Golden Caramel Pear Pudding

Caramel Pear Puddings

Pudding continued

Inspired by the success of the Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding I recently made, I decided to have a crack at my own version of a pudding. The definition of pudding, given in the Oxford Dictionary is: “Pudding – a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal.” With such a broad spectrum to work with and armed with what was already available in my kitchen, I made Golden, Caramel, Pear Puddings. They may not be the prettiest pudding to look at, but they certainly are sublime to eat.

Nutty Golden Caramel Pear Pudding

                            

Sauce

Ingredients: 3 large pears cut into rough pieces approx the size of 1/3 matchbox (I used big, juicy, in-season, Packham pears), 1 and 1/2 cups golden syrup, 30g butter 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice, 4 coffee beans, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 cup water and 1/2 cup of milk.  Put all of this (apart from the milk) into a heavy bottomed saucepan and brew on a low flame, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or so, until the pears become golden and the sauce thickens. It will also acquire a “rounder” flavour.

Leave to cool for ten minutes, before adding milk.

Batter: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease pudding dish for a large pudding or use patty-pans.

Ingredients:120g butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 and 1/2 cups SR flour, pinch salt, 3 large free range eggs (fresh from my chickens; thanks girls!), 1 and a 1/4 cups milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla paste and 7 walnuts broken into eighths.

Beat butter and sugar. Add flour and salt and beat ’til mixture resembles a fine crumb. Alternately beat in eggs and milk  thoroughly. Mix in the vanilla and add walnuts. Layer pear in dish or patty-pan with some syrup. Cover the syrup with batter, then cover the batter with syrup. Cook for ten-fifteen minutes or until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean. This pudding can be made in any size you choose. I chose to make smaller ones in patty-pans and ramekins. If you decide to make a family-sized pudding, it will take approx 45 minutes to cook.

These delightful, little puddings can be eaten cold, but taste best fresh from the oven with some cream drizzled over them. The crunchy golden top compliments the  spongy centre and gooey caramel. The syrupy pears add a depth of flavour, while the peanut butter and walnuts add a nutty richness and textural balance. I’m not sure if the coffee beans did too much, but I think they helped enhance the over-all flavour with a touch of bitterness. These puddings were everything I hoped they would be and I hope you like them too.

Slow Cooked Sticky Plum Pork

 

A lot of the old nursery rhymes involve plums. Plum pudding, plum bread and plum pie to name but a few. They must have eaten a lot of plum in those days. I wanted to make something with plum but I was not in the mood for any of those things. Flicking through my old nursery rhyme book, I came across:

To market ,to market,

to buy a plum cake;

Home again, home again,

Market’s late.

 

To market, to market,

To buy a plum bun;

Home again, home again,

Market’s done.

 

And the classic:

To market to market, to buy a fat pig;

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

I know that plum and pork go together so this inspired me to make plum pork in my Romertopf. A Romertopf (“Roman pot”) is a traditional German clay cooker. My old 70’s, clay, slow cooker is one of my favourite kitchen items. It has never produced a bad meal. I don’t know why I think it creates such a superior flavour to a modern, electric slow cooker, but I do. It traps the flavour and moisture in a more complete way. I bought mine at an op-shop for three dollars but if you haven’t the fortitude for that, they are available to buy online (If you want one and don’t have one already).

After scouring the Adelaide Central Markets for some (actual) free-range pork for this dish, I found some magnificent “Heritage Berkshire pork, bred free range at Freeling, SA, grown by the Schuster and Amery families. Producer of the year, 2012, delicious produce awards”. Sold at Feast Fine Foods along with free-range chicken, beef and lamb, it was exactly what I was looking for. I am a big believer in quality ingredients. I think that if you start with fresh, good quality ingredients that the end result will always be tasty.

 

Sticky slow cooked plum pork

This recipe could not be easier. I happened to be lucky enough to have my cousin Carina’s last ever (she has since cut down the tree) bottle of plum sauce in the cupboard. You can use any decent plum sauce. After soaking the Romertopf in water for twenty minutes, place pork in it. Drown the pig in liberal plum sauce. With lid on, place in 180 degree oven for three and a half hours. Kick back; have a glass of wine.

Once cooked, you can eat this pork in whichever way you like. I chose to make Asian style rolls (this time), I reckon roast potatoes would go nicely. You could turn it into pork-pies. The extra liquid could be used for making excellent gravy; the list goes on.

Asian style slow cooked pork rolls:

Shred the pork. Place pork in roll, top with bean sprouts, shredded carrot, coriander, fresh chilli and/or whatever takes your fancy – enjoy, you deserve it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Pancakes

Pancakes

The old woman who lived in a shoe.

There was an old Woman,

Who Lived in a shoe,

She had so many Children,

She didn’t know what to do.

She gave them some broth,

Without any bread.

And Whipped them all soundly ,

And put them to bed.

Well at least she gave them some broth. Although I don’t live in a shoe, I practically live in a shoebox. I don’t have loads of kids, I have one (Rex) but I often do have a horde of hungry children to feed and when I do, I take inspiration from the grandmas.

I remember crowding around my grandmother’s kitchen counter, waiting my turn for a pancake. My grandmother (who is now 97 and an inspiration) seemed to make an endless supply of pancakes for my three cousins, my two sisters and I. Benny and Mandy, the two eldest, could eat about ten each and Nana would say they had “hollow legs”. Once they had a pancake eating competition; Benny threw up afterwards.

