Safavid Style Beef Pastries

categories: Books, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, Persiana

Hey, lovely people of retro food world. I feel like I have been totally neglecting you recently but believe me, you are not alone. Top o’ the list of neglect as been myself. There was a night last week when my dinner consisted of 1 cronut and 2…ok…3 glasses of red wine. Oh and tears. Which I figure counts for grains, fruit and salt. That’s three of the food groups isn’t it?

I have been working all the hours and even though it has been crazy busy, I have also been loving it.

The tears were because that night I realised I had not only missed a book club meeting but I had missed the emails advising of the book club meeting so I was basically a no show which I hate. Because that’s just rude.

So, there has not been much cooking done at all. One of the few things I have made was the Safavid Style Beef Pastries from Persiana. My plan was to get home by 7, maybe 7:30 and then make a yoghurt sauce and some salad and the pastries – I had already made the beef mixture – and we would eat, drink and be merry and marvel over the elaborate pastry swirls and curlicues I had formed. Except I didn’t get home til closer to 8:30 and those pastries were thrown together with the love and attention that you would normally give a a not very interesting advertisement for something you have no intention of buying. There was no yoghurt sauce. There was no salad. There were some badly formed pastries on a plate with a blob of ketchup mixed with tabasco sauce (me) and HP sauce (him).

BTW, these should have looked like this:

I felt I had done really badly on this meal. So when I asked a very tentative “So what do you think?” I was pretty much bracing myself for critique that contained all the things I was berating myself for, being all the missing parts of the meal I had planned in my head. And that the pastries looked like they had been made with someone with no opposable thumbs.

“These are great. I really like them”

“What?”

“Are there more? Can I have some more?”

Sabrina Ghayour, this is why I love you.

Speakin’ of which

The Persiana Project

Last time we spoke I had 32 recipes left to cook from Persiana. Somehow, and I don’t even know how I managed to do this, we are now down to 26.

I made the Safavid Beef Pastries, the Cod with Relish, the marinated feta, the feta cigars from the marinated feta and….two other things that I have no recollection of making. Such is the fugue state of my brain. On the other hand, this challenge is going really well. And OMG…the marinated feta and the feta cigars? Delightful, delicious, delovely!

Next on the list to cook is the Chicken and Artichoke salad which I am planning to make tomorrow night. Then again, I was also planning to make it tonight and ended up having a jaffle made with some leftover curry instead. This is actually one of the very best ways to eat leftover curry – and a special little trick – instead of just plain butter on the bread, make a little garlic butter. Leftover heaven!

Inbox Zero

Because I have been so busy my personal inbox is out of control. At last count I had about 2700 unread emails. My challenge for April is to get this under control i.e. no more than one page of unread. I have found in the past, the best way to do this is to pick the latest email, search for all from that sender and work through them in a batch. This is particularly good for anyone who is selling anything as you can do a mass delete and voila that’s 30 emails gone in 10 seconds. But if anyone has any tips on how to control a crazy inbox, please let me know!

Watching

I reinstated our Netflix subscription over Easter so I am finally watching Making A Murderer.

I am also binge watching The Librarians…this is almost like someone make a show EXACTLY for me. It’s set in a library and its about really smart people solving supernatural stuff. Who even knew I had that many buttons that could be hit?

Reading

The Midnight Watch

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Best book I have read thus far this year. And I feel like I have read a lot of good stuff already. Stay tuned. There will be more. Soon.

The Method

I loved this too. How is this for a premise?

“Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped . . . Alone . . . Terrified.

Now forget her . . .

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn son and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical – calculating – scientific in her plotting. Leaving nothing to chance, she waits . . . for the perfect moment to strike. The Method is what happens when the victim is just as cold as the captors.”

This week I am hoping for a bit more time away from work to get my life back under control. I am planning to cook the salad from Persiana as mentioned but also Anthony Bourdain’s Onion Soup Les Halles, and a mixed mushroom strudel.

Your turn now. What are you cooking, reading, watching doing this week? I love to hear from you so let me know. Also., please send clearing email tips.

Oh and if anyone out there is a jam maker? I have an A-Z of Cooking Project just for you – get your 1970’s jam on! Just let me know.

Have a super week!

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24
Mar
2016

REPOST from 2016 – The Black-Eyed Susan

categories: Books, Cocktail, Vodka

“I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.

I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.

The lucky one”

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin is the story of Tessa Cartwright. As a teenager, she was abducted and left for dead in a field of Black-Eyed Susan flowers along with other dead and dying girls. They become collectively known as the Black-Eyed Susans. Tessa is the only survivor.

