Double Chocolate Pear Cake -Thanks to Julie Le Clerc

There is a programme on Food TV, featuring that excellent cook, Julie Le Clerc,
called “Café Secrets”, you can Google this, then read about Julie and this very good programme.
All the recipes on there as well.

I watched her make the following
A Double Chocolate Pear Cake

I had some preserved pears in my Pantry, grown picked and preserved by my friends Derrick and Lorraine.

They have a lovely lifestyle block in Bunnythorpe and there are dozens of fruit trees.

One year, they actually grew a pear in a bottle for me and then immersed it in brandy.
Derrick and I tying the bottle onto the bud

Delicious, my own ‘Poire Williams’…well almost.
So after seeing Julie make this cake, I just had to do it.
Not only delicious, but so so simple
Thank you Julie, we all loved it
Word of warning... test the cake at say 45 minutes, I left it in too long.
When I pushed the skewer in it came out damp but I think I make have hit a molten chop chip.
So I left it in another 10 minutes.
It was a little dry. Still tasted very good though.
I fixed it by reducing leftover syrup in a small pan.
I then put holes in the cake, with the aforementioned  skewer, poured the syrup over the cake.
Done!
Actually maybe this could be a good idea anyway. See what you think.


Serves 12
100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
150g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted
Extra 100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 home-preserved pears cooked in red wine or 400g
can pear halves in juice, drained and quartered
Icing sugar, to dust

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Spray a 22cm spring-form cake tin with oil and line the base
with baking paper.
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of
simmering water (do not allow the bowl to touch the water or
it will get too hot and may damage the chocolate).
Stir until smooth and set aside to cool a little.

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat
until pale and creamy.
Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla extract.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Stir in flour to just combine.
Stir in extra chopped chocolate.

Spread cake batter into prepared tin.
Slice pears into quarters and arrange over surface of the mixture,
pressing them slightly into the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer
inserted comes out clean.
If necessary, cover with foil towards end of cooking
to prevent cake over browning.

Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before removing to a wire
rack to cool completely.

Brush peas with cooking juice to moisten.
Dust cake with icing sugar, if desired.

Corn and Tomato Soup - Nice use of Fresh Summer Produce- And Some Unexpected Kudos for our Countdown Supermarket

Its a beautiful Summer's Day, they have been few and far between this year.
You may think Soup? Is she having a laugh? but I can assure you this fresh light soup was just perfect for lunch today.
I made a chicken salad for sandwiched the other day.
And, what do you get when you poach Chicken?
Why, Chicken Stock of course.

I fossicked around in the fridge
grabbed a few ingredients and quickly put together this delicious soup.
I really like using Vegeta as a flavour booster.
And when cooking tomatoes I always add a little sugar to balance to flavours

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 carrot grated
1 red onion finely sliced
2 medium tomatoes, cored and large chop
1 tbs Vegeta or any good stock powder
500 mls of homemade chicken stock
1 tsp sugar


2 cobs fresh Corn
Little parsley for garnish

I popped the corn into the microwave for 5 minutes
Removed the silk and husks, then sliced off the kernels
Set aside

Meanwhile heat butter over med heat in a pot
Add carrot and onion
Gently saute till soft
Add tomatoes and Vegeta and sugar
Stir
Add chicken stock
Taste and adjust seasoning, using sea salt and black pepper if needed

Bring to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes
Add corn kernels
Simmer another 5 minutes
That's enough
This has a wonderful fresh taste.
The corn is still crunchy, tomatoes, carrot and onion soft

Yum.
By the way the Chicken Salad was pretty good as well
I lightly poached chicken thighs in water
With the addition of carrot chunks, onion, celery. stalks of parsley
Once again a tablespoon of Vegeta

Best way for moist chicken...
Bring everything to the boil.
Simmer for about 5 minutes
Turn heat off
Cover and leave for at least 30 minutes.
This should be enough for small, no skin, boneless thighs
Remove the meat and chop
Mix with some chopped cucumber, and spring onions and a little parsley

Toss in Mayo
I used a bought one.
Best Foods is pretty good.
I added some lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
Also for an added extra, a big teaspoon of a curry coconut paste, that my friend Heinzie made.
This is so good.

Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for it. But it has such good flavour.
The sandwiches were excellent.
I had leftovers.
Chicken Salad on Toast
An added bonus.

