Puff Pastry Made by My Own Hand- Lets Make Pissaladiere - French Pizza

I have been making lots of pastry recently but never really the elusive Puff Pastry.
Its not really hard just takes time
You need to allow at least 4-5 hours to go through the process.
This recipe yields 500 gms completed pastry
Only 2162 calories for the lot.

Rachel Allen was demonstrating how to make this beautiful Pastry and she made Pissaladiere.
The renowned French Pizza.
I have been caramelizing a bunch of onions. This will be dinner tonight.

200 gms Strong Flour
200 gms Good Unsalted Butter
Cold water with a squeeze of lemon juice
You will have to judge how much water the flour will absorb try about 100 mls first and add little by little till you get the dough right.

Make a dough with the flour and water
When it has formed a ball

Wrap in plastic
and sit aside in the fridge for 30 minutes
Meanwhile take the butter out of the fridge,
Lay on plastic and bash it into a rectangle
Wrap up, back into fridge till ready to roll
On a lightly floured work bench
Ro;; your dough into a rectangle

Place bashed out butter on top
Brush any excess flour off the pastry
Fold edge into middle
Keeping g the edges neat

Turn the pastry
And roll out to a long rectangle again

Brush off excess flour again and fold edges into center as before

Neaten the edges and make a dent in it this show you are on your first round of rolling
Wrap and back into fridge for 30 minutes
So we now have it out of the fridge and start to roll again on a lightly floured bench

  Rememberalways roll away from you, turn to do other end
Brush excess flour off
and start to fold again

 Bring the back end into the centre

and turn around and roll again.

 Once again when rolled brush excess flour and fold once more into 3
Put 2 dents into it to let you know you have passed the 2nd roll out.
Back into fridge another 30 minutes
I decided to go for the 4 roll out option
so after it had been through the 4th turn

I let it rest and then rolled it out.

Its is so silky quite unlike frozen pastry. I just loved working with it.
Not so good for the Lo-Cal but
if it is your main meal... a 90 gm disc = 389 KCals

If you are frugal with your topping, its not a bad meal and bloody tasty at that.
So I am going with the Pissaladiere the Southern French Pizza
Very simple I do add a little sugar to help the caramelisation
Caramelised Onions
Peel and slice 2 large onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Just gently saute the onion in the olive oil
Season with S & P and sugar
This will take about 20 minutes
Set aside


Black Olives stone removed
Anchovies
Red Roasted Pepper
Thyme leaves
Sprinkle of dried oregano
1 egg beaten with a little water
What can be simpler than that

Roll out the pastry and cut into disc about 10cms
Brush with egg wash. just to the edges don't go over, this could stop the layers from rising

Top with caramelised onions
Place anchovies, black olive and roasted red pepper
Pre-heat oven to 200C

Line a baking tray with baking paper
Bake about 15 minutes, if not golden enough
You can pop back in for a few more minutes.

Let cool a little before serving
Lovely

They are a bit skew whiff
But tasted amazing
I have frozen some more discs, for future lunch/dinner
So if you have some time try this pastry worth every fay calorie
I also made 2 vol au vent just for practise

Nice snack for Dale later today

Spicy Vege Soup - Its Lunch Time Again

When we moved house a couple of decades ago, I left a large full on kitchen to one, that is about a third of the size of the old one.
So I got rid of all the mixers, blender etc and bought small versions of them.
I also had the misguided thought, that I would need lots of bench space.
Well not so. My small kitchen has catered for up to sixty people.
Organization is the key word.
Anyhow these mini appliances served me well, but now that I am at home, cooking, cooking, cooking, I decided to upgrade to a grown ups food processor, which does it all. I love it.
Yesterday, when making lunch, first it was kneading the bread dough,
Then slicing all of the vege for my soup.
Then pop on the blender, done!

