In My Kitchen April, 2023

The Easter Long Weekend starts tomorrow, and as I write this, I am under the lifesaving ceiling fan, as the Northern tropical heat hasn't abated like it's supposed to over Easter. I am in beautiful Cairns, in Far North Queensland at our daughter's home, and I know there is lots of chocolate "hidden" in the refrigerator waiting for Easter Sunday to be enjoyed by all of us. I the Easter bunny coming to your house? Delicious chocolate goodies and Hot Cross Buns are the theme of foodies and food bloggers around the world leading up to Easter, there's so much Easter excitement. However, my go-to fudgy, double layered Chocolate Fudge Cake will be our baked chocolate indulgence of choice over Easter. It will be the third time I've baked this beauty over the last few weeks. Whether it's iced with Malted Buttercream, or with Nigella Lawson's Coffee buttercream, it's a winner. 

This is my April submission to the #IMK series hosted by the wonderful Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month food bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchen.  I don't buy a lot of new merchandise for my Kitchen, just mainly food ingredients, but I love cooking and baking. This is a sample of what I've been very happily cooking In My Kitchen.

Chocolate fudge Cake with Nigella Lawson's delicious Coffee Buttercream

Mr. HRK prefers Nigella's Coffee buttercream version for icing. I also love a chocolate cake with just the old-fashioned chocolate icing which is so easy and very heat tolerant. It was almost Death by Chocolate when I made the Malted Buttercream version of the Chocolate cake for Jenny's birthday recently, so delicious, chocolatey and fudgy, and slightly challenging to transport in the North Queensland heat but we made it. Buttercream needs to be refrigerated, so as soon as I iced this cake which is the photo at the top of this post, it was in our frig, and she stayed there until it was transported very carefully over to Jenny's refrigerator to be eaten for dessert that evening. Here's the link to the Chocolate Cake and Coffee Buttercream recipe, and I'll post the Malted Buttercream recipe shortly.

On a more Savoury note, I made these cheesy vegetable muffins four days ago and I am thrilled with them, not only for how they tasted when first baked, but how after being refrigerated for a few days and now being reheated in Cairns for morning tea they are still light and fluffy in texture and even more improved in flavour. If you take a look at the recipe, you will see the various vegetable combinations that are possible for these muffins.

I baked a few loaves of sourdough bread in the morning and made Herbed Mushrooms with Goats cheese for lunch which was delicious on toasted sourdough.

I found a silver Beetroot server when I was in Brisbane shopping at my favourite Antique shop in Annerley. It's perfectly designed for serving Pickled Beetroot allowing all the beetroot juices to drain through. Let's face it, beetroot juice can be very messy. Here's a batch of my Pickled beetroot which is infused with cinnamon. It was really tasty.

And on a cooler, rainy day at home I made chicken soup. Here's a photo of the stock in the soup pot.

I think of Boiled Fruit Cake as contingency baking. If there's a boiled fruit cake in the pantry or the refrigerator there's always cake on hand to have with a cuppa for surprise visitors. 

This Cherry and Brandy Fruit cake recipe makes two 20 cm cakes. One has travelled to Cairns with us, and the other one is in the refrigerator at home. It'll be there on our return. I've made this cake so many times, as whole round cakes and muffins, it's my friend Mr. P's Mothers recipe and is a real goody. 

Sometimes it's handy to have a retro recipe up your sleeve, and Salmon Rissoles or fishcakes are very retro, but these have a couple of optional surprise ingredients. Anyhow they were really good, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and pan fried and very crispy, what's not to love. Besides being tasty, retro food generally also stretches the budget, that's pretty important right now don't you think?

Those of you who know me well will be expecting a new Traybake in this edition. Here it is my friends, Moroccan Baked Chicken with Fennel and Chickpeas.  Very tasty.

Creamy French Tarragon Chicken transported me to France, which was my intention and this dish lived up to expectations. I'm hoping the airlines do the same for me in a couple of weeks. I'm off to France, to visit our son and my beautiful grandchildren, and hopefully sample some delicious French cuisine while I'm there. Did you know Cuisine is the French word for cooking? Seems obvious, doesn't it? 

Mr. HRK gave a couple of little visitors a tour of our beehive. They loved it, morning talk about bees coming up. We're hoping there will be fresh honey to harvest in Spring. Usually our bees are quite placid, no gloves needed, however they didn't appreciate being visited at 4 pm in the afternoon and were quite angry for some reason. Mr. HRK was stung twice, once on his face and on his hand. His hand really swelled up for a couple of days. Thankfully the girls were well covered and were standing right back from the hive. After all, bees are wild insects.

Gracing my daughter's dining area, is this newly acquired and endearing painting and drawing of an owl gifted to her for her birthday, by a talented friend. Aren't the eyes just full of so much expression? 

Mr. HRK picked these flowers from the garden this morning while he was pruning. Tropical flowers are just so colourful.

Hoping you have a very special, restful and meaningful Easter. Safe travels if you are travelling.

