Potato Pizza circa1997

Another afternoon spent surfing the smitten kitchen got me to thinking about a delicious pizza we used to eat in a cafe I worked in when I was 18: Potato, rosemary and sea salt. I got my inspiration from the Pizza Bianca recipe. This is the first time I have engaged the use of my dough hook since I unveiled my beloved KA. It was the perfect way to christen the hook because the results were sooooo divine. I added wafer thin potato slices to the original recipe, not as an improvement but simply because with a sprinkling of sea salt, potato pizza is my idea of heaven. B agreed!!!! And finally..finally it would appear that I am better at something then he is. (not that this is important....honestly it's not) After one bite he declared that my crispy, light and tasty base left his for dead. Yippee! OK he can have scones and gnocchi but it seems that I officically have Pizza Bianca.

Potato and Sea salt Pizza
(recipe sourced from Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 potato sliced wafer thin

1. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, and slowly add 1 cup cold water. Mix on low speed until ingredients begin to combine, increase speed to medium-high, and continue to mix for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

2. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and allow to rest for 2 to 4 hours until it has doubled in size. Knock the dough back and split into halves and roll into balls. Place each ball on a generously floured surface, and allow it to rest until the formed dough doubles in size again, at least 1 hour.

3. Put dough on a lightly floured tray. Dimple dough by pressing it down with your fingertips. Work the dough outward toward the edges of the tray until you reach your desired size and thickness, about 1/4 inch. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, layer with potato wafers, rosemary and sprinkle with remaining salt.

4. Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until it is crispy and browned. When you remove from the oven sprinkle with seasalt and a drizzleof super special Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Thanks for the inspiration Deb.

(UN)Forgettable Capsicum Soup

After 13 days of straight rain and miserable weather it has finally stopped. The sky is so clear, blue and alluring it is almost like it is trying to apologise for all the rain. It is trying to convince me that it is finally okay to come out and play.. but it is not. It is cold! And I am nearly as angry at the sky for this deception as I am for the rain. No.. no... I didn't say that I promise! don't crucify me... rain is good I know...we need rain... Yay for rain!!!! And from the warmth of my apartment I am loving the sunlight also, so I really honestly I am not complaining! It is a delightfully sunny, cold day and I have the perfect solution to this confusing weather!

Capsicum Soup. The flavours are fresh and sunny but it's soup so it's comforting and warm. My gorgeous , and I mean gorgeous friend D used to make this soup in her (equally gorgeous) Queensland cafe Lure on Latrobe. In winter on my day off I would crawl out of bed stumble across the road to my favourite cafe in the world, pick my favourite seat in the sunny courtyard and pray that D's capsicum soup would be on the menu. (It was midday after all, and soup for breakfast is good(really good) in chilly weather) Every time I ate the soup I wanted to ask for the secret, but when D would come to sit with me we would get so caught up in other gossip I never got around to asking. And so today when the chill hit my insides I had a flash of this soup and knew immediately it was time to speak to the master. So I rang my darling D to ask her once and for all for the soup recipe. But.... well..sorry...... once again I got so distracted with gossip that I forgot all about the soup. But there is a good reason .. I promise.. well first I had to tell her about my new job. There were such cheers, congratulations, blushing and gushing that soup was the furthermost thing from my mind! Then she told me her news: she is now the proud owner of a fashion boutique Miss Mouse!! Who can possibly think about soup at a time like this. She has a boutique yippee!!! If ever there was a person destined for the fashion industry it is my D. Now I need to organise a trip back to BrisVegas to see the shop, and the clothes and I suppose the proprietor too. I am so proud of her, she has an uncompromising eye for style and an impeccable fashion sense. She always looks one million dollars and never in an intimidating obnoxious way. I am convinced Miss Mouse will be as stylish and tasteful as.. well.. as her delicious capsicum soup. (by all rights she should be a dreadful cook, life can be so unfair!) I know I should call back for the recipe but I decide to just take a chance myself. I admit the soup is not quite as good as the Lure capsicum soup, maybe that is because I didn't get the recipe... but maybe it is because it is a reminder of gaping hole I have in my heart from having to leave this cafe behind when we moved to Sydney.

So if you are lucky enough to live in Brisbane (and yes I hope you are smart enough to realise it does make you lucky) you must do 2 things

a) visit Lure on Latrobe and try their Capsicum soup or if breakfast is your thing their French toast (ooohh yum Lure french toast!!!!!)

b) Visit Miss Mouse and say hi to D for me!


