bourke st bakery sausage rolls

Hi everyone, hope everyone is well. Holidays have been great, my life has consisted of friends, gossip girl and baking. Having said that christmas shopping has sent me broke and a japan trip is fast approaching. So after trying the bourke st bakery in marrickville (i think it's quite new, it opened on mitchell st) i decided to attempt this recipe from the bourke st bakery baking bible. This cookbook has changed my life, i love everything about it from the delicious recipes to the handy hints, even the pics are mouthwatering. This recipe is for pork and fennel sausage rolls and the first time i ever had them was at danielle's kitchen tea (my partner in crime Tors made them). They were amazing so i then went to the actual bakery and the rest is history (ie i made them). Here is the recipe i used (i am ashamed to say i did not make the puff pastry- i know, i feel guilty but pampas is good and puff pastry is a nightmare).

Pork and fennel sausage rolls

Ingredients

6 garlic cloves through a garlic crusher

40g fennel seeds chopped

4 thyme sprigs

150g onion chopped finely

150g celery chopped finely (boiled till soft)

150g carrots chopped finely (boiled till soft)

1.2kg pork mince

40g bread crumbs

20g salt

15g white pepper

puff pastry

egg wash for brushing- 1 egg and milk

Method

Heat some oil in a frying pan and brown the garlic, onion, thyme and fennel seeds. Add the cooked celery and carrots to the frying pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl add the mince, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and cooled vegetables.

Cut the pastry in half and put the meat into a log in the middle, fold the pastry over and secure tightly (you can use some egg wash to secure it). Cut the log into smaller pieces and egg wash the top (this ensure it will turn a lovely brown colour). Line a baking tray with foil (or baking paper) and bake in a 190 degree oven for 20 mins (or until the tops are brown and "oozing with goodness")

The dress i am wearing is by Florent. I bought this dress in kyoto japan last year and i still love it. I know every dress i write about is "my favourite" and "i love it" but this one has been my favourite for the longest time and i really do love it! There is a Florent store in tokyo, we tried to go last time but they were closed over new years, so this trip will definitely involve a post about florent.

Other things that have happened this week include a wedding- my friend danielle's. It was the first time i was a bridesmaid and i had such a lovely day- tiring but lovely. Danielle looked amazing and Ian was so proud. Danielle's dress was by Steven Khalil in Paddington sydney. The dress was made of fine tulle with polka dots. The cake was made by sweet art and was amazing- i hope to be that good one day. The bridesmaid dresses were created by Leonie Grace. It was a perfect day for danielle and i think the wedding was completely her- elegant and contemporary.

Congratulations danielle and ian, xoxo

Halfway to an Alannah Hill catalogue

Hi everyone sorry it's been so long since my last post, silly exams took over my life but now they are over and i am ready for a summer of blogging, shopping and baking. To finish stage 2 there was a halfway dinner which i helped organise with my trusty friend Sam. The night was a complete success with 170 guests at the tea room QVB.

We celebrated the end of an era since we've all split up now into our allocated clinical schools. The best thing about stage 2 for me was my study group (which are the girls featured in these photo's). I really couldn't have passed osce (and hopefully barrier) without them. My biggest piece of advice to anyone starting med at sydney university is to find a good study group, they will become your best friends and remind you, you're not alone even when you feel like you're the only one who has given up life for med. So here are the pictures, i hope you enjoy them, all 3 girls are dressed in Alannah Hill and i am dressed in my 500 days of summer dress.

The 500 days of summer dress was in the wedding scene when summer attend's Millie's wedding. In the movie it was made by western costume, but i had it made by Ophelia Belle in Enmore. She did and amazing job i was so happy with it, it's my own perfect summer dress!

My 3 greatest friends are wearing Alannah Hill dresses, Bek and Jac also have on alannah hill shoes while Lauren is wearing mollini. We all got our hair done at elevation hair in Glebe, on Glebe point road.

Picture of the high ceiling in the tea room QVB. They are such a wonderful company, so professional and everything ran so smoothly. The food was also amazing, would be a great venue for a wedding.

So the plan for this summer is to bake and shop, bake and shop! I have the Bourke St bakery cookbook at hand and i will be attempting croissants next week, so make sure you stay turned to see how they turn out! Furthermore japan and china is coming up (we leave on the 1/1/10) so i will be sure to post all my purchases (modeled hopefully like liebemarlene).

I would also like to thanks Topshop and Incu since i won 2 tickets to london for shopping at Topshop about Incu on oxford st sydney. Topshop is a UK brand which has finally reached our shores thanks to Incu (my other favourite shop). So i'll have alot of fashion to talk about in the coming year!

