Garlic and Herb Focaccia

There's something very gratifying about baking your own bread. Firstly, there's the unmistakable aroma which fills the house, but also that slightly smug feeling of having baked your own bread and showing off about it. Focaccia is relatively easy as there's only one knead required when the flour is all added to the mix, then leave to rise, punch down, shape and rise again before baking.  

Most people think making your own bread (without a bread maker) is in the too hard basket, but it's really not. It just takes a bit of time and patience, not to mention a bit of elbow grease in that kneading process. 

However I'll share a couple sneaky shortcuts with you. In the kneading part, it can be made really effortless if you have a mixer with a dough hook (it's that weird squiggly looking thing that you thought you'd never find a use for). If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way. I'm sure you an find dozens of YouTube tutorials on kneading bread, but the basic technique is to use one hand to fold the dough, the other to turn, and repeat for a few minutes till the dough feels smooth and elastic. 

The other shortcut tip I use is to warm the oven to about 40 degrees Celsius and use this as the place to rest the bread while it rises. A hot water cupboard is also a good place to pop it. Basically it just means that your bread has a sure-fired warm place to rise, draught free and stable. I find that using the oven also reduces the rising time a little. Mine only needed about 45-50 minutes, whereas sometimes (especially as the nights get cooler) it can take double that. 

Ingredients (Makes an 18 x 24cm tin sized loaf)

• 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
• 2 tbsp of dried or fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil or Italian mixed herbs) 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 1/2 tsp active yeast (I use Edmond's Sure to Rise) 
• 1/2 tsp honey or sugar
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour 
• 1 tsp salt 

Firstly heat the oil in a small pan with the herbs and garlic and cook on low for a few minutes till aromatic. Do not let the garlic brown or burn. Set aside to cool. 

In a large bowl (or the mixer bowl for the dough hook) mix 1 cup of warm water with the active yeast and honey. Set aside somewhere warm for 5 minutes to let the yeast activate.

Add half of the oil mixture and one cup of the flour to the yeast mixture and mix briefly so that the flour is moistened. Set aside for another 5 -10 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 40 degrees Celsius and oil your baking dish, a rectangular slice tin is best, a few cm high on the edges. 

Now add the rest of the flour and salt, use your hands (or the dough hook attachment of your mixer) to mix the flour in and knead on a floured bench for a few minutes till smooth and elastic.

Pop the dough into the oiled tin, loosely cover with a tea towel, and pop into the warm oven for 40 - 60 minutes. Check frequently from 40 minutes, you want it to be at least doubled in size.

Once well risen, remove it from the oven and increase the temperature to 220 degrees Celsius. Knock the dough around a bit and press it down to fill the tin, using your fingers to make dimples on the top, then pour the remaining herbed oil over the top. Set aside for another 20 -30 minutes to allow it to puff up again. 

Pop the risen, piled dough into the hot oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven when golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to a wooden board or cooling rack and leave for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving. 

This bread is delicious with soup, olive oil and dukkah, lathered in butter, or sliced lengthways and filled like a sandwich.  

  

Pasta with Bacon Brussels Sprouts and Leek

We love pasta in this house. It's so versatile (in flavour variations and shape) and usually super fast to whip up and wolf down. This creation takes a few classic flavour combinations and combines it into a healthy, yet hearty and downright delicious flavour explosion. Even if you 'don't like brussels sprouts', I dare you to try this, then tell me that. 

Ingredients (Serves 4): 

• 50 grams walnuts 
• 400 grams dried pasta, rigatoni, penne or spiral would all work well
• 6-8 rashers of rindless free range bacon, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
• 1 leek, sliced in half lengthways, then finely sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 30 grams butter
• 400 grams brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan 

Heat frying pan, and dry fry the walnuts for a few minutes, stirring, till lightly toasted. Set Aside. 

Boil pasta in a large pot of well salted water according to packet directions. 

Meanwhile, heat oil in the pan you toasted the walnuts in, add diced bacon and cook stirring for 3 - 5 minutes. Add leek, and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. I added about a cup of water during this cooking process, bit by bit, to allow the bits on the bottom of the pan to lift off and flavour the dish, rather than burn. 

Once softened, add the butter, brussels sprouts and chilli flakes to the pan. Cook, stirring for another 6- 10 minutes till the sprouts are softened and bright green in colour. By now, the pasta should also be cooked. I added about 1/4-1/2 a cup of the pasta water to the pan, to lift off any further bits from the bottom. 

Divide pasta into four bowls, top with bacon and sprouts mix, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with shaved parmesan and toasted walnuts. 

Crayfish Tortellini with butter and herb sauce

There's something very classic about a kiwi summer and crayfish. However if you're interested in something different that the good old garlic butter BBQ style, this is a great way to impress, and stretch out the precious crayfish meat. 

I've always been passionate about Italian food, and in 2009 I took Italian cooking classes. A wonderful Italian woman was running them from her own kitchen and offering lessons of the Italian four courses from her familia recipes handed down from her Nona's Nona. Here we learned antipasti, fresh pasta, gnocchi, traditional sauces, meat dishes, and desserts - including the infamous tiramisu. 

Then in 2013 I travelled to Italy, by this time she had returned to Italy and was kind enough to host my husband and I for a week. She showed us the local sights, and each night we cooked, or shared local cuisine. It was a truely amazing experience. One thing I learned while staying with her in Italywas making fresh tortellini. Previously having learned pasta, this was a natural progression. To be completely honest though, I have never actually made the pasta. That's my husbands job and I like to keep it that way, besides he does a great job. My job is creating the filling, folding, cooking, and the sauce.

