Cookies fit for a domestic god

The Roman Emperor has been a bit unsettled over the past week or so meaning that nights are somewhat restless and sleep is often hard to come by. I'm not quite sure if it's Roman teething, or simply doing his best newborn baby impression, but it's been rough. It's during tough times like these that I find myself counting my blessings as Mr L picks up the pieces as I carry on as best I can in my zombie-like state. He helps cook meals, he washes clothes, he walks and feeds the dog... he tells me my hair could do with a wash because it smells like apple puree... ;) He's an all-round domestic god!

I whipped him up a quick batch of these fabulous cookies while the emperor slept today as a little thank you for all his help recently. Mr L has a complete weakness for choc-chip cookies. He will be annoyed for me saying so, but it really is rather sweet watching a full-grown man enjoying cookies and milk in his pyjamas... hahaha.

This recipe comes from my cookbook of the month for April - The Sweet Life by 2012 MasterChef Australia winner, Kate Bracks. The more I read and cook, the more I am convinced that my cookbook collection is far closer to being complete thanks to this book.

Choc-Chunk Cookies (makes about 30)

Ingredients

125g (regular, i.e. salted) butter
110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
110g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
260g (1 & 3/4 cups) self-raising flour
180g dark chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celcius. Grease 2 large baking trays and line with baking paper.

2. Combine the butter, both sugars and the vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale. Add the egg and beat until well combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Sift the flour into the bowl and mix until just combined.

3. Cut the chocolate into 1 cm wide lengths diagonally across the block. It will naturally shatter a little. Then cut in the same way in the opposite direction. This way you get random-sized chunks of chocolate. Tip the whole lot in and mix through.

4. Gather the dough together and roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place onto the prepared trays, leaving space between them for spreading.

5. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden (12 minutes will make them slightly softer, 15 minutes will give you crispier cookies. Leave on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Without doubt, this is now my absolute go-to choc-chip (or choc-'chunk' in this case) cookie recipe... I previously posted, and raved about a Nigella Lawson recipe for perfect choc-chip cookies. They don't have a patch on these bad boys.. Sorry, Nigella, and thank you, Kate!

Til next time readers... Happy cooking, and (am hoping rather indulgently for myself), sweet dreams!

Ladybird xxx

Cookbook of the Month - April 2012

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you're enjoying some quality time with your loved ones over the Easter break.

Today I am delighted to let you all know that the Cookbook of the Month feature is back on Diary of a Ladybird! This month's featured cookbook comes from the 2011 winner of MasterChef Australia, Kate Bracks. Her newly released book 'The Sweet Life' is a sweet book indeed, a compilation of mouth-watering dessert recipes. Some will ring a bell to the MasterChef fans out there with recipes such as Kate's apple pie, coffee cake and her date and hazelnut torte. But there are plenty of fantastic looking, fresh and innovative  recipes too and and I'm so excited to share some of them with you all as I taste-test my way through the book.

Here is the first recipe I've tried so far - a great basic chocolate cake. This one is great for getting little ones involved in the kitchen, and I think the result is one that would please kids and adults alike. A great texture and not too sweet.. am definitely going to make this one again!

The Australian colloquialism 'bung' essentially means to quickly throw together, so this is the type of cake recipe where you throw it all in a bowl, stir it together, and you're done! :)

Bung-In Chocolate Cake
From 'The Sweet Life' by Kate Bracks


Cake
300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
350g (1.5 cups) caster sugar
35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
350ml (1 1/3 cups) milk
150g butter, melted*
* Kate notes in her introduction that, in all her recipes, she recommends the use of regular (i.e. salted) butter rather than unsalted butter.

Icing
200g (1 1/4 cups) icing sugar mixture
2 tbsp cocoa powder
30g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 23cm (base measurement) square tin and line the base with baking paper.

2. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients. Whisk gently, gradually taking in the dry ingredients from the side of the bowl. Keep whisking until the mixture is smooth.

3. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edge to separate the cake from the tin. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract, and enough milk to get it to a paste consistency, stirring vigorously until smooth. You may not need all the milk. If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too runny, add more icing mixture.

5. Once the cake has cooled, smother the top with chocolate icing.

Nom nom nom... stay tuned for more from 'The Sweet Life'!

Ladybird xxx

Cookbook of the Month - June 2011

It is with much delight that I announce the Cookbook of the Month for June. It has been a little while since I've done this feature, so I've put quite a bit of thought into choosing something interesting for you, my precious readers!

This month's book comes from British-Indian celebrity chef and author Anjum Anand. You may remember I have featured some of her recipes on Diary of a Ladybird previously, such as my post on Carrot Kheer. At any rate, this month's book focuses on creating delicious food for optimum health by following ayurvedic diet principles.

Introducing Eat Right for your Body Type by Anjum Anand:

I have personally had a great experience with this book, and feel I must share with you that it was whilst follwing the guidelines in this book that I became pregnant with our little one currently on the way... Coincidence perhaps, or perhaps my body was in optimum health! I am no longer following the guidelines as strictly, but am definitely mindful of them in my everyday eating. So you never know - even if you have never heard of ayurveda before, I would urge you to keep an eye on this month's feature... I'll be sharing some great recipes from the book,some of which are Indian in influence, others more 'western'. I do hope you enjoy them :)

So what is ayurveda?
As described on Anjum's website:
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian science and is thought to have formed the backbone of many of the Eastern holistic medicines. It had a unique way of looking at the body and understood completely the relationship between food and the body. According to Ayurveda, what you eat can affect how you look, how you feel, who you are and most importantly, your health!

What are the 'Doshas'?
Everything in the universe is made up of the same 5 elements; air, ether, water, earth and fire. We have all 5 elements in our bodies but generally not in the same proportions, there will be more of one or two of them. These excess elements give us our own individual (elemental) imbalance (our personal DNA). In Ayurveda, these imbalances are grouped into three and are known as doshas. The three doshas are vata (an excess of ether and air), pitta (an excess of fire) and kapha (an excess of earth and water). Most of us a combination of two doshas but generally even here, one will dominate. Our dosha (imbalance) will determine who we are, how we look, how we think, our temperament and our tendencies.

Which dosha am I?
I thought you might be curious like I was! Click here to download a quick and easy questionnaire. Once you complete it you will not only be aware of your dosha, but you will also be able to see how the recipes I'm featuring will be of benefit to you, and how you can alter them to better suit your dosha.

To read more about your dosha, go to the bottom of this page on Anjum's website and click on the relevant dosha: http://www.anjumanand.co.uk/ayurveda/

More on this feature in the coming days :)

Ladybird x

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Sweetcorn Polenta with Aubergine Sauce

It's been a little while since my last mention of the Cookbook of the Month for September - Plenty by Yotam Ottelenghi. So without further delay, here is another great recipe from this wonderful book!

What initially attracted me to this recipe was the way the polenta is made - not from the dry grain, but rather, from fresh corn! The result is a much sweeter, softer and less uniform polenta. Because of the sweetness of the polenta, you really do need to add the feta cheese to balance it out. That combined with the aubergine sauce and voila, a delicious heart-warming supper :)

My polenta was a little on the runny side for two reasons - First, I neglected to properly measure the amount of water I cooked the corn in. Secondly, I was getting hungry and impatient!

Ingredients
6 corn cobs
500ml water
40g butter
200g feta, crumbled*
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper
* I used danish feta as it is lovely and creamy.

For the aubergine sauce
150ml vegetable oil
1 medium aubergine, in 2cm dice
2 tsp tomato paste
60ml white wine
200g chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
100ml water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp chopped oregano, plus whole leaves to garnish

Method
First make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan, then fry the aubergine on medium heat for 15 minutes, until nicely browned. Drain and discard as much oil as you can. Stir in the tomato paste, and cook for two minutes on medium heat. Add the wine and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano, and cook for five minutes, to get a deep flavoured sauce. Set aside.

