Extreme Chocolate Biscuits

I felt like a bit of a chocolate hit tonight - so I made some extreme chocolate biscuits. These are a crunchy biscuit which can be sandwiched together with cream or ganache, or served as is with a little icing. I chose the latter as I had no cream.

Ingredients

125g butter
75g sugar

125g plain flour
50g cocoa powder (the nicer the better)


Filling
either...
a ganache of 125g or chocolate melted into 50 ml of cream
or stiffly whipped cream with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon


Icing
Icing sugar
cocoa
enough milk to make an icing

nb... i added some chopped walnuts to my icing... which I obviously just threw on the biscuit... dearie dearie me. A food photographer I will never be!!

Method

Preheat oven to 160C.
Beat sugar and butter till fluffy,
Add in flour and cocoa powder and mix with hands to a dough
roll out to 1 inch thick. cut into desired shapes.

Bake for 15 minutes, until firm.

Cool, then fill and/or ice.

Diós csók (Walnut Kisses)!!

Well... you've got eggwhites left over from making Pączki .. so what are you to do. Well, I suppose you could make an eggwhite omelette or something just as healthy, but if you want to be a little bit decadent then make some diós csók (Walnut Kisses)!! These are light, sweet, airy, with a lovely hint of walnutty goodness. This is a little Hungarian cookie that is just divine... low in fat too, though we won't mention the sugar content lol

Ingredients

 4 egg whites beaten stiff
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 cups walnuts quartered or coarsely chopped

Method

In the top of a double boiler combine the egg whites, sugar, and lemon juice, and beat constantly over hot water for 10 mins until the mixture is very thick and glossy. Fold nuts in gently. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees until lightly browned.

Pączki

These are a bread doughnut, not a cake doughnut. They are not anywhere near as sweet as the ones that you buy at doughnut stands.

Ingredients

1 tsp instant yeast
6 tsp caster sugar
230 ml lukewarm milk
450-500 g plain flour (start with 450, add in more flour if they dough is too sticky)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg and 4 yolks
50 g butter


Oil for frying.


Jam of your choice for filling.
Cinnamon sugar, castor sugar, or icing sugar for dusting/glazing.

 

Method

Place the yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar into the warm milk, stir, and leave for 10-15 minutes until the yeast has gone frothy.

Place the flour, salt, vanilla extract and the rest of sugar in a bowl. Add in the egg, yolks and butter and combine. Start kneading the dough slowly adding the yeast mixture and the rest of milk.

Knead the dough until it is shiny and more easily handled. It will be a soft dough. Cover and leave to rise for an hour.

Roll out the dough to make 15-20 flattish balls. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil to 175°C. Use enough oil for the doughnuts to float freely.  Fry doughnuts around 1-2 minutes on every side (or until golden brown). Don't overcrowd the pan, as the oil temperature will drop down. Flip them using wooden skewers (I use chopsticks - probably not so traditional!).

Take them out of the oil and put it on a plate covered with paper towel to absorb extra oil.A jam syringe is best but if, like me, you don't own such a thing then use an icing bag, insert a tip into the side of the doughnut and gently squeeze the jame of your choice in. BE GENTLE. Don't ask why I thought that required capitals... she said, looking at the jam spatters on the counter... lol!

Pączki with strawberry jam... mmmm....

To finish either dust with cinnamon sugar, castor sugar, or glaze with a thin icing made with icing sugar and hot water. I just dusted with castor sugar for a little hit of extra sweetness.

UPDATE: These do indeed freeze very well. I wrapped rows of four doughnuts in foil, and then popped them in the freezer. They defrosted well and were fine eat cold, but also were very nice warmed in the oven. Not as good as straight out of the deep-fry but nothing to pass up either :)

Jerusalem artichoke soup

This is a really earthy, silky soup, that really hits the spot on a cold rainy day. This recipe makes 4 main serves, or 6-8 entrees.

