The Borner V-Slicer Multibox V5

Earlier this year, I received a Borner V-Slicer for review, courtesy of Kitchenware Direct. It was actually quite a few months ago that I first got it, and since then it's become an often-used and much-loved part of my kitchen kit. The slicer is small and easy to take apart and clean - so I find it very convenient when I need to chop, slice or grate a small amount (e.g. one or two carrots, potatoes or whatever), without needing to lug out the food processor.

It comes with three interchangeable slicers: a 7mm julienne, a 3.5mm julienne, and a plain slicer with adjustable thickness. It also, importantly, comes with a hand-guard. Remember to use the hand guard, as the blades are super-sharp!

So, let's have a look at a few of the things I've made with it! First up, a classic French grated carrot salad. (Or a "salade de carottes râpées" as it's disconcertingly called in French!) This is very easy, cheap, tasty and healthy. Yay! I think different people in France make this differently, but I like the grated carrots tossed with chopped parsley and chives, a tiny amount of grated garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and a splash of white wine vinegar.

Speaking of carrot salads, I actually prefer Nigella's carrot and peanut salad, for which I used the 7 mm julienne insert.  

Peanut and Carrot Salad

The full recipe is available on Nigella's website, but in brief: slice carrots thickly, add salted peanuts, and toss through a dressing of red wine vinegar, peanut oil and a few drops sesame oil. I used purple and orange carrots for a pretty colour contrast, and sprinkled with chives because they taste so good!

My favourite blade on the slicer is the plain one, which I use to slice vegetables paper thin, way thinner than I can manage even with my sharpest knife.

Check out those onions! When they're sliced that thinly they practically melt when cooked. Perfect for making gravy, sauces or onion jam.

Finely sliced onions

A cute thing to make at home is a potato galette (a recipe I learned at Fast Ed's Jazz Apple Masterclass).  It's great as a side dish, but even better as dinner in its entirety! Super easy: you finely slice some floury potatoes, and layer them up in a non-stick frying pan that's been greased with melted butter.

Build up a few layers, brushing with a little melted butter in between each one (the starch in the potatoes and butter will help the slices to stick together). I generally go just under a centimetre thick - any thicker and the potatoes on the bottom will burn before the top potatoes cook through. (Although you could always turn the heat down low and clamp a lid on if you prefer a thicker galette!)

After about five minutes, or when the bottom is crispy and the potatoes are almost cooked (use a fork to test), flip the whole thing over using two egg flips and a great deal of confidence. (Or slide it onto a plate and then flip it back into the frying pan).

Ta-dah! Season generously with salt to serve. Super delicious!

Crispy potato goodness

Most excitingly, I also used the slicer to finely slice apples for an absolutely incredible apple pie. I'll be sharing the full recipe soon, but for now... a sneak peak!

Apple pie

Do you own a mandoline slicer? Do you love it or have you had any little accidents with it? What do you use it for?

Sarah received the Borner V-Slicer Multibox V5 courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

Earlier this year, I received a Borner V-Slicer for review, courtesy of Kitchenware Direct. It was actually quite a few months ago that I first got it, and since then it's become an often-used and much-loved part of my kitchen kit. The slicer is small and easy to take apart and clean - so I find it very convenient when I need to chop, slice or grate a small amount (e.g. one or two carrots, potatoes or whatever), without needing to lug out the food processor.

It comes with three interchangeable slicers: a 7mm julienne, a 3.5mm julienne, and a plain slicer with adjustable thickness. It also, importantly, comes with a hand-guard. Remember to use the hand guard, as the blades are super-sharp!

So, let's have a look at a few of the things I've made with it! First up, a classic French grated carrot salad. (Or a "salade de carottes râpées" as it's disconcertingly called in French!) This is very easy, cheap, tasty and healthy. Yay! I think different people in France make this differently, but I like the grated carrots tossed with chopped parsley and chives, a tiny amount of grated garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and a splash of white wine vinegar.

Speaking of carrot salads, I actually prefer Nigella's carrot and peanut salad, for which I used the 7 mm julienne insert.  

Peanut and Carrot Salad

The full recipe is available on Nigella's website, but in brief: slice carrots thickly, add salted peanuts, and toss through a dressing of red wine vinegar, peanut oil and a few drops sesame oil. I used purple and orange carrots for a pretty colour contrast, and sprinkled with chives because they taste so good!

My favourite blade on the slicer is the plain one, which I use to slice vegetables paper thin, way thinner than I can manage even with my sharpest knife.

Check out those onions! When they're sliced that thinly they practically melt when cooked. Perfect for making gravy, sauces or onion jam.