This morning I made breadcrumbs with the leftover bread…then popped
the little whisk attachment on and now meringues are in the oven.
I don’t think I have ever made meringues before.
I may have made the odd Pavlova, but not the little things.
Thought I would make a treat for the little grand daughters,
to take on their road trip to Rotorua.
Little Pink Clouds

Sandwiched them together  with some Ganache
They should keep their sugar levels up

Onto the soup
My friend Rex sent me his favourite Chili Bean soup.
I didn’t have all of the ingredients.
But I was curious about the addition of cabbage to his soup.
I had 1/4 Cabbage left in the fridge so I decided to try this version.
This is a keeper.
Funnily enough the Cabbage along with the Carrots, add sweetness to the soup.
I did add a little bit of sugar just to boost the flavour.
I also used the spices from my Spicy Bean Soup you will find here.
This is very Lo Cal
3 normal ladlefuls only 106 Kcals
Leaves room for bread and a little butter



Olive oil 3 tablespoons
1 med onion, sliced
2 med carrots, sliced
1 med parsnip peeled and sliced
1 kumara peeled and sliced
1/4 cabbage chopped
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 can Cannellini beans
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Coriander
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne
1 tablespoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Celery salt
1 tablespoon Vegeta
1500 mls hot water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
The whole soup yields
Cals 819
Weight 2707 gms

Sauté onion till soft
Add spices, oregano, celery salt, Vegeta and sugar and cook few minutes
Add carrots, parsnip and kumara

Stir and cook gently to get the sweetness out of the vege

About 8 minutes
Add cabbage
Stir well
Add hot water
Bring to boil
Simmer about 15 minutes

Add beans
Simmer just a few minutes
Add red wine vinegar
Taste and adjust seasoning with Salt and pepper
Leave about an hour
Take out half of the vege
Blend and return to pot

Serve with some nice bread.
Here's the recipe...click here

This is from my Calorie Counting Blog.
Now, a quick word about the bread.
If you would like the bread with a nice crust.
Just flour the tin
And sprinkle the top of the dough with flour
before baking.
When it cooked take out of tin and back into the oven for another 5 minutes.
This develops a really nice crust

For a softer crust, oil does a good job.

Chicken Deep Dish Style - Looking for Sunday Lunch for The Family?

Thursday at Grandmas
Its busy
"Planking" by Cleo 

Computers and colouring in by the others

Once upon a time when we were first married, we were invited to dinner.
Diane the hostess made this chicken dish. We loved it.
Of course I asked for the recipe and Diane introduced me to the Triple Tested Recipe Book compiled and published by the Lower Hutt Plunket, as a fund raiser.

Over the years I have made several of the recipes. Funnily enough I reckon I have cooked more out of this book than most of the hundreds of other books I own.
I loved the names.

This one 
Chicken - Deep Dish Style 
then we have
Veal Roast That Can Wait
Down Easy Pudding and so on.
Many a dinner party in Wellington, was created from this book.

So back to the recipe it tastes like Old Fashioned Roast Chicken
All those herbs in with the bread, just delicious
If there is any left over it is even better the second day
Thought it would be excellent to serve the Grandkids
They loved it.



So back to the recipe.
There are 3 stages
First cook the chicken
Make the bread mixture
Make the White sauce

Chicken
1med size chicken
1 carrot rough chop
1 parsnip rough chop
1 onion cut into quarters
2 cloves of garlic sliced
Thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley
Salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
Water enough to cover the chicken

Put everything in a large pot
Bring to boil and simmer for about an hour
Cool in the water
Remove chicken
Take meat off the bones and put to one side
Reserve the stock

Bread
1/2 a baguette about 300 gms
Cut into 1 cm cubes
1tablespoon chicken stock powder
1 small onion finely minced
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup hot milk

Toast the bread in the oven till golden
Place in a big bowl
Along with stock powder, herbs vege, salt, pepper
Eggs and milk
Mix well till the bread has absorbed everything

White sauce
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
4 cups hot reserved stock
Salt and pepper
2 eggs beaten

To make the white sauce
Melt the butter in a pot
Add flour and stir well
Cook about 4 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste
Add stock
Whisk and bring to boil
Simmer stirring till thickened
Taste and adjust seasoning
Add beaten eggs and mix well

Now to assemble
Grease a gratin dish
Layer 1/2 of bread mix
Add 1/2 chicken meat

Cover with half of the sauce
Repeat with the remainder chicken, bread and finishing with the sauce

Pre-heat oven to 180C
Bake for 1/2 hour
Till golden and bubbling

Remove, let sit for at least 20 minutes
Cut into slices just like Lasagne

 Serve

Spicy Bean Soup- Serve with Garlic Bread- What a Lunch

My daughter Katie and her friend Justine... here they are flanking our friend Mr Heinz

both make this lovely healthy Bean Soup.
Heaps of Protein from the beans, lots of vege and some cayenne to get your blood buzzing!
I ruined the health bit, by serving it with Garlic Bread, which was oozing with lovely Herby Garlicky butter.

