National Lamington Day

Did you know that July 21st is National Lamington Day? Neither did I, until it was mentioned on Mates Up Over.

In case you're not an Aussie, Kiwi or Clevelander...yes Clevelander. Apparently lamingtons have been enjoyed in Cleveland, Ohio (about 40 minutes north of me) for many decades, where they are known as coconut bars. I actually got one from the famous West Side Markets http://www.westsidemarket.org/ last year. A note about West Side Markets: if you EVER have a chance to go, then go. They have the BEST jerky I have ever eaten. It's smoked, not dried. One day I'll give it a go, when I buy or make an upright smoker.

Here is the Wikipedia page for lamingtons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamington.

My recipe is from The Margaret Fulton Cookbook.

1 quantity of basic butter cake mixture
desiccated coconut (unsweetened macaroon coconut here in the US)
thin chocolate icing

Basic Butter Cake

125g butter, softened (4.4oz)
3/4 cup caster sugar (normal granulated sugar in the US works fine)
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs (at room temperature)
2 cups self raising flour (SR flour can be made by adding 2 tsp baking powder to 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Line the base of a 27cm x 18cm (13" x 9" x 2") baking tin with wax paper. (It makes it easier to remove from the tin).
Cream the softened butter and gradually beat in the sugar with the vanilla until it is light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Sift the flour and salt and then fold into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Be careful not to overwork the mixture because this will make the cake dense.

Put the mixture into the prepared tin and lightly smooth the top.

   
I used two smaller tins because I don't have the right one, so I just divided the mixture in two...now that I know the proper dimensions, I'll be adding that to my Amazon Wish List!


Bake for 25-30 minutes (mine took 25), or until a cake tester or skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. You can also test the cake by pressing a finger on the centre of the cake, if it leaves an impression, it needs a bit longer. If it springs back, it's ready.

Cool on a wire rack.

Now, you should make the cake the day before and store it, wrapped in foil, in the fridge. This will ensure the cake doesn't crumble when you're icing and rolling it.


Thin Chocolate Icing

3 cups icing sugar (confectioners sugar in the US)
3 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp butter, melted
1/4 cup boiling water (to get the icing thin like thickened cream, you need more water than this)
vanilla essence


Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of boiling water, butter and a few drops of vanilla essence then stir until smooth and shiny. Add more water until you get the consistency of thickened cream. I had to make two lots of the icing as there was nowhere near enough for the amount of cake I had.

Trim the sides of your cake and cut into whatever size you like. Set up a production line of cake, icing, coconut and wire rake on a baking tray. It makes it easier and less messy.

Dip the cube of cake into the icing, let it drip for a second or two and roll in the coconut. Place on the rack and allow to set.

The way I made mine, with the thinner cake, I got 16 lamingtons. You'll probably end up with 12 if you can find the right baking tray. 

Some versions have a very thin layer of strawberry jam and/or cream sandwiched between two layers of cake. The cakes that I made would work well. But, I like mine the "original" way.

So, happy National Lamington Day.

Enjoy.

Matt

Rolls for sausage.

Sausage rolls. What a throwback to childhood. Originally conceived in England, thanks to our convict past, we enjoy them in Australia. Not having access to them here in the US, we have to make our own or pay a fortune for commercial ones...homemade wins hands down!

I remember getting them at the tuck shop (cafeteria?) as a kid. In High School you put them in a buttered bread roll and doused them in the good old dead horse. (Tomato sauce) Speaking of tomato sauce, I prefer ketchup, always have, because it's got some flavour to it, rather than being, I think, fairly bland.

Today, while watching The Open, I made a batch using a combination of 2 recipes. I wanted to try and make a rough puff pastry, but it was an absolute disaster. I tried twice and ended up throwing it all in the bin.

Then, I found a recipe in a small cook book called Outdoor Food that my Mother-in-Law gave Chanin and I a few days after we got married. The recipe was for Sausage Rolls, but I thought the sausage mixture sounded a bit plain, besides, I had a secret weapon in the sausage mixture department, the pastry looked to be exactly what I was after though. After tasting a finished sausage roll, the pastry, while not as buttery, is the same as I remember from Australia.

The sausage mixture recipe I got from the expats website, Mates Up Over, the link is over there ----->>> on the right. The recipe is from a friend that I've never met by the name of Jan (she goes by the handle of echeers). Jan has moved back to Australia with her family, but her recipe lives on...at least in my house and stomach.