Finely sliced onions

A cute thing to make at home is a potato galette (a recipe I learned at Fast Ed's Jazz Apple Masterclass).  It's great as a side dish, but even better as dinner in its entirety! Super easy: you finely slice some floury potatoes, and layer them up in a non-stick frying pan that's been greased with melted butter.

Build up a few layers, brushing with a little melted butter in between each one (the starch in the potatoes and butter will help the slices to stick together). I generally go just under a centimetre thick - any thicker and the potatoes on the bottom will burn before the top potatoes cook through. (Although you could always turn the heat down low and clamp a lid on if you prefer a thicker galette!)

After about five minutes, or when the bottom is crispy and the potatoes are almost cooked (use a fork to test), flip the whole thing over using two egg flips and a great deal of confidence. (Or slide it onto a plate and then flip it back into the frying pan).

Ta-dah! Season generously with salt to serve. Super delicious!

Crispy potato goodness

Most excitingly, I also used the slicer to finely slice apples for an absolutely incredible apple pie. I'll be sharing the full recipe soon, but for now... a sneak peak!

Apple pie

Do you own a mandoline slicer? Do you love it or have you had any little accidents with it? What do you use it for?

Sarah received the Borner V-Slicer Multibox V5 courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

A Rather Delicious Asparagus Salad

Here it is! A rather delicious asparagus salad, and my new favourite brunch dish. I made this up over the weekend, based on a classic Italian combination and a starter my ex-chef friend made for a recent lunch party. It has green, white and purple asparagus - some raw and sliced into fine shavings, some lightly cooked in chunks - with a soft-poached egg, parmesan cheese and mostarda di fruitta.  Of course, I finished it with some lovely extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and plenty of freshly cracked salt and pepper - gorgeous with a thick slice of grainy sourdough toast to catch all the lovely juices.

I must admit, I made this dish primarily because I had heaps of asparagus that needed to be used and I thought it would look pretty; I wasn't prepared for how wonderful it would taste!

I'd bought a lot of asparagus the day before - a total impulse buy - at the Vic Market. I'm usually a stickler for recipes, and will only buy what's on my list.  But when I saw the below display I couldn't resist!  And without a final recipe in mind, I bought one bunch of each colour: white, purple and green.  I'm glad to say this salad was the result of my impulsiveness.

I was actually at the market on a guided tour, having been invited along to join in a Foodies Tour.  Whenever I'm travelling I love to wander through markets - some of my faves have been: Port Vila Market in Vanuatu, the Nishiki Food Market in Kyoto, Vienna's Naschmarkt, Barcelona's world-famous La Bouqueria and, of course, London's amazing Borough Market.  I do shop at the Vic Market reasonably regularly, but usually I'm in too much of a hurry and am too busy elbowing my way through the crowds to stop and look around.  It was really nice to take a different view of our very own Queen Vic Market, and I took heaps of photos just like a tourist!  I've put the pics up on my Facebook page, so do check them out if you are interested. 

Now, back to the asparagus salad!  I've put the recipe in full at the bottom of this post, and have some pictures here of the steps involved.  There's a bit of fiddly assembly involved, but it's not too difficult - and so worth the effort!

Shaved asparagus

Let's check out my new slate-coloured pebble bowl from Mud - and big thanks to my friends Soph, Alae and Kristine for giving me a Mud voucher for my birthday this year! I absolutely love it! Yay!

Cooked asparagus lengths - the purple colour seems to fade when it's cooked

Poached egg

Arranging the raw asparagus shavings on top

With thin slices of mostarda di frutta

A Rather Delicious Asparagus Salad

An original recipe by Sarah Cooks, inspired by a classic Italian combination

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 stalks each white, purple and green asparagus

1 egg, preferably free range and/or organic

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

A generous squeeze of lemon juice

Sea salt and black pepper

To taste: mostarda di frutta, Parmesan cheese

Method

Wash the asparagus stalks and snap off the woody ends. Take one stalk of each colour and use a vegetable peeler to slice them into thin shavings. Set aside. 

Slice the remaining asparagus stalks into 3cm lengths. Blanch in boiling salted water until tender but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain the asparagus pieces, cool under cold running water and drain again. 

Poach an egg in simmering water until cooked to your liking.

Meanwhile, to make the dressing, stir the olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Swirl the cooked asparagus pieces in the dressing to coat, and place on a serving plate.  Place the drained, poached egg on top.

Swirl the asparagus shavings in the dressing to coat, and pile on top of the egg.  Add shavings of Parmesan cheese and thin slices of mostarda di frutta.  Drizzle generously with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Serve with thick slices of sourdough or multigrain toast.