Now, in her thirties, the man accused of the crime, the man whom Tessa’s testimony helped put away is facing death row. And Tessa is having doubts about his guilt. And if he’s innocent, then the real killer is still out there….

I came to this book in two ways.

It was one of the selections we had for our Crime /Thriller month in bookclub along with Maestra (the one we chose), The Method (which I am currently reading) and The Ex (which I just bought as I noticed it was super cheap as I was getting the link).

Then, the very next day after we had made our choice, Heather who writes the blog Meta’s Meals wrote a very positive review of Black-Eyed Susans on Goodreads and I promptly decided that it was going to the top of my reading list!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Black Eyed Susan’s. It was very suspenseful and the plot was original which is a really hard thing to do in crime fiction. I only hope Maestra which is our book club choice is half as good. Mind you, last year we chose Girl on The Train which…urrggghhhh…I cannot even tell you how much I hated that book.

But this one’s good. And it has a gorgeous cover!

Black -Eyed Susans

Whilst reading The Black-Eyed Susans, I discovered that there is a cocktail called the Black-Eyed Susan. It is the official drink of the Preakness Stakes Horse race which is run in Baltimore each year as the winning horse is draped in a blanket made of these flowers.

This was delicious. I love pineapple juice and St Germain in cocktails so there was no way I wasn’t going to like this. The lime juice gave it a nice little kick of tanginess too!

The Black-Eyed Susan also got the thumbs up from resident bon vivant F Scott.

Oh, and before anyone complains, I know the flowers I have used in my photos are not Black-Eyed Susans. I am not even sure if they grow here, or, if they did when they would flower. Anyhoo, the gerberas were the closest (only) thing my local florist had that came close!

Here’s the recipe. Why not make one and have a sip whilst reading the book!

Black Eyed Susan

Print Recipe

A delicious refreshing pineapple and citrus cocktail with a hint of Elderflower.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

45ml Vodka (The Preakness recommend Finlandia)
15ml St Germain
60ml pineapple juice
7.5 ml lime juice
22.5ml orange juice

To Garnish

Orange Slice
Amarena cherry

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Combine all the drink ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.
Shake, baby, shake.
Pour over ice into a Collins glass
Garnish with an orange slice and an Amarena cherry

Notes

I used Amarena cherries for this because their darker colour looked more like a black eye than a Maraschino.

Thank you Heather for the recommendation. If anyone else would like super book recommendations from Heather, why not follow her, or me on Goodreads!

Have a wonderful Easter!

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17
Mar
2016

REPOST – The Dishiest Dish – Rhubarb, Rose and Passionfruit Sorbet

categories: Book Club, Books, Movies, Passionfruit, Persiana, Rhubarb, Sorbet, Sorbet

We are having a lovely spurt of late summer…OMG, it’s autumn now….warm weather, just perfect for enjoying this delicious rhubarb, rose and passionfruit sorbet.

Let’s talk about it shall we?

It’s fruity, tangy and not too sweet so incredibly refreshing on a hot day.
It is the most glorious shade of pink.
The passionfruit and rose water make it smell like a summer garden.
It has a Rhubarb Almond Shard
And is sprinkled with Rhubarb Crumble Dust
And for the cherry on the top, it’s got…well…a cherry on the top.

I based this recipe on the Rhubarb and Rose Sorbet in Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage, Light and Easy which was my selection when we did a stint on Celebrity Chefs for Tasty Reads. I usually find Hugh very engaging, hence choosing the book, however I admit I have struggled with it a bit. I’m all for dairy and wheat free however it just seemed like a bit of a chore, not to mention expense to have to buy new ingredients for just about every dish – this one has buckwheat flour, that one had chestnut flour, the other had chickpea flour. Never even mind the expense. Who has the space?

But I pretty much had everything for the sorbet, except the rhubarb already. I also had a little passionfruit left over from the Valentine’s Day Soufflé so I popped that in as well.

6 Week Challenges

These have been a bit of a disaster. I downloaded an update to my phone weekend before last. And it killed it. #epicfailnexus5 The phone would no longer read the sim card. So after spending the weekend trying every fix available on Google on Monday I got a new sim card, even though I kind of already knew it wasn’t the sim card. On Tuesday the phone went in for a service. Then there was a WEEK of daily calls of “Is it fixed? “Is it fixed? Is it fixed?” Then after seven days they said “Oh, we now know it’s not hardware, it’s software” and they got a “I KNOW IT’S NOT HARDWARE I TOLD YOU IT WASN’T HARDWARE ONE WEEK AGO. YOU HAVE SPENT A WEEK WASTING MY TIME AND YOUR TIME. JUST PUT IT BACK TO WHAT IT WAS BEFORE THE UPDATE” And an hour later it was fixed. Seriously I hate being such a bitch to service people. But really. A week.

