Brown Sugar Mixed Berry Cobbler

 I found this recipe off the Epicurious Website. It is from an issue of Gourmet 2010 by Andrea Albin

Thought this would a perfect dessert for the Grandchildren
AND I was right… they loved it
As it is winter here, I used frozen berries, in fact I love Frozen berries
especially for baking

When I was young, I really loved it when my Mother made a hot dessert
Steamed puddings, Fruit pies, Lemon Delicious Pudding
Cobbler is not really a New Zealand Tradition, but I'm always trying something new
After all it is just scones /dumplings on top of cooked fruit! 
Easy Peasy
This recipe feeds 6-8, I halved it for the 4 of us. It was enough

Ingredients
Berries
        3/4 cup packed brown sugar
        2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
        1 kg of frozen mixed berries
Cobbler
        2 cups all-purpose flour
        2 teaspoons baking powder
        Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
        1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
        3/4 cup whole milk
Topping
        1 teaspoon granulated sugar
plus 1 teaspoon packed dark brown sugar
Preparation
Preheat oven to 200C with rack in middle.
Stir together brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl.
Add berries and toss to coat. 

Transfer mixture to a shallow 3-quart baking dish and bake until mixture is hot, about 12 minutes        Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Add butter and blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender
until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. 

Add milk and stir until dough just comes together.

Remove baking dish from oven and drop mounds of dough onto hot berries.

Stir together the topping... the brown sugar and the granulated sugar and sprinkle over dough.
Bake cobbler until topping is golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool to warm, about 30 minutes.
Some cream or ice ream
and an excellent dessert is on the table

New Zealand School of Food and Wine - A W & F Celebration

This weekend The NZ  School of Food and Wine, in Auckland,  which is run by Celia Hay,
held an event in their premises, in Customs Street. My friend Lana enrolled us

This Tapas and Spanish Wine Experience appealed to us
So Off we trotted
Girls On Tour

These events are an experience for the Students, to cater for a large crowd.
We were part of a group of volunteers, who were on hand to help prepare the Mis en Place
for the 6 course dinner that evening.
So hair up, Aprons on... we were ready
It was  6 course dinner.
In charge were visiting  Spanish Chef David Puig Zaragoza and the
Head Chef at the School Chef Stefan Lötscher pictured below

We were ushered into the Demonstration Kitchen where the students, were divided into groups   
for each course

Here is Chef David sorting out the groups

 

We, the Volunteers, attached ourselves to a group, then knives out, we chopped and peeled

They were prepping for the 6 course dinner, plus delicious little Iberico Ham Croquettes
to have with drinks 
Lana was involved in this course. After this mixture had cooled it was rolled into little balls

Just the Classic Breading. Flour, Egg and Breadcrumbs
Deep fried and served with drinks
Yum
Here is the Menu

 Meanwhile, I joined the Group, who were in charge of the Salmon Ceviche with Salmon roe, Crispy Quinoa dressed with a Citrus Sesame Sauce Course
Our two students, both at Stage Three
Canada here on cucumber dicing

and Craigen, who was in charge of painstakingly cutting Nori into strips

I got the "chop up the Chilies" job
100 gms of "beautifully chopped" chilies

When Lana was finished with the appetiser, she joined and was on Cubing the Salmon

We became very friendly with Paul and Tina Ivory, seen below

Paul completed a 16 week course at the School, a couple of years ago. He was responsible for making the dressing, He brought his wife Tina for the School experience
Tina was on the Churros, she snipped, while the Student piped.

These were served in the Traditional way, with Warm Chocolate Sauce. Yum

 

 Meanwhile Moi on dish washing duty. Looking very professional methinks

Around the kitchen everyone was very busy

Some beautiful dough being kneaded for the fresh ciabatta bread,

I just loved the look of the dough it was so full of bubbles. Of course they had a sour dough starter, which obviously helps the rise
This accompanied The Slow Cooked Duck Egg With Chorizo and Potato Foam
Divine. Plates scraped clean

 Chef David in action frying Croutons

These Crouton became crunchy Breadcrumbs, topping the Slow Cooked Duck Egg

There was a Gazpacho Course, the secret ingredient Cherry Puree

Might have to do that this summer

The Gazpacho was served with a Oyster au Naturel topped with tiny chopped vegetables
It was divine.

 Some lucky people got to "French" the Lamb Racks. Long painstaking job
Then they went onto the grill and were served

Medium Rare Lamb, with Romesco Sauce, a Classic Spanish Sauce
and Braised Baby Leeks
Taste anyone?