Jerusalem artichoke soup

Ingredients
olive oil
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 kg jerusalem artichokes, chopped
1 litre good quality vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste


Method
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
Add in the other ingredients and bring to boil.
Turn heat down and simmer until the artichokes are tender.
Blend/puree the soup until smooth.
Season to taste.

Serve with crusty bread, or a garnish of some fried mushrooms or bacon with finely chopped parsley or thyme.

Spiced roast vegetables

I don't know where this dish originated, but we have been making it in our family for as long as I can remember. It is a mix of roast vegetables, smothered in olive oil and spices, and baked until soft. A perfect dish for autumn, especially if you have a bumper harvest of root vegetables and pumpkins waiting to be devoured.



This is a very easy dish to prepare, and one that is tasty enough on it's own as well as a great side dish for roasts.

Spiced roast vegetables

Ingredients
Desired amount of vegetables for roasting (we usually use a mix of any or all of the following: capsicum, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, and jerusalem artichoke - though you are welcome to experiment with other veggies as well - onions and whole garlic cloves in their skin go very nicely)
olive oil - just enough to coat the veggies
pinch of salt
paprika
nutmeg

I usually use 1 generous tbs of sweet hungarian paprika with 1 tsp of nutmeg to about half a standard baking pan/roasting pan of veggies. You can add a little bit of heat with a little hot paprika, chillis, or cayenne pepper if you want it extra spicy. ;)

Method
Cut all veggies to around the same size and arrange in dish.
Sprinkle the salt and spices on top
Add a small amount of olive oil, and mix through the veggies until they are all lightly coated with oil

Place in a 190 oven and cook until veggies are tender - usually 40 minutes or so.
Serve!

Jerusalem artichoke chips

Jerusalem artichokes are a tuber, and a member of the sunflower family - a fact which sees them called "sunchokes" in some parts of the world. They are quite yummy, with a taste that is a little sweet, a little nutty and a little like a globe artichoke. They can basically be cooked like a potato - boiled, roasted, sauted, etc. They are lower in calories and GI than potatoes - which make them a good potato substitute for those on low-GI or low-carb diets.This is due to their high levels of inulin–a form of soluble fiber which is also a prebiotic, and therefore good for the digestive system. Inulin has also shown been shown to increase calcium absorption substantially, so if you have any worries in that department eat them with a source of calcium for a bit of a boost. They are also good sources of iron and potassium, so they are a really healthy little tuber.

What shall I cook first with this very healthy little tuber - I know! I'll make something not very healthy out of them!!! Bwahahaha!

Jerusalem artichoke chips

Jerusalem artichoke chips are the irregular shaped ones
at the top of the picture. The round chips are potato.

• Cooking oil of your choice (I used sunflower, it seemed appropriate)
• jerusalem artichokes sliced finely - you don't need to peel them, but make sure they are well scrubbed of all dirt!
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil to about 190ºC. If you don't have a thermometer (and I don't) drop one slice of artichoke or potato in the oil to see if it floats. If it floats and does not immediately burn, the oil is hot enough for the rest of the
chips. If it burns it is too hot.

Add in the artichoke slices a few at a time so you don't cool the oil down too quickly. Cook till golden, then bring out and lay on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Season to taste, and serve as is or with vinegar or sauce, or whatever takes your fancy. These chips are every bit as good as potato chips, crispy, though they taste a little sweetier and nuttier/earthier.

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Note: Growing jerusalem artichokes is pretty easy. All you really need to do is plant a couple of tubers in spring and wait. It'll grow into tall (up to 6ft) stalks with small yellow sunflower-like flowers. Once they die back in autumn it is time to start digging them up - usually after the first one or two frost. I started with two tubers two springs ago, and now have them planted in 5 spots in the garden. Today I harvested one out of 5 plots of jerusalem artichokes - all this came from a 30 x 30 cm spot in the garden. Talk about prolific!