by Dom on February 26, 2010
Having just got back from my Italian holiday and the months of 2010 fast approaching its time to give you a little run down on the events are coming up on my calendar. Many of you may have seen my new TV commercials for Gourmet Garden and Rubbermaid, I have been busy also filming the Great Aussie Cook Off and also a couple of pilots for some new food shows looking to be launched next year…very exciting.
My months have been passing venturing into new fields working as a food stylist, creating a series of cooking classes for students doing Home Economics in high schools, writing my first cook book, and of course still loving all my cooking demonstrations, recipe development, cooking classes and working my way through the 100s of recipes I picked up from my Sicilian family.
I am delighted to share with you all a wonderful selection of new recipes so that you can stay inspired through the months to come and although the festive season is well and truly over I have also added a series of Christmas recipes that really got me out of a pickle last year that are suitable for all year round cooking.
Check out my calendar for this years cooking classes, my new private catering menu, some great tips on natural food base body and face treatments in the Pampering section…. you will look at chocolate very differently and drool over restaurant reviews for those nights when you are not quite sure where to go out for dinner.
If you are out and about in Australia have a glimpse at my events page for a wide variety of culinary exposés where you will catch me doing all sorts of wild and wonderful cooking antics.
I look forward to hearing from you if you have a special recipe you would like to share, a restaurant that took your breath away or any foodie bits that you feel I must know and write about.
Enjoy the new web site and happy cooking.
Dominique
Dominique Rizzo, Chef and Presenter, is the founder and face of Pure Food Cooking. To read more about Dominique, visit about Dom.
Feel free to explore the site and try any of the recipes in my blog! If you aren’t sure of your cooking talent, be sure to have a look at my cooking classes here.
Ingredients:
40g Fresh yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 cups plain flour
4 eggs
120g softened butter
1 egg yolk for glazing
Method:
Pre heat oven to 200c.
Cream yeast with sugar and a little warm milk.
Add remaining milk and allow to stand in a warm place for 10 min or until foamy.
Sift flour into bowl , add eggs and yeast mix.
Mix well and add half the butter.
Dot the remaining butter on top of the dough cover and leave to stand until doubled in size. Approx 40 min.
Mix the dough again until it pulls away from the side of the bowl. Place in the freezer for 15 mins.
Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
Roll into balls and place into greased moulds or sit on trays. Brush with a little glaze and again leave to double in size approx 40 mins.
Glaze again and bake for 25 min until golden brown and hollow when tapped.
Makes about 8
Ingredients
1kg white Spelt or wholemeal flour
30g salt
30g fresh yeast
30g sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup warm water
Extra warm water
Method
Mix warm water, yeast and sugar until dissolved, leave in a warm place to ferment and bubble
Blend flour and salt
Add yeast mixture and oil to flour and mix until combined and dough pulls away clean from the sides of the bowl.
More water may be added if the mix seems too dry and becomes crumbly.
Leave to prove in a warm place until doubled in size.
Knock back dough and knead dough until smooth and elastic approx. 5 min.
Shape into desired loaf and leave to prove again approx. 10 min bake in a moderate oven of about 170c until surface becomes golden brown and crusty.
A perfect loaf should sound hollow when knocked on the bottom and should be an even colour all over.
OTHER OPTIONS
- Roll dough around fillings such as pesto, dried tomatoes, parmesan, ham
- Add other ingredients such as fresh herbs, grated vegetables, mashed pumpkin or potato or sweet fruits at stage 2
- Roll into small loaves and flatten out to a large oval shape, cook on a flat grill and serve with dips or as a sandwich bread.
- Use as pizza dough, and for stuffed calzone.
Rose and almond pudding
Serves 4
3 gelatine leaves or 6 tsp powdered gelatine
300ml thickened cream
200ml milk
50g almond meal
50g caster sugar
1 tsp rose water
½ cup chopped rose petals
Soften the gelatine leaves in cold water. Alternatively, if using powdered gelatine, stir in with 100ml boiling water until dissolved.
Bring the cream, milk, almond meal and sugar to a gentle boil. Add the softened gelatine, the rose water and petals.
Pour into 4 moulds and refrigerate for 5-6 hours. The moulds can be plastic to be removed later or simply pour into ornate glasses or ramekins. To unmold the puddings, sit briefly in hot water and tip upside down onto your plate.
