The Sweetest Thing - part 6

Veronique’s Easy Chocolate Cake

Everyone loves chocolate.  Everyone loves easy.  Everyone loves cake and everyone loves Veronique!  Veronique is such a sweet and serene person.  Having a Mauritius background Veronique often creates exotic and enticing dishes that we all want the recipe for. 

Being a new mum Veronique has decided to give us her favorite easy chocolate cake recipe.  Juggling a baby and baking requires simplicity.  This cake is perfect for those days when you need a chocolate fix or you have friends coming over for a cuppa.

This recipe makes a big cake (oven dish size) or two regular cakes (regular cake tin size).

What you need;

2 cups of water
3 cups of sugar
½ cup of good quality cocoa
3 cups of self-raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
250 grams of butter
4 large eggs beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or a fresh pod added to the pot)
1 block of dark chocolate

What you do;

Grease and line dish/tins with baking paper.

Combine water, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, chocolate, butter and bicarbonate of soda in a tall pot.  Stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil then turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Take the mixture off the stove and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Whisk in sifted flour. Add beaten eggs. Pour mixture into dish/tins. Cook at 180 degrees for approximately 1 hour or until cooked.

Ice and eat!

Thank you Veronique.  Enjoy!

Moroccan Pumpkin Soup

Winter days always make me want to eat soup.  I can’t get enough of it.  It’s probably one of the best things about winter, eating a bowl of yummy hot soup.  Another is a glass of red wine by the fire.  Put all three together and you are sure to be in some sort of winter heaven.

The challenges with wanting to eat soup every day of winter is variety and finding soups that are healthy.  Yes that’s right, some soups aren’t healthy!  The ones that are full of cream or contain particular ingredients can be quite disagreeable to those with certain dietary requirements.

Recently I created a delicious soup that is gluten free, dairy free, low fat, vegetarian and very quick and easy to make.  Just in time before it officially becomes spring.

What you need;

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (I used Cobram Estate*)

1 brown onion – diced

2 cloves garlic - crushed

2 kg Kent pumpkin – peeled and chopped into even sized pieces (about 3cm)

1 medium sweet potato – peeled and chopped into even sized pieces (about 3 cm)

1 medium carrot – chopped into even sized pieces about 3 cm

375 grams tinned chickpeas

3-4 tablespoons of Moroccan Spice (I used Coles* brand)

1.5 litres of vegetable stock (I used Vegeta*)

Salt & pepper to taste

Meredith* goats cheese – crumbled to serve

What you do:

Heat oil in a large pot.  Add onion and garlic and fry until translucent.   Add pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and Moroccan spice and stir over medium heat coating the vegetables with the spice, onion and garlic.  Do this for about 1 minute.

Pour in stock, turn heat to high and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low until all vegetables are soft.  Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool before blending until smooth.

When you are happy with the consistency of the soup – it should be smooth and thick – place back on a low heat and add the chickpeas and the salt and pepper.  Keep on low heat for about ten to fifteen minutes.

Serve with some crumbled Meredith goats cheese and some gluten free sour dough bread.

Delightful!  Enjoy friends.

*I receive no financial gain from the brands of the products that I have named in this soup.  They are only my preference – you are welcome to use any brand you desire.

Maha Bar & Grill

Shane Delia is everywhere for me at the moment.  He’s all over every media form there is. You see his happy face on TV cooking and morning shows.  He’s savvy in social media and there’s plenty of stories and reviews about him in the print media. It’s easy to see why once you have been to the Middle Eastern magic at his semi underground restaurant that is Maha Bar and Grill in Bond Street, Melbourne.

Innovative, creative, passionate, cheeky are all words used to describe Shane Delia and at just 32 years of age he has certainly ticked some boxes in the culinary world.  Winning Chef’s Hats, rave reviews, multiple awards, writing cookbooks and opening a second restaurant ‘St Katherine’s’ in Kew.

Last month I went to my first ‘Problogger’ Event – a food and wine blogging dinner and I briefly met Shane Delia. He was polite, cheery, approachable and genuine about his love for food and the hospitality industry.  Most true hospitality people are all of those things, but what I really liked about Shane was this glow he radiates when he speaks of his food and the menu we were eating from on the night.  The other thing I admired was that none of this amazing success that he is experiencing, and has experienced at a young age, has gone to his head.

Maha is simply exquisite. Everything about it shines.  From the moment you step inside you feel welcome by the staff and the Arabian ambiance.  There were around 100 people at the dinner I attended and we were all seated and treated like kings and queens for the evening.  The menu was shared plates and a perfect way to experience the Mediterranean mystic of Maha’s kitchen delights.

Sahen zghir – first course

Black cardamom broth, braised beef and shimiji mushrooms

Local olives in fel fel

Roasted apricot kernels, Aleppo pepper and laban

Shaved salad of broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and tahini mayonnaise

Wine match – 2011 de bortoli ‘la boheme’ act three, point gris and friends, yarra valley vic

Sahen kbeer - second course

Pan friend trumpeter, freekah, crunchy quinoa with chargrilled spring onions and paprika vinaigrette

Corn fed chicken tagine, broken egg, corn bread, saffron, Iranian figs, sujuk soil

12 hour roasted mt. leura lamb shoulder, pistachio and green olive tabouleh

Mouabalet, sides

Lentils and spinach, burghul pilaf

Fattoush, Lebanese bread salad

Wine match – 2011 de bortoli ‘vinoque’ roundstone vineyard, gamay noir, yarra valley vic

Helwayet – sweets

Sticky date pudding, peanut ice cream truffle, roasted peanut nougatine with salted caramel sauce

Coconut milk and water jelly, coconut foam, spiced strawberry and sumac pearls, strawberry powder

Turkish delight filled doughnuts, rosewater honey, candied almonds

Wine match – 2008 de bortoli ‘noble one’ botrytis semillon, bilbul nsw

I can’t tell you what my favourite dish was or which flavors were the best because it was all amazing.  The food was clean, delicious and flawless.  The wines complimented each course impeccably.  Staff were slick and the service was thoughtful throughout the evening. 