Juice TV staff were very pleased with this.

The recipe below would feed 4 people as lunch.
6 people as a Starter, of course, I trebled the recipe for the staff lunch

You can use any stock you like
Vegetable for the Vegies in your life or Beef, Chicken.
I made stock from a Bacon hock, really means winter to me.

SPICY BEAN SOUP
1 cup /can black beans drained
1 cup or can of kidney beans drained
2 bay leaves

30 mls olive oil
3 carrots chopped
2 celery sticks
1 onion chopped
1 -2 cloves garlic crushed
Sea salt
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 teaspoon coriander, ground
1/4 -1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
50 ml red wine
5 cups Beef/Chicken or Bacon stock
1 cup of water
Salt and pepper.

Garnish with fresh coriander and sour cream (optional)


Heat oil
Aadd carrots onion celery and garlic and
Cook over low heat for 8-10mins

Stir in cumin, coriander, cayenne and oregano
Salt to taste

Add the wine stock and water
Stir to mix all the ingredients together
Add bay leaves
Bring to the boil
Reduce heat, then cover and simmer for about 20mins - stirring occasionally.

Transfer half the soup [including the solids] to a food processor or blender.
Process till smooth.
Return to the pan and stir to combine well.

Reduce the soup a bit and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with the garnish

Filo Fish Parcels-Blue Cod - King of the Sea

I was watching an old Taste of NZ programme on Food TV and Peta Mathias went Bluff Oysters and Blue Cod tasting. Both, some of the world's best seafood.
At a restaurant in Bluff, (sorry cant remember it's name) the Chef, (can't remember his name either) demonstrated his 2 most favourite ways to cook Blue Cod. This beautiful fish is so sweet and flaky and just superb.
We had our friend Stu from Oz, here for the night. Blue Cod is not always available but my friendly Fishmonger was able to oblige.
Don't want to alienate our Australian friends, but our cold water fish is far superior.
Good chance to give him a treat, with this delight.
Like the Chef, I cooked it two ways
Simply pan fried in butter and olive oil, with a squeeze of lemon juice

AND this fabulous little Filo Parcel

Actually even though this fish is marinated in flavoured cream, it is not too bad for the Calorie Count.
The Chef had olives in his marinade. I replaced that with lemon zest.
Thought the olives might just overpower the delicate fish

For 3 people
2 sheets Filo pastry per parcel
Melted Butter
60 gms of fish per person

Marinade
150 mls cream
Leaves of about 3 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
Zest of a lemon
Sea salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Marinate the fish for about an hour

Drain on a rack

Meanwhile take a sheet of Filo
(Don't forget to keep a damp tea towel covering your Filo to stop it from drying out)
Brush with melted butter
Lay another sheet on top
Place a piece of fish at one end

Roll up into a parcel and brush all over with melted butter
Place finished parcels on a baking sheet

Bake in an pre-heated oven 195C for about 15 minutes

1 parcel each with a small filet of Pan Fried Blue Cod
Divine
Just serve with some Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper and  wedge of Lemon

The beautiful pan fried Cod on the bottom.
Delicious
Now I decided, as I am cooking seasonal food at the moment, to make a
Cabbage and Potato bake
Not only is seasonal food more tasty but currently any out of season foods are enormously and crazily expensive.
A lot of this produce comes from Queensland and because of their damaging floods this year, their crop production is way down.
So all the more reason to go with the flow.
Cabbage, blanched, is such a beautiful colour , unfortunately by the time the bake is cooked, it doesn't look so good, but the taste is terrific.
I also cook the potatoes for a few minutes to get them started
You can prepare this dish, par cook it and finish off 30 minutes before you need to eat.

