Berries with meringue,vanilla yoghurt and musk syrup

This is my new favourite dessert. Meringue, musk, yoghurt and berries –my ultimate food flavour pyramid would be built on these food groups. Musk might seem like a strange childlike choice but it is heaven mixed with fresh summer berries and meringue, and besides there is nothing like adding a Willy Wonka-esque element to dessert. 

While you can serve this with ice cream or cream, the flavours are a little mouth cloying – the slight sourness and lightness of the yoghurt really does make the fruit and musk syrup zing.  Make sure you compile the dessert just before serving – it tastes its best when just combined.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Meringue

4 eggwhites

250g caster sugar

½ tsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp cream of tartar

Musk syrup

100g frozen raspberries and strawberries

100g caster sugar

70g Lifesaver musk lollies

To serve

1 tsp vanilla bean extract

¾ cup good quality yoghurt

Icing sugar to dust

125g fresh raspberries

125g fresh strawberries, hulled

125g fresh blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 140C.

Add the eggwhites and caster sugar to a food processor and beat on medium-high for ten minutes. Add the white wine vinegar and cream of tartar and continue to beat for a further 5- 10 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and you have firm peaks.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Turn out the meringue mixture and using the back of the spoon flatten out until about 5cm thick, but smear at will – this doesn’t have to be precise – the more adulations and peaks the more pretty the meringue in my book.

For the musk syrup add the musk lollies, frozen fruit, caster sugar and 200ml water in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook for 15 minutes or until sugar and musk lollies have completely dissolved. Set aside to cool. Blitz quickly in a food processor and strain through a fine sieve. Set aside.

Break the meringue into medium-sized pieces. Place in a serving bowl.

Combine the yoghurt and vanilla in a small bowl then pour over the meringue.  Add the berries, dust with icing sugar then spoon over the musk syrup to taste.

Chimichurri Lobster Rolls with Salt & Vinegar Crisps

Have I reached burger fatigue? Not yet and I dare say there will always, always be a place in my heart for an expertly cooked wagyu cheeseburger and a hefty side of pickles (here’s looking at you Rockpool Bar & Grill). But increasingly, maybe it’s the flirtation with the warmer weather, I am looking to mix up my middles – and the good old lobster roll is definitely a worthy contender. It partners as perfectly with beer as it does champagne and the use of lobster makes it a little bit summer sun and a little bit schmaancy. The richness of the meat is also a perfect partner for the salty, tangy spicy kick of chimichurri and salt and vinegar which I’ve incorporated here as much for interest as taste.   And between you and me, I think it tastes pretty damn good.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Chimichurri

½ cup red wine vinegar

Sea salt to taste

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 green shallot, finely chopped

2 jalepeno chilli chopped

1 large bunch coriander, leaves and stems, cleaned

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves picked

1/3 cup dill, leaves picked

¾ cup olive oil

Rolls

400g freshly picked cooked lobster meat

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 heaped tbsp garlic aioli or kewpie mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to season

6-8 brioche buns or hamburger buns

Salt and vinegar chips

Method

Combine all chimichurri ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a blender and blitz to combine. Slowly, add the olive oil until well incorporated and the mixture has begun to emulsify. If you want a thicker, chunkier chimichurri, add less olive oil. Set aside until ready to serve.

Mix the lobster, celery, lemon juice and garlic aioli in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper and add more aioli, if desired. Fill the rolls with lobster mixture and salt and vinegar chips and top with a heaped spoon of chimichurri.

  

I'm back....really I am

Hello. I am back. Good lordy what an epic few months it has been. The manuscript is in, the house is (partially) renovated and life can (highly unlikely) return to some level of normalcy.

Book 2 is due out next year with Murdoch Books and I cannot wait to see it take life. It is a completely different beast to Kitchen Coquette. A new challenge. Ever since the research trip to Paris late last year, I have been working with some absolutely amazing, pinch yourself amazing, chefs from cities across the world on this book. In between working with them on developing recipes, researching and madly writing, the book has been a serious logistical challenge - coordinating chefs at the best of times is hard work, but add differences in time zones, their work hours and then interviewing, interviewing and interviewing more than 50 chefs.... I  have had my work cut out for me. But I am so proud of the book, of the hard work and cannot wait to show some little snippets here and there as it continues to progress.