Warm wishes,

Pauline

Pickled Cumquats or Kumquats

Those were the days when most backyards had a cumquat tree. Nowadays, a lot of people keep their ornamental cumquat trees in tubs on patios and verandahs, however when grown in the open in the ground, the trees flourish and provide fruit for many jars of marmalade, as well as a beautiful screen and windbreak. One of my fondest childhood memories is of the bountiful, compact cumquat tree in our backyard, and then my industrious Mother making bottles and bottles of cumquat jam which always thickened and turned out perfectly. 

Pickled Roasted Fennel

Fennel is  a very aromatic and versatile vegetable, with a slight aniseed or licorice flavour, lending itself to steaming, grilling, braising, baking, roasting, eating raw, and pickling, just to mention a plethora of culinary uses. In other words it is extremely versatile and also very healthy, a key ingredient to Mediterranean cuisine. The fronds of the fennel are similar to dill, and make a great garnish.

However if you enjoy pickles, chutneys and relishes I know that you will love this recipe for Pickled Roasted Fennel. The flavours are magic, enhanced by roasting the fennel,  and the pickle can be served as an accompaniment to most meals. Believe me, it will be a wonderful standby to have in your refrigerator to add some excitement to any meal you serve, regardless of how simple it may be.  It is surprisingly easy to prepare as well. I use the whole fennel bulb, and although the stalks are a bit tough after roasting, they can be chopped up after baking and put into other dishes such as soups, stews and mince dishes for extra flavour. Just the crunchy bulb and a few of the fronds are best for the pickling process.

After the pickling is finished, I patiently leave mine in the refrigerator for a week or two  before opening to let the flavours really develop.

Unfortunately fennel is a vegetable that is difficult to grow here in the Tropics as just like dill, it develops a kind of white powdery mildew during the warmer weather. However the Baby Fennels are abundant in the supermarkets at present so I am taking advantage of it. I envy you if you live in cooler climates and can grow this amazing vegetable throughout the year. If I can grow some dill and fennel in our garden and harvest it before the warm weather in September begins, I am very happy.

Ingredients:

2 small fennel bulbs, about 500g (1lb 2oz) in total (stalks removed)
1 onion
80 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon salt
300 ml (10 1/2 fl oz) white wine vinegar
150 ml (5 fl oz) water
110 g (3 3/4 oz) or 1/2 cup caster sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Let's Pickle:

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. fan forced or 180 deg. C normal (350 deg.F).
Slice the fennel.  Slice the onion thinly.
Put the vegetables into a baking dish large enough for an even layer of your vegetables.
Drizzle the oil over the vegetables, sprinkle with the fennel seeds and salt, and mix all together with clean hands.
Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until the fennel is soft and just starting to brown around the edges. You will need to keep an eye on it depending on the heat of your oven.



Making the brine:

(Next time I will be doubling the recipe as more is best, and this also makes a great gift)
The recipe makes two large sized bottles of pickle.

Make your brine by combining the vinegar, water and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Place over a low heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and bring the solution to the boil. Remove from the stove.

When the jars are cool enough to handle, put 1 garlic clove, a few peppercorns and 1 bay leaf into the bottom of each jar. Select a pair of small clean tongs to carefully pack the roasted vegetables into the jars.

Cover with the hot brine, making sure the vegetables are completely submerged.

Gently tap each jar to remove any air bubbles on your work surface. Also slide a clean butter knife or even a chopstick around the inside to release any hidden air pockets. When the jars are filled with the vegetables and brine, clean the rims of the jars with paper towelling. and seal immediately.

Leave the jars to cool on the bench top on a cutting board.  Leaving the jars for a week in the refrigerator before opening will improve the flavour.

Once opened, refrigerate and use within 3 months. I keep mine in the refrigerator to be on the safe side.

The Bees live on

Buzzzz. By the way, our bees remain very happy and contented in their temporary bird box residence and are working hard. Mr. HRK moved them again on Sunday at dusk. The "bird box hive" is sitting on the new hive which will be their permanent home. They are now facing the same direction as the new hives. When it comes to the actual relocation into their new hive, they will endure some upheaval, so it is important that they are as settled as possible until then. When there is a clear weather forecast for Mackay, a bee expert will come here to help us move the bees, find the Queen bee and make an assessment of what else needs to be done. More about that story in a later post.
p.s. I am also collecting honey recipes as hopefully there will be lots of honey.

Thanks for dropping by,

Pauline

Vietnamese Char Sui Pulled Pork, with Japanese Pickled Cucumber, Pickled Galangal, and Red Cabbage Asian Slaw

I'd like to share with you my Vietnamese Char Sui Pulled Pork recipe which we cooked a couple of nights ago and it was amazingly delicious, with the Char Sui Sauce being the secret ingredient. The flavours and textures of the Japanese Pickled Cucumber, the Pickled Ginger and a Red Cabbage Asian slaw married perfectly with the flavours of the Pork and the sauce.

It's Zucchini Pickling day again

 

Zucchini pickle is a staple in my pantry, and is a great standby to serve with cheese and biscuits or to give to a friend as a foodie gift. Everyone seems to like it, and the recipe has been given out far and wide now amongst my friends and their friends.

