Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Red Wine Granita

4|10|2013

I couldn’t wait. Four more months! Just couldn’t!

To express my love for you..

Red hearts were never my thing. I’d rather go for wine.

Words fail me. You’ve been amazing so far.
So I got you wine and chocolate!

I read this somewhere ‘Like fine wine, hangovers get better with age’. Oh dear! And I recently turned a year older!

Happy ~~Valentine’s day~~ Weekend my friends! I really do love you:-)

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Red Wine Granita
Serves 4

White Chocolate Panna Cotta
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g white chocolate coarsely chopped
1 tbsp water
2 tsp powdered gelatine

Red Wine Granita (minimally adapted from Gourmet Traveller magazine)
150 ml red wine
150 ml water
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise

For the White Chocolate Panna Cotta : Place the heavy cream, milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and set aside for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla essence.

Place the 1 tbsp water in a small heatproof bowl. Sprinkle with the gelatine. Place the bowl in a small saucepan. Add enough boiling water to the saucepan to come three-quarters of the way up the side of the bowl. Use a fork to whisk the mixture until the gelatine dissolves. Alternately, add the gelatine to the water and set aside for 5 mins for the gelatine to bloom. Heat for 20 seconds in the microwave and stir to make it smooth.Add the gelatine mixture into the white chocolate mixture. Set aside to cool. Once it cools to room temperature, pour into serving glasses and refrigerate for a minimum 4 hours preferably overnight.

For the Red Wine Granita : Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a gentle simmer. Stir and cook for 3 minutes, remove from heat and cool completely. Strain and discard solids, pour mixture into a 20cm square shallow tray and freeze, scraping with a fork at hourly intervals to form crystals, until frozen (4-6 hours).

Smoked Salmon, Olives and Herbed Sour Cream Pizza

1|10|2013

On Sundays we like to eat big breakfasts. And elaborate lunches, a lavish afternoon tea and sometimes even a few in-betweens. Sitting around the table at home or eating out at a restaurant, filling each other in on the week that was, debating over the menu or simply watching our little boys voice out their opinion at every opportunity… is our favourite way of relaxing on a holiday. By dinner time we are either on a guilt trip or stuffed till the brim. Naturally no one is hungry for a meal. A soup or a light sandwich is generally our first choice but on days we wish for a lighter yet fitting end to a great day, I make a quick pizza. Wondering if a pizza could ever have anything to do with small or light, well it could. If you make it from scratch. You decide the portions, you pick the toppings and trust me when I say..homemade pizza is better than any takeaway.

Making pizza dough is actually such a simple process. It hardly fails, freezes well and appeals to kids and adults alike. When I have leftover dough (which is most often) I either store it to make a rosemary Focaccia bread or roll out a few Naan breads (Indian flatbread) with a little garlic butter the next day. It is such a versatile dough. For extra flavour, you can add some thyme, rosemary or oregano leaves, fresh or dried.

I used the left over smoked salmon from my salmon scotch egg recipe to make this. You can use prosciutto, leftover chicken, paneer, tofu, grilled pumpkin, pineapple, your favourite cheese..literally any topping of your choice. I have skipped the cheese to make it healthier…relatively! I love sour cream and find it extremely useful to make fillings for sweet and savory or just dolloping it over soups, pancakes or pizzas. And lastly adding leafy greens not only enhances the look but also is a good source of nutrition. Roll out your pizzas in any shape, size or thickness as you prefer. I am actually known for my pizzas-for-two. Simply roll out the dough in a rectangle and add your toppings. Once ready slice them in as many ways as you want.

Smoked Salmon, Olives and Herbed Sour Cream Pizza

Pizza Dough (makes two 12 inch pizzas)
3 cups Plain Flour
2 tsp/7g/1 sachet dried yeast
1/2 tsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
Olive oil, for brushing
Semolina or Polenta, to dust

Pizza Topping
1 tbsp passata/pizza sauce
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
A few slices of smoked salmon
A handful kalamata olives
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil for drizzling
A handful of spinach, rocket, thyme and dill leaves

For the Herbed Sour Cream
1/4 cup sour cream
a few sprigs of parsley/oregano/thyme/chives finely chopped

Make the dough: Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the warm water and olive oil. Mix together and use your hands to bring it to a soft dough. Knead it on a floured surface to make it smooth and pliable. Return it to the mixing bowl that has been brushed with oil. Add the dough and turn to coat.
Cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until dough doubles in size. Punch down dough with your fist. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it gently for a minute. Halve the dough and roll it out to the desired portion and thickness.

Make the topping: Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. Dust pizza tray with semolina or polenta. Place the rolled out dough onto the prepared tray. Spread a thin layer of passata or pizza sauce around the base of the pizza. Top with smoked salmon, olives and red onion. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until base is crisp. While the pizza is baking mix the sour cream and herbs together to make herbed sour cream. Remove the pizza from the oven, dollop with sour cream and top with leafy greens.

Lamb Massaman Curry

25|09|2013

Isn’t it great to feel the sun, warm on your skin after being covered in layers all throughout the winter months? In the southern hemisphere, we are well into Spring and trying hard to make our weekends count. There is so much happening around us at the moment that I am finding it hard to pick and choose a single destination or activity to enjoy during the weekends. Sydney comes alive in Spring and the cultural scene just explodes with activity. Festivals, exhibitiions, arts, music, sculpture to name a few. With two little boys in tow, we are trying to combine activities that we we enjoy as a family.