For 3 people I used
Melted butter to grease the dish and to brush the potatoes for that extra flavour
4 med potatoes sliced thinly
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 med onions sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cabbage broken into leaves
1 tsp Massel Stock powder, dissolved in 1 cup hot water
50 gms fresh breadcrumbs
40 gms grated cheddar cheese

Blanch the cabbage in boiling salted water
About 1 minute
Remove and drain
Remove the stalks, they are just a little tough
Add potatoes and cook for about 4 minutes
Drain
Saute the onions in a pan with Olive oil till soft
Set aside


Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese together

Now to assemble
Grease the casserole dish
Put a layer of potatoes
Brush with melted butter
Half of the onions
Season with S & P
Layer of Cabbage

Another layer of potatoes and onions
Brush with melted butter
Season

Cabbage
Potatoes
Brush with Butter
Pour over the hot water with chicken stock
Cover and bake in 180C for about 30 minutes
You can put this aside now and leave till you need it
Cover with Breadcrumb and Cheese mix

Back into oven for another 25 minutes
Test with a knife point
Make sure it goes right through easily and it is piping hot
Leave for about 5-10 minutes then
Serve

Cold Cut Pie

Apparently at Easter American Italian families make. Cold Cut Pie.
I was watching Cake Boss on Food TV. Buddy the star of the show and the owner of Carlos Bakery, is a loud Hobroken, American Italian. The cakes that come out of that shop are amazing.
It’s a great show. Actually this is the only savoury dish that they make there.

Courtesy of a Blog called Deedee Delights, I got this information about this dish… it seems that during Lent & the 40 days of fasting, this cold cut pie was made by the Italian women on Good Friday, as an abundance of meat & richness that was abstained during Lent. It was prepared, cooked, and chilled on Good Friday, but could not be cut & eaten before noon on Easter Saturday. Although some people serve it on Easter Sunday. Many Easter dishes were made in advance so the local Priest could come and Bless the prepared foods for the Feast of Easter.
If you go to deedee’s blog click here you will see the real recipe

At first I thought it looked reminiscent of New Zealand’s Bacon and Egg pie. On second glance after Googling it, I found it has far more complex ingredients than the humble but delicious Bacon and Egg Pie. Also its more like a quiche.

And it is not pastry but dough.
This is my version, my Husband is not keen on Deli meats, so I bought Sopresso which, with it’s chili content, was a compromise and worked well, just enough flavour

So I had some ricotta and spinach mixture in the fridge, I bought some Italian Sopresso, Mozzarella and Parmesan, you could add any other appropriate cold cuts.
This was a great success

It is best eaten at room temperature
Don't cut until it cools.
The custard needs to set.
Its hard to give quantities, seriously you can add whatever

For a 23 cm pie
I used a packet of Sopresso chopped
1/2 cup ricotta, mixed with spinach, lemon zest, garlic
Cubes of mozzarella
Grated Parmesan
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Go easy on the salt as most of the ingredients are salty.

I used my Basic White Bread Dough
2 cups white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 packet yeast (8gms)
230 mls hand hot water

Put yeast and sugar in 200 mls of hand hot water
Stir
Leave about 5 minutes to activate the yeast
put the other ingredients into the food processor
Whiz for a second or two
Add yeast mix
Let it whiz, not too fast..
If it is not forming into a ball slowly add a little more water, until it does
the dough should have left the sides of the processor
Knead about 2-3 minutes on the bench

Form a nice smooth ball 
Turn the ball over so it has a nice smooth skin
and place into a greased bowl
Toss it around to make sure it is oiled
Leave to rise about 1 hour

Punch down and do the same knead again

Proportion the bread into 2/3 for the base and 1/3 for the lid
and leave for a second rise
Around 30-40 minutes

On a floured bench roll out the larger piece and line
a baking tin.
I used a quiche tin with a removable base
Fill with your wet mixture

Roll out the lid and cover mixture
Crimp edges together
And bake at 190C
Turn it around after 20 minutes
Bake for another 15 minutes
Carefully take it out of the tin and put on a cooling rack
If the bottom is looking a little white and soft
Pop it back in the oven for another 5 or so minutes

Cool on a rack,
Cut a big fat slice and Enjoy

There was leftovers
Lunch today. Yes