Usually I would only make the ricotta and spinach filling as I had been taught. However today we were gifted two crayfish from a friend and I decided it might be worth trying it in pasta. I did some research, but there aren't many crayfish tortellini recipes out there. So, I sort of had to make this up, luckily it turned out deliciously successful. 

If you don't want to go to the effort of making fresh pasta, just buy the fresh lasagne sheets, they will work perfectly fine, but trust me, it's not that hard and is worth the effort. I'll detail the instructions as much as possible. The recipe calls for plain flour, though you can use a mix of half plain and half wholemeal if you like. We did this time, purely because I'd run out of white flour, but it still tastes just as great. 


Ingredients (serves 4 as a main or 8 as an entree):

Pasta

• 300 grams flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten 

Filling

• 2 crayfish tails, cooked, shelled, finely chopped 
• 4 tbsp cream
• 1 tsp salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Sauce

• 2-3 tomatoes, finely diced
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried dill (or 1 tsp fresh) 
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 50 grams butter
• fresh basil, to serve
• parmesan, to serve

**If you are using fresh store bought lasagne sheets, skip steps 1, 2, and 5.  

1. First prepare your pasta. In a large bowl, or a bench, dump your flour, make a well in the centre for your beaten eggs. Use a fork to gradually work the flour into the egg mix, keep going until all the flour has been incorporated, then begin to lightly knead the dough. 
2. Cover in cling film and set aside for at least 30 minutes. 
3. Prepare the filling: Mix all ingredients and set aside till ready. 
4. To make the sauce, mix all ingredients, except for butter, basil and parmesan. Rest in fridge until a few minutes before serving.
5. Once rested you can begin to roll the dough. We have a pasta machine, otherwise you can use a rolling pin, start on the largest setting, and keep running the dough through until it's on the smallest, about 2mm thick. 
6. Now cut your dough into roughly evenly sized squares, 10 x 10 cm. Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each square. The following instructions describe how to fold tortellini, alternatively you could place another square on top and press all four edges to make ravioli.
   
   
   
   
   
7. To fold tortellini pick them up, one square at a time, fold on the diagonal to make a triangle. Hold it in two hands, so that your index fingers and thumbs can gently press the edges along each side together, then tuck the bottom corners down and around to join each other. Press, and you have your tortellini. Place on a tray, and repeat. Rest them so that they are not touching one another. When complete, chill until required. 
   
8. When you're ready to serve, heat a pot of boiling salted water. Make sure you have everything else ready and work quickly as it doesn't take long. 
9. Drop the tortellini into the boiling water, a few at a time, till they are all in the pot, cook for 3 minutes, and when the rise to the top, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain. 
10. Meanwhile in a large saucepan, or frying pan, melt butter on a medium heat, when melted, add the tomato mixture. Cook, stirring for 3 minutes, then toss in the drained pasta, stir gently to coat, finally pour it all into a large serving dish, sprinkle with parmesan and fresh basil leaves. 

Enjoy. 

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Poached Pears

I originally made this cake a couple of years ago for a special occasion, and it was about time it made a comeback. Basically I love any recipes that include boozy fruit, and red wine is a favoured drink of choice in my family so it seems only natural that we love this cake. It's rich and decadent thanks to the olive oil and wine, but still a light texture, not dense like chocolate mudcake. Compared to other cakes it has the same amount of sugar too, or less if you consider that there's no icing to fuss with

It is ridiculously easy to make, luckily because the remaining class of wine from the bottle won't last long. You basically just mix everything together to bake, then make a syrup to pour over the cooled cake. 

Make sure you serve it with generous dollops of whipped cream, don't bother with yogurt or anything healthy, just cream for this number.  

Ingredients:  

• 255g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour, sifted
• 75g (3/4 cup) cocoa, sifted 
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 330g (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar
• 2 free range eggs
• 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk - I used homemade buttermilk - delicious. 
• 250ml (1 cup) red wine - Yes, 1 whole cup. 
• 125ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil - full flavoured olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Red wine poached pears (I recommend doubling the syrup recipe so that you have extra syrup for serving) 

• 110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 250ml (1 cup) red wine - Yes, another cup, don't be shy. 
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• 3 pears, peeled, cored, quartered

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Grease a 23cm springform pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Sift the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the middle. 

Add the eggs, buttermilk, wine, oil and vanilla, then (an electric mixer is best) beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until you get a nice smooth batter.

Pour batter into the cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (my oven's a little tempermental so needed an extra 15mins). 

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before releasing the sides, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Poached Pears:

While the cake is in the oven combine the ingredients and 250ml (1 cup) water in a saucepan. 

Bring it to a simmer over a medium heat. Cover the liquid with a round of baking paper, reduce the heat to low, then cook for 30 minutes or until pears are tender.

Remove from heat, and leave pears to cool in the syrup in the saucepan.

About 30 minutes before serving, remove pears from syrup using a slotted spoon.

Return the syrup to medium–high heat and simmer for 8 minutes or until reduced by half and the liquid has thickened.

Allow it to cool slightly. During that time arrange the poached pears on top of the cake, and whip a load of cream with a heaped spoon of icing sugar. 

  

Pour warm syrup over the cooled cake, and cut into large wedges, serve with whipped cream and any remaining syrup (Ideally you would have made double, I didn't but wish I had).  

Serve with more wine or tea, port or coffee. 

The cake also freezes well - but not the pears. 

Enjoy!