Fruit Mince Pies

•  After coming home from my trip I was pretty happy to see a fully functioning kitchen again so I wanted to make something Christmas inspired.  Since I was a little boy I have always loved fruit mince pies, and my mum would have to keep buying them as I would always manage to find and eat them all before Christmas day! So this year I had my first attempt at sort of making them myself.  I bought the fruit mince mixture from the market but had a go at the short crust myself.
   
  
  Link to The Original Recipe 
  
  Ingredients.
  125g Plain Flour
  Pinch of Salt
  55g Butter
  3tbsp Cold Water
  
  

 

What do you think?

 

Balsamic & Ice-cream

Just a quick post to follow up on the the balsamic experience I had in Modena, Italy.

I picked up this aged balsamic bottle of 8 years before I left and was advised to try it with a plain fior di latte ice-cream if available or failing that, vanilla.

I was a bit sceptical at first but it really is delicious! Its something that you can't do with a balsamic vinegar though as it is too acidic and wont taste very nice, but if you happen to stumble upon a bottle of good quality balsamic I highly recommend it!

I have a few posts saved up from the past couple of weeks since being back so I will be back getting stuck back into it!

Italian Food Experience: Part Three - Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena

The third and final part of the 'Italian Days' tour was a trip to see a balsamic vinegar maker.

It was tucked away in the attic of a house sitting in the country house and the story goes that the family that moved in twenty odd years ago discovered a set of balsamic barrels sitting in the attic that had been aged for over 100 years!

The balsamic that I had always know was, well, vinegar! This balsamic was so different, it has definitley ruined the cheap option for me now.  Traditional balsamic doesnt undergo alcoholic fermentation like factory produced balsamic as the yeast is deactivated before fermentation starts, instead the balsamic uses its sugars to ferment resulting in a sticky sweet liquid that is very potent!

I had traditional balsamic that was more than twice my age poured over ricotta from the Parmesan factory we had been to earlier in the day!

I bought a little bottle to bring back to Australia so a few lucky may get to try some with some gelato when I get back.

The attic was very small and spent most of my time hunched over so apologies for the lack of photos, you can check out this website

http://www.balsamico.it/ing_adsl/home.html

Its in English and pretty interesting!!

Italian Food Experience: Part Two - Prosciuto di Modena

Like parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto di modena has strict measure to ensure only the most premium quality and ensures that the proscuito can only come from this specific region in Italy.

Im not much of a meat eater but this prosciutto was incredible.  Having seen the meat in every stage of its fourteen month curing process I had a new appreciation for how much work goes into these artisan products.

Pug in Pugs

Italian Food Experience: Part One - Parmigiano-Reggiano

Today I went on what I can only describe as the most enlightening food experience I have ever had. Italian Days Food Experience is a locally run foodie tour operating out of Bologna. Its a three part tour visiting the origins of Parmigiano-Reggiano, Balsamic Vinegar and Prosciutto.

Today is my post about visiting a Parmigiano-Reggiano factory in the region of Modena.

In a small group of seven we ventures out of Bologna into regional Modena. This factory was fun by just four local men that produce thousands of wheels of A-Grade Parmigiano-Reggiano a year. The biggest standout from this visit is that Parmigiano-Reggiano, like Champagne, is a product that can only called so if coming from the region of Modena and under strict regulations including the dairy cows diet!

The cheese starts life in a 1100L heated mixer. It contains of half skim, half full fat milk that is heated until the curd sinks to the bottom of the mixer.


Each of these mixers can only produce a maximum of two wheels of cheese at a time! The curd is removed and molded for two weeks until it is a solid mass and the whey is removed completely. It then goes through a salting process where sea salt permeates into the cheese wheel.

The cheese wheels are then dried for up to 14 months. There are three grades of cheese with the highest grade produced more commonly to the lowest grade that cannot carry the Parmigiano-Reggiano name from lack of quality.


Each wheel carries identification numbers to ensure quality control.


This is the best tasting 'Parmesan' I have ever had. It was sharp and grainy and made me itch for a bowl of bolognese to sprinkle it on!!


Next Stop: Balsamic Vinegar

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Leaving Paris for Milan tomorrow and just wanted to show some of the incredible food that i have consumed over the past couple of days.

First of all is Crêpes. I have literally eaten a crêpe a day since I arrived just over a week ago. This evenings was the old favourite of Nutella. However the below photos were from one of my daily visits to Marché Mouffetard. Marché Mouffetard is a little crooked street lined with brasseries, boucheries, fromageries and any other 'eries' you can think of. This crêpe was a mix of edam and chèvre (goats cheese) and was freaking amazing. My love of cheese has no end.


My dinner doesn't normally consist of crêpes but I was particularly hungry this day so I bought this little guy to eat as I continued shopping for the rest of my meal. My dinner time consists of this, further along the cobbled lane I pick up my daily baguette. Fresh, warm and very crusty. I also picked up a Flan à la Pistache for desert (Pistachio Flan). I grabbed a small bottle of Riesling and some beurre (butter) for my bread from the supermarket and make my way back to my apartment to eat it on my balcony and watch the sun go down.