To make the polenta, remove the leaves and 'silk' from each corn cob, then chop off the pointed top and stalk. Stand each cob upright on its base, and use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels. You want to have 550g of kernels.

Place the kernels in a medium-sized saucepan and pour in the water, to cover. Add half the butter and cook on a low simmer for 12 minutes. Lift out the kernels with a slotted spoon, and transfer to a food processor. Process for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. If the mixture is too dry to process, add a little of the cooking water.

Now return the the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on a low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a mashed potato consistency. Now fold in the remaining butter, feta, salt and pepper, and cook for two minutes longer. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Divide the polenta among shallow bowls and spoon some warm sauce in the centre.

Ladybird x

Caramelised Garlic Tart

It's time to share another recipe as part of the Cookbook of the Month feature for September. Yet another tasty recipe from Plenty by Yotam Ottolonghi! Last time it was Green Pancakes with Lime Butter. This time around I have chosen a recipe from the chapter titled 'Funny Onions'. What grabbed me about this recipe was that the tart requires three full heads of garlic - three! Having never used so much garlic in one dish, I was intrigued and decided to put the recipe to the test. It seemed like a lot, but I thought that if it didn't turn out at least I'd be safe from vampires for a while... :P

Caramelised Garlic Tart
Serves 8

375 all-butter puff pastry
3 medium heads of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
220ml water
3/4 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp chopped thyme, plus a few extra sprigs to finish
120g soft, creamy goat's cheese
120g hard, mature goat's cheese
2 free-range eggs
100ml double cream
100ml creme fraiche
salt and black pepper

1. Have ready a shallow, loose-bottomed, 28cm fluted tart tin. Roll out the puff pastry into a circle that will line the bottom and sides of the tin, plus a little extra. Line the tin with the pastry. Place a large circle of greaseproof paper on the bottom and fill up with baking beans. Leave to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes.


2. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas Mark 4. Place the tart case in the oven and bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, then bake for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Set aside. Leave the oven on.

3. While the tart case is baking, make the caramelized garlic. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a simmer and blanch for 3 minutes, then drain well.

4. Dry the saucepan, return the cloves to it and add the olive oil. Fry the garlic cloves on a high heat for 2 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and water and bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes.

5. Add the sugar, rosemary, chopped thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue simmering on a medium flame for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the garlic cloves are coated in a dark caramel syrup. Set aside.

6. To assemble the tart, break both types of goat's cheese into pieces and scatter in the pastry case. Spoon the garlic cloves and syrup evenly over the cheese.

7. In a jug whisk together the eggs, creams, ½ teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Pour this custard over the tart filling to fill the gaps, making sure that you can still see the garlic and cheese over the surface.

8. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 and place the tart inside. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the tart filling has set and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little.

9. Then take out of tin, trim the pastry edge if needed, lay a few sprigs of thyme on top and serve warm.
 
 
The result was really delicious, and the nuggets of caramelised garlic were wonderful... soft and sweet, contrasting well with the saltiness of the goat's cheese. Along with the herbs, overall this tart was well balanced - not pungent or garlic-stinky. The vampires, it would seem, live to die another day...

The puff pastry (I cheated and used readymade pastry) was crunchy on the outside, but went a little soggy underneath. Next time I would probably take the blind baking a little further to get around this. But oh my, what splendid use of garlic! Mr Ottelenghi, I think I'm in love (with your book!)
 
 
Ladybird x

Green Pancakes with Lime Butter

As part of the Cookbook of the Month feature for September, here is the first recipe I'd like to share with you from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a delicious weekend brunch recipe. I really wanted to make this for breakfast this morning, however, because I had to work today I decided to make it for dinner instead.. a bit strange, I know!