Well, here we go.

Ingredients:

Pastry – see recipe (You will need 2 batches of this pastry)

Pastry Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (plain flour) plus extra for dusting

Pinch of salt

½ tsp mustard powder

½ cup butter, diced

6 tbsp ice water

Method:

Sift the flour into the bowl of a food processor with the salt and mustard powder.

Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

With the processor running at the slowest speed, add water, a bit at a time, until a dough ball forms. Do not add too much or the dough will be sticky. You want the dough soft.

Form into a ball, wrap in foil and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Sausage ingredients:

3 slices of bread

1/2 cup of boiling water

2 tsp of mixed herbs (Italian type herbs are good)

2lbs (1kg) pork sausage meat

2 small carrots finely chopped (food processor works best)

1 large brown onion finely chopped (food processor works best)

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 450F (230C).

Remove crusts from bread, place in a bowl and pour in the boiling water.  Allow standing 5 minutes, squeezing out the excess moisture, and discarding the water.

Combine bread, sausage meat, onion, carrot, herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands.

Get pastry out of fridge and roll out thinly, about 1/8” (3 or 4mm). Cut into rectangles 7” wide. (18cm) Length just depends on how muscular you feel, as the dough will take some effort to roll out.

Use a soft plastic piping bag (without the end attachment) to pipe the mixture down the centre of the pastry. Pipe each piece of pastry twice. Or, you can just spoon it on and shape it.

Fold the pastry over and seal edges. You can leave the rolls 7” long for full size or cut then up to party size. (Up to you how big though) Cut with a sharp knife.

Place on tray (seam side down) lined with parchment/baking paper and then glaze each one with a beaten egg. Prick each one with a fork. (The paper saves time cleaning and helps to brown them on their bottoms.) 

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden. The meat will shrink a bit, so you can over stuff them or leave it as is.

I had one for lunch and it was delicious!

You can wrap them in wax paper, then foil and freeze them.

To reheat, pre-heat oven to 350F (180C), then cook on a tray for 15 minutes.

Special thanks to Jan for the mixture recipe.

As always, Enjoy.

Matt

Pavlova. To die for dessert!

I thought for dessert tonight (a rarity in this house as I don't usually eat dessert) I'd make a pavlova.

What the hell is a pavlova? I can hear you shouting now. Pavlova is a meringue that was invented in either Australia or New Zealand in the 20's or 30's. No one will ever know for sure. Here is yet another Wikipedia link, this time for pavlova: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_%28food%29 

My Mum gave me this easy recipe, so I don't have to bother with pre-mixed stuff that costs too much.

2 egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar (if you're in the US, normal sugar is is fine enough)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch in the US)
4 tbsp boiling water

Directions:

Turn your oven on to 350F (180C)

Place all ingredients in your mixing bowl, adding boiling water last and beat on high speed until mix is very stiff. This will take 15 minutes or more.

 Spread onto parchment paper lining a flat baking tray - don't spread it out! Pile it up high, keeping diameter about 20-22cm. (9 inches)

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.


Reduce heat to slow, 300F (150C) and bake for a further 45 minutes.


Turn oven off when done and allow to cool in the oven with the door ajar.

O

Don't worry about the cracking or the to caving in, it happens with the "free formed" pavlova. Some recipes tell you to cook it in a spring formed pan, but I don't have one and although Mum had a million of them, she never used one...so why start now?


When it's completely cooled, decorate with whipped cream (And not that canned stuff either. Buy some heavy whipping cream and whip it yourself.) and fruit of your choice. Back in Australia we usually had banana and passionfruit, but since passionfruit is extremely difficult to get here in NE Ohio and the canned just doesn't do much for me, we had ours with banana, raspberries and blackberries.

So there you have it. One of Australia's most iconic desserts and it's super easy too.


Enjoy.


Matt
















 

Achtung baby...it's Schnitzel time!

Today's "feast" will be strange to most Americans but maybe ho-hum for most Australians. But, I bet, unless you've made it for yourself, you haven't had chicken schnitzel in the US.

My Gran was from Austria, so we had all sorts of food that people would rate as questionable. Chicken and Vienna schnitzel aren't in that class but they are absolutely seared in my memory as a normal meal that we'd have. And, chicken schnitzel is almost uniquely Australian, particularly in a sandwich with lettuce and mayonnaise. Not "real" mayo but the Miracle Whip (Praise) type mayo...I just had dinner and my mouth is watering!


