselves in many different ways in a somewhat random and sporadic manner.  These include:

• An unhealthy obsession with anything in the window of  Adriano Zumbo;
• Every attempt at macarons resulting in failure;
• Severe jealousy over bloggers sweet creations;
• Cookies that look and taste like ice hockey pucks; and
• Acute onset of anxiety when cooking anything with copious quantities of sugar.
  

Indeed you could say I am in some kind of “funk” when it comes to sweet things.  That is why my blog mainly addresses the savoury.  However I am not that easily beaten (unlike egg whites).  I will conquer this food Everest.  My cuisine will reign supreme.

So once again I trundled into my kitchen to attack something sweet.  Unlike Icarus I was determined not to fly too close to the sun in my attempt to escape from pastry exile.  I would like to consider this recipe an original even though I stole little bits from all over the place to create the final product.  These tarts turned out really well.  I am not scared of pastry however I usually never get it exactly right.  This time was different.  I used the reliable Maggie Beer sour cream pastry as usual but today it worked.  The crumb was amazing  the crust had a great buttery flavour.  I decided to pair the frangipane with the slow cooked quinces from Steph’s blog.  I loved the colour and wanted to try something a bit different.

Although Dr House originally started treating me for Lupus it turns out he was wrong and it was actually a severe case of Dessert-envy-itis.  After treatment with this recipe my prognosis is good.  However I have been warned that too much food porn and blogging may result it result in a relapse.  Oh dear!

Following creating these tarts and deciding to make another batch Mark successfully disabled his oven in a cloud of blue electrical smoke.  This means no baking for a while .

Quince and Almond Tarts
Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes, Maggie’s Harvest and Australian Gourmet Traveller Makes 9 Ingredients
Pastry
150g	Chilled unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
190g	Plain flour
90g	Sour Cream
Slow Cooked Quince
250g	Castor Sugar
250g	Water
1	Quince, peeled, cored and quartered
1	Cinnamon quill
2	Pepper corns
3	Star Anise
Almond Frangipane
200g	Castor Sugar
200g	Unsalted Butter
200g	Almond meal
1tbsp	Brandy
2	Eggs
2 tbsp	Milk
Method
Pastry tart cases.  In a food processor whiz together butter and flour.  When a fine crumb is achieved add the sour cream and whit until combined.  Pour onto a floured bench and kneed lightly.  Cover with cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.  Remove from the fridge and divide into 9 equal sized portions (approximately 50g each).  Roll out to approximately 10cm diameter and line an 8 cm tart tin.  Refrigerate for another 30 mins.  Meanwhile preheat oven to 180°C.  Blind bake cases with pastry weights for 10 minutes and then another 5 minutes without weights. Slow cooked quinces.  In a small saucepan dissolve the sugar into the water.  Add the quince and spices and gently simmer for about 2 ½ hours until soft. Almond frangipane.  In an electric mixer beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Gently beat in almond meal, eggs, brandy and milk.  Beat again until light and fluffy. Spoon frangipane into tart cases taking care not to overfill. Place a small piece of quince in the top of each tart.  Bake tarts in a 170°C oven for 25-30 minutes or until frangipane mixture is firm.

This is a quick post as I don’t have much time during the week to write a story.  When I heard of the dumpling challenge my mind started racing.  As I ordinarily cook very European foods or on the BBQ I would be out of my comfort zone.

I love dumplings.  Going to Yum Cha is great fun and I like enjoying all the different pillows of goodness.  For this reason I was tempted to try Chinese dumplings but I really don’t have any idea how to control the flavours.

So I chose to cook a sweet dessert dumpling.  My mother used to cook this for the family when I was a child.  It is really sweet and a great way to enjoy apples.  For this reason I would say it was a healthy dessert .

As Sunday was Mothers Day I think posting one of my Mothers favourites is appropriate.  Hopefully I will have a chance to serve up a few more of my Mother’s classics over the coming months.  Please enjoy.

Butterscotch Apple Dumplings
Serves 4 Ingredients
2	Granny Smith Apples
1 Cup	SR Flour
2 tbsp	Sugar
60g	Margarine
2 tbsp	Water, approx
Butterscotch Sauce
2 ½ Cups	Water
1 ½ Cups	Brown Sugar, firmly packed
60g	Margarine
2 tbsp	Lemon Zest
Method
For butterscotch sauce place all ingredients in a bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes, then on medium for 15 minutes. Sift flour and salt into bowl, add sugar; rub in butter.  Add water, mix to a soft dough; a little extra water may be needed. Peel, quarter and core apples.  Divide pastry into 8 equal portions, carefully press each portion of pastry round an apple quarter. Put in ovenproof dish, pour sauce over.  Bake, uncovered in moderate oven 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden.  Serve warm with ice cream or cream.

Read descriptions such as ravioli of octopus with rice and tomato, cured goose breast with chicken liver parfait, poached rhubarb, black pepper and ginger bread or Low temperature cooked hapuka fillet with braised leeks and baby onions, clam beignets, curry and crème fraiche and you can’t help but be impressed.  These dishes all sound amazing and I would struggle to choose between them on a menu.  When reading about these delights I wonder how chefs come up with them.  My mind is stuck in the ordinary, mundane and pedestrian.  I consider steak and chips a good meal.  Do they teach you to think crazy menu ideas in chef school?  I often wish I had this level creativity when it came to food.

Recently at the Taste of Sydney event I was again bombarded with creative brilliance.  I am not going to list of all that was on offer as many great food bloggers with photography skills much more advanced than mine did a great job.  Of the dishes available on the day there was a desert that gained popular acclaim.  It was the pannacotta with pomegranate and lavender honey from Jonah’s on the Beach.  It was so rich and creamy and the pomegranate and honey complimented it perfectly.

In a day dream last week my mind drifted back to the great pannacotta I enjoyed so much and decided I would make my own.  Yes I was going to totally steal the whole idea and plating from Jonah’s on the Beach.  There were two things I required, firstly I needed a viable recipe that was rich and creamy and secondly I needed a plastic cocktail glass so it would get the very distinctive and applauded shape.

I decided on using Justin North’s recipe from his book French Lessons.  This recipe was deliciously simple and worked really well.  The finished result had a great mouth feel and tasted rich, creamy and distinctly of vanilla.  My only criticism is that it was nowhere near as wobbly as conical milky jelly presented at Jonahs.  However, overall this was a very successful dish and extremely easy.