FOR PERFECT EGGS – SCRAMBLED, POACHED, FRIED EVERY TIME…………….
STORAGE – Eggs are best stored in the carton as their shells are very porous 
and can take on smells that linger in the refrigerator. Their shelf life is 2 1/2 – 3 weeks in the fridge.
FRESH TEST - On breaking open an egg the freshest will have yolks that sit high and look plump with the white being a little cloudy and clinging to the yolk.
If you are unsure of the egg drop it into a bowl of water…….
If it floats on its side its fresh.
If it floats vertically with the rounded end up it 2-3 wk. old
If it is floating on the surface of the water …throw it out.
POACHING – With a deep pan of rapidly boiling water slip an egg into the water and with a spoon whirlpool the water around the egg to create an even oval shape. Allow to cook for 2-3 min with the whites becoming firm and the yolk soft to the touch.
BOILING – To center the yolk drop the egg into a whirlpool of boiling water , continue to whirlpool for approx. 1 min during cooking.
Soft Eggs – 2-3 min
Firm White, Soft Yolk – 5-6 min
Hard Boiled – 10min
SCRAMBLING- Melt butter or oil in pan, place eggs in a bowl with milk/ cream and with a fork or whisk beat until the yolks and whites are broken up. Pour in the hot pan and stir gently with a wooden spoon just to break up the eggs. Don’t over stir or over cook the eggs as they will become lumpy and rubbery and cause the eggs to weep. Scrambled eggs should be soft and creamy with firm pieces of egg throughout.
Additional Flavours – Salt and other additions like fresh herbs, cheese, sour cream, proscuitto etc should be added towards the end of cooking.
The addition of salt prior to cooking relaxes the proteins and may also cause the eggs to break up or become thin and watery.
Sour Cream Cake
500g x castor sugar
300g x butter
Good pinch salt
4 x 55g eggs
1 x tsp vanilla essence
550g x sour cream
450g plain flour
20g x baking powder
Decoration:
Fondant Icing –
750 g pure icing sugar, sifted
120 ml water, 30 ml light corn syrup,
5 ml almond extract flavoured with coffee
pecan nut 1/2’s for decoration
In a saucepan, combine icing sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a temperature of 92 degrees F (33 degrees C.) Mixture should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to coat cake. Dilute coffee with hot water before adding to fondant mix.
Method:
Microwave butter until just soft but not melting.
Place butter, salt and castor sugar in mixing bowl using the paddle not whisk cream well scraping sides regularly.
Add eggs and essence lightly mixed a little at a time being careful not to split mix.
Now add sour cream and float on top, then gently stir through one or twice to release butter mix off the bottom of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and baking powder and spoon through the whole mixture by hand with a silicon spatular – we do not want to develop any gluten, this will ensure the finished cake is nice and short.
Pour mixture into a lined 28cm Kaiser springform tin with baking paper.
Bake for 1 hour @ 160’C and then if not cooked turn down to 150’C for a further 30min checking between the hour mark and final 30minutes with a cake tester if your oven cooks faster it may have to come out sooner. Cool it down and turn onto a cooling rack.
After it has fully cooled decorate the bottom which will now become the top, see pics – you can make another collar out of baking paper around the cake to hold the fondant until it cools and sets. Before you place the collar on dust the sides with icing sugar. Mark into portions and place ½ a pecan nut for decoration. You can slightly warm to serve.
Vegan Orange Hazelnut and Chocolate Syrup Cakes
3 large oranges boiled
1 cup soy milk
250g silken tofu
1 cup oil
1 tsp stevia
1 ¼ cups ground hazelnuts
2 ½ cups rice flour
1 tsp Bi carb soda
3 tsp Baking powder
1 cup cooked dates
½ cup dark cocoa
½ cup soy milk
200g vegan organic dark chocolate
For the syrup
1 cup water
2 cups orange juice
1 cup rice syrup or malt syrup
Rind of 3 oranges
Pre heat the oven to 180c.
Grease and line a spring form tin or muffin tins.
Puree the oranges, add the tofu and with the motor running add the oil, stevia and soy milk.
Combine all the dry ingredients and blend well so that the raising agents are well incorporated into the mix.