So "Waste Not, Want Not"

Its not often I pour kudos onto our local supermarket.
It is handy, a 2 minute drive and basically they suit me
but I frequently make complaints.
It's obvious when the big spenders, get their product on show and the particular brand, you would like gets either left off the shelf altogether... or placed so high you cant reach.
But that aside,
I have to mention their latest promotion in association, with Thomas from Rosenthal.
The prize, if you collect enough stamps is a set of excellent knives

It's like the olden days...green stamps
Collect enough and you get a prize.
Of course I got sucked in, but was a little apprehensive.
Anyhow...Last week, I had enough for my first knife.
It is excellent. I am rapidly shopping to acquire another.

Good work Countdown and Rosenthal

Spicy Stuffed Eggplant

Our friend Joyce is here from the States
Last night she made this eggplant dish or dinner last night
It was very yummy and for those who are interested, it is gluten free
Eggplants are cheap at the moment and it is always good to have yet another way to cook them.

By the way, here's another use for cooked rice
Of course if you don't have leftovers, just cook the rice anyway
The Sriracha Sauce, which is possibly foreign to many, was recommended by Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen Thank you Kalyn.
Click here to get some inspiration. It is a great blog.
Anyway it is an excellent hot sauce.
I assumed that you can't buy it here, so I asked Joyce, to bring me some from the States.
The day she arrived, we took a trip to the local Chinese green grocer .
Joyce was poking around the store and guess what she found... a bottle of the Sriracha sauce.
So you can buy it here in New Zealand . Hooray.
But I digress
So here you go.
This is enough for 4 people
1 eggplant per person
Olive oil

1 red Onion finely chopped
1 tbs Olive oil
500 gms mince
2 stalk Celery finely sliced
1/2 can crushed tomatoes
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Tsp ground Cumin
8 leaves Fresh basil sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Parmesan cheese. grated to cover


50 gms feta cheese crumbled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (or any hot sauce that takes your fancy)


1/2 cup cooked white rice

Heat oven to 180C
Cut eggplant in half lengthwise
Lightly Oil
Place on a baking sheet and bake till just tender
Remove and then when cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh
Reserve the shells for stuffing
Mix the flesh with feta and the Sriracha hot sauce
Season to taste and set aside

For the mince
Sauté the onion in olive oil in a medium hot pan
Add mince and sauté till brown
Add celery
Season with S&P
Add oregano, cumin and basil
Add crushed tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes

Time to assemble
Lay the empty eggplant shells on a lightly greased tray
Mix all the components together
The mince
The eggplant mix
And the rice

Pile into the shells
Cover with grated Parmesan
And bake for about 15-20 minutes
I only thought to take the picture, when I was halfway through my dinner.
That plate was clean as, not long after.

Delicious

A Summer Stew-Turn that into A Summer Pie -My Word, What a Pie

I have been watching a programme on Food TV Britain’s Best Chef, it has been fascinating watching amateur cooks trying out to cook the best Dish in Britain. One of the dishes I was intrigued by was a Yorkshire Beef and Pale Ale Pie.
This short crisp pastry  doesn't brown up like puff pastry.
There is no egg wash.
Good for people allergic to eggs!
It is fabulous though, very simple.
This is how it looks.
Yum

Of course it is the middle of summer here, so Beef and Pale Ale… not really appropriate!
The judges all commented on the pastry, so I thought I would make the pastry and fill it with something more summer like.

So I made a Mediterranean Style Stew
I had some tomatoes and peppers, getting close to their use by date so I used them

Basically a this stew is a Ratatouille with some beef, gently simmered away till the beef is tender and lovely flavours have developed.

The pastry for the pie is very simple, but not exactly healthy
I don’t imagine I would making it often..
We all need treats.
It contains lots of butter and also lard. This should make it very light and crisp.
But let's attack the Stew first

I actually used a Rosemary infused oil which gave extra fabulous flavour
But you could add some sprigs of fresh Rosemary
I also had some left over Rose wine in the fridge
Nice light wine flavour

2 tablespoons Rosemary Infused Avocado Oil
I large onion chopped
1 red freshly ground black pepper chopped
1 yellow freshly ground black pepper chopped
1 courgette chopped
5 tomatoes chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Oregano

2 tablespoon vege oil
300 gms thinly sliced beef chopped into squares
2 tablespoons flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
300 mls wine

Gently heat the Rosemary oil in a medium fry pan
Add onions
Cook till just soft
Add rest of vegetables
Season with S & P
Cook till soft

Add tomatoes
Season with S & P and the sugar
Cook about 5 minutes

Place into a large pot
Toss the meat in seasoned flour
Then add vege oil to the fry pan
Heat till hot
Add meat and brown
You may need to do this in two batches
Don’t overcrowd the pan

Add to the vegetables in the pot
Add wine to fry pan to deglaze
Bring to boil and simmer for about 5 minutes

Add to pot
Taste and check seasoning,
then simmer the whole stew for about an hour very gently

Gently being the operative word.
Here's what happened while I was busy writing this copy.