I have plenty of photographs of my gorgeous city in Spring to share with you much like I did in Autumn. Well, that would have to wait a bit. This year is moving faster than I had imagined. I complained a lot during the colder months…it’s just not my kind of season! But curling up in bed early with a book and sleeping in late was such an easy habit to fall into. Along with the roast dinners, heart warming stews, spicy curries and warm crumbles. I cooked a lot of lamb this year, mainly because my boys have started to enjoy it as much as I do.

Thai food is my one of my favourites and I cook it quite often. But never from scratch, until now. The spice pastes are more easily available than the traditional ingredients that go into making it. However, you should be able to get most of them from any Asian supermarket. These are the foundation of many Asian dishes, so once you have them, you can try out pretty much any of the curries from scratch. A tiny little warning when you are roasting belacan/shrimp paste…please make sure you have all your windows open as the odour can be really pungent and strong (I didn’t quite enjoy the experience but later realised how important it was) You can substitute it with fish sauce but to get the REAL taste, this is critical.
That being said, once the curry starts to cook, you should experience the most amazing aroma sensations that come with Thai curries. I have cooked this with beef chuck steaks at a different time. Though it takes longer to cook the flavours are great too. Also, if you do not have the time to make the spice paste from scratch, you could use the store bought one and follow the rest of the recipe.

Now if you are wondering what my winter cooking is doing in Spring, this was made, photographed and consumed in winter. Along came sweet treats and this one went back into my drafts awaiting its turn. But you know what, a dish like this can be made anytime of the year. How about this weekend?

Lamb Massaman Curry

For the Spice Paste

8 dried long red chillies, deseeded
1 teaspoon shrimp paste/belacan (preferably the block/slab)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 brown onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 stem lemon grass, trimmed, white part chopped
3cm piece galangal, peeled, chopped

For the Curry
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
500g lamb shoulder chopped into cubes
1 cup coconut cream
2 tablespoons of the prepared massaman curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces or baby chat potatoes
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2 tablespoons palm sugar syrup (can be substituted with brown sugar but palm sugar makes it taste authentic)
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate/paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce
salt, to taste
lime and basil leaves to serve

To make the Spice Paste:

Place chillies in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain well. Roughly chop. Wrap shrimp paste in foil. Heat in a frying pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until roasted.

Blend or process chillies, roasted shrimp paste, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, white pepper and 1 tablespoon cold water until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, one at a time, blending well after each addition until mixture forms a thick paste. Store paste in a clean, airtight jar in the fridge for up to 6 months.

To make the Curry:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until hot. Add lamb. Cook, stirring constantly, until evenly browned. Transfer to a plate. Add 2 tablespoons coconut cream to pan. Cook over medium heat for 20 seconds or until hot. Add curry paste. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.

Return lamb and juices to pan. Add coconut milk, stock, peanuts, potatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cardamom pods, palm sugar, tamarind concentrate, fish sauce,salt and remaining coconut cream. Stir to combine.

Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40-50 minutes or until lamb is tender. You can use a pressure cooker if available. It would take about 15 minutes. Taste before serving. If you need a bit more sweetness, add another tsp of palm sugar. Pour the curry into a serving bowl and garnish with lime leaves and basil leaves. Serve with Jasmine rice.

Golden Apple Ginger Cake

23|09|2013

In life, we meet so many different people. Some just happen to us and some are sent our way. Some of them, we meet and forget and some we create everlasting memories with. There are some who we don’t meet often yet they touch our lives in a million ways. They listen to you, inspire you, stand by you, protect you and believe in your dreams like it was their own.

This dainty little cake with all my favourite things in it, is to celebrate a birthday…a dear sister, a friend, a woman with a heart of gold. Just 9 days apart (so you know my birthday is coming up too), but at least 900 times wiser, stronger and affectionate. I held on to this recipe for a long time so I could post it today when it is seemed so apt to do so.

Here’s a little tip for my readers. If you are baking a cake for a special occasion but like me, you are not too fond of the frosted ones, just replace the sugar with brown sugar, treacle or golden syrup. It adds an amazing intensity to the cake. The flavour is more like caramel, actually better. Pairing it with spice makes it go up by several notches. This is also one of those cakes that require minimal effort…the ones where you just put everything in one bowl. But the results are amazing. The syrup is essential to give it that wow factor and to keep the cake moist, so no skipping it.

Happy Birthday to my Golden Girl!
I know you will be amongst the first to read this. Like always!

Golden Apple Ginger Cake
Makes an 8 inch round cake (minimally adapted from Sweet Food)

For the cake
250g (2 cups) self-raising flour
21/2 tsp ground ginger
165g (3/4 cup) firmly packed brown sugar
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped into cubes
3 eggs lightly beaten
125 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
125g unsalted butter, melted

For the apple topping
175 g (1/2 cup) golden syrup
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced into wedges
25 g unsalted butter
1 tbsp glace ginger/crystallised ginger, roughly chopped
2 tbsp roasted almonds, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 8 inch round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Pour half the golden syrup over the base of the tin, spreading evenly with a metal spoon which has been run under hot water. Arrange the apple slices over the golden syrup in a circle, overlapping slightly.

Sift the flour and ground ginger into a bowl. Add the sugar and chopped apple, then the egg, buttermilk and melted butter. Stir until just combined and batter is smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, or a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 mins, then carefully invert onto serving plate.

Heat the remaining golden syrup and 25 g butter in a saucepan over low heat until the butter has melted. Spoon the sauce evenly over the cake. Sprinkle with glace ginger and chopped almonds. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.