A week where, I was without my meditation app and my flexibility app. So they fell by the wayside. I downloaded some mediation podcasts to my ipod. Which promptly broke.

Oh and my car wouldn’t start this morning.

Technology hates me.

On the more positive side, my March resolution of 6 weeks without Candy Crush is going amazingly well!

Silver linings!

I’m starting a new challenge today:

The Persiana Project

As of now, I have 32 dishes left to cook from the very many I marked as “Want To Cook” in Persiana. Sabrina Ghayour’s new book comes out in 50 days. Technically, I can cook them all between now and then. Realistically, it is unlikely however, to raise the stakes, I have made a deal with myself not to by Sirocco until I have cooked the 32. And I REALLY want that new book.

We’re going to be eating a LOT of Middle Eastern Food over the next few weeks. I can’t wait!

Reading

The Shut Eye – Belinda Bauer

Loved it – a great thriller about a missing child and a suspect psychic.

When We Were Invincible – Jonathan Harnisch

I feel really bad about saying that I am not enjoying this because it seems quite ungrateful seeing as I got it for free off Net Galley. But I am half way through and I ‘m really struggling. The plot…what there is of it….revolves around a teenager who suffers from Tourette’s and his life at an elite prep school. I’m finding it all bit too stream of consciousness-y; with not nearly enough context for me to be able to enjoy the story.

Ummmm….let me think of some positives….

It’s very likely a very real description of being in the head of someone who is mentally ill.
It’s short.
I love the cover.

Watching

I watched the movie Compliance and it totally ooked me out. Seriously, watching it made me feel dirty. Several times I wanted to turn it off because it was painful to watch. Having said that I would actually recommend it. But be warned it is TOUGH going. It will also make you question every person who ever calls you on the phone. Not a bad thing really seeing as it is based on true.

Then I watched The Breakfast Club. Damn, I love that movie! And it made everything all right with the world again. And I spent about three days walking around singing “Hey, hey, hey, hey….”

I’m still not trusting anyone who calls me who is not on my speed dial though.

Cooking

I haven’t been cooking much as I have been working all the hours! I have been living on toast or things from the freezer. Hopefully things will slow down soon because next week I have marked out to cook:

Margaret Fulton’s Quail in Vine Leaves with Muscat Grapes
Sabrina Ghayour’s Safavid style beef pastries
Laurie Colwin’s Broccoli Salad

Ok, here’s the recipe for the Sorbet:

Rhubarb, Rose and Passionfruit Sorbet

Print Recipe

A lovely light, refreshing sorbet, not too sweet with a glorious pink colour.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

750g rhubarb
75ml orange juice
75g passionfruit pulp
100g caster sugar
up to 50g icing sugar
up to 2 tsp rose water
100g passionfruit pulp

Rhubarb Crumble Dust & Almond Shard

18 Rhubarb Crumble boiled lollies (or any fruit flavoured boiled lollies)
100g flaked almonds
Oil

To Serve

Ice Cream Cones
Maraschino Cherries

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Trim the rhubarb and cut into 3-4cm lengths. Place in a large saucepan with the caster sugar and the orange juice.
Bring to a simmer and cook gently until the rhubarb is completely soft. Puree in the pan until smooth.
When cool, stir in the passionfruit.
Taste and add the icing sugar as required.
Stir in the rosewater. Start at about 1/4 teaspoon and add it gradually until you get your desired level of rosiness.
Chill until cold and churn in an ice cream maker until soft set, then transfer to a freezer container and freeze until cold. Alternatively, pour the mixture into a freezer container and freeze for an hour. Then remove from the freezer and break up the frozen sides, pushing them into the softer centre. Return to the freezer and repeat every hour until the mixture is soft-set.
Then let it freeze solid.

Rhubarb Crumble Dust

Place the boiled lollies in your blender and grind into a powder.
Remove a third of the mixture to sprinkle over the top of your sorbet as your dust.

