Fontina Asparagus Tart

Quick lunch? Late Breakfast? Lazy Sunday Brunch? This is a winner on all scores….so whip it up, and you may find you will be doing similar things again and again. (Deeply impressive to the eaters….as expressed to me this weekend!) I had it cooked, and on the table in less time than it takes to write a blog post! What is your favorite whipper upper that impresses??

NEED:

70g Fontina cheese, cubed

70g gruyere cheese, cubed

40g unsalted butter

30g corn flour

2 eggs plus 1 egg for egg wash

240g milk

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

3 commercial butter puff pastry sheets, thawed (or use the very fantastic Careme roll…or if you have For Foods Sake, pre-make the Flaky Butter Pastry, page 54)

1-2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut to size as needed

DO:

Preheat oven to bread baking setting 220ºC and line 2 trays with baking paper.

Place cheeses into Thermomix bowl and chop 8 sec/speed 10. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place all remaining ingredients except pastry and asparagus into Thermomix bowl and cook 6 min/100ºC/speed 4.

Add grated cheeses to the bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 6.

While the bechemel is cooking, prepare pastry bases by placing one sheet of pastry onto each lined tray. Form an edge to your tart by cutting the remaining sheet into strips and laying along all four edges of each square. Brush edges with egg wash.

Divide bechemel between the two tart bases and spread to the inside edges of pastry strips. Arrange asparagus spears over.

Bake 10-15 minutes until edges are golden and pastry base is well cooked. Serve hot with salad or steamed veggies of choice.

Vanilla Scented Citrus Cheesecake Flan

A tart by any other name is…well a flan, but hey, I do a great tart! My friend is having an afternoon tea tomorrow and as I am always looking for people to eat what I make…(can you believe that??) I decided it was an opportunity for a blog post, which between you and me are getting harder and harder to fit in to my busy life. I am madly getting ready for my first two ‘Cooking with Tenina’ cooking classes, which have been booking up nicely, (thanks all)! Please find details for all my upcoming classes on Facebook just until I get that website up and running…so much to do, so little time!

Through my food travels, I have also recently discovered the beautiful Heilala Vanilla products and I must say, for this recipe, do not scrimp, source the Heilala and you won’t regret it. The only vanilla I can bring myself to use now…remember this vanilla jelly?

And BTW if there are any mad food tourists out there who would be interested in joining me in Tonga, at the Heilala plantation on the most amazing week of wonderful food and classes in the company of Melbourne chef Damien Styles, please let me know. Check out all the details here, it is an exclusive little group of only 14-16 and will include amazing media foodies, whom I am not yet at liberty to divulge…but you will LOVE it. (I confess I may keep banging on about this…but what an opportunity!) OK…the recipe…focus Tenina…focus!

NEED:

Pastry;

45g sugar

55g pistachios, shelled

Small piece cinnamon stick

130g butter

210g plain cake flour

pinch sea salt

1 egg

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Filling;

200g sugar

1 vanilla bean

Finely grated zest 4 lemons

150g cream cheese

4 eggs

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Juice 4 lemons (150g approx)

DO:

Pastry;

Place sugar, pistachios and cinnamon stick into Thermomix bowl and mill for 12 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining pastry ingredients and blend for 8sec/speed 6.

Press into a 25cm flan tin with a removable base and place into the freezer for 30 minutes or longer.

Filling;

Preheat oven to 160ºC.

Place sugar, vanilla bean and zest into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 sec/speed 10.

Add cream cheese, eggs and vanilla bean paste and blend for 8 sec/speed 7.

Add juice and blend for 30 sec/speed 8.

Pour into pastry base and bake for 40-45 minutes until just set in the centre.

SERVE:

With dollops of Chantilly Cream…which can be made quickly and easily by milling 1 tbsp sugar in Thermomix. Insert Butterfly and then pour 600ml cream into bowl, with 1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste. Whip for 20-30sec/speed 4 until soft peaks form. I grated a little vanilla bean on top as garnish….and the afternoon tea goers? Well, I think they loved it! Did you girls?

