All about Eclairs Cooking Workshop

http://ediblejourneys.com.au


I came away from this class with so much more than delectable eclairs.

Elaine's passion for her craft is evident from the first minute of the class to the end. She has organized a wonderful collection of recipes and techniques. From different methods of thickening fillings, both savoury and sweet, to creating silky glazes her explanations and demonstrations were enlightening. She hadn't even started making the pastry and I could see ways that I could make use of  the things she was teaching us beyond using them with eclairs. She also showed us simple ways of doing things that, at first, appeared to be difficult. These are the things that you can't learn by reading a cookbook.  It was a lot of fun trying to fill and glaze the eclairs. I know I ended up a sticky mess as this was my first attempt. I'm looking forward to more practice. Thankfully, Elaine has provided a well produced collection of the recipes and tips/techniques from the class as a take home. This means I can start with something I am familiar with rather than searching the internet for the best information.

In a Pickle.


I was left in a bit of a pickle the other night when I succumbed to a craving and went to one of my favourite burger places. Unfortunately, it didn't quite meet my expectations so I wrote them a little letter.

Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012 1:21 PM

To: Feedback

Subject: Mustard & Pickled!

I am a creature of habit. When I find something I like at a restaurant I tend to stick with that one thing. This is especially true of the Mustard & Pickled! burger at Grill'd. I LOVE pickles.

After having my first M&P! I got in the habit of asking for extra pickles. There simply aren't enough on the burger for you to really taste them through the entire burger experience. Sometime I get charged for the extras and sometimes I don't. Either way, I want MORE PICKLES.

I haven't been in for a while and but my pickle craving drove me to Grill'd Richmond a couple of nights ago. I asked for extra pickles, and I was somewhat disappointed in the outcome. I don't like eating messy burgers, so I eat my burger with a knife and fork. Sacrilege, I know. This way I can ensure I get meat, cheese, mustard and pickle in every bite, with a bit of salad to boot. I often end up eating the other half of the burger as a salad sandwich.

On the night in question the few pieces of pickle that adorned my burger didn't last me through half of the meat patty, although I cut each pickle slice into 3 or 4 pieces if it was big enough. The mustard wasn't to the edges of the bun either so there were a few bland bites, as well.

I will be back, and hopefully my next experience will be more lip licking, satisfying (but knife and fork tidy). ;-)

BTW... Could you get American Yellow Mustard to go with the pickles? French's. Yummm.

ttfn, kp

The people at Gasp could certainly learn a thing or two from the reply I received from  the lovely Amy whose opening sentence made me giggle.

"Thanks for your email.  We are so sorry about the pickle we left you in at  your last visit! (pun intended)" 

Amy acknowledged my observations and made it clear that Grill'd is eager to keep my custom and wants me to get the burger that I have come to know and love. 

We really are sorry that you weren’t happy with the last burger and  would love to make sure you get the next burger the way it should be.  

With the fine product they produce (have you had their chips? Every one golden and crispy!!), and the generally high quality and friendly service they provide I know I'll be going back for more. 

Who knows, one day I may try a different burger? Nah. Probably not. Unless they add a blue cheese and bacon burger. Hmmmm.

Be sure to try them out if you haven't already: http://www.grilld.com.au/

http://kaz-justinpassing.blogspot.com/ by Kaz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Spicy Baked Beans