Thai Pickled Chillies

Chilli bushes grow very well in my corner of the tropical world, and indeed throughout most of coastal Queensland. I couldn't imagine life without at least one chilli bush in my herb patch. I had about 8 beautifully red, homegrown chillies set aside in my refrigerator waiting until I had enough to make some chilli jam. And then I saw this recipe as I was pouring over Nigella Lawson's latest recipe book whilst enjoying my early morning cup of tea. One of life's great pleasures. So out with the chilli jam for now and in with this pickle. 

Making your own Mango chutney, a Christmas tradition in North Queensland

Bowen mangoes, and part of the latest batch of mango chutney. 

Mango chutney recipe

Jump to recipe here:

 There were always bottles of homemade mango chutney  in the house when I was growing up in Rockhampton, in Central Queensland,  as it was an annual tradition to make a batch before Christmas, for family and friends, just as the common mango trees were fruiting. The challenge was and still is, to pick the mangoes before they ripened on the trees. In those days most people had a mango tree growing in their back yard, or had friends who did. These days, mangoes can be bought pretty cheaply from the farmers markets, or from roadside stalls, on the Northern Bruce Highway. They will probably be seconds, or second grade fruit, which is fine, as the commercial supplies of mangoes are shipped to the southern markets and overseas as soon as they are picked.

Pickled beetroot

PICKLED BEETROOT

An early trip to the local market in wet, windy conditions, and I arrive home with all locally grown produce. Because of the wet weather, and the temporary relocation of the market stalls to an uncovered area, only the local, noncommercial growers seem to be present today, making it much easier to sift through what is grown locally, versus what the larger commercial suppliers have sourced from down south. There is so much more transparency about what we are buying and eating, if food can be sourced locally, and isn't packaged.

The secret ingredient which sets this pickle apart in flavor and intensity is the cinnamon stick. All the flavors will develop in the jars over the next couple of weeks resulting in a very aromatic and tasty beetroot pickle. I only finished with two jars of pickle, because the the beetroot weren't very large this time. However, there was enough pickling mix for four jars. Your jars will need to be wide mouthed to accommodate the beetroot slices.

I promise you that after making Pickled Beetroot and tasting it, you will never buy commercially canned beetroot again.

Let's pickle:

Ingredients:

4 large beetroot

Pickling Liquid:

1 1/2 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cracked pepper or peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon mixed spices (can include 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1/2 teas. mustard seed)

2 whole cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp salt

Preparing the beetroot for pickling:

1. Cut off the leaves and clean up any blemishes. Don't peel them or cut into them at this stage as the red juice will bleed into the water. Wash the beetroot completely and cook in lightly salted water for 20 to 30 minutes. This depends on the size of the beetroot. If a cooking skewer passes cleanly through the beetroot then they are cooked.
2. Cool the beetroot and then remove the skin using a knife, but some of the skin will just rub off in your hand. Use gloves if you don't want pink hands at the end of this.
3. Slice the beetroot, or cut into wedges or julienne strips.Slices should fit neatly into a jar, and are a great addition to a  steak burger. Beetroot wedges will look more impressive at a Dinner Party.

Sterilise your bottles:

1. This is most important. Everything you work with must be warm to hot.
2. If the bottles have already been just washed in the dishwasher that should be enough, or for safety's sake place them in a preheated oven at 130 deg. Celsius for 20 minutes as well. I place a tea towel on a biscuit tray, and lay the bottles and the lids on the tray, making sure they don't touch each other.
3. If they haven't been recently washed or sterilised, wash them in hot soapy water, carefully removing any traces of former contents, rinse in clean water, and then sterilise them in the oven as mentioned in no. 2.
4. Never place hot pickling mixture into cold bottles or they may crack.

Preparing the Pickling Liquid:

1. Place the pickling mix ingredients i.e. (everything except the beetroot) in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes. Taste it to ensure it is to your taste. Strain it then to remove all the seeds, however they will sink to the bottom of the pickling mixture.

Final steps:

1. Pack the beetroot into your hot sterilised jars and top up with the vinegar mixture.
2. If bubbles appear, just keep packing down the beetroot slices with a spoon until the bubbles disappear.
3. Seal the bottles and keep on your kitchen bench for a couple of days or pack them away in a cool place.
4. They will be at their best to eat after a couple of weeks after maturing in the jar, and up until three months.
5. After you open the jars for the first time, store them in the frig after that.

Cauliflower Pickles

Click here for recipe


Cauliflower  Pickles are perfect to prepare now as cauliflowers are in season, reasonably priced, and of beautiful quality. This is my version of a recipe which I found on the ABC website, and which won first prize in the Best Pickles category of the ABC Gardening Talkback Great Home-made Pickles and Jam Challenge. However, I like my pickles just a bit sweeter, with less vinegar, so I adjusted the quantities accordingly.The pickle is a beautiful golden colour in the jar, and I added Bay Leaves to the bottles for texture and contrast. This will be a delicious  warming pickle during winter.

However, the original winning ABC recipe is the traditional Mustard Cauliflower style recipe which is also very popular.

Zucchini Pickles

What I love about this pickle is that the zucchini still maintains a delicate crunch and texture, and the pickling liquid is delicious married with oil to make a salad dressing.