Oh dear
I did save it though
Your Mediterranean Stew is ready

Now for the pastry
I made a mistake...when I made the first batch it was a disaster
I did it by hand and didn't add enough water
I thought it looked too dry and I didn't trust my instincts
Maybe it would be OK after it had sat resting in the fridge

 Oh No

So I threw it away and started again
This time I made it in the food processor
and added more water than the recipe states
Just do it slowly
Test the pastry by pushing with your fingers, it should suqash up nicely.
Not too much water or it will be tough
Voila I did it...see how nicely it rolls out

So here you go

455 gms plain flour
125gms butter cubed
125gms lard cubed
pinch sea salt
60 mls or 2 tbs cold water (you may need more)

Put flour and salt in food processor
whiz for a couple of seconds to mix
Add butter and lard
Whiz till the mixture looks like breadcrumbs
Don't over work it
Add water a tablespoon at a time
It will start to get together but don't let it go to a ball stage
Push the mix between your fingers if it squashes together
Its done
Tip onto bench
Form into a ball
Wrap in Gladwrap and let rest in fridge for at least 20 mins
Meanwhile heat oven to 180C
Also grease your pie tins
This makes 6 pies
Cut off 2/3 dough
Roll out cut and use to line pie tins
Trim edges
Fill with cooled stew

Roll out the other third to make lids
Place a lid on each pie
Crimp the edges together

Into the hot oven
These pies will take about 25 minutes to cook

I could eat both of those. God help my waistline though.
Treat your self it's worth it.

Marinated Olives- Perfect to have with drinks-Add to your salads

I have posted this before but I took a picture this time
If you have any left, just pop them into a jar and into the fridge
Can be eaten at any time but very good with drinks.

1 can Kalamata Olives in Brine, drained

4 tablespoons of Olive oil

4 cloves garlic peeled and lightly smashed to flavour the oil

3-4 Sprigs of fresh Rosemary or Thyme or Oregano

Sprinkle of chili flakes to taste

2-3 strips of lemon zest,

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil gently 

Add the garlic

Just warm through

Add the rest of the ingredients

Let cook very gently for about 15 minutes

Sometimes I put them in a 130C oven for 15 minutes

A Vegan Pasta What’s More!

The idea of this dish is inspired by the South of Italy Province of Puglia
Mario Batalli who I really admire, cooks a lot of food from there.
It is renowned for its simple vegetarian food
Not all vegetarian but ‘making the most of what you have’ type of food
I like Vegetarian food, but this is unusual for me. No dairy or animal products at all...but for anyone who is interested, this is a fabulous pasta dish.
Very easy, just a little tomato sauce mixed with cooked spaghetti, topped with herby breadcrumbs
As they say Healthy As. And I say Simple As
Except for the spaghetti… all made by moi.

I made breadcrumbs from some leftover bread, that I had made by my own two hands

Sage and parsley from my little garden
Not the other vege though
All courtesy of the local supermarket


2 cloves peeled garlic lightly Smashed
6 leaves sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
6-8 bail leaves chopped
2 handfuls fresh breadcrumbs
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch sea salt


3 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion peeled and chopped
1 red pepper finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes chopped
Chili to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

200 gms spaghetti cooked to manufacturers instructions

For the tomato sauce
Sauté onion, pepper in olive oil till soft
Add chili and tomatoes
Sauté about 5 minutes
Don't cook too long, the fresh taste is what we are after
Season with S&P and a little sugar

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti

In another pan gently heat the garlic and sage leaves in olive oil
Remove
Chop the sage with parsley and basil
Chop the garlic and add to the tomato sauce

Add breadcrumbs to flavoured oil
Toast till just crisp
Add chopped herbs and season with S&P

When spaghetti is cooked add to tomato sauce
Mix well

Serve topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and devour

Pretty in Pink – Pickled Onions Fit for a Princess

I saw these pretty onions on Market Kitchen by a Chef called Valentine
Had to make them
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
½ tsp dried oregano
5 black peppercorns
2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
Juice ½ orange
½ tsp sea salt
1 bay leaf
½ tsp ground cumin

Bring a small pan of water to the boil
Blanch the sliced onions for about 30 seconds
Drain
Place in a glass or ceramic bowl
Cover with the other ingredients
Marinate for at least 1 hour
The onions will turn a vibrant pink. Pretty as.