The bars are part of the balcony ballustrade, I was sitting down, I am not staying in a prison.

Au revoir Paris! You will be missed!

Firenze

Stopped in Florence recently and wanted to pick up some leather goods as that is what one does in Florence apparently.

This was my frugal traveler's purchase.

Czeching It Out

I am amidst my organised tour through and can honestly say I was not cut out for bus travel. Tall people are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to transportation. We are not the right fit for airplane seats, buss', tube stations sloping ceilings and bus seats. I feel like I am constantly cramped into a seat with leg room made for amputee's. The only thing that has been this tour's saving grace has been the amazing cities I have seen.

Prague is a stunning city, one that I was excited to see but not one that I had any expectations or preconceived ideas about.

One of Prague's specialties is cheese! So in true food traveler mode I had cheese for all three meals on the full day that I was there. Breakfast was you standard fare with your cheese and deli meat spread. Lunch was a slight more interesting in Prague's Old Town Square with a local selection of street vendors selling their delicious wares.

I tried two different fried cheeses. The first was salty and reminiscent of haloumi


The second was Edam cheese on pastry that was very tasty albeit a little oily.


For dinner I had a potato soup (another Prague specialty) and fried Edam cheese. This time it was purely cheese battered and deep fried. Not something I would normally eat, but hey, its Prague!

Shutting it Down At Selfridges

Met Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman today at Selfridges.



She said 'That's a great coat."

Shutting. It. Down.

Notting Hill

Had an amazing lunch with my good friend Merisha at no. 96 Notting Hill Brasserie with thanks to her amazing internet sleuthing skills!

Starter: Tuna with Rocket and Baby Potato

Main: Chicken Breast with Beans and pureed truffle

Desert: Creme Brulee

The whole meal was fantastic! The chicken was by far a standout, the flavours complimented each other perfectly and the chicken was incredibly juicy but the skin was so crispy and flavoursome! I am salivating just thinking about it!

9.5/10


http://www.nottinghillbrasserie.com/

The Best of the Würst

(DONT FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME!!)

Berliners don't like to go out to eat German food when they go out for dinner, there is a plethora of Italian, Greek and Spanish eateries around but no German! For dinner last night I asked at the front desk where I should go to eat the beloved Bratwurst.

Sophieneck is tucked away in the cobblestoned backstreets of Mitte, a suburb in Berlin, and apparently is the best of the two(!) German eateries in the area.


Sophieneck reminds me of the more homlier pubs that you come across in Australia, with the regulars at the bar and a simple pub menu to choose from.

The menu had english translations which made my decisions a LOT easier. I ordered a stein of Berliner Pilsner and Thüringer Bratwurst with fried potatoes and sauerkraut.

The sun was setting when my food arrived and when I loaded my fork up with bratwurst, sauerkraut and some of those perfectly golden potato slices it made any trace of my fourteen hour flights, sleepless nights and tired feet evaporate. Im not a meat eater normally but this sausage was freaking amazing. It was such a perfect combination of savoury flavours, with the subtle vinegary flavour of the sauerkraut with the soft fluffy potato, juicy bratwurst and sharp mustard. Perfection.

I also dont normally drink beer either but the Berliner Pilsner was actually really good! My whole dinner was so good that I stopped by on my way home again this afternoon to have some lunch.


MDC.

http://www.sophieneck-berlin.de/

Döner Time

It was an amazing day in Berlin today. It was gloriously sunny (apparently for the first time in months, Berlin has apparently had the wettest summer in a long time with more rain falling in two days than would normally for a whole summer) and I went on an amazing walking tour of the East Berlin.

Choice was limited for lunch as we only had some commercial options available to us at the train station where we stopped, so for dinner I was pretty keen to have something more local.

After I got home from this monumental six hour walking tour it had begun to cloud over as it often does after a long autumn day of 30° heat. The cloud has now turned into a thunder storm and I am in my little room stinking the place out with a delicious Döner Kebap with Knoblauchsoße (Garlic Sauce).


While waiting for my Kebap i had a look in the drinks fridge for a cold beverage and whilst my hand instinctivly reached for the half litre 2€ bottle of becks I saw 'Erdbeere' which looked like strawberry milk but was a bit of an enigma with beer in the title so I brought it along for the ride with me.

There is a huge Turkish population in Berlin, and Kebap's are the single most popular fast food here, so much so that Kebap's here have turned into somewhat of a local specialty. It sure tasted great and definitely not as salty what I remember Australian kebabs tasting like. Although the last one was so laden with chili it made me cry and hiccup at the same time.

Döner Kebap Rating: 7/10 for a great street food experience.

Willkommen!!