See how I forget about the soup easily... I nearly forgot to leave the recipe.. So here it is

(un)Forgettable Capsicum Soup

1 lge onion
4 cloves garlic
6 red capsicum
1 kilo fresh overripe tomatoes
500 ml chicken stock
1 tin coconut cream (or milk but not lite milk (i made this regrettable mistake))
3 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
salt and pepper
Coriander
Sour Cream

Roast capsicums and peel
Dice onions and sweet in a saucepan with sweet chilli sauce. Then add diced tomatoes, roast capsicum, chicken stock, garlic salt and pepper.
Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes.
Add coconut cream/milk and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Blitze soup
Stir through finely chopped coriander.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a squeeze of lime juice.
For more heat you can add fresh chilli and for less reduce the sweet chilli to 1 tablespoon.

PS Taylor and Remy I miss you guys too x I hope you are staying out of trouble and being good to your mother xx

One small step for man....

A visit to this blog got me thinking about pumpkin scones and afternoon tea. Just as a I was about to start getting the ingredients together for 'the kitchen wench's' delightful date and pumpkin scones I heard my mother-in-laws voice singing the praises of Flo's pumpkin scones. For those of you who have no idea who Flo is, I will give you a quick introduction: Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen

So that's Flo's story and I think I learned a little something there myself. However in truth the only thing I really remember about Flo is the legend of her pumpkin scones. Yet I have never made them for myself. It's overcast and pretty miserable today and I am positive a batch of pumpkin scones is just what the doctor ordered. I am cooking the pumpkin as I speak and just the smell of it alone is making me hungry...must be the anticipation of what is to come....

10 minutes later...
Phoning mother in law ... "um hi L um.. with these pumpkin scones are they meant to be sooooooooooo wet?" "yes darling the dough is quite wet. I always just 'flop' it around in the flour until it comes together." "ummm. ok. thanks." Now with pumpkin dough all over myself, kitchen taps and bench I attempt to flop around the dough in some flour...

10 minutes later...
hmmmm maybe I should have just made regular scones...well.. actually... Ok.... I should confess.... I am a fraud. I call myself a chef, but when it comes to the simple task of making scones I am a complete failure. I have made numerous attempts at baking scones before and have always ended up with rock cakes. I even know all the rules I try not to overwork them, I just let them come together, I rest them. And yet they never yield the beautiful scones I imagine. (note B makes perfect scones. Scones and gnocchi argh!!) This is why I thought I would try a completely different recipe and see if I could not, with all my culinary training and years of working with food, produce a beautiful scone worthy of any high tea stand. It appears that I may have failed yet again at this simple simple task. Oh well scones are in the oven (despite my instincts about the final results)

12 minutes later.....
oh my...oh my... I think I want to cry!!! They are gorgeous. My beautiful, beautiful little scones. I am so proud. This is one of my finest culinary achievements. Well they look gorgeous just as I had imagined a scone should. Now for a little taste test....

30 seconds later..
Oh Flo I could kiss you! You and your glorious pumpkin scones!!! It only took me 30 seconds to wolf down an entire scone and I only stopped there because I was afraid I would eat all the evidence before I had a chance to take a photo! So please find below a delicious recipe for pumpkin scones, while I make myself a cup of tea. PS the mixture may be quite wet but just 'flop it around in the flour until it comes together'.

Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen's Famous Pumpkin Scones
1 Tblsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed pumpkin (cold)
2 cups Self raising flour

Method:
Beat together butter, sugar and salt with electric mixer.
Add egg, then pumpkin and stir in the flour.
Turn on to floured board and cut. Place in tray on top shelf of very hot oven 225-250c for 15-20 minutes.

Celebrate good times!!

Cheers to me!! I have a new and fabulous career!!! After 2 weeks of being confused, stressed, lost and melodramatic It is finally over! I am so excited, today my contract arrived and as I held it in my hand grinning from ear to ear I looked at B and declared " I'm having champagne". I am a big supporter of 'marking the occasion'. I think we are all so busy looking for the next big thing in our lives, the next step, our next goal that we never actually take the time to celebrate the successes we do have. I know this job will be quite a handful and definitely keep me on my toes so I figure I may as well embrace the joy, excitement and thrill of the challenge now before this feeling becomes a distant memory. So on this note I have one more thing to celebrate, one more thing to toast. Since I am so happy for them!! Congratulations mum and dad on selling the house. I know you will be having a glass of champagne as well so we shall toast each other.