Yay i feel so free, it's finally hit me that exams are over and i have just under 2 months to do other things i really enjoy- like blog, bake and shop.

merry christmas, i love it when they start putting up trees and christmas lights

xoxo

Me and Matty

Danielle's Kitchen Tea

Hi everyone, today was my friend's kitchen tea which i had been organising for the last 3 days. It's been a really nice break from study (or an excellent form of procrastination since i was very busy and didn't even think of my exams). Preparation started on the thursday and continued till today, i ended up making trifle, cake, cupcakes, scones, chocolate tarts, ice cream cake and iced tea! But i think the highlight was definitely the teapot cake. The cake was supplied by mondo and i turned 2 9"round cakes into a teapot cake with chocolate ganache. The night was a success, team Tors and Christine (me) worked so well since Tors made all the savory (sausage rolls, finger sandwiches, quiche and little tartlets) while i made all the sweet!

I must admit i had a lot of help from my trusty friends jenny, gen and emily! i really couldn't have done it without you guys.

There's so much to say since these 3 days have been so busy, so sorry if this post makes no sense since i jump from one thing to another.

Scones

These scones were made based on the recipe from joyofbaking.com, it's a really good recipe for moist scones which i served with whipped cream and Hanks triple berry jam.

Actually i forgot i had clotted cream also which is still in Danielle's fridge.

Here's the recipe

ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

50 grams caster sugar

pinch of salt

80 grams cold butter (chopped)

1 egg

dash of vanilla extract

120 ml fresh cream

Method:

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and using your hands combine the butter through the flour so that it's a crumb consistency (like making pastry). In a separate bowl mix the egg with the cream and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until just combined. On a floured surface kneed the dough until the dough is even (do not over kneed). Cut into circles with a cookie cutter (about 2-3cm thick). Bake in a 180 degree over for about 15 mins until they are browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream and jam

These scones can be reheated in a microwave before serving to make them super moist and warm, a must for high tea!

Chocolate tarts

These tarts are amazing, i think i ate about 10 (they are small). The finishing touch is definitely the raspberry, it cuts through the sweetness with some sourness and it's perfect. The cases were bought from southern cross suppliers in camperdown, however pampas shortcrust pastry makes a perfect tart also. The chocolate filling is so simple:

Heat 150ml cream and 150ml water is a saucepan till boiling. Add to 300g couverture chocolate (use nice chocolate, it does make a big difference) and whisk to combine, the hot cream/water will melt the chocolate and form a glossy ganache.

These tarts were definitely my favourite, if i was on ready steady cook i would make this as my quickie bag! (actually i was on ready steady cook but not as a cook so i didn't get a quickie bag but that's a whole nother story).

The teapot cake

This cake is to date my favourite cake! I love dark blue with brown. I couldn't have done it without emily and jenny, you guys are the best. Everytime i start a cake i always stress, so on thursday i was stressing, however jenny and emily were nearby to remind me it's just a cake. The best thing for me about this cake was the fact that i put a center pole down the middle. I have never done a center pole on my own and was very proud of myself for drilling and glueing! The brown snail trail is piped royal icing, the ribbon is from amazing paper in enmore. The inspiration for this cake came from the invite. I tried to make navy (which is quite difficult to make) since i ended up with teal (really stupidly, because i added all the navy blue colour to jade icing, even a 5 year old could tell you navy and green make teal!) Let me know what you guys think,

So that's enough about cakes, time to move onto clothes. This week's favourite item is my new ebay dress! I got mat to take a picture of me posing like liebemarlene, what do you think? did i get the pose right? I love the hearts on this dress!

My friend bek and i really love this girl's blog, check it out if you haven't read it, even the picture are amazing! Speaking of picture, i am a really bad photographer i can only shoot on auto (you can tell the pictures i took compared to the ones mat took)- he can shoot on manual. Anyways i look to liebemarlene and hope one day my pics will look that good, in the mean time all i can do is copy her poses.

Anyway better go to bed now, tomorrow is back to study day. The fun is over i am dead to the world until after the 1st of december, but then after that all i will be doing is baking, blogging and shopping!

xoxo

Cath's Tiffany box cake

Hello again, sorry it's been so long since i've posted anything but the jacaranda's are out and that can only mean one thing- exams!

However amongst all the stress of the big barrier, jack, em and i were able to find some time to make a cake for jack's sister Cath. We decided on a tiffany box, which has always been my favourite cake to make and eat! We used a carrot and walnut cake with white chocolate ganache and covered with fondant.

Studying is the perfect time to fill your brain with lots of useless knowledge since google is a great tool for procrastination. I learnt all about new TV shows i'd like to watch, what's new at modcloth, urban outfitters and of course i check liebemarlene's blog religiously. My friend bek and i decided after studying so hard, we should reward ourselves with a modcloth shipping, we love mail (especially from modcloth), i will post pictures when we receive it. So some of my recent purchases have been a lovely dress with velvet hearts against a shear navy, but my most exciting purchase which will soon be complete is my 500 days of summer dress which i'm getting made!