Cream Cheese Truffle Choc Tops

My favourite thing about going to the movies (almost) is having a choc top. But in fact, I am so bad at eating these delicately and in the dark, that I have learnt not to wear white to the movies for fear of coming out into the bright lights after the movie, only to discover I am covered in melted chocolate that somehow escaped my mouth. These little beauties are not officially ice creams of course, but can be stored in the freezer if you can save any long enough for that to be necessary! They can easily be slipped into your bag for sneaky entry to the cinema, theatre or boring meetings; bagged up and gifted, are great for after dinner mints (if you use a flavour exchange or two) and how cute do they look? …So what’s your choc top pick at the flicks??

NEED:

200g dark couverture chocolate, roughly chopped

250g cream cheese

100g icing sugar (see note below)

100g salted and roasted macadamia nuts

mini ice cream cones (available from your local Gelaratia!)

Melted chocolate for coating with a little pure organic coconut oil

DO:

Place chocolate into Thermomix bowl and melt for 5-8 minutes at 37°C on speed 1 until liquid. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.

Add remaining ingredients except cones and topping ingredients (do I really have to write that in??) and mix for 8 seconds on speed 6. Place into container and refrigerate for several hours.

Use a small ice cream scoop to fill cones. Freeze before coating with melted chocolate. If needed, (with white chocolate for example) set and dip again. Set completely before keeping in fridge.

Try changing it up with;

White chocolate and lime zest and juice

Fresh mint and peppermint oil and almonds

Milk chocolate with almonds

Buy hard caramels and mix them through

Add candied cherries and toasted coconut or chopped cherry ripe!

Dip in different chocolate toppings and chopped nuts, hundreds and thousands, coconut, coloured sugars etc

Wrap in pretty packaging for gifting. Freeze if keeping more than a week.

Quiche with Sage Flowers

When in doubt, make quiche. Serve with jacket potatoes and salad and everybody’s happy! I just could not go shopping again, not for a single thing. I feel like the supermarket is my home away from home as it is, and so had a look in my almost bare fridge and voila; Everything I needed for this baby. And if you can’t be bothered doing the roasted capsicum yourself, (shame on you) use fresh. It will taste different, but will still work. Of course there are so many options out there for other fillings, don’t be shy, the stuff that is in the bottom of your fridge is your friend, as long as it doesn’t resemble a science experiment!

NEED:

Pastry;

35g Parmesan cheese, cubed

1-2 sprigs sage and tarragon (or whatever you have growing, though the tarragon was particularly nice with the peas)

65g spelt grain

80g butter or lard

170g SR flour

30-40g cold water

Filling;

1/2 red onion, diced

1 medium zucchini, sliced and roasted

4 roasted red capsicum, de-seeded and peeled

200g frozen or fresh peas

Sage and tarragon leaves to taste

35g Parmesan cheese, cubed

150g Cheddar cheese, cubed

1tbsp peppercorns

1tsp Celtic sea salt

250g cream cheese

6 eggs

120g whole milk

DO:

Pastry;

Place Parmesan, herbs and spelt into Thermomix bowl and mill for 20 seconds on speed 10.

Add fat, flour and a pinch of salt. Mix for 6 seconds on speed 6. Add enough cold water to form a crumbly dough. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 6. Push dough together, form into a disc and wrap in Silpat mat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out on floured Silpat mat and line a 23cm deep dish flan tin with removable base. If you prefer, use a pie dish with similar proportions. Freeze until ready to assemble and bake.

Filling;

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Place the onion, zucchini, peas and capsicum in strips. Arrange herbs over.

Place Parmesan and cheddar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 7 seconds on speed 10. Set aside.

Place peppercorns and salt into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10. Add remaining ingredienst and mix for 20 seconds on speed 6. Pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 160°C and cook a further 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in oven with door ajar before removing. Cool  before serving for best slicing results!