Here it is! A rather delicious asparagus salad, and my new favourite brunch dish. I made this up over the weekend, based on a classic Italian combination and a starter my ex-chef friend made for a recent lunch party. It has green, white and purple asparagus - some raw and sliced into fine shavings, some lightly cooked in chunks - with a soft-poached egg, parmesan cheese and mostarda di fruitta.  Of course, I finished it with some lovely extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and plenty of freshly cracked salt and pepper - gorgeous with a thick slice of grainy sourdough toast to catch all the lovely juices.

I must admit, I made this dish primarily because I had heaps of asparagus that needed to be used and I thought it would look pretty; I wasn't prepared for how wonderful it would taste!

I'd bought a lot of asparagus the day before - a total impulse buy - at the Vic Market. I'm usually a stickler for recipes, and will only buy what's on my list.  But when I saw the below display I couldn't resist!  And without a final recipe in mind, I bought one bunch of each colour: white, purple and green.  I'm glad to say this salad was the result of my impulsiveness.

I was actually at the market on a guided tour, having been invited along to join in a Foodies Tour.  Whenever I'm travelling I love to wander through markets - some of my faves have been: Port Vila Market in Vanuatu, the Nishiki Food Market in Kyoto, Vienna's Naschmarkt, Barcelona's world-famous La Bouqueria and, of course, London's amazing Borough Market.  I do shop at the Vic Market reasonably regularly, but usually I'm in too much of a hurry and am too busy elbowing my way through the crowds to stop and look around.  It was really nice to take a different view of our very own Queen Vic Market, and I took heaps of photos just like a tourist!  I've put the pics up on my Facebook page, so do check them out if you are interested. 

Now, back to the asparagus salad!  I've put the recipe in full at the bottom of this post, and have some pictures here of the steps involved.  There's a bit of fiddly assembly involved, but it's not too difficult - and so worth the effort!

Shaved asparagus

Let's check out my new slate-coloured pebble bowl from Mud - and big thanks to my friends Soph, Alae and Kristine for giving me a Mud voucher for my birthday this year! I absolutely love it! Yay!

Cooked asparagus lengths - the purple colour seems to fade when it's cooked

Poached egg

Arranging the raw asparagus shavings on top

With thin slices of mostarda di frutta

A Rather Delicious Asparagus Salad

An original recipe by Sarah Cooks, inspired by a classic Italian combination

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 stalks each white, purple and green asparagus

1 egg, preferably free range and/or organic

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

A generous squeeze of lemon juice

Sea salt and black pepper

To taste: mostarda di frutta, Parmesan cheese

Method

Wash the asparagus stalks and snap off the woody ends. Take one stalk of each colour and use a vegetable peeler to slice them into thin shavings. Set aside. 

Slice the remaining asparagus stalks into 3cm lengths. Blanch in boiling salted water until tender but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain the asparagus pieces, cool under cold running water and drain again. 

Poach an egg in simmering water until cooked to your liking.

Meanwhile, to make the dressing, stir the olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Swirl the cooked asparagus pieces in the dressing to coat, and place on a serving plate.  Place the drained, poached egg on top.

Swirl the asparagus shavings in the dressing to coat, and pile on top of the egg.  Add shavings of Parmesan cheese and thin slices of mostarda di frutta.  Drizzle generously with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Serve with thick slices of sourdough or multigrain toast.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The All-Clad Frypan

For my latest product review for the good folks at Kitchenware Direct, I chose an All-Clad 20cm stainless steel frypan.  Perhaps a rather boring choice, but I really needed a small metal frypan (i.e. not a non-stick one), and I've always wanted an All-Clad pan!  You see, many years ago, I used to work at a cookware store, and I would always drool over the All-Clad range.  I loved how shiny they were and I loved their obsessive focus on quality.  Each piece comes with a little card with the name of the individual who inspected it - cool, huh?  Prior to this one, I didn't actually have a frypan that could go from stovetop to oven, (apart from my carbon steel pan), so I've been testing it out with some tasty stove-to-oven recipes!

Tarte Tartin

I got this recipe from The Roux Brothers on Patisserie, my go-to source for all matters pâtisserie-related.  You need a lot of butter...

... then a lot of sugar...

... and some apples!

You top it with a sheet of puff pastry, and cook it on a high heat for about 20 minutes until the sugar is caramelised, then finish it off in the oven.

But about 5 minutes into the cooking time, the sugar and butter underneath started bubbling over and spilling out of the sides - eek!