Ophelia Belle in enmore is amazing and she is going to replicate the 500 days of summer dress that Summer wears to Millie's wedding. I was so excited, since i fell in love with this dress at first sight! I have a calico fitting next saturday so i'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I have spent alot of time googling this dress (37 pages of google images on numerous occasions)! I love it!

So another way to procrastinate is to make invites for a kitchen tea! My friend danielle is getting married in december and together with Tors we are going to hold the perfect kitchen tea. Here are the invites i made, with a cute little key ring whisk! The idea actually started when i googled kitchen tea invites and found some really cute ones which were wrapped around a miniature rolling pin, however the crap shop i went to didn't have mini rolling pins so i opted for the whisk option. The paper is from amazing paper in newtown which is another one of my favourite shops which i can spend hours in. This place is truely amazing and a nightmare for indecisive people such as myself! woolworths is also an indecisive person's nightmare (maltersers of peanut m&m's????)

Anyways better run, damn you neuro, i wish i could bake, blog and shop all day, that would really be the perfect life, oh well it just means i get to enjoy it even more in december after the barrier!

xoxo (i also love gossip girl)

breakfast in the Hunter

Lovely scenic pictures of the hunter valley, just outside the best winery- scarborough's (well according to my friends anyways, considering i didn't try any!)

The BEST study group ever (and the best friends ever, lauren should also be in this picture)
The boys and the girls on john's farm.

I was very lucky last weekend when i was invited by a few friends to a farm in the hunter valley. The hunter is an area full of wineries and cheese but more than that, it's picturesque. I took so many pictures, got to feed cows and ride on a quad bike (this was the highlight of my trip).

My friend jacki driving a quad bike in a blazer, such city people, feels like flying.

This is me feeding C5 (named by Tim), these are angus beef cows.

I must admit i was a little hesitant to go since i don't drink nor do i eat cheese, but i am very glad i went since we made a breakfast fit for a king! With the help of my trusty friends bek and jack, we whipped up some corn fritters and pancakes. The corn fritters were inspired by bills in sydney. Ours weren't quite as good but i think they came pretty close (i find that with a lot of my recipes). So here is the recipe for the corn fritters which we served with smoked salmon or bacon, baby spinach and an avocado, tomato salsa.

Ingredients for corn fritters:

4 cobs of corn

2 rashes of bacon (chopped finely)

1 onion (chopped finely)

1 cup self raising flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

salt to flavour

Method:

Boil the corn to cook it.

Remove the kernels from the cob using a knife.

Pan fry the bacon and onion until golden and crisp.

In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder, eggs and milk, whisk together. Add the cooked corn, bacon and onion and mix until combined.

Heat a frying pan, ensure it is non stick or use oil. Pan fry the fritters, similarly to a pancake. Keep them all in the oven till they are ready to be served.

Salsa: chop up avocado and tomato's finely, mix with some lemon juice and sea salt.

Serve the fritters with smoked salmon or crispy bacon, salsa and baby spinach.

Yi's (vietnamese for aunty's) chicken ragout

Hello again, sorry it's been a while between posts, uni has started up again. This recipe is a traditional vietnamese recipe with a big french influence. I am vietnamese and i decided it was time to learn some of the recipe's i grew up eating such as this ragout. It's quite a watery stew with chicken, carrot and potato mainly in a tomato based soup. I hope you try it out, it is very easy and delicious for dinner, make a bit extra and have it for lunch also cause it heats up perfectly. I think as with most stews, it will taste better the next day when the ingredients have really had a chance to mesh and marinate. Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

10 chicken drumsticks (cut into half, remove skin)

garlic (crushed)

2 onions (diced)

4 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)

2 carrots (peeled and chopped)

400ml coconut juice

4 tablespoons tomato paste

300mL chicken stock

salt and pepper

chicken stock powder (optional)

Method:

Marinate the chicken with garlic, chicken stock, salt, onion and pepper. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour.

In a pan, fry half the garlic and 1 chopped onion until it smells nice. The add the marinated chicken to seal the chicken (it doesn’t have to be cooked yet, just sealed). Add the tomato paste and the coconut juice to the chicken and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

In another deep pot, fry the rest of the garlic and onion, then add the potatoes and carrots. Pan fry for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are sealed then add the chicken stock.

Add the juices from the chicken to the potato pot and let the potatoes cook for 20 minutes until they are soft.

Add the semi cooked chicken to the pot and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes (check to see the chicken and potatoes are both cooked). Add salt and pepper to taste (shouldn’t really need much as the chicken stock is already salty and the coconut juice is already sweet). If there is not enough juices add more chicken stock. Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid of, redo a flavour check may need more salt, pepper).

Serve with crispy toast or rice.

It's a very versatile recipe since you can add whatever vegetable you fancy, it's even nice with beans! I hope you try it and let me know what you think. xoxo