We have been on a bit of a pizza kick at work. I am happy to say I have never been off my pizza kick. Always loved it, always will. I have a fantastic pizza stone that is unrivalled. It is ceramic with tunnels running from front to back and seems to produce a superior product. (Or maybe I’m just a damn fine pizza cook!) Anyhoo, I don’t have any recipes for pizza up here…a grave error, (Recipe? Bread dough, slap on a sauce, topping and cheese and we’re done, right?) and of course, when it comes to this site, the first pizza I come up with is for dessert. Not traditional, but certainly worth the effort. Enjoy!

NEED:

Starter;

1tsp sugar

1tsp granulated yeast

160g bakers flour

220g cold water

pinch sea salt

Base;

1 egg

250g buttermilk or milk

30g butter

400g bakers flour

olive oil

DO:

Place all starter ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape into non plastic bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave overnight at room temperature. (Cool is fine!)

The next day, place all of starter and remaining ingredients (except oil) into Thermomix bowl and mix together for 6 seconds on speed 6. The dough will appear sticky. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes at Interval speed.

Turn out onto oiled Silpat mat and knead into tight ball by hand. Place into oiled glass bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap so it is airtight. Allow to double, again, a slow rise in a cooler temperature will give you a nicer crumb in the finished base.

Gently tip dough out onto baking paper or Silpat mat and divide into 3 equal pieces. Push each piece into desired shape with finger tips so as to dimple the top of the dough. Do not roll out or stretch out…allow the elasticity in the dough to work for you.

Top with variety of toppings. Bake by sliding pizza straight onto preheated pizza stone and cook until golden and bubbly. (Raspberry, lime option will have a lot of caramelised sauce) Serve immediately with lashings of mascarpone cream cheese or double cream or possibly ice cream.

I did two on this occasion (see below) photographed both and in a flu induced haze, deleted them both off my SD card before saving them, thus the singular pic. Did a cheesecake cherry topping at work…and luckily took that pic at work, so all safe and sound on my desktop, so have included that in the trio. All three were delicious and did not last long.

Topping One;

Press a few raspberries into the base, add thinly sliced lime. Drizzle with grapeseed oil and sprinkle the whole thing generously with organic raw sugar. When eating the lime slices can be removed, tho I quite enjoyed the crunchy caramelised skins.

Topping Two;

Sprinkle base with cranberries and dark mini chocolate nibs. Be quite liberal. Drizzle entire pizza with organic maple syrup.

Topping Three;

Cherry Sauce NEED:
60g sugar
670g jar morello pitted cherries
30g cornflour

DO:

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Insert basket into Thermomix bowl and pour whole jar of cherries in. Remove basket (with cherries) and set aside.
Add cornflour to Thermomix bowl and cook for 4-5 minutes at 100ºC on speed 4. Set aside.

Lemon Cheesecake NEED:
80g sugar
Zest and juice 1 lemon
2 eggs
500g cream cheese

DO:
Place sugar and zest into Thermomix bowl and mill together for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Add remaining ingredients and blend together for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

ASSEMBLE:

Divide dough into two portions and roll out each separately on a piece of baking paper.

Place first pizza onto pizza stone and bake for approximately 7-8 minutes or until starting to brown slightly. The pizza may puff up as there are no toppings, but this is not a problem.

Remove from oven and generously spread half of the cheesecake mixture onto the pizza.

Drizzle with half of the cherry sauce, top with a few of the reserved cherries and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until lemon cheesecake topping has set. Serve immediately and make a second one….cos you’re going to need it!

Well this post had to happen sooner or later…and I guess it’s officially sooner! I have managed to go through all my posts and look what I found! I could start a tart and pie shop, clearly! Any potential partners out there, send me a message and I’m ready to go!

