Taste Buddies

The Little Green Puy

The delicate Puy Lentil was an excellent substitute for beef in this cottage pie recipe. While delicate in flavour, Puy lentils are thought by some to be the best of their kind for their ability to keep their shape when cooked over long periods.

Considered the 'pearl of central France", the lentils are cultivated in the Le Puy region where they were introduced from the Mediterranean by the Gauls. So loved are the little lentils that a group of locals established the Confrérie de la Lentille du Puy (The Brotherhood of the Puy Lentil).

The group takes part in annual food events and parades where members don slate-green coloured robes embroidered with lentils and wear lentil-shaped hats. All the while singing songs about little green lentils. If this isn't a testament to their greatness, then I don't know what is!

I threw in whatever ingredients I had handy including squash, okra, carrots, celery and canned Roma tomatoes. I used some parsley and cilantro freshly picked from our windowsill herb garden. I also added a dash of dried chili flakes. The filling was topped with a creamy topping of mash potatoes and Parmesan cheese.

The cottage pie was scrumptious. The lentils soaked up the flavours of the vegetables and herbs while still retaining their distinct pepperiness. While I do love the traditional beef-filled cottage pie or lamb-filled shepherd's pie, I think the little green Puy has a new place in my heart.

I'm submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Cate at Sweetnicks.

...and now for something completely different

I'm really excited to tell you that today I officially became the About.com Guide to Australian & New Zealand Food.

In my new role I'll cook traditional and modern Aussie/Kiwi recipes and write reviews and articles on all things food.

On my guide site, you can discover how to get the most out of your barbecue, how to cook a great lamb roast, or find out how to make the perfect Pavlova with easy step-by-step photos.

But Aussie food isn't just all Pavlovas and Meat Pies (although there is a pretty delicious steak and mushroom pie waiting there for you). Australian & Kiwi cuisine has evolved into some of the most innovative and exciting in the world. Australian chefs and restaurants are constantly pushing boundaries, winning awards and dazzling taste buds.

The picture above is a little taste of some of my recipes. There's a Kumara and Crab Bisque, the humble Lamington, Macadamia Nut Pesto, Thai Chicken Sausage Rolls, Barbecued Prawns and a Passionfruit Soufflé.

Taste Buddies will continue as usual. From time to time, though, I will feature something delicious from the new site on Taste Buddies.

I hope you enjoy it!

ANZAC Biscuits

Anzac Biscuits (cookies are called biscuits in Australia and New Zealand) represent something special. On 25 April 1915, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) landed at Gallipoli in Turkey where thousands lost their lives.

The soldiers' bravery in that campaign has become legendary in both countries. I am not one for patriotic fanfare, but, if you're a Kiwi or an Aussie, you can't help but feel the emotion of this story.

ANZAC Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand every April 25. Each year we reflect on the valour these young men showed as they were "going over the top". And, as always, you cannot but be struck by the staggering waste of life and the wretched futility of war.

Anyway, this post is about biscuits. It is believed that ANZAC biscuits were made by soldiers' families and wives during the First World War. They were specifically made to endure the long journey at sea to the troops. The recipe has changed in the intervening century to now include butter and coconut.

ANZAC biscuits are baked and enjoyed all year round, although they have a special significance on April 25.

The biscuits themselves smell great - even while you're mixing the dough, it's hard to be restrained. They are buttery and have the perfect combination of sweet and salty. The coconut is perfect for them and it's hard to stop at eating just four... or five.

The Pavlova: Queen of Desserts

I revisited an old recipe that I made last year: the Pavlova.

It is my third time making one. The last time I made it, the meringue sank when I opened the oven door. The same thing happened again today. But it wasn't the end of the world and this time my heart didn't drop when I saw the meringue slowly deflating before my eyes.

To remedy matters, I just put a little extra whipped cream where the hole was and piled on loads of strawberries to give the Pav a little extra height. So despite the hole, I still had a very successful dessert.

I cooked the meringue slightly longer this time by about 10 minutes. This gave the base a delicious, almost caramelly chew to it.

There are only four ingredients in the meringue: egg whites, castor sugar, cornstarch and a little bit of white vinegar. When I was beating the egg whites, I was thinking about how amazing the chemistry of food is. The transformation of the egg whites with the addition of sugar into a thick, glossy substance like shaving cream, is quite amazing to watch.

Another thing that crossed my mind was, how in the world did people make the Pavlova or meringues before the time of electric egg beaters?

It must have been a terrible ordeal but at least you'd have strong arms! I thought that if I'd been alive in pre-beater times, I would have invented a bicycle-ilke contraption so my legs would do all the work instead of my poor little arms.