When my parents declared they were going to sell our family home i was flabergasted.... but but.. but... where will I stay when I come to visit? where will my (non exisitent children) sleep when they come to visit? What about all the memories? This was my home! This was my child hood! Did I mention it has been a melodromatic few weeks. The beauty of memories though is that they exsist long after the physical reality has passed. I still have all my beautiful memories and now we get to make a whole lot of new memories as the years continue. My beautiful nephew ( brother, sister-in-law and bump) in Melbourne will get to share so many new memories with their grandparents they may never have had the chance for in 'my' family home. And I live in Sydney... do I expect them to keep the nest warm in brisbane for my fly buy visits. I really couldn't be happier for them. And I couldn't be more gratefull for all the hard work, dedication, love, sweat and tears they put into the amazing family home I have in all my beautiful , beautiful memories. When we had our dining table in the kitchen and my seat was opposite the microwave and I would spend the entire meal preening myself and looking at my own refelction (somethings never change). The walls and doors I coated in glow in the dark pen with secret messages that would only be revealed at night. The frangipane tree in the front yard where I used to sit at age 9 to compose my creative masterpieces. The front steps I would sit on with my best friend reciting song after song from 'the sound of music'. The several different bedrooms I claimed as my own over the years. The deck where we had countless family celebrations, wine tastings and conversations. The fact that when we first moved in the walls were covered in carpet and the roof in one of the rooms was covered in tinfoil. The hole my brothers put in the wall and then tried to cover with a triple J poster. The window in the bedroom that someone could 'poke you with a stick' through. The 3 different kitchens which evolved over the years. The possum on the roof, the lizards in the drains and the frogs on the deck. My neighbour who would babysit me when I was 7 and went on to celebrate my 21st and wedding with me as an adult. The roster for packing and unpacking the dishwasher. My mum and dad every day of my life. Oh am feeling a little emotional now. I am so blessed to have such beautiful and simple memories. I can only hope the future holds such joy for my own (future)family.

Yay for my new job and yay for my parents who built a beautiful home for their children and are now building a beautiful future for themselves and our new extended family.

Cheers!!!

p is for polenta and polenta is for me

Lately I can't think of anything but polenta. And as much as a have been thinking, and dreaming and feeling like eating polenta, I simply have not felt up to making it. It's not hard I know, but it's the standing there at the stove stirring and stirring that prevents the beautiful luxurious polenta from reaching my plate more frequently. This is actually a blessing since a do love a good nob of butter in my polenta. Over the last few years I have heard numerous friends and colleagues bemoan it. They claim it makes their stomach turn, it is too starchy, it's bland. Well let it be said they all now admit how wrong they were. Poor polenta is mistreated and misrepresented so much! I think the first problem came when polenta in an attempt to prevent itself from being consumed, packaged itself with directions to cook in water. Ha you fooled many polenta! You succeeded in turning your audience against you.. but not me!! I knew all you needed was a little love, milk, cheese and well butter.

So last night I decided that today would be polenta day. I was overjoyed when I woke up this morning and it was a dreary cold overcast day, perfect 'polenta and braised meat' weather. I couldn't even wait until dinner! I had to have polenta for lunch, and I definitely could not wait for my osso bucco to braise (oh yeah...oops..not vegetarian anymore). So instead my second favourite polenta pal: ratatouille!! Oh yum! Polenta so creamy and comforting I knew it would even persuade my card carrying anti polenta lunch guest into submission... begging for seconds!!!

Polenta to change your mind

1 cup chicken stock
3 cups milk (you can use low fat)
1 cup polenta
2 cloves garlic squashed
2 twigs thyme
50 grams butter (go on it's worth it)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
sea salt
cracked pepper

Combine chicken stock and 2 of the cups of milk in a pot and infuse with garlic and thyme for 10 minutes, then bring to the boil and remove thyme stalks.
Reduce heat to medium and add half the butter and rain in the cup of polenta
Whisk vigorously at this stage, if polenta thickens to quickly add the remaining cup of milk.
Cook polenta on a low heat for about 25 minutes stirring frequently and never turning your back for more then 3 minutes at a time.
If it is becoming too thick you can add more and more milk to achieve which ever consistency you desire.
When it is no longer grainy on the tongue you are ready to go. add the reaming butter loads of salt and pepper and the Parmesan.
Serve in any place you might usually serve mash or as I did with a deliously simple ratatouille.

Ten minute ratatouille
2 lebanese eggplant
2 small zucchini
1 red capsicum
1/2 spanish onion
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli or fresh chilli
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
sugar

Prepare all vegetables buy dicing into similar 2 cm shapes.
Heat oil in pan and cook zucchini and eggplant till they colour.
Reduce heat and add capsicum, onion, garlic, chili, tomatoes.
Allow to simmer for a further ten minutes.
Check seasoning and adjust with a little red wine vinegar and sugar.
Serve as I do with polenta or pasta.

I'm having my left over ratatouille with eggs on sour dough tomorrow. yippee!