Of course you cant have a Spanish Meal without Paella

Actually it presented more like a Risotto, seasoned with finely chopped Octopus and Squid
Then, dressed with beautiful slices of Octopus, cooked in red wine...plus Roasted Garlic Allioli

So once we had finished the Prep, we, The Volunteers, were whisked away for a tasting of Spanish Wines. Supplied by Sophie Cotter, from St Vincent's Cave
Love her Business Card

This was a fabulous Presentation By Sophie with her sidekick, whose name unfortunately, I didn't record
He had set a little map in front of us all.
Each wine came from a different region and sitting on top of each region, sat a small vial, reflecting the main character of the wine

For instance Peach, Lime, Rosemary, Date, Cocoa, Dark Berries and for the Dessert Wine Golden Raisins
So Sophie set the mood.
We closed our eyes and she described the region, pictures flashed into my mind, of tropical beautiful Spanish villages,, Vineyards, Towns...she then suggested we remove the cork and inhale the aroma, then tasted the wine
Fabulous

We then were ushered into the restaurant where we had a cocktail and the Croquettes
Then we sat down for the delicious dinner
I would to thank Celia and all of her staff, for a wonderful experience 

Plus a big shout out to Maximal Concepts. Their DNA Director, Shiz Scott came down for the weekend event bringing Chef David Puig Zaragoza, who wrote and supervised the wonderful menu

An Excellent Occasion

White Chocolate, Craisin and Lemon Muffins - Perfect for The Lunch Box

I had some Buttermilk in the fridge.
I had bought it for another recipe, 
It was part of the delicious dressing for The Indonesian Chicken Salad
A wonderful  dish click here
I only used a small amount and there it was sitting in the fridge, doing nothing
There has to be something interesting
I subscribe to the Good to Know Website and I found this recipe
It called for blueberries, I replaced them with Craisins
This proved to be very popular with the kids and the whole dozen went in one sitting

150g caster sugar    
250g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
100g butter, melted
1 medium egg, beaten
284 ml buttermilk
1tsp vanilla
 Zest and juice 1 lemon
 200g white chocolate, chopped
 180g Craisins

Heat the oven to 180C fan
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Mix together the caster sugar, flour and baking powder, 
then pour in the butter, egg, buttermilk, vanilla and lemon zest and juice. 
Mix well, then fold in the chocolate and the Craisins

Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin

Bake for around 20-25 mins,
until golden and springy.

Chicken Asian Style - Indonesian Flavours Delicious

I was having some friends around for dinner. I was looking for a delicious not too heavy first course. I came across this idea for an Indonesian Style Chicken Salad.
Well that was a huge success so I must share it. It is based on a recipe from Martha Schulman
It would make a wonderful lunch as well

I decided to use a mixture of chicken legs and breasts. My favourite way to poach chicken is the way taught by Jacques Pepin
Basically you develop a lovely full of flavour stock
Add the chicken to the boiling stock, bring back to the boil, simmer for a few minutes, then turn it off and left the chicken sit in the beautiful stock, till it has totally cooled
The chicken is so moist and tasty.
It is the only way, in my opinion.
As the dish was Asian, I decided to poach it in an Asian Flavoured Stock 
So simple. In  this case I used a chicken stock powder as a base.
This worked well, but if you have homemade chicken stock or maybe some stock from the supermarket please use that

Take
Rice bran oil  - 1 tablespoon
Shallot  -1 chopped
Coriander stalks handful
Kaffir lime - 2 leaves
Kaffir lime zest  - 2 tablespoons, Use ordinary limes if Kaffir not available
Chili flakes  - 1/2 tsp
Fish sauce - 1 - 2 tablespoons
Chicken stock powder - 2 tablespoons dissolved in water or chicken stock
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Grated ginger 1 tablespoon
In a stockpot, over medium heat place the rice bran oil
Add the shallot, sauté till soft, don't brown
Add coriander stalks, kaffir lime leaves, zest
Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes
Strain
You now, have a wonderful, flavourful stock to poach the chicken

Bring the stock back to the boil
Add  4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts simmer for 5 minutes
Turn heat off
Cover and leave to sit in the stock, till cooled to room temperature
Shred about, should get about 4 cups shredded chicken, to the left of the bowl is the Peanut dressing

These quantities serve 4 for dinner, 6 for Lunch or as a first course

For the Salad
Shredded Chicken from 4 chicken breast as above 
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper (optional)
1 bunch spring onions, white part and green, thinly sliced
1 carrot grated
¼ cup slivered fresh mint leaves
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 small red bell pepper, cut in thin strips
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped seeded if desired
2 cups mung bean sprouts or sunflower sprouts
1 Cos lettuce heart, leaves separated, washed and dried¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
For the Dressing
    ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
    2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
    1 garlic clove, minced or shallots
    1 tablespoon Southeast Asian fish sauce
    Pinch of cayenne
    2 tablespoons crunchy or smooth natural peanut butter (more to taste)
    ⅓ cup buttermilk
   
Preparation
Place the chicken in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper. 
Add the white part of the scallions, the mint, cilantro,
red pepper, minced chile pepper and sprouts.
Toss together.

The Dressing
Combine the lime juice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and
cayenne. 
Stir together.
Add the peanut butter, and combine well. 
Whisk in the buttermilk. 
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Line a platter with the lettuce leaves. 
Toss the chicken mixture with the dressing, and arrange over the lettuce.

Sprinkle the peanuts and the spring onion greens over the top,
and serve.

Table set ready to go