This recipe takes a long elapsed time, but the amount of work you have to do is not all that much, and totally worth the effort. It's great to make on a rainy winter day when you are home cleaning and doing laundry anyway. It's my adaption of Boston Baked Beans from the Joy of Cooking Cookbook. Spicy Baked Beans 1 kg dried, small white beans (navy, great northern ...) (2.2 lbs) 4 litres water (128 oz) Pick through beans for stones and mangled beans, and rinse. Put in a very big ovenproof pot with water (DO NOT add salt!!) Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Skim the gunk off the top if necessary. Remove from heat, cover and let stand an hour. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Skim the gunk off the top if necessary. Remove from heat, cover and let stand an hour. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat so that beans are barely simmering. Partially cover and simmer for about an hour or just until the skins are starting to burst.  Skim the gunk off the top if necessary. Pour beans, gently (so they hold their shape), into a colander and allow to drain. Return the beans to the pot with the following ingredients and enough hot water to barely cover them. 10 ml salt (2 tsp) 5 ml pepper (1 tsp) 250 ml molasses, the darker the better (8 oz, 1 cup) 500 gms double smoked ham, bacon or a mix of the two, diced (1 pound) 500 ml diced onions ( 2 cups) 1/2 bottle McIlhennys Chipotle Tabasco Sauce (or to taste) Stir gently (don't break up the beans) Bake, covered, in a 125c degrees (250F) oven for 6-7 hours until beans are tender and sauce is thick.  Remove the lid to help the liquid to evaporate near the end, if necessary. (nb. You can also do this in a crock pot instead of the oven. ) I make this big batch and freeze into individual portions. In Australia, where to get: McIlhenny Chipotle Tabasco http://www.usafoods.com.au/p2185/hot-spicy/mciihenny-chipotle-tabasco/ ... or try Thomas Dux stores.  Molasses: Health food or organic groceries, ocanada.com.au or usafoods.com.au.  The best bacon I've found, and the best double smoked ham, is from the Polish Deli in the Queen Vic Market for you Melburnians.

__________________ ttfn, Kaz 'Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.' G.K. Chesterton

http://kaz-justinpassing.blogspot.com/ by Kaz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Finnish Beet Salad

This is an all time favourite for me. I will eat beets pickled, on a burger, cooked or shaved raw and crunchy in a salad. As far as I'm concerned,  you can't go wrong with beets.

My family heritage is Finnish on both my mother's side and father's side. Although my mother(Raili) and her younger brother were born in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, her parents and older sister migrated from Finland. As a young man, my father(Pauli) left his family in Finland behind and started a new life in the large Finnish community in Timmins. Since my mother and father got together, it is not a surprise that many of our meals included variations on traditional dishes from Finland.

I have often asked for my mother's recipes and her tutelage in making them so I can carry them on with me. I am happy to share them here. I'm not at the stage of adding detailed steps and photos to the recipes, and you will find many notes of "to taste". Experimentation and "I like it that way" are the keys to cooking in most cases for me. You too, will make it and either like it or not, or change it to please your palate.

Any questions, please ask.

Raili's Rosolli (Beet salad)

• 4-5 cooked beets (medium to large)
• 2 cooked carrots (medium to large)
• 1 cooked potato (medium to large)
• Raw onion ( to taste)
• 1 large dill pickle (plus about 3 tbsp. of the brine)
• Salt & Pepper to taste.

Sauce to serve:

• Unsweetened thickened cream, unsweetened and lightly whipped cream,  or sour cream
• Reserved beet cooking water

The beets, carrots and potato are boiled to cook them. Start them in cold water, bring to a boil and then simmer until tender but not falling apart. 

Boil the beets separately and reserve a bit of the pink water. 

And, do as my mom does... check for doneness with a knife, not a fork. It works so much better 

Dice all the root vegetables into a similar size; small to medium dice.

(You might want to wear disposable gloves when dicing the beets.)

Finely dice the onion and dill pickle(see note).

Put it all in a bowl with a bit of salt and pepper. 

Toss with the pickle brine (just enough to moisten).

If you do this closer to serving the salad will have different shades of colour on the veggies. If you do it far in advance everything will be pink. Neither one is wrong, and the flavours will be subtly different.

Mix the cream and a bit of the beet water to make a pinkish sauce.

Serve the sauce in a dish on the side, or make a depression in the middle of the salad and put it there. 

Note: Be sure to get a good, crunchy, dill pickle. I haven't found many good ones in Australia, but look for  imported Polish Dills or check out http://ocanada.com.au for Canadian made Dill Pickles. 

Enjoy. 

ttfn, Kaz

http://kaz-justinpassing.blogspot.com/ by Kaz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I'm finally diving in.

I've been thinking about starting my own blog for quite some time. I never quite figured out what it would be about. So today, while I was thinking about how I could share tidbits around without e-mailing individuals, I decided I would get on with it.

I will add things here that I have come across "Just in passing"; things I like, or find interesting, and maybe you will too. I'll be starting with some of my favourite recipes.

ttfn, Kaz


http://kaz-justinpassing.blogspot.com/ by Kaz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.