These will keep for several days in the fridge

Another first for me Lamb Schnitzel
I used Lamb Steaks
bashed out in thin slices

First make a marinade
10 mint leaves finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili finely chopped

Marinate the thin slices for at least 2 hours

Drain on a rack
The dip into flour well seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Into beaten egg
Then into Panko breadcrumbs
Let sit for another hour to set the crumbs

Fry in vegetable oil till golden brown
I served this with a Cabbage Salad which contains

 Red pepper and of course the Pretty Pink onions
Plus some grated carrot and finely sliced celery
Toss well with a slosh of olive oil
The onions will supply the vinegar part of the dressing
Dont forget to season with S&P

On the side a tasty potato salad very much improved by tossing in Tartare Sauce

½ cup mayo
Tablespoon chopped mint
Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 spring onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped gherkins
1 tablespoon chopped capers
Juice ½ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peeled and cut potatoes into 2 cms chunks
Boil till just tender
Drain and toss in a little French dressing while still hot
This flavours the potatoes and stops them sticking together

When they have cooled toss them with the Sauce Tartare
Once again, this needs to sit for at least an hour, to take on all of these wonderful flavours.

A dinner... indeed...fit for a princess

How to Peel Boiled Eggs - Good Hint for Cooking Steak

Just to prove Auckland can turn on a good day.
This is the view from our deck

Auckland City there in the distance
Turn around

And again

Only 5 kms from the city Motuihe Island. Haven't been here for a while but it is lovely.
Lucky Us.

Got a handy hint from Ed Baines, Celebrity Chef and judge on Britain's Best Dish.
It can sometimes be a problem when peeling Boiled eggs. What a mess it turns out.
Ed Baines came up with this. Peel your eggs under wtaer.
Voila it works.

Plus decades ago my friend's father Doug Peacock, gave me a hint how to cook stek.
I did it for years then you try other methods BUT this is great and always works.

For med-med rare
First lightly oil the steak and season with freshly ground black
HOT pan
Add sea salt directly to the pan
Add steak
Cook about 3 minutes
Do not touch
The blood will start to rise
Flip and cook another 2 minutes
Remove
Rest about 5 minutes and serve
Guaranteed perfect

Cajun Moon-First Voyage 2012- Perfect Boat Food

Took a while to get on board, it's been over 6 months, since Cajun Moon has been out and about, the dislocated thumb put the skipper out of action for months.

Not quite the maintenance man we are used to!
We arrived to a mess, but Lana (Plane Server, her occupation according to her little friend Zavier…Love it, Not Trolley Dollie, just a plain Plane Server)
got working.
We finally got the food stored and in-between showers, managed to unload the rest of the stuff from the car.
Finally got underway, no rain thank God and about 15 knots wind...on the nose of course.
An easy trip to Islington Bay.

The best first anchorage when it has been a little stressful leaving port.

On arrival the anchor caused a little problem, it was very stiff, from under use and the breeze was chilly but Lana persevered. 

Yay done.

Should be easier next time
Lana made great lunch.
Prawn cocktail with fresh bread and a Watermelon, Marinated Feta and Celery Salad.

Excellent.

How simple is this, Lana used a bought seafood dressing. It was fine.

So big fat prawns, tossed in a seafood dressing,on a bed of lettuce, with some avocado, chopped spring onions

A little bowl of chilli mussels on the side, a Perfect Boat Lunch

Bottle of Deutz, to whet the whistle, we rested, read and I finished "Before I Go To Sleep"…Good little thriller.
It had been a late lunch and luckily,we had already decided to have an easy dinner, 

bit of cheese and crackers glass of wine

Just as well, because when Dale went to turn on the gas...

guess what...wasn't working. Bugger.

Now as it turns out two Xmas holidays ago, we had a gas problem, whilst in the Coromandel and bought a couple of burners from Mitre 10.

Cheap as chips and very efficient.

Found them in a locker.

Hooray, but where are the canisters. No luck,

Skipper couldn't remember where they were.
Lana scuffled through the side cabin but to no avail.
No problems, we could always go shopping in Waiheke tomorrow.
Drank wine and ate the cheese, with left over bread and some crackers.

Problem no 3
Dale has had a sleep button put on the stereo, so that we can go to sleep with the iPod going, a great idea, but as it turned out…it went off after 30 minutes. All of the time!