I've always liked mine with Fountains Mustard Sauce, which, unfortunately, is not available here in the US, not even from any of the online stores. Thankfully, a good Aussie friend, Terri, and my Mum came to the rescue and got me some...remember this:

This is so easy to make and you can fool your kids into thinking it's chicken nuggets. (We did with Connor, he ate it and asked for more!! - score 1 for the good guys.)


Ingredients:


Chicken breasts, thin sliced. You can buy whole breast's and slice these in half. (For veal schnitzel use veal scalopini)
2 eggs
2 tbsp cold water
1/4 cup or so vegetable oil
all purpose flour (plain flour for the Aussies) seasoned with salt and pepper
dry bread crumbs (run these through a sieve to get rid of the bigger crumbs)
2 oz (60g) butter


Beat the eggs with the water and set aside.
Pound out the schnitzel (I use a meat mallet, but you can use a rolling pin) to about 1/4 inch (4-5mm).

I put the meat in some plastic wrap so I don't get it all over the place.


Coat the schnitzel with the flour (I put it in a plastic bags and shake it) and shake off the excess.

Dip into the egg mixture, allow the excess to drip off, then coat with the bread crumbs. Firm them in with your hands.

Cover your schnitzel with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will let the egg mixture harden so that the coating with stay on the schnitzel when they're cooked.


Heat the oil in a large frying pan (put it on your largest burner and use a medium heat or just slightly hotter), add the butter. When the foam subsides, it's time to start cooking.


Add the schnitzels, but DO NOT crowd the pan as this will cool the oil off too much and just make the schnitzels greasy. Cook the schnitzels for about 2-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

That one almost looks a bit like mainland Australia...almost.


Drain on a paper towel lined plate and serve with veggies of your choice.


We had ours with boiled new potatoes, carrots and braised cabbage.

Plus, as I mentioned earlier, Connor even liked them.

So there you have it...if you're careful, you'll have enough left over for those beautiful sangers I mentioned. Guess what I'm going to be having???


Enjoy.


Matt

Ribfest!!

Happy almost 4th of July to all Americans, where ever you are! In case you've been living in Koozbane and have no idea what the 4th of July is, it's America's Independence Day. Similar to Australia Day and Waitangi Day...for the Aussie's and Kiwi's among us.

Anyway, the traditional thing to do is have a "cookout" - bbq to the rest of us. I like to cook ribs during the sunny months. But I don't just boil and grill them (ugh!) or bake them in the oven (I used to do them this way but have since learnt the error of my ways! LOL

I have come to the conclusion that the best and only way of doing ribs right, is to barbeque them. Barbequing is done between 190F (877C) and 350F (176C) with indirect heat, mostly with an offset smoker like my one below. They are called a barbeque pit, I guess because barbeque originally was done like a campfire. And the cook is called the Pit Master...you may now refer to me as Pit Master Matt! :-)

I've yet to really modify this barbeque to make it perfect, but I've got my eye on another one a bit bigger than this one that will comfortably do 4 racks of ribs laying flat and lends itself to modification very, very well. (If you want to donate to the cause, email me and I'll give you my Paypal details!! ROFL)
There are several types of ribs. Here is a very good description of the different types from Wikipedia. I use baby back ribs as SWMBO* doesn't like any other kind. 

* She Who Must Be Obeyed

I did ribs, baked beans and coleslaw for Chanin, Connor and the outlaws, as they came back from Ocean City, Maryland this afternoon. They spent the last week there at the beach, the lucky buggers!


The first thing you need to do is prepare the ribs and make your dry rub.

To prepare your ribs, you need to cut away any excess meat that hangs off the ribs and remove the membrane that's attached to the back of the ribs. To do that, make a slit in the back, get your fingers under the membrane and peel a bit off. Then take some paper towel to grip the membrane and peel it off the rest of the way. This will make the ribs easier to eat when they're done. Do be bothered with this, you'll thank me for the effort.

The rub that I use is from Mr. Myron Mixon, who's won so many barbequing competitions it's amazing that he's still allowed to compete. Chanin gave me his new book for Father's Day and his rub is great and simple.


Here's the ingredients:


1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tbsp dry mustard
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp cayenne pepper (I just used one cause "they" can't take the heat)
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper


Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl thoroughly. This mixture will keep indefinitely in an airtight container.


I put some of the mixture into a shaker and use that to put it on the ribs, both front, back and sides.

