Alf Cooks Vegetarian: 'The Country Cookbook'

Showing posts with label 'The Country Cookbook'. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Tamarillos in Star Anise & Red Wine Syrup with Chai-Scented Cream

From The Country Cookbook, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010.

I had not tasted tamarillos before and seeing them in the shops I decided it was time. I knew there was a recipe in Belinda Jeffery's book.

Six tamarillos were pierced with a sharp knife at the top end and give a small cross through the skin. Meanwhile in a saucepan ½ cup caster sugar, a cup of shiraz and a star anise were brought to the boil stirring all the while to dissolve the sugar. A few drops of vanilla paste were added with half a cinnamon stick. The tamarillos were now added. The heat was brought down to a simmer, a lid went on the saucepan and the fruit was cooked for about 10 minutes. Occasionally the fruit were turned over.

The tamarillos were now removed and let cool. The pan of liquid was boiled until it had reduced to about half and had gained a syrupy consistency. The heat was turned off, the cinnamon stick and the star anise removed and a teaspoon rosewater added. The syrup was left to cool and was placed in the refrigerator.

The tamarillos were now peeled and also placed in the refrigerator until time to be served.

A chai cream was made. About 200ml cream was placed in a saucepan with a tablespoon caster sugar. This was gently heated, stirring to dissolve the sugar. A chai bag was placed in the mixture and the cream was heated until a light haze of steam appeared. The heat was turned off and the cream was left to cool with the chai bag in it. When totally cool the bag was squeezed to obtain as much of the flavour as possible and removed. The cream went into the refrigerator to chill. When chilled it was beaten until thickened.

The tamarillos were served with the syrup over them and a good dollop of the chai cream.

The fruit was surprisingly sour and the syrup was definitely needed to alleviate this. The sourness was near the outside of the fruit while the inside was sweeter. The chai cream is an idea that I am sure to use again.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Sunday, 1 September 2013

Drunken Strawberries with Praline Cream

From The Country Cookbook, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010.

Strawberries are plentiful at the moment—and cheap—so it’s always good to find recipes that can enhance the strawberry but not change its basic nature. I generally turn to Belinda Jeffery when I’m looking for inspiration as she usually does not disappoint.

For these drunken strawberries a punnet was sliced and placed in a bowl with a tablespoon caster sugar and a tablespoon Grand Marnier. These were left to soak a little while the cream was prepared.

I quickly made a praline with pecans. When it was time to eat the strawberries, ½ cup cream was beaten until nicely thickened and 2 tablespoons of the praline crushed until fine were folded in. It was served on the berries with a couple of pieces of praline.

A good and easy dish: the strawberries enlivened with a little alcohol and with a cream with crunch. We had it again the following night.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Saturday, 13 July 2013

Crisp Haloumi, Pumpkin & Red Capsicum Salad

From The Country Cookbook, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010.

I always enjoy cooking Belinda Jeffery’s recipes. They seem to work and generally are full of flavour. This salad was such a recipe.

Sufficient pumpkin for two was cut into pieces, placed in a baking dish, olive oil dribbled over and salt and pepper, and cooked in a 180ºC oven. At the same time a red capsicum went into the oven until blistered a little. When the capsicum was ready it was placed in a plastic bag until cool enough to remove the skin.

At serving time some haloumi cheese was cut into batons and fried quickly until golden.

Rocket leaves, sufficient for the dish, were dressed with a vinaigrette dressing and placed on a serving dish. Pumpkin pieces, slices of red capsicum and the haloumi batons were arranged on top.

This was a delicious salad. The next time I make it I will make the proper dressing, a basil one, though it was very good without.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Saturday, 23 March 2013

Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup with Rosewater Cream

From The Country Cookbook, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010.

I came across a person selling strawberries on the street today. They looked fresh and juicy and they were packed in 500g lots rather than in the piddling little punnets you find in the stores. So I went home with a pack of strawberries and consulted my Belinda Jeffery book to see what she suggested I do with them. I have always had success with her recipes and they are generally packed with flavour. This one was no exception.

Into a saucepan I placed 80g caster sugar, ¾ cup red wine, 50g strawberry jam, a cinnamon stick, some lemon zest and a little vanilla paste. This was brought to the boil then reduced to a simmer until it had reduced a little to become a syrupy texture. It came off the heat and was left to cool.

The strawberries were quite large so they were halved and placed in a small bowl with the cooled syrup for about half an hour. Meanwhile I beat about half a cup of cream with a little caster sugar, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon rosewater until it had formed into soft peaks.

Some cream was spooned into a serving glass, drained strawberries placed on top and then a little syrup poured over.

What a delicious way to eat strawberries this was. There’s still some left so I can’t wait until tomorrow evening when we can finish them off.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

The Country Cookbook: An Evaluation

The Country Cookbook, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010.

Having made quite a few of the recipes from The Country Cookbook I thought it was worth pausing, taking stock and evaluating the book.

When I think back over this purchase I wonder what made me eventually decide to spend the money.

The title certainly did not excite me. It made me think of CWA recipes, cakes and scones, and I already had a very old, tattered one of those. The cover, unfortunately, seemed to carry on this concept. The front had a photograph of cakes and cream while the back looked like scones and jam. The spine was a piece of knitting.

The book is bound well and is finished off with two marker ribbons. When open the book lies flat—an important factor. There’s nothing worse than trying to cook from a book which insists on springing shut as you are trying to use it.

When I flipped through the pages I could see that there were lots of diary entries that seemed to be based around things growing on the property, comments on the seasons and the produce. This didn’t interest me as I live in an old terrace house near the city and have a pocket-handkerchief garden with a resident possum who eats every herb that I try to grow.

But the recipes looked interesting. They do have a country feel, but it is modern country. It’s as though old favourites have been rejigged with modern ingredients. They looked really enticing and almost encouraged you to make them.

Then the big thing that swung me in the book’s favour was that it was arranged in months. This was extremely handy in that the book was Australian and the monthly arrangement meant that I would know just what produce was currently in season. This was the big decider.

The recipes are clear. Ingredients are well set out. The recipes themselves each have a pleasing introduction giving some personal comments. The whole tone of the instruction could best be described as friendly. Each step is numbered so you can easily know where you are, but it is the hints and little added pieces of information that you encounter along the way that make the instructions so easy and pleasant to follow. You feel as though Belinda Jeffery is standing beside you helping you along the way.

I have been extremely happy with whatever I have cooked so far and the book was well worth the money. This has turned out to be one of my favourite cookery books so far.

The following are the recipes I have made from The Country Cookbook and what I have rated them.

SOUPS

Watercress, Leek and Potato Soup