We couldn't seem to over ride it.

Oh well, worry about that tomorrow!

After a couple of dodgy starts we got the DVD going and settled down to watch "The Killing"  Series2. Gripping, except for the sleep button.

The TV turned off every 30 minutes.

Never mind, worry about that tomorrow.

Next problem the solar anchor light is not working, BUT we do have a real one on top of the mast, so problem fixed.

Uses a lot of power, but we are visible and we do have plenty of battery power.

Oh well, worry about that in the morning.

Another small problem.

For Christmas, Dale gave me a car charger for the iPhone and supposedly the iPad..Thought it would great to use on the boat.

But it seems it only does the phone.

Oh well, we have the inverter and other chargers.
Next, cleaning the teeth...mmmm, water tasting a little salty, strange.
Off to bed.

Slept all night.

Thursday
Dale woke up and found the canisters, in the locker, obviously too hard at night.

Hooray… We could have our hot lemon and water which gets our systems going.

It was a lovely day.

Warm sunny.

Lana had her first swim of the year

A bit of ship shaping and we were off to Waiheke.

This is more like it

The familiar sights of Skipper

And Bosun

Calm as - lovely.

Yes the anchor went down reasonably easily. Great.

Nice to be back on board, just need to get rid of a few niggles!!!
Changed over to a new water tank, still salty...

Oh well, good for cooking pasta and potatoes.

We have many containers of fresh water, so we are Ok for drinking.

Interesting for showers though.

Salty skin.

Not to worry, lots of body lotion.

Oh and the Hot water is not working.

This would normally not be too big of a problem, but when washing dishes with salt water, one finds that, one gets through a hell of a lot of washing detergent

Oh well Weather is good.

Made a nice Risoni Salad for lunch.
Cooked up some olives, (see below) using Lana's fresh oregano.
She also brought rocket from her garden.
Marinated some red onions,

I think this Pasta Salad would be a good recipe for Ruth Of Click Once Upon a Feast

Blog Event, Click Presto Pasta Nights 
to have a look at this weekly event.
Lots of ideas for Pasta Dishes from all over the world
This week, the event is being hosted by Alisha at Cook Craft Enjoy

Once again a Perfect Boat lunch

I am very keen on my cooked Marinated Olives

So So Simple

1 can Kalamata Olives in Brine, drained

4 tablespoons of Olive oil

4 cloves garlic peeled and lightly smashed to flavour the oil

3-4 Sprigs of fresh Rosemary or Thyme or Oregano

Sprinkle of chili flakes to taste

2-3 strips of lemon zest,

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil gently 

Add the garlic

Just warm through

Add the rest of the ingredients

Let cook very gently for about 15 minutes

Sometimes I put them in a 130C oven for 15 minutes

Let cool and either eat straight away or store in an airtight container

This Salad is once again So So Simple

Just prepare your ingredients

Then, throw them all together

1 can Tuna in Olive Oil drained

Reserve the oil

250 gms Risoni cooked to Manufacturers instructions and drained

Toss it in 1 tablespoon of oil from the Tuna

1 red onion, sliced and marinated in 3 tablespoons French dressing

Best to leave for about an hour

About 12 olives

Good handful of Rocket

Freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together

Taste, you may need some more French Dressing

Once again, best prepared about 30 minutes before you eat

Nice time to meld all of those flavours

We all had swims. It was beautiful.

Here's to Us

For dinner, we had schnitzel with mashed potato and cauliflower plus sautéed courgettes

Here is the trusty burner, we are very grateful for this burner. The gas only lasts for about 2 hours but as luck would have it, we had 3 canisters.

Lovely dinner.

So we’ve got gas

Dale fiddled with the Solar light, so that works

AND he managed to over ride the Sleep Button on the Stereo.

We settled down to another episode of The Killing.

Excellent

Friday,

Another lovely day. Sun, Sea, Good Wine, Good food.

Can’t ask for much more than that.

Lovely Sunset

One more episode then nice sleep. 

Saturday

Well so much for "Red Sky at Night, Sailors delight"

Rain!!!

Oh Well, we just sat and watched the next 7 episodes of The Killing.

Didn’t feel at all guilty. It was pouring.

Stopped for lunch and Dinner.

Sunday, time to go home, forecast was for Gale Force winds, but now luck is on our side and the forecast, as it is frequently, was wrong.

It blew a bit but was quite comfortable and no rain

We arrived back to the Marina safely.

So, Dale now left with many chores, before we go out again.

The Joys of Being Skipper.