Alrighty, the first thing you need to do is get your charcoal going. Yes, I said charcoal, not briquettes. Nasty things with who knows what's in them. I buy "lump" charcoal. Which really just looks like whats left from an open fire, but a bit bigger. I get it from Wal-Mart for the same price as briquettes. The advantage to using "real" charcoal is that you know basically what it is and that it's very low ash.

I stole this description from a very good website called the Lump Charcoal Database. Here is what Kingsford says is in their briquettes and what each ingredient is used for:

 wood char (heat source), mineral char (heat source), mineral carbon (heat source), limestone (uniform visual ashing), starch (binder), borax (press release), sodium nitrate (ignition aid), sawdust (ignition aid).

So, you need to start your charcoal. My big tip here is to get a charcoal chimney. They are easy to use and you don't need lighter fluid, which will often give the meat a funny taste. Here is mine heating up the charcoal. This takes at least 20 minutes for all the charcoal to be ready. You'll also have to replenish the coals about 3 or so times over the cooking period...don't wait until you notice the temperature drop because it will just take longer to cook the ribs. I always wait for the chimney to cool down, then set it up ready to light and get them going. I probably get away with topping the charcoal up every 2 hours. So, once at the beginning, then at hour 2 or so and again at hour 4 to 5.

 
It's on bricks because the high heat that the coal put out can actually react with the concrete and make it crack and/or explode!

All you do is fill your chimney with charcoal, loosely wad up some newspaper and stick it up and under the chimney, light it and wait. You wait for the charcoal on the top to become ashed over, then your ready to put them in the firebox.

Next, set your air dampers correctly (I won't go into this, as all barbeques are different, even the same models won't work exactly the same way - if you have a "pit" like this one, you should have it figured out by now...if you don't, let me know and I can point the way for you.)

Once you've got the temperature where you want it and it's stabilised, this looks about right

 
throw some chunks of mesquite, hickory, apple or whatever wood you're using onto the coals and put your ribs on and walk away for about a half hour. I usually start mine meat side down.

After half an hour you'll want to turn your ribs over and spritz them. You spritz them to keep the outside (or "bark") of the ribs moist during cooking. I use a mixture of 2 cups 100% apple juice and 1/2 cup white wine vinegar. Put this in a spray bottle and spritz the ribs every half hour.

While the ribs are doing their thing, it's time to make the finishing sauce. Depending on which part of the US you are from, you might like a thin vinegar sauce, a sweet tangy sauce or no sauce at all. We like our ribs Kansas City style, thickish sweet, tangy sauce. Here is the recipe I use:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped - best done in a food processor
1/2 green capsicum (bell pepper), finely chopped - again, best done in a food processor
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups ketchup (not tomato sauce if your an Aussie etc, it must be ketchup)
1/2 cup molassses
2 tsp hot sauce
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Put oil in a large non-aluminium pan, then saute onion, capsicum and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer slowly for 20-30 minutes. Stir frequently to stop sauce burning. Let it rest for at least 1 hour after cooking to allow flavours to develop.

This makes 4 cups. More than enough for 2 racks of ribs. The rest can be frozen to use later on more ribs, different cuts of pork, beef or chicken.

You'll want to continue cooking and spritzing your ribs until the meat starts to retract from the ends of the bone. I cook mine for 6 hours, so use that as a guide. Yes it is a long time, but it is well worth the time and effort. Especially if the best you've got is a steak house restaurant that cooks them in the oven and fires them on a gas grill!

With about a half hour to go, now is the time to baste your ribs with your sauce. I use a silicone basting brush because it's easy to clean, unlike a basting mop. Make sure before you start, that your sauce is warm. You shouldn't put cold sauce on hot food...it just cools the food down. At this time, I turn my ribs back onto the meat side and baste the bone side. Close the lid and get the heat cranked up in the "pit" by opening all the air dampers. After 15 minutes, I turn the ribs back over and baste the meat side, close the lid and wait some more.

 
Give them another 15 or 20 minutes and your ready to get them to the table.

What you want, when you cut them is a "smoke ring". It's the pinkish ring around the outside of the meat. This is the smoke that's penetrated the rib and gives you that great flavour that you really just can't get any other way.

I hope that this has given you some inspiration to practice the great art and science of barbequing. If you can't do this, then do yourself a favour and get your rib fix at somewhere that you can smell and see the smoke coming from the chimney of the pit.

Happy Independence Day!

Enjoy.

Matt