These pancakes are packed with veggies and flavour and here is what Ottolenghi has to say about them:

This recipe brought lots of compliments round my way after I first published it in 2008. I guess these pancakes are so comforting they somehow take you back to your childhood, when the joy of textures and flavours is still pure and unadulterated. Brunch is an ideal meal for them, served with a salad of seasonal leaves and possibly also a slice of freshly grilled haloumi or a piece of smoked fish.

Green Pancakes with Lime Butter
Serves 3-4

250g spinach, washed
110g self raising flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 free range egg
50g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
150ml milk
6 medium spring onione (100g in total), finely sliced
2 fresh green chillies, thinly sliced*
1 free range egg white
oilive oil for frying
* I deseeded mine

Lime Butter
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
grated zest of 1 lime
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 tsp chilli flakes


First, make the lime butter. Put the butter in a medium bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until it turns soft and creamy. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Tip everything out on to a sheet of clingfilm and roll into a sausage shape. Twist the ends to seal the flavoured butter. Chill until firm.

Wilt the spinach in a pan with a splash of water. Drain in a sieve and, when cool, queeze hard with your hands to remove as much moisture as possible. Roughly chop and put aside.

For the pancake batter, put the flour, baking powder, whole egg, melted butter, salt, cumin and milk in a mixing bowl, and whisk until smooth. Add the sping onion, chillies and spinach and mix with a fork. Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and carefully fold it in to the batter.

Pour a small amount of oil into a heavy frying pan and place on medium-high heat. For each pancake, ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan and press down gently. You should get smallish pancakes, about 7cm in diameter and 1cm thick. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until you get a good golden-green colour. Transfer to kichen paper and keep warm. Continue making pancakes, adding oil to the pan as needed, until the batter is used up.

To serve, pile up three pancakes per person and place a slice of flavoured butter on top to melt.

Stay tuned for more from the Cookbook of the Month!

Ladybird x

Cookbook of the Month - September

If there's one thing a food lover can never have enough of (other than food), it's cookbooks. I could spend hours tucked away in a bookshop leafing through cookbooks, soaking up inspirational new recipes and sumptuous food photography.  It really is a very unique and enjoyable form of literature.. and there should be a term to describe describe it- henceforth I shall refer to this genre as 'Cooklit'!

And so it is with great pleasure that I announce a new feature on Diary of a Ladybird - Cookbook of the Month. At the start of each month I'll announce a feature cookbook. Then during the month, I'll tell you a little about the book and its author and I'll bring you some recipes from the book so that you can get a feel for sort of food that the book presents. If you have tried the book, or if there are certain recipes from the book you'd like me to showcase, I would love to hear from you :)

Without further ado, here is the first instalment of Cookbook of the Month. The selection September is...

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

[Text from back cover]

With his fabulous restaurants and bestselling Ottolenghi Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi has established himself as one of the most exciting new talents in the world of cookery and food writing. This exclusive collection of vegetarian recipes was inspired by his column 'The New Vegetarian' for the Guardian's Weekend magazine, and features both brand-new recipes and dishes first devised for that column.

Yotam's food inspiration comes from his strong Mediterranean background and his unapologetic love of ingredients. Not a vegetarian himself, his approach to vegetable dishes is wholly original and innovative, based on strong flavours and stunning, fresh combinations. With sections devoted to cooking greens, aubergines, brassicas, rice and cereals, pasta and couscous, pulses, tofu, roots, squashes, onions, fruit, mushrooms and tomatoes, the breadth of colours, tastes and textures is extraordinary.

Featuring vibrant, daring food photography, stunning design, and with Yotam's voice and personality shining through, Ottolenghi Vegetables is a must-have for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

Plenty was published in May 2010, much to the delight of Ottolenghi fans across the globe. Boasting 120 enticing recipes, this is a book to inspire.
There is plenty of Plenty to be had, and I can't wait to get started!
 
Stay tuned...
 
Ladybird x