I plan on being the consistent blogger I once was and fill you in over the next few weeks on a thousand and one foodie things that have been going on. But for now, anyone living in Sydney knows it is unbearably hot - nearly 40C today so this recipe for Kiwi fruit Caprioska ice cream bars should be a fitting antidote for beating the heat.

Trina

Kiwi fruit caprioska and vanilla bean ice cream bars

One of the best things about summer. Ice cream. Loads of the stuff. And lets not judge – ice cream and all her friends – sorbets, frozen yoghurt, ices, granitas, that chewy mastic middle eastern feast…the list of heat easing delights is endless. This fruit and ice cream bar recipe is a humble, cocktail inspired nod to the Weiss bar – that creamy fruity combo that helps the undecided like me conquer the best of the fruit and creamy frozen world.

The key is making sure you really cover the kiwifruit layer before popping into the freezer to prevent it from becoming icy.

Ingredients

2 cups kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped

2 tbsp sugar

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup vodka

1 litre of good quality vanilla bean ice cream

Method

Line the base of a freezer proof loaf pan with glad wrap and set aside, ensuring there is some overhang of wrap for easy moving. Add the kiwi fruit, sugar, lime-juice and vodka to a food processor. Blitz to combine. Pour the kiwi mix into the lined pan and cover with overhanging ends of wrap. Place in the freezer to harden for 1 hour. Remove and pour over the softened vanilla ice cream. Cover and return to the freezer for at least 3 hours or until set. Remove from the freezer, turn out onto a chopping board and slice into bars before serving.

A Spring Salmon Salad & Update

Hello, hello

Sorry for the lacklustre posting of late. I am in the final throes (read fortnight from) of submitting the manuscript for book two, amidst renovating a house so life is a little hectic to say the least! I endeavour post October 1 to put up a decent post, a sneak peak into the next book and some recipes I've been working on. But for now, here is this week's post over on Daily Life - a robust and super simple Tandoori smoked salmon and brown rice salad. This is super moorish and given Spring has well and truly sprung on us, the perfect antidote to the warm days and nights, working well for lunch, dinner, even lunch the next day.

Tandoori smoked salmon and brown rice salad

I love salads. Adore them. Even more so as the summer season hits. What I hate is the lack of longevity. It is so hard to keep them looking vibrant and fresh. This probably is compounded by my complete inability to judge quantities. I make salads to feed small armies. Always. Then I’m left with torrid leftovers that I try to will into sandwiches, pilafs and other such “please take my leftovers and appease my guilt” sort of dishes.

This, however, is a salad that seems to fair quite well, a rolling with the punches sort of salad. The inclusion of brown rice and firm hot smoked fish with hardy greens such as cucumber and peas, means it is exactly the dish to take you from dinner to lunch the next day, sans sogginess. It’s the culinary equivalent of those mythical dresses the fashion magazines talk about – you know the ones that will take you from work to cocktail hour or a dinner date. I’m still waiting to find that kind of dress but I’m truly happy that at least I’ve found that kind of salad.

Ingredients

200g hot smoked salmon fillet, roughly flaked using a fork

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 medium sized Lebanese cucumber, cut into ribbons using a peeler

¾  cup fresh peas, blanched and refreshed

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

½ bunch dill, finely chopped

½ bunch coriander, coarsely torn

To finish

2 tsp tandoori paste

1/2 cup natural yoghurt

Lemon wedges to serve

Method

Combine the salmon, brown rice, cucumber and peas in a large bowl. Toss gently to combine and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest, juice and olive oil, stirring to coat. Reserve the herbs until you are ready to eat then roughly scatter across the top of the salad.

Combine the tandoori paste and yoghurt in a small bowl. Dollop blobs of yoghurt on top of the salad and serve with lemon wedges.