Almond Shard

Heat your oven to 180C
Line a baking tray with baking paper and lightly grease. I used coconut oil.
Sprinkle the paper with the almonds, then with the remaining crushed lolly powder.
Place in the oven until the lollies melt.
Remove from the oven and all to cool.
Break into shards

To Serve

Place two scoops of sorbet into an ice cream cone.
Sprinkle a teaspoon over the Rhubarb Crumble Dust over the icecream, stab with an Almond Shard and top with a cherry.
Enjoy!

Have a great week! And let me know what you’ve been cooking, reading, watching!

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13
Mar
2016

History Happy Hour 1764 – The Leland Palmer

categories: Cocktail, Gin, Grapefruit, History Happy Hour, Lemon

It’s baaaaacckkkk!

And what a way to bring it back, even if I do say so myself. Today we a celebrating the 1764 birth of a British Lord, with a drink inspired by our favourite filicidal maniac!

Charles Grey, born 13 March 1764 was the Second Earl Grey and the Prime Minister of Britain from 1830 to 1834. And yes, he is THE Earl Grey that gave the tea it’s name.

Earl Grey Tea, which is traditionally black tea flavoured with bergamot, is reputed to have been made for the Earl by a Chinese Mandarin to offset the taste of the dodgy water at the Earl’s ancestral home.

And today we are celebrating the Earl with my version of a drink named after Leland Palmer, which in turn is a twist on the Arnold Palmer. I know, it’s like going down a rabbit hole isn’t it?

For those of you not of a certain age, Leland Palmer is a character from the tv show Twin Peaks. He is the father of Laura Palmer and ****spoiler alert***** (if you can still have spoilers on something that is 25 years old) later revealed to have killed her whilst under the possession of an evil entity called Bob.

The Leland Palmer cocktail is the creation of Daniel Boelte who was inspired to make it after being hungover at his girlfriend’s house and watching an episode of Twin Peaks. The original Leland Palmer uses jasmine tea, whilst, in honour of the day, I used Earl Grey Tea – as well as being Charles Grey’s Birthday, it’s also my wedding anniversary. So I guess I can switch up my cocktails however I want.

So, did my twist on the Leland Palmer result in unleashing a Bob of cocktail? I ~~am totally, utterly~~ may be slightly biased but I think not. This was delightful!

The bergamot in the Earl Grey combined beautifully with the fresh citrus and the limoncello. The herby notes of the tea also works really well with the botanicals in the gin.

The bitterness in the grapefruit and the tea is balanced by the sweetness of the honey and the limoncello with the lemon adding some zing.

This is totally gorgeous. Everything balances beautifully and you can add as much or little soda as you like depending on your needs. We drank them quite long (ie with lots of soda) over a summer afternoon and it was perfection however I can also envisage drinking it with just a splash of soda in winter in colder months.

Happy Birthday Charles Grey, Happy wedding anniversary to me and the fussiest eater in the world, thank you Daniel Boelte for the original recipe and to Leland Palmer for inspiring you to make a drink.

Here’s the recipe!

Have a wonderful week!

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08
Mar
2016

Torta Mimosa

categories: Cake, Italy

Happy International Women’s Day!

Today we are celebrating with an Italian treat called a Torta Mimosa. In Italy, men give the women they love a sprig of mimosa on International Women’s Day (March 8th). In Australia, it is autumn and we will not have mimosa (what we call wattle) for another six or so months so swapped in some gorgeous lilies instead.

The Torta Mimosa is also traditionally served on International Women’s Day in Italy. Or as the Italians would say, Festa Della Donna – it sounds so much more glamorous when you say it like that doesn’t it?

The Torta Mimosa, as the name suggests is meant to look like a sprig of mimosa. I’m not entirely sure that it does but damn it tastes good!

It’s a sponge cake, filled with creme pâtissière (and I added some lemon curd), then covered with small squares of sponge to create the mimosa look.

It’s light, fresh and a lovely way to celebrate all the wonderful,amazing women in your life!

I am so very lucky to have a many inspirational women in my life – from family, friends, work mates, the tasty reads crew, friends from the gym, to the people who I have met through doing this blog. I feel privileged to know such a number of smart, witty, sassy, strong women, each of whom help to make my life, and the lives of all around them better and brighter.

Oh boy…this recipe is not hard to make but there are lots of parts.

I made Margaret Fulton’s sponge cake from The Great Australian Cookbook. Twice.
I used the creme pâtissière from The Joy Of Cooking
And I also used some bought lemon curd in the layers to add some tanginess.

Here is a link to a very similar recipe on Epicurious:

Torta Mimosa

To all you wonderful women, I wish you a very happy International Women’s Day!

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