Been in Berlin for just a couple of hours and wanted to share with you what my first impression of Berlin was.

Auf Wiedersehen!

MDC

Some Good News and An Easy Meal

Lets start with the good news.

I have been shortlisted in pedestrian.tv's innaugural blogster award in the food category (shocking!) and would love it so much for those of you few that are on facebook to head over to their page and vote!! And tell ALL your friends!

http://www.pedestrian.tv/blogster/food/MDC

Now for s treat. Project Saucepan (4 cousins in 4 states cooking challenge) is on hiatus as I am trotting the globe but heres an awesome recipe that Mel contributed and we all made

Chickpean, Chilli and Coriander Patties with Marinated Red Onion Salad.

Yummo!!

Crabby in Singapore

It is HOT and WET!

I got in to Singapore at 7pm this evening and so far I am loving life. I got a cab to the hotel, got out of my sweaty shirt and pants and jumped into some shorts and a tshirt.

So I met some cool cats on the plane who gave me the heads up that there are a lot of rubbish places to eat here and there is a very easy way to tell what places are not so amazing and what places are bangin'.

Crap places will be close to empty and bangin' places will be chock full of locals no matter what time of the day.

So I ventured out onto the streets to find some fare and on the other side of the road was a place that only had one table empty whilst everywhere else had fifteen. I waited patiently for the pedestrian light to change (yes its a strict $100 fine) and snagged it.

I looked at the menu and it had a english/chinese translation. Something else the guys told me on the plane was that Singapore serving size is smallish so I ordered the Chilli Crab with a side of Kai Lan (the waitress looked somewhat impressed that I knew what it was) and waited patiently for my food.

Now for a little back story, I am not exceptionally experienced with crab and what the procedure is to eat it from the shell. By exceptionally I mean I've never had to man handle the crab.

So I'm the only white(?) person in this canteen and pretty much everyone over the age fifty is staring at me out of the corner or their eyes and my plate of crab and kai lan comes over.

The crab was served in a plate the size of a pizza and the kai lan looked as though no one else would be able to order it again for the next two weeks as I would of eaten the national supply.
Just as I was about to tell everyone not to panic because I was American, my crab crushing implements came aaaaaannddd..... I lost my shit.

I started off trying to destroy this crab delicately so as not to attract any more stares but to no luck. Just as I swear the pincer was about to break half the crab slipped out of my greasy little fingers onto my shorts and then onto the floor.

I picked my crab off the floor and put him back on plate, looking around sheepishly at the families who were pretending not to notice. And then, I stopped caring because I took my first bite of that crab. It tasted like a freaking cloud. It was soft and juicy and tasted nothing like a california roll. This crab fulfilled my wildest, crabbiest dreams. I ditched the fork and spoon and attacked that bad boy with everything I had.

After twenty short minutes I had had my way with that crustacean, and those poor Chinese families will never look at a crab the same way again.

End of Day One.

The Countdown

It is less than 48 hours to go until I go on my fateful adventure to explore the world and discover everything food related that it holds! I have been reluctant to buy and food so have been eating weird things like pesto on bread crusts with the last remnants of my goats curd.

Currently I'm watching Julie & Julia, one of my favorite movies to have come out in recent times and it is honestly very inspiring. Julie Powell is one half of the story and started out as a food blogger. Her escape is through food and so is mine. I find it liberating and so comforting to know that you can go into the kitchen and create something wonderful that you can share with friends or selfishly indulge in.

I stumbled upon this picture of Julia Child with what looks like a croquembouche.


I'm just itching to get out and experience all that other countries have to offer!!

First stop Singapore..

The Croquembouche Challenge 2

Making a croquembouche has been by far the most challenging cooking project I have ever undertaken. When I had told people when I initially decided to do it I often got a got a response that seemed a bit apprehensive. Was it really going to be that hard? I mean its a few profiteroles stuck together right? right? WRONG!

It was actually the most stressful cooking experience of my life. The toffee was setting and the profiteroles were falling off, the custard was too thin and seeping out. It just seemed like everything was turning sour. I did it in two stages. I made the profiteroles in the morning and then waited for them to cool before filling with custard. The custard was too thin so i put them in the fridge to thicken and cool.

After about 20 minutes of starting the toffee mix I took them out and they were no longer seeping everywhere. I thought I could get a head start and started to dip the profiteroles in the toffee before it had started to colour. This was a mistake and it did not harden as needed it just became very chewy. I soon realised this and waited until the colour had changed before dipping the rest of them.

When the toffee is ready is when the time crunch starts to happen. You dont want to burn it but you dont want it to set so you need to work quick! I ended up abandoning dipping the profiteroles half way through and used the dipped ones on the bottom for it to be more solid.

When creating the croquembouche I basically glued a layer of profiteroles together in a circle with the toffee and built it up to a conical shape.

As you can see it is not perfect but I am quite chuffed for my first time!

What do you think?