Saturday Afternoon Scones

It is Saturday afternoon, it is 4 degrees, the sun is shining and I can see the snow-capped Coast mountains through my open window. The crisp February air is mingling with the warm scent of baking from the oven.  It's 3 o'clock. Time for some afternoon tea.

I discovered this particular scone recipe on one of the first blogs I ever stumbled upon three years ago - Baking Sheet. Incidentally, Baking Sheet now goes by the name Baking Bites.

I have made these scones ever since and have always been pleased with the delicious results. I think it's the buttermilk that makes them so special. Unlike some scones I have eaten since living in North America, these taste and feel more like Australian scones - they are light, moist and most importantly, they are fluffy.

Scones, which originated in Scotland, are little round cakes that go by the name of 'biscuits' in North America. In England and Australia, they are usually served in tea houses where they are eaten with clotted cream and jam. This is known as a Devonshire Tea or Cream Tea.   

My jam of choice is Bonne Maman. I usually get raspberry but this time in my haste, I grabbed the cherry and didn't realise until I bit into the scone. But this was one of those good mistakes.

The Sunday Roast

My mum grew up on a small farm in rural Queensland, Australia in the 1950s. She had a horse, several cows and a flock of chickens. Each Sunday the family would get together and have a Sunday roast. It was an all-day affair that began at the crack of dawn.

Her dad would kill a chicken at first light, soak it and then it would be mum's job to pluck it when she woke up; a task that still haunts her to this day.

Her mum would milk the cows and with the fresh cream, she'd make butter for the table. The potatoes, carrots, peas and herbs would be picked fresh from the garden. Another one of mum's jobs would be to shell the peas, which she'd do till her little fingers were sore. She needed enough for four people, after all.

By the time the meal was served it would be would be two o'clock. Then came afternoon tea at four with a sponge cake, fresh out of the oven. And then it would be time for supper. A weekly ordeal!

While it sounds idyllic with all that fresh produce, what a hell of a lot of work! All but the beheading was done by the women, while her father and brother would retire to the couch to read. Pah!

What a long way we've come: I whipped up this roast in an hour and a half with only 20 minutes of prep time - and, to show how far women have come, I made Nic do all the chopping while I read the latest issue of Gourmet.

And so it was that an hour an a half later we tucked into a delicious roast chicken with a lemon herbed butter. The butter consisted of fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley and grated lemon zest.

When I roast a chicken, in order to get really crispy skin, I bake it on top of a wire rack that I fit over the baking pan. This way, all the juices run into the pan instead of having the chicken sitting in them while its cooking. The result: deliciously crispy skin!

This week I will be submitting this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted by Truffle at What's On My Plate.

The Humble Lamington

The humble Lamington: a squarish piece of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and then rolled in desiccated coconut. They can also come with a cream or strawberry jam filling.

The Lamington is a quintessential part of every Australian's childhood, because they are sold at tuck shops (canteens) around the country and they are the most popular treats to sell at school fairs.

Lamingtons are believed to have been named after Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901.

Governor Lamington is reputed to have been highly displeased with his name being lent to the little sponge cake due to his rude utterings about them. I won't repeat what he was alleged to have said but let's just say he would have preferred to have been remember for other things.

I found an excellent recipe for Lamingtons on the Joy of Baking website. The sponge cake, which I was a bit apprehensive about making, turned out perfectly. It was light, moist and delicious.

Pavlova: The Great Aussie Creation...or is it?

The Pavlova is a much celebrated Australian creation. Or is it? This delicate desert is part of a great debate between Australians and New Zealanders who both lay claim to its invention.

The Pavlova, with its thin meringue shell and marshmellowy centre, was aptly named after Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova who visited New Zealand in 1926 and Australia in 1929. Some evidence seems to point to a chef in Wellington creating the Pavlova after being inspired by the prima ballerina's tutu. The Pavlova is New Zealand's national dessert.

Anyway, kudos to whomever the inventor was and thank you for creating such an extravagantly light dessert. Light in weight but perhaps not calories so much.

The most important thing to remember when preparing the 'Pav' is that you MUST use scrupulously clean utensils. Even the tiniest bit of grease or egg shell will hinder the meringue-making process and result in a messy disaster.

This was my second attempt at making a Pavlova and needless to say, I was very pleased with the result. It was touch and go however though because when I opened the oven door to let the Pavlova cool, the top of the base just sank. Just like that. It was a VERY stressful moment as I had been proudly watching its magical metamorphosis for several hours, only to have it collapse in three miserable seconds.

Thankfully, this development was not a catastrophic one as we simply piled on some extra whipped cream to fill the hole. Joy.