Cooking the Books Bill Granger Italian Food

Yes he has done it again. Bill Granger is the master of churning out cookbooks - yet each one looks like it took a lifetime of planning and thinking and his latest is no different. The sign of a man with good ideas I am sure. Meet Bill's Italian Food. It comes across as much more relaxed than previous titles - that could be something to do more with the styling and free form photography than content, but it is a pleasant diversion that makes me think/dream/wish for a warm Italian holiday.....sigh.

The recipes all have that Roman holiday vibe which depending on how dirty you are about being stuck at work/not in Italy on holiday can be a good or bad thing. The recipes are relaxed, low maintenance cooking and for me, I was particularly enamoured by the one pot low fuss factor combined with the lighter style, ready for summer flavours of this chicken with green olives, pine nuts and garlic. I've made it twice - such an easy mid-week go to option. I think the real key between good and great (other than organic chicken that has never met your freezer) is using those to die for good quality sicilian olives - they really do make the world of difference. Try it for yourself here.

Chicken, green olives, pine nuts  and garlic

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 chicken marylands, thighs and

drumsticks separated

10 shallots, peeled

4 garlic cloves, sliced

2 bay leaves

160ml (2⁄3 cup) dry white wine

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon soft brown sugar

310ml (11/4 cups) chicken stock

90g (1/2 cup) green olives

50g (1⁄3 cup) toasted pine nuts

handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Season the chicken with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown the pieces all over for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the shallots and cook for 2–3 minutes, turning them occasionally until they start taking on some colour. Add the garlic, bay leaves and wine. Let bubble for a few minutes and scrape the bottom of the pan to collect up the flavours. Pour in the vinegar, sugar, stock and olives. Bring to the boil then partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes,

or until the chicken is very tender. Scatter over the pine nuts and parsley before serving. SERVES 4

I'm not sure this section counts because he is a global force to be reckoned with. Bill Granger is synonymous with relaxed Australian dining and I like that he is self taught, I think this sensibility ensures he writes recipes very much with the home cook in mind. I've never had one of his recipes fail, ever, and spent many a Saturday morning enjoying his infamous eggs at Bills Cafe - although I am certain that is no measure of his credibility as a cookery writer but it does speak to his consistency in delivery of tasty, simple and moorish food.

When your name is Bill Granger you are found everywhere. I mean everywhere. Bookstores, online at the usual Amazon, Kmart, gift stores, the list continues. Really this section should be renamed to where could you not buy Bill.  I do feel so badly for our little bookstores so if you can, please buy from them - they deserve all the support we can give them. There is nothing more delightful than whiling away the hours in a gorgeous, intimate independently run bookstore, that smells of paper and ink, and I never, ever want this to be a thing of the past.

Because its dependable. And because sometimes you don't want to think when you cook. Are the recipes challenging? No. But they work. They are easy and if you are anything like me you started your foray into cookbook consumption with a Bill Granger cookbook and there is something about having his tombs lined along your shelves that is a little bit heartwarming.  

Anyone can cook from Bill. He has mastered the tasty and the simple in a way that very few, other than Nigella perhaps, can. His recipes always work. I am yet to cook something that has been an epic failure. So as a gift, he is truly dependable. Even for the less cooking enthused among us because despite the low fuss recipes, its a beautiful book to flick through and imagine yourself at the outdoor table in an Italian summer, sipping Prosecco and basically living the good life. Now who doesn't want a gift like that?

And the winner is.....

A few weeks ago we ran a great competition where you could win seven baking pans from the kind and lovely folks at Profiline Push Pans. You can read more about it as part of the Kitchen Kit Road Tests

And the winner is...... well there were 2. A little hiccup in the selection process meant two were selected and the kind folk at Profiline Push Pans didn't want anyone to miss out. So

Natalie - winner one.

Heidi. Or more correctly Heidi's mum is winner two.

Heidi and Nat please message me at info@thelittlecrumb.com.au with your postal details so we can send out your prizes.

Thanks so much!
Katrina