I insist you go to Maha the next time you want to dine out in the city of Melbourne.  You won’t be disappointed.

Maha Bar and Grill

21 Bond Street, Melbourne.

Phone – 03 9629 5900

http://mahabg.com.au/

*Due to my Maha experience being a pre-planned set menu event I will not score it as I normally would in a restaurant review.

The Sweetest Thing - Part 5

Butterscotch Pudding

Angela is very clever with her baking.  Her cookies and cupcakes always look and taste amazing.  She is never afraid to try new things but in this week’s post she has chosen an old favourite to share.

Angela believes that there is no such thing as a ‘favourite’ sweet for our family so she has given me one of her much loved sweet recipes. It's also her six year old son’s favourite, he always asks her to make it. Ange tells me that she tries not to have any but usually finds a spoon full in her mouth and then is in frenzy for more!  If we need an excuse, this very old school recipe is perfect to get through these cold winter nights.

What you do;

Preheat oven to moderate

What you need;

Pudding -

1 cup self-raising flour

1/3 cup raw sugar

A pinch salt

60 grams melted butter

½ cup milk

Mix all ingredients together and put in a greased pie dish.

(Angela uses a rectangular 29 x 19cm and 5-6 cm deep dish)

Syrup -

2 large tablespoons of golden syrup

1 ½ cups hot water

30 grams melted butter

Mix together and pour on pudding.

Bake for about 40 minutes.

Serve immediately with cream.

Thank you sweet Angela.  Enjoy everyone!

The Sweetest Thing series part 5 of 9

copyright food for you reviews 2012

Kitchen Bliss

Being a reviewer I’m fortunate to experience some pretty cool things in the food world.  This week I was invited to be part of a focus group for a new food venture called ‘Kitchen Bliss’.  ‘Kitchen Bliss’ is a series of cooking classes that will be launched later this year by Carol Angove, a Castlemaine local, and the brainchild of this initiative.

Carol Angove

 Along with five others I was asked to participate in a test run for Carol’s cooking class at her home and provide feedback before she launches to a wider audience.  Carol lives in a gorgeous setting in Castlemaine and you instantly feel welcome and comfortable when you arrive.  We started the morning with a cuppa and Carol’s freshly baked warm Russian Apple Sharlotka cake. She introduced us and went through the menu and recipes for the class.  These were presented in a charming little keepsake folder. 

Chinese Dumplings and Pot Stickers Menu:

Savory

·       Pork Buns

·       Shanghai Soup Dumplings

·       Shrimp Dumplings

·       Gow Gee Dumplings

·       Asian Green Beans

·       Dipping Sauces – spicy, ginger and spring onion oil.

Sweet

·       Red Bean Dumplings with Ginger Syrup

·       Black Sesame Dumplings

I was excited to see we were making Chinese dumplings.  I had never attempted to make these before.  Working in pairs and we were assigned two dishes each.  I was buddied up with Clare.  We were to make the ‘Shanghai Soup Dumplings’ and the ‘Red Bean Paste Dumplings’ in the allocated 2 ½ hours. Once completed we would sit down and eat our way through the menu we had all cooked, with a glass of local wine at Carol’s beautifully set Chinese inspired dining table.

The class structure was a very hands on with guidance and demonstration from Carol when required.  Working in pairs was a great way to work as the load was shared and you felt like you were in a team.  It was also a great opportunity to meet new people and converse with one another whilst working through your tasks.  Even though there were only six students the kitchen was a buzz. It was fun, interesting and relaxed.  An advantage of the small group was being able to observe the others create their dumplings.  A great insight for when you want to try them at home at another time.

Carol invited us to be seated whilst she completed the steaming and served the finished product to the table for us to sample. 

All of the dumplings were fantastic.  We had all done an amazing job for a group of novice Chinese cooks.  I particularly loved the savory dumplings. My favorite being the pork buns – these were so moreish. The sweet dumplings were also great, sweet but balanced, certainly not overpowering. The feast was finished off perfectly with a pot of jasmine tea.  Happy, content, blissful.

The group 

Carol is planning to launch her ‘Kitchen Bliss’ cooking classes in October this year in Castlemaine.  The classes will vary from Chinese Dumplings, Cheese Making, Red Velvet Cupcakes and Macaroons, Italian, Classic Greek, Vietnamese and Christmas Delights.  Classes will be on Saturdays from 10am – 2.30pm ranging from $110-$130 per class.  And of course the class ends with a feast of the wares.

My verdict is that Carol is on a winner.  ‘Kitchen Bliss’ is a hit!  I’ll be going back for sure.

For more information on ‘Kitchen Bliss’ cooking classes please contact Carol on (03) 5470 5594 or via www.kitchenbliss.com.au