Christmas spice cake in a jar

Photo by Steve Shanahan

This version of a pre-packaged cake mix is a great Christmas gift. It is easy to assemble and is a practical and helpful gift to give to busy people. The only additions needed to complete the cake mix are the wet ingredients.

To assemble the cake mix in the jar, use a medium sized jar that has been sterilised, by boiling in a saucepan of water for fifteen minutes. The jar should have an airtight seal to keep the cake ingredients fresh. The ingredients you will need are below.

2 cups self raising flour

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground Dutch cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ cup dutch cocoa

pinch of salt

Measure and sift the flour and salt and then in a separate bowl, measure and sift the cocoa and spices together.

Starting with the sugar, layer the ingredients according to their density with the heaviest at the bottom.

Press down on the ingredients as you layer them, so they remain in their layers for presentation. As you place each layer in the jar, brush down the sides with a dry pastry brush.

Then add the sifted flour in its layer topping with the cocoa and spices.

Give the sides of the jar a final brush down, then seal and decorate the jar with a label and ribbon.

To provide the method to make the cake, I printed the instructions below on a piece of thick paper and rolled it up in a scroll and tied it onto the lid with the ribbon.

Avoid shaking the jar to keep the ingredients in their layers.

 *******************************************************************************************************

Christmas Spice Loaf  

All dry ingredients have been prepared in correct quantities for you to easily prepare the Christmas Spice loaf. You will only need a bowl and a wooden spoon to mix the cake. The ingredients contain no artificial colours or preservatives and the only extra ingredients you will need to make the cake are

·       ⅓ cup golden syrup

·       1 cup of milk and

·       1 cup of water.

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 23 centimetre x 10 centimetre loaf tin. Dump the entire jar of cake mixture ingredients into a large mixing bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the milk, water and golden syrup and mix to a smooth paste. The mixture should fall in a ribbon from the spoon. Pour the mixture into the greased loaf tin, and slam on the bench top to remove bubbles.  Reduce oven temperature to 150C and bake for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Insert a skewer to come out clean to check if it is cooked.

This cake keeps best in an airtight container for about one week and gets better with age.

Veal Marengo with Potato Rosti

Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 10 July 2013.
Served in bistros all over France, this retro dish comes with its own crazy legend with Napoleon Bonaparte at its centre. Marengo is a town in northern Italy where, in 1800, Napoleon was victorious over the Austrians. This has been immortalised as the Battle of Marengo. 

The story goes that Napoleon’s chef, directed to come up with a suitably celebratory feast, whipped up a dish using ingredients that he was able to scrounge locally and named it Chicken Marengo to honour the decisive battle. Fortunately, some of the original ingredients such as scrambled eggs and crayfish haven’t survived to current versions of this recipe.

Napoleon, with all his insecurities, needed constant reminders of his victory, so also named his horse Marengo. Given Napoleon’s temperamental nature, we can only hope that Marengo didn’t end his days in the cooking pot in yet another variation of this eponymous dish.
So now that’s straight, my memories of this dish aren’t quite as auspicious as those above. Back in the 1960s when Mum wanted to impress at a dinner party, she would often trot out Chicken or Veal Marengo. It was served with a Napoleonic flourish, inside a ring of rice or buttered noodles, and we thought ourselves pretty sophisticated.

I admit I haven’t really been able to figure out when veal replaced chicken, why crayfish and eggs were ditched or how and why mushrooms got involved. But the result is a hearty winter stew that is easy to make and delivers flavour considerably more than the sum of its parts.
Made with veal, this dish is much richer and more complex than when made with chicken.

Serves 4

Veal Marengo

3 tbsp plain flour, for coating veal

salt and pepper

1 kg boneless veal, cubed

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped

1½ tins diced tomatoes, drained

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 ½ cups dry white wine

sprig of thyme, rosemary and  2 bay leaves

12 small eschalot onions, peeled

1 cup water

12 small white mushrooms, stems removed and wiped

10 baby potatoes, unpeeled

chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 165C. Using a large ovenproof and stovetop proof casserole dish with lid, cut a round of baking paper big enough to fit the lid. This will reduce the amount of evaporation of juices while cooking. For this dish