First up in my self imposed round up, and most recently added, the free form tart with fresh apricots and cherries can be found here. Tart (in the true sense of the word) sweet, a little nutty, and so EASY!

Then there was the fresh fig and honey tart, with a touch of marzipan…and just to add a dimension, toffee topping!

Of course, no Australian food blogger could have a complete site with out the good ole Meat Pie post…enjoy!

Simple, fruity, great pastry…what more could you want in a fruit pie? Well vanilla bean of course. One of my faves…(aren’t they all?)

If you come here often, you will know that Lemon is almost as good as chocolate to me…thus the Lemon Olive Oil Tart…which if you never cook anything else from this site, you must do this one…promise me now!

Got no time? Need dessert quickly? This is the one for you…no pastry, but a flan none the less…and a little international as well!

Oh that’s right…you know how I said the Lemon Olive oil tart was my fave?? Maybe not, maybe it’s this one…Buerre Noisette….Burnt Butter is my new fascination at the minute, seriously good stuff…calories worth eating!

Kind of a cross between a cheesecake and a sweet pie, this will become a family favorite…it would be in our house, if I allowed myself to make it again! Some pies should only be eaten once…for the sake of the arteries that is!

Never shie away from a fruit you don’t know…put it in a pastry shell and voila, easy dessert…(and completely delish!)

Another Lemon slash cheesecake slash pie cross worth eating…(again…aren’t they all??)

OK OK, Chocolate meets almonds head on…and they both WIN! Chocolate pastry, chocolate filling (with almond frangipane) topped with chocolate ganache…can’t really go wrong if you are a chocolate lover!

Now for a rare look at a savoury option…hang on to it whilst you can, there may never be another!

Strawberries, Luscious Lime, crispy pastry, a true summer tart…try it today!

Sorry, but there’s more and of course chocolate is involved…easy peasy, chocolate squeezy!

And here comes another traditional tart…or pie…The quintessential Lemon Meringue Pie.

I could of course keep going, and was in fact surprised (though why I don’t know!) by the sheer number of pastry delights on here…I stopped here as there are many others, but they are less recent and perhaps not as well done as I would like them to be. (Time for an upgrade or two I suppose!) Cut to the chase I hear you cry…recipe recipe recipe….OK!

So to today’s offering…you wouldn’t believe it…chocolate again, pecans are the nuts of choice and not my recipe, but stunning in every way…lactose free, unless butter bothers you. All the components of decadence required by chocolate and nuts and the best darn pastry a Thermomix can mix!

Adapted from Willies famous recipe, it is a chocolate pecan tart. Now before you shriek at the sheer number of sugar grams, remember I was using pure cacao and I have to say, it was a chocolate hit like no other. (Being Easter weekend, I know what I’m on about here folks!)

NEED:

Pastry:

100g raw sugar

200g plain flour

100g unsalted butter frozen and cubed

2 egg yolks

1tsp vanilla essence

Filling:

180g pure cacao (Or reduce sugar and use 70% dark chocolate)

50g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

160g pure maple syrup

3 eggs

100-120g pecan halves

DO:

Pastry:

Preheat oven to fan forced 190°C and butter a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin. Set aside.

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Add flour and butter and mix together for 6-7 seconds on speed 8.

Add vanilla essence and yolks and mix for a further 6-7 seconds on speed 6 or until pastry forms soft balls.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and bring together with hands into large disc shape. Roll out using floured rolling pin and line prepared flan tin. Place in freezer for at least 15 minutes. Remove, line with baking paper and weights (rice, beans or proper pie weights) and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove weights and bake a further 5 minutes until pastry is no longer shiny. Remove and cool slightly before filling with prepared filling.

Filling:

Place cacao into Thermomix bowl and mill for approximately 10 seconds until powdered.

Add butter, sugar, and maple syrup to Thermomix bowl and melt for 6 minutes at 50oC on speed 1.

Add eggs through hole in lid and beat in for 30 seconds on speed 8. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary and repeat. You will have a thick mousse like consistency.