Blend the wet ingredients into the dry and fold the two together. Divide the mix into two parts and add the blended extra soy milk cocoa and melted organic chocolate to one batch and combine well.
Pour the plain orange mix into the baking tin and spread around, pour in the chocolate mixture on top of the orange and spread evenly over the orange layer.
Bake for approx 40 minute until cake bounces back or a skewer comes out clean.
Syrup
Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to the boil, allow liquids to simmer until thickened in texture.
Pour syrup over hot cake before serving.
Flourless Passionfruit, Poppy seed and Mandarin Cake
4 large Mandarins boiled
6 large eggs separated
3 cups almond meal
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup oil
½ cup passionfruit pulp
¼ cup poppy seeds
Preheat oven to 180c.
Grease and line a 28inch springform tin, muffin or friand tins.
Puree the whole mandarins until fairly smooth and pour into a bowl, add in the passionfruit.
Blend together the oil, egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and mix is smooth.
Combine the almond meal with the baking powder and poppy seeds and mix well, add in the mandarins and the egg yolk mix and blend until well combined.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold this through the orange mixture.
Pour the mixture into the baking tin and sprinkle with shaved almonds, bake for approx 30 minutes or until a skewer comes clean from the cake.
Upside Down Pear, Berry & Polenta Cake
This dairy free cake be made with a variety of different fruits depending on the season. Other options can include apple and berry, plum, rhubarb, peach or apricot, strawberry.
Poaching Pears
12 large pears
4 cups brown sugar
2 lt water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 star anise
Cake
5 eggs
11/3 cup brown sugar
250 ml olive oil
150 ml white wine
2 cups spelt flour
2 cups ground almonds
1 ¼ cup Polenta
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ Fresh vanilla bean
Topping
2 cup sugar
2 cup water
2 cups berries
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
For the Poaching
Combine the sugar, water and spices in a pot. Peel the pears and place into the pot, bring the poaching liquid to the boil, cover with a piece of baking paper and turn off the heat. Allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid.
For the Topping
Combine the sugar and water in a pot and bring to the boil. Allow the syrup to simmer until thickened.
Take the syrup off the heat and add in the berries, lemon juice and rind.
For the Cake
Set the oven to 180. Line the base of a 28cm spring form cake tin with baking paper. Cut 6 of the poached pears in half, and arrange the fruit on the base of the tin. Pour over 6-7 dessert spoons of topping liquid including some of the berries.
Beat the eggs and sugar and vanilla bean until creamy, add the oil and wine and beat for another few minutes. Sift the flour, polenta and baking powder and add in the almond meal and mix until combined. Pour batter onto fruit and bake for about 1 hour
until a skewer comes out clean and cake top is golden brown. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
Cut the other 6 poached pears in half and add them into the topping syrup.
Turn the cake out of the tin onto a large plate and place spoon fulls of pear and berry mix onto the top of the cake. Finish the cake with spoonfuls of syrup and serve with whipped ricotta or cream.
Spiced Sweet Potato, Coconut and Tofu Tarts
1 250G Block soft tofu
11/2 cups almond meal
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sweet potato cooked peeled and mashed
1/2 cup palm sugar
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. all spice
Method
- Combine all ingredients in food processor
- Blend until combined and pour into prepared pastry cases
- Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown approx. 15 – 20 min
- Serve with a ginger + cardamom syrup of 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tblsp grated ginger, 2 cardamom pods melt sugar and water over low heat, add ginger and cardamom and continue to simmer until syrup in consistency.
Organic Swiss Chard, Pear and Raisin Tart
Makes a 23cm/9in flan tin
1 quantity of sweet pastry
100g organic raisins
2 tblsp or dark rum or your favorite liqueur
900g Organic Swiss chard
50g pine nuts
75g organic sugar opt
3 pears peeled and cored
3 tblsp soy cream cheese
grated zest of 2 oranges
2 organic eggs beaten
Method
- Soak raisins in the rum for approx. 15-min. Place raisins into a saucepan and simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Steam the chard, leaves only and roughly chop.
- Place chard in a bowl with the raisins and all the other ingredients
- Mix well and spread onto the tart base cover the top with another layer of pastry with a few cuts into the top.
- Bake for 45 min until golden brown. Allow to cool, dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh double cream.