I got this recipe for pancakes from my friend Philippa’s grandmother, Madge Jolliffe. About 27 years ago, she made these amazing pancakes and I insisted on learning the recipe. She was happy to teach me (a child) and I have been making them ever since.

The ingredients had no measurements and if you happen to leave one out (apart from the flour, eggs & milk) the pancakes will still turn out fine. Use 2 eggs or four. The flour and milk can also vary. It is more important to get the consistency right. The batter is ready to pour into a hot buttery pan when it is covered with bubbles. After making this a few times you will also come to “know” the taste of when it is right. Bubbles will also pop up when the pancake is ready to flip.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Self-raising flour – sifted (2-4 cups)

4 eggs,

1 and ½ cups of milk,

¼ teaspoon salt,

a splash of melted butter,

a small handful of sugar,

1/4 tsp vanilla essence,

squeeze of lemon

and pinch of bi-carb

                              

Method:

Beat eggs until pale yellow, thick and frothy. Add sugar and beat until mixed. Alternately mix in dry ingredients and milk. Add lemon, vanilla and butter. Beat until bubbles form on surface of mixture, this indicates that the batter is ready.

Heat butter on a medium heat, in a heavy bottomed pan, until it starts to brown. Pour in batter to desired size. Cook pancake until it bubbles on the surface (these bubbles tell you that the pancake is ready to flip). Cook other side of pancake.

These are the best pancakes I have ever had and I find they are perfect for filling up hungry children. It’s probably better to whip the pancakes than the children but once full of pancake they can go off to bed satisfied.

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Lemon meringue tarts

The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts,

She made some Tarts,

All on a Summers Day:

The knave of Hearts,

He Stole those Tarts,

And took them right away,

The King of Hearts,

Called for those Tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore:

The Knave of Hearts brought back those Tarts,

And vowed he’d steal no more.

Today I made Lemon Meringue Tarts for my brother-in-law’s birthday; my little niece Narla helping all the way (it being a pupil free day). We took a long while to beat, bake and create; our tarts in the end, taking all day to make. Our pastry was faulty, our technique was not great, But brother-in-law loved them and we had a ball.

I know that doesn’t quite rhyme, but that is really how the day went. Narla (who is 7) arrived at 12-ish. We made pastry until 3. Of course I decided to double the recipe (as per usual). I could only find a 1/4 measuring cup, so Narla counted and we measured out 16 quarter cups of flour. At this time I asked “Am I the Queen of Tarts?” and Narla agrees. I agree that she must be the “Princess of pastry”, and she sings all the while.

 Lemon meringue tarts.

This recipe is loosely based on the family circle recipe “Little Lemon Tarts”

Pastry: (this is doubled), 4 cups plain flour, 250g butter chopped, 4 teaspoons caster sugar, 4 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons lemon juice (remember; always add a little extra for good luck), 2 teaspoons  lemon rind (the lemon looked a bit shiny, so i scrubbed it), ……….. plus don’t forget the bloody iced water: 2-3 tablespoons-double it, triple it! In all our fun, we forgot the (bloody) iced water; we mixed and we mixed and the pastry did not come together, I took another look at the recipe and realised my mistake, so at this stage we added the iced water and tried again. It was meant to come together into a ball but it was more of a dusty hill, so we add extra water and keep at it.  The pastry is worrying, it does finally come together with more and more water, but it seems wrong.

At this stage we have checked a few times and realise that the chickens are not laying anymore eggs today, we need the last 4 eggs for the filling and I only have three. So we make an executive decision to go with the defective pastry. I roll out the pastry, splotched with pretty, bright yellow patches, using my regular rolling pin; a wine bottle; empty or full. The pastry should be rolled to 3mm or as thin as I can roll it (how thin is 3mm?). Rolling pastry is really good exercise for the arms – especially if you double it. Narla oils the Tart pans and our song goes: “I love oiling, oiling is oiling” (Narla) “Rolling is Rolling,” (me) And “Tarting is Tarting” (us). We thought it was good. We cut out our rounds with a bowl that seems to be about the right size (it is) and leave them for a few minutes – to shrink, because as Narla says “No-one wants shrinking Tarts!” and I agree.The pastry is then gently pressed into tart tin before blind baking until golden.

After all that tarting around (sorry), the filling is really easy: (This also doubled) 250g softened cream cheese, 1 cup caster sugar, 3 or 4 eggs, 4 tablespoons lemon juice (double this – at the least, the end result is too sweet otherwise) and 320g of condensed milk (more or less). Mix together before adding to cooled pastry cases in tart tins.

This could be the end of it, but something must be done with the egg whites. The answer is meringue. Approx 1/2 cup sugar per 2 egg whites makes a pretty decent meringue, the more sugar you add, the stiffer the meringue will be. Beat whites into stiff peaks, add sugar slowly, beating between additions, beat until sugar is dissolved (rub a bit between your fingers to test). Spoon this into lemon filled pastry cases. Swirl little swirls with a knife and wallah! Little Lemon Meringue Tarts. Cook for ten to fifteen minutes depending on the size of your tart tins.

The kids give them two thumbs up, brother-in-law loved them, I reckoned they were too sweet; they needed more lemon and less sugar.