Place pecans into prepared pastry case, scrape filling on top and spread with spatula. Bake a further 10-15 minutes until set in centre. Chill completely before serving with lashings of cream…kind of necessary due to the dense nature of pure cacao. Of course if you can’t source the pure cacao in block form, you can use 85% dark chocolate, for less of a hit, use 70% and maybe adjust the sugar to taste…you may still need it unless you are a total chocoholic!

Tart Gallery…delivered!

Crostini with Pepper Cheese

With summer virtually here, the boating season has truly begun, and never one for chips and bought dip, here is something easily prepared in advance. It is a terrific Christmas dip or spread as well, and certainly rates high on the easy meter. I can see myself lounging on the front of the boat as it skims crystal clear water effortlessly, waving wildly at the kids to pass me a crostini…before they’re all gone. Hmmnn some things are better eaten at home, but this one is for our boat buddies everywhere,  just in case you ever get a day out, without the hungry mob!

Pepper Cheese with Crostini

NEED:

1 long French breadstick

50g Parmesan

A few pepper corns

100-130g roasted red capsicum (from jar or do your own)

2 spring onions/shallots halved

40g drained capers

2tsp sweet paprika

½ tsp chilli powder

1 clove garlic

200-230g whole milk ricotta

140g cream cheese

Pinch sea salt

A drizzle of EVOO plus extra for brushing

Juice 1 lime

Additional sliced spring onion/shallot for garnish

DO:

Pre heat oven to fan forced 200-220ºC. Line a large tray with baking paper.

Slice breadstick in 2cm thick rounds, brush with EVOO generously and bake for 8-12 minutes until golden around the edges. Set aside.

Place Parmesan and peppercorns into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.

Add capsicum, spring onions/shallots, capers, paprika, chilli powder and garlic and blend together for 10 seconds on speed 6.

Add cheeses, salt and a little EVOO and blend a further 10 seconds on speed 6.

Decant into serving dish, drizzle with additional EVOO, lime juice and garnish with sliced spring onions/shallots before serving with crostini.

Naughty Naughty Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

I have been immersed in a Raw Food Project at work, and frankly this is my break out blog! Not Raw! Not healthy! Calorie Laden! All Bad, but tastes so good!
Enjoy…and don’t say I never give you anything!

NEED:

240g butter shortbread biscuits (I used Walkers as they are so delish and full of butter, which is why you don’t need butter added to the base…though you could if you want!)
210g cream
75g caster sugar
340g cream cheese
370g peanut butter
Ganache Topping;
160g cream
30g unsalted butter
150g chopped dark chocolate chopped (coverture 70%)

DO:

Pre heat oven to fan forced 180ºC.
Place shortbread into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8.
Press into the base of 22cm springform tin and bake for 10 minutes. Cool.
Place cream and sugar into Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes at 50ºC on speed 2.
Add cream cheese and peanut butter and mix for 15 seconds on speed 7.
Pour onto biscuit base and smooth top with spatula. Set in the fridge until cold before making ganache topping.

To make ganache, place cream into Thermomix bowl and heat for 3 minutes at 90ºC on speed 2.
Add butter and chocolate and mix for 2 minutes on speed soft.
Pour over pie filling and allow to set completely before serving in small slices!
(But serve whopping great big slices if you had a week anything like mine!)

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Yes folks you read it right, Lemon Meringue AND a cheesecake, all rolled into one delectable dessert. We all know I could practically open an all Cheesecake Restaurant and give the Cheesecake Shop a run for their money, and now with no better excuse than my eldest sons birthday, (bless him) and needing to spoil him in a grown up way, I came up with this little treat. His fave? Cheesecake, his second fave? Lemon Meringue Pie, so in a deadly combination of calories, I have mixed the two, forever to become the birthday special in our house. I was hoping to put something up that resembled nutrition, in light of the last few months…but this recipe has both fat and sugar, two of the main food groups, I am led to believe by my tastebuds, so here it is, (and with apologies for the less than average photograph); Make, Eat and Enjoy! (After all, it IS all about MEE!!)

NEED:
1 x 250g pkg Arnott’s Lemon Crisp biscuits
4 eggs seperated
zest 2 lemons
120g lime/lemon juice
750g cream cheese
100g caster sugar
Pinch cream of Tartar
160g icing sugar

DO:
Place biscuits into Thermomix bowl and blitz for 15 seconds on speed 8. Push into 15-16cm springform tin and bake for 10 minutes in a fan forced 160°C oven. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 150°C and place a baking tray of water on the bottom shelf.
Meanwhile, place all remaining filling ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and blend together for 20 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat if necessary.
Pour into base and cook one rung above the water tray for 35-40 minutes or until set in the center. You don’t want it browned at all, just set. Cool to room temperature or overnight in fridge. You could cook this part in the Combi-steam oven if you have one.
When ready to make the meringue, remove water bath and preheat oven to fan forced 190°C.
To make meringue, heat Thermomix bowl for 1 minute at 50°C on speed 1.
Insert Butterfly and place Cream of Tartar and egg whites into Thermomix bowl.
Beat for 6 minutes at 50°C on speed 3 as you introduce the icing sugar through the hole in lid. Take your time, a large amount of sugar at once will collapse the whites.

Using a spatula, dollop the meringue over the top of the cheesecake and ‘tizzy’ it up until you are happy with it.
Cook for 8-10 minutes until just starting to colour up. Remove and allow to cool completely before serving with extra cream as desired.

Parmesan Pretzels

Pretzel-in-a-basket

Told you I was stuck on bread and ice cream! Just can’t think past that at the moment…work recipes are sucking my brains out through my taste buds I fear, but all to good result. Those big buttery pretzels you buy in a popular chain right now are so overpriced, that my Scottish heritage came to the fore and I just had to see what could be done about it. A lot, it would seem! After a less successful attempt, I tried again and frankly these were literally gone in minutes…(office staff, you know who you are)! Now I have to try again, just so the family can taste them…and how about trying cinnamon sugar, maple icing, lemon glaze, fruit into the dough, olives into the dough, pepperoni and cream cheese into the dough….oh heaven…should I stop now? So many options, so few occasions to eat pretzels!

NEED:
2 teaspoons yeast granules
290-300 grams cold milk
20 grams olive oil
80 grams sugar
550 grams bakers flour
good pinch salt
100 grams bicarb soda
Bowl of hot water
extra sea salt and melted butter for topping and/or cinnamon sugar, grated parmesan etc.

DO:
Place yeast, milk, oil and 1 tsp of the sugar into Thermomix bowl and blend for a few seconds on speed 5. Warm through for 3 minutes on 37oC on speed 2.
Add remaining sugar, flour and salt and mix for 10 seconds on speed 7.
With dial set to closed lid position, knead at Interval setting for 2-3 minutes. If the dough is dry or wet at this point add additional water or flour as needed! (You need a firm dough for pretzels.)
Wrap in oiled bread mat and set in warm place to double.
Meanwhile, pre heat oven to 220oC and if you have a pizza stone, heat in oven at the same time.
Place bicarb soda into hot water and dissolve with fork.
Divide dough into a bakers dozen (13…really!) and then form pretzels by rolling long ‘snakes’ out of each piece. Holding each end of the dough, hit the bread mat a few times to lengthen and even out the dough. Make large pretzel shape, push joins together and then dip into cooled bicarb water before placing directly onto heated pizza stone, (or paper lined baking tray). Cook for about 8 minutes until golden brown, remove and cool slightly before brushing with melted butter and sprinkling with toppings of choice.
You’ll never buy one of those delicious, yet over priced pretzels again, and alongside the whole Seinfeld crew, you’ll be telling everyone that ‘these pretzels are making me thirsty’!