Because of the spillage, I got a bit timid and took the pan off the heat after only 10 minutes, and the apples turned out a bit pale in the end.  (It still tasted good though!)  I've since read other recipes where you caramelise the apples before adding the pastry lid; I think I'll try this next time.

Love those buttery layers!

Once it was baked, I managed to flip it over in one piece - phew!

So yes, the tart turned out a little pale, but it was still very tasty, especially with some crème fraîche on the side!  (And in the background you can just see some little palmiers I made with the pastry offcuts).


Roasted Duck Leg and Potatoes

This one is a very easy Nigella recipe (from Kitchen, but also available online here).  You simply brown a duck maryland...

... then finish it off in the oven with some potatoes and thyme.

It's almost too easy for such a decadent, delicious dinner!  (Don't worry, I had this with a refreshing green salad).

Pea and Potato Frittata

Another Nigella recipe, this time a light supper from Forever Summer.

One negative thing I've noticed about this pan is that it can be very difficult to clean, especially if there's cooked-on bits of food.  When I made the frittata, it stuck terribly, even though I greased the pan generously.

The instructions that come with the pan say that you're not meant to use a metal scourer to clean it, but this was actually the only way I could get it to come clean - soaking, sponges and soft scourers just didn't work.  (Although I felt terribly guilty about it - I'm the type of person who always follows the instructions for my cookware, hehe).


Crustless Pizza

However, I've found that this pan is absolutely perfect for cooking hot batters - things like Yorkshire pudding, sweet Yorkshire pudding, my puffed apple pancake, or Nigella's Crustless Pizza.  It works way better than the ceramic dish I usually use, as the stainless steel pan conducts the heats more efficiently, which in turn helps the batter rise and get crispy.

Mmm... doughy crispy batter goodness.  You'll also see that I used trashy tinned champignons like I suggested last time - so tasty.

Even though the pan is a bit difficult to clean, it's great for searing meat and cooking my beloved Yorkshire pudding batters - it conducts heat evenly and has a very sturdy construction.

What is your favourite brand of frypan?  Can you recommend any other recipes that would work well in this pan?

Sarah received the All-Clad 20cm stainless steel frypan courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

For my latest product review for the good folks at Kitchenware Direct, I chose an All-Clad 20cm stainless steel frypan.  Perhaps a rather boring choice, but I really needed a small metal frypan (i.e. not a non-stick one), and I've always wanted an All-Clad pan!  You see, many years ago, I used to work at a cookware store, and I would always drool over the All-Clad range.  I loved how shiny they were and I loved their obsessive focus on quality.  Each piece comes with a little card with the name of the individual who inspected it - cool, huh?  Prior to this one, I didn't actually have a frypan that could go from stovetop to oven, (apart from my carbon steel pan), so I've been testing it out with some tasty stove-to-oven recipes!

Tarte Tartin

I got this recipe from The Roux Brothers on Patisserie, my go-to source for all matters pâtisserie-related.  You need a lot of butter...

... then a lot of sugar...

... and some apples!

You top it with a sheet of puff pastry, and cook it on a high heat for about 20 minutes until the sugar is caramelised, then finish it off in the oven.

But about 5 minutes into the cooking time, the sugar and butter underneath started bubbling over and spilling out of the sides - eek!

Because of the spillage, I got a bit timid and took the pan off the heat after only 10 minutes, and the apples turned out a bit pale in the end.  (It still tasted good though!)  I've since read other recipes where you caramelise the apples before adding the pastry lid; I think I'll try this next time.

Love those buttery layers!

Once it was baked, I managed to flip it over in one piece - phew!

So yes, the tart turned out a little pale, but it was still very tasty, especially with some crème fraîche on the side!  (And in the background you can just see some little palmiers I made with the pastry offcuts).


Roasted Duck Leg and Potatoes

This one is a very easy Nigella recipe (from Kitchen, but also available online here).  You simply brown a duck maryland...

... then finish it off in the oven with some potatoes and thyme.

It's almost too easy for such a decadent, delicious dinner!  (Don't worry, I had this with a refreshing green salad).

Pea and Potato Frittata

Another Nigella recipe, this time a light supper from Forever Summer.

One negative thing I've noticed about this pan is that it can be very difficult to clean, especially if there's cooked-on bits of food.  When I made the frittata, it stuck terribly, even though I greased the pan generously.

The instructions that come with the pan say that you're not meant to use a metal scourer to clean it, but this was actually the only way I could get it to come clean - soaking, sponges and soft scourers just didn't work.  (Although I felt terribly guilty about it - I'm the type of person who always follows the instructions for my cookware, hehe).


Crustless Pizza

However, I've found that this pan is absolutely perfect for cooking hot batters - things like Yorkshire pudding, sweet Yorkshire pudding, my puffed apple pancake, or Nigella's Crustless Pizza.  It works way better than the ceramic dish I usually use, as the stainless steel pan conducts the heats more efficiently, which in turn helps the batter rise and get crispy.

Mmm... doughy crispy batter goodness.  You'll also see that I used trashy tinned champignons like I suggested last time - so tasty.

Even though the pan is a bit difficult to clean, it's great for searing meat and cooking my beloved Yorkshire pudding batters - it conducts heat evenly and has a very sturdy construction.

What is your favourite brand of frypan?  Can you recommend any other recipes that would work well in this pan?

Sarah received the All-Clad 20cm stainless steel frypan courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

My New Wave Multicooker and the Amazing 7-Minute Risotto

Just under a month ago, I was approached by Kitchenware Direct to see if I'd like to test out one of their slow cookers or pressure cookers.  Y'all know how obsessed I am with cookware, so of course my answer was yes!  After looking through all the slow cookers and pressure cookers on the website, I ended up choosing the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker, which has both slow and pressure cooking functions!

When I was a kid, my mum often used an old-school stove top pressure cooker - it rattled, it shook, and it spewed forth loud bursts of steam.  In short, I was terrified of it.  Many years later she upgraded to an electric pressure cooker, but we only used it a few times before it got relegated to the cupboard.  I guess at that point we just didn't cook enough stews to make it worthwhile.

So given my past experience with pressure cookers, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Multicooker and how often I've been using it!  One issue though: the accompanying instructions aren't very clear, so it took quite some time and effort for us so set it up and actually start cooking.  The first time I used it for pressure cooking, I was actually kinda winging it - but luckily it's pretty intuitive and has always worked just fine.  And as soon it was set up it, it's been all-systems-go: stews, braises, soups, risottos, and more.  I've found it so useful to make hearty dinners after work in a short time.  And some examples...


Shiraz Braised Beef

Tonight I made shiraz-braised beef, which only took 30 minutes on the pressure cooking function, plus about 10 minutes either side to brown the meat and veggies, and to thicken the sauce at the end.  Pretty good going for a dish that usually takes 3-4 hours!

The browning function heats up very quickly and evenly, and it's easy to get a nice crust on meat.  You can't adjust it though, so sometimes it can be too strong if you're, say, sautéing onions as the first step of a stew.  I'll often turn the heat off if it's getting too hot, and turn it back on again to keep the temperature under control.

While the stew was having its 30 minutes pressure-cooking, I whipped up some petits pois à la Francaise and some potato/celeriac mash.  Wonderfully comforting for such a cold and blustery day!

Pea and Ham Soup

The soup function is pretty much the same as the low-pressure function, and I've found it useful for making soups (duh) and stocks in a short amount of time.  For example, let's take a look at this split-pea and ham soup I made!

It took 25 minutes to go from this...

... to this!  A hearty, smooth soup.

7-Minute Mushroom Risotto

Perhaps the most exciting discovery we made was that you can make risotto in 7 minutes in the cooker!  There was a recipe for mushroom risotto in the instruction booklet, and I must admit I was curious, and more than a little skeptical about a pressure-cooked risotto.  You start as per a standard risotto: cooking onions in a little oil, adding the rice and some wine.  But rather than ladling in stock bit-by-bit, you tip it all in, with the mushrooms.

Mushrooms

Chuck it on the high-pressure function and cook for 7 minutes.  And then - ta-dah! - al dente grains of rice! Not gluggy, not mushy, no crusty baked on bits on the bottom of the pan!  And best of all: no stirring.  Love it!

We've been eating a lot of risotto since the cooker arrived.  I've done mushroom risotto twice already this month, and have also made cauliflower risotto using the same method.

I've been really happy with the cooker, and significantly, it's already become a regular part of my standard kitchen kit.  In my enthusiasm, I also picked up a cheap, old-fashioned "Pressure Cooker Recipes" cookbook, and am really looking forward to making more warming dishes for this wintry weather!

Sarah received the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

Just under a month ago, I was approached by Kitchenware Direct to see if I'd like to test out one of their slow cookers or pressure cookers.  Y'all know how obsessed I am with cookware, so of course my answer was yes!  After looking through all the slow cookers and pressure cookers on the website, I ended up choosing the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker, which has both slow and pressure cooking functions!

When I was a kid, my mum often used an old-school stove top pressure cooker - it rattled, it shook, and it spewed forth loud bursts of steam.  In short, I was terrified of it.  Many years later she upgraded to an electric pressure cooker, but we only used it a few times before it got relegated to the cupboard.  I guess at that point we just didn't cook enough stews to make it worthwhile.

So given my past experience with pressure cookers, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Multicooker and how often I've been using it!  One issue though: the accompanying instructions aren't very clear, so it took quite some time and effort for us so set it up and actually start cooking.  The first time I used it for pressure cooking, I was actually kinda winging it - but luckily it's pretty intuitive and has always worked just fine.  And as soon it was set up it, it's been all-systems-go: stews, braises, soups, risottos, and more.  I've found it so useful to make hearty dinners after work in a short time.  And some examples...


Shiraz Braised Beef

Tonight I made shiraz-braised beef, which only took 30 minutes on the pressure cooking function, plus about 10 minutes either side to brown the meat and veggies, and to thicken the sauce at the end.  Pretty good going for a dish that usually takes 3-4 hours!

The browning function heats up very quickly and evenly, and it's easy to get a nice crust on meat.  You can't adjust it though, so sometimes it can be too strong if you're, say, sautéing onions as the first step of a stew.  I'll often turn the heat off if it's getting too hot, and turn it back on again to keep the temperature under control.

While the stew was having its 30 minutes pressure-cooking, I whipped up some petits pois à la Francaise and some potato/celeriac mash.  Wonderfully comforting for such a cold and blustery day!

Pea and Ham Soup

The soup function is pretty much the same as the low-pressure function, and I've found it useful for making soups (duh) and stocks in a short amount of time.  For example, let's take a look at this split-pea and ham soup I made!

It took 25 minutes to go from this...

... to this!  A hearty, smooth soup.

7-Minute Mushroom Risotto

Perhaps the most exciting discovery we made was that you can make risotto in 7 minutes in the cooker!  There was a recipe for mushroom risotto in the instruction booklet, and I must admit I was curious, and more than a little skeptical about a pressure-cooked risotto.  You start as per a standard risotto: cooking onions in a little oil, adding the rice and some wine.  But rather than ladling in stock bit-by-bit, you tip it all in, with the mushrooms.

Mushrooms

Chuck it on the high-pressure function and cook for 7 minutes.  And then - ta-dah! - al dente grains of rice! Not gluggy, not mushy, no crusty baked on bits on the bottom of the pan!  And best of all: no stirring.  Love it!

We've been eating a lot of risotto since the cooker arrived.  I've done mushroom risotto twice already this month, and have also made cauliflower risotto using the same method.

I've been really happy with the cooker, and significantly, it's already become a regular part of my standard kitchen kit.  In my enthusiasm, I also picked up a cheap, old-fashioned "Pressure Cooker Recipes" cookbook, and am really looking forward to making more warming dishes for this wintry weather!

Sarah received the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Ricotta Waffles

Mmm... waffles!

For our Christmas morning breakfast, I'd planned to make ricotta hotcakes.  I'd bought ricotta and berries in advance, but those plans were all thrown out the window when I unwrapped this gift...

Ooh.. shiny!

Ta-dah! My dad got me a new waffle iron!  We've had an old Breville one at my parents' house, but it's quite old, and only has small indentations, so the waffles it makes are quite thin, and are hard all the way through by the time they're crispy on the outside.  And I prefer them fluffy!  We had a great industrial waffle maker at this restaurant where I used to work (we made waffles to order for the arvo tea buffet), which was huge, had deep indentations and got super hot - perfect for fluffy waffles with crispy edges and heaps of room for the all-important syrup to pool!  But, it also weighed about a zillion kilos, so definitely not good for home use.  But now I have my own waffle iron!  It's a Cuisinart, that the lady at the shop recommended.  It has pretty big indentations, and makes 4 square waffles at a time.

My go-to waffle recipe is from the Roux Brothers (the one I use to make my beloved Taiyaki), but I didn't want my ricotta to go to waste, so I got a-Googling, and found this recipe for ricotta waffles, from the Cook Almost Anything blog.  The batter only took about 5 minutes to mix together - easy peasy.

When using a waffle iron, I always find it a bit tricky to get the right amount of batter.  The instruction book says "a scant 2 cups", but I was a bit afraid of leakage, so I went very scant.  The first batch of waffles looked like this... D'oh!

With this waffle iron, I think you also have to spread out the batter yourself, rather than letting the lid squish it to the edges.  It didn't seem to spread out very much.  Oh well, I guess I better practise making more waffles! Hehehe.

But anyhoo, once they were flipped over and showered with a snowy dusting of icing sugar they looked fine.  More than fine, in fact!

It only took 2 rounds to cook up all the batter - a lot faster than using my old, smaller iron.  This means faster waffle gratification!

Today's accompaniments were maple syrup, some fabulous raspberries, some blueberries (healthy healthy, right?) and the rest of the ricotta.

Yum yum

I quite liked the recipe, especially the chunky bits of ricotta that were inside the fluffy dough.

I don't know if I'd go out of my way to buy ricotta for waffles again, as I'm sure normal waffle dough would be delicious too.  Cindy from Where's the Beef made some delicious-looking vegan Rum-Banana Waffles recently.  In fact, it was her post that got me thinking that I really wanted my own waffle iron, one with nice deep indentations.  (Their one is a Sunbeam, which makes me think that it's not necessarily the brand that's important, but the shape and size of the cooking plates that affect the finished product).  I'd like to try making pumpkin waffles (like my previous pumpkin scones, and pumpkin pancakes), or even chocolate waffles for a decadent dessert.  Watch this space...

Mmm... waffles!

For our Christmas morning breakfast, I'd planned to make ricotta hotcakes.  I'd bought ricotta and berries in advance, but those plans were all thrown out the window when I unwrapped this gift...

Ooh.. shiny!

Ta-dah! My dad got me a new waffle iron!  We've had an old Breville one at my parents' house, but it's quite old, and only has small indentations, so the waffles it makes are quite thin, and are hard all the way through by the time they're crispy on the outside.  And I prefer them fluffy!  We had a great industrial waffle maker at this restaurant where I used to work (we made waffles to order for the arvo tea buffet), which was huge, had deep indentations and got super hot - perfect for fluffy waffles with crispy edges and heaps of room for the all-important syrup to pool!  But, it also weighed about a zillion kilos, so definitely not good for home use.  But now I have my own waffle iron!  It's a Cuisinart, that the lady at the shop recommended.  It has pretty big indentations, and makes 4 square waffles at a time.

My go-to waffle recipe is from the Roux Brothers (the one I use to make my beloved Taiyaki), but I didn't want my ricotta to go to waste, so I got a-Googling, and found this recipe for ricotta waffles, from the Cook Almost Anything blog.  The batter only took about 5 minutes to mix together - easy peasy.

When using a waffle iron, I always find it a bit tricky to get the right amount of batter.  The instruction book says "a scant 2 cups", but I was a bit afraid of leakage, so I went very scant.  The first batch of waffles looked like this... D'oh!

With this waffle iron, I think you also have to spread out the batter yourself, rather than letting the lid squish it to the edges.  It didn't seem to spread out very much.  Oh well, I guess I better practise making more waffles! Hehehe.

But anyhoo, once they were flipped over and showered with a snowy dusting of icing sugar they looked fine.  More than fine, in fact!

It only took 2 rounds to cook up all the batter - a lot faster than using my old, smaller iron.  This means faster waffle gratification!

Today's accompaniments were maple syrup, some fabulous raspberries, some blueberries (healthy healthy, right?) and the rest of the ricotta.

Yum yum

I quite liked the recipe, especially the chunky bits of ricotta that were inside the fluffy dough.

I don't know if I'd go out of my way to buy ricotta for waffles again, as I'm sure normal waffle dough would be delicious too.  Cindy from Where's the Beef made some delicious-looking vegan Rum-Banana Waffles recently.  In fact, it was her post that got me thinking that I really wanted my own waffle iron, one with nice deep indentations.  (Their one is a Sunbeam, which makes me think that it's not necessarily the brand that's important, but the shape and size of the cooking plates that affect the finished product).  I'd like to try making pumpkin waffles (like my previous pumpkin scones, and pumpkin pancakes), or even chocolate waffles for a decadent dessert.  Watch this space...

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Christmas presents

Just a quick post about some awesome foodie Christmas presents I got this year.

After some not-so-subtle hinting, my dad got me this absolutely gorgeous crockery from the Bistro Vue Robert Gordon range (available for purchase here!) I fell in love with these plates when I had lunch at Cafe Vue @ 401. I got 2 sets of teacups & saucers, 2 dinner plates and a serving plate. Thank-you Dad! They were also wrapped in that beautiful Bistro Vue pink paper you see above there (kinda ruined the surprise, but I wasn't complaining!!). The only issue with these is that when Dad went to pick up the plates at Vue De Monde, he said the guy working there was a total douche and extremely snobby and dismissive - until he realised that my dad had already spent money and just wanted to pick up his order. Sheesh.

Continuing with the French theme...
My friend Clarice in Paris bought me this cute "Maison du Chocolat" thermal bag, and the pretty chocolate spoons. I've been using the bag to carry my lunch to work - it is very effective. Sandra got me the Mariage Frères Marco Polo tea, at an exorbitant price, from Simon Johnson. We figured afterwards that it would be cheaper to get Clarice to buy the tea in France and send it over!

I'm not sure if the book counts as a Christmas present, seeing as my dad bought it in the Boxing Day sales, but it is pretty awesome nonetheless - Je Sais Cuisiner - a thick doorstop of a book full of French recipes. The chocolate and chestnut terrine was one of the first to catch my eye!

And now... from the folks in Germany...

A German cookbook (to add to my ever-growing collection of German cookbooks... I really should start taking lessons...). This one splits up the recipes by region - Hesse and Bavaria are my favourites!

A silicon Kipferlform! Now my Vanilakipferl can stop looking so irregular and demented, hehe.

Another German cookbook - I think this is the German equivalent of Cookery the Australian Way (my year 9 Home Economics textbook). Later on today I'll be trying the recipe for Frikadellen mit Schafkäsefüllung! (Rissoles filled with fetta).

The rest of the package wasn't technically a Christmas gift, but more of a care package for myself and Sandra.

German cookery magazines. I can never get enough of these, especially the Christmas editions!

And lots of packet-fixes. (This isn't even all of them, I've basically shown one or two of each type in the below photo).
Apart from the magazines and books, there are fixes for Zwiebel-Rahm Schnitzel, Kartoffel Gratin, Deftiger Linsentopf mit Speck (my favourite), Schinken-Hack Röllchen and more. There were some chocolate jelly snowmen, and 8 x XXL packets of Nik Naks. I'd never had these before, but they are the German snack equivalent of crack. They're peanuts, covered in a crispy-salty-spicy shell, and they are incredibly addictive.

I hope everyone else had awesome Christmasses and brilliant new years!

Just a quick post about some awesome foodie Christmas presents I got this year.

After some not-so-subtle hinting, my dad got me this absolutely gorgeous crockery from the Bistro Vue Robert Gordon range (available for purchase here!) I fell in love with these plates when I had lunch at Cafe Vue @ 401. I got 2 sets of teacups & saucers, 2 dinner plates and a serving plate. Thank-you Dad! They were also wrapped in that beautiful Bistro Vue pink paper you see above there (kinda ruined the surprise, but I wasn't complaining!!). The only issue with these is that when Dad went to pick up the plates at Vue De Monde, he said the guy working there was a total douche and extremely snobby and dismissive - until he realised that my dad had already spent money and just wanted to pick up his order. Sheesh.

Continuing with the French theme...
My friend Clarice in Paris bought me this cute "Maison du Chocolat" thermal bag, and the pretty chocolate spoons. I've been using the bag to carry my lunch to work - it is very effective. Sandra got me the Mariage Frères Marco Polo tea, at an exorbitant price, from Simon Johnson. We figured afterwards that it would be cheaper to get Clarice to buy the tea in France and send it over!

I'm not sure if the book counts as a Christmas present, seeing as my dad bought it in the Boxing Day sales, but it is pretty awesome nonetheless - Je Sais Cuisiner - a thick doorstop of a book full of French recipes. The chocolate and chestnut terrine was one of the first to catch my eye!

And now... from the folks in Germany...

A German cookbook (to add to my ever-growing collection of German cookbooks... I really should start taking lessons...). This one splits up the recipes by region - Hesse and Bavaria are my favourites!

A silicon Kipferlform! Now my Vanilakipferl can stop looking so irregular and demented, hehe.

Another German cookbook - I think this is the German equivalent of Cookery the Australian Way (my year 9 Home Economics textbook). Later on today I'll be trying the recipe for Frikadellen mit Schafkäsefüllung! (Rissoles filled with fetta).

The rest of the package wasn't technically a Christmas gift, but more of a care package for myself and Sandra.

German cookery magazines. I can never get enough of these, especially the Christmas editions!

And lots of packet-fixes. (This isn't even all of them, I've basically shown one or two of each type in the below photo).
Apart from the magazines and books, there are fixes for Zwiebel-Rahm Schnitzel, Kartoffel Gratin, Deftiger Linsentopf mit Speck (my favourite), Schinken-Hack Röllchen and more. There were some chocolate jelly snowmen, and 8 x XXL packets of Nik Naks. I'd never had these before, but they are the German snack equivalent of crack. They're peanuts, covered in a crispy-salty-spicy shell, and they are incredibly addictive.

I hope everyone else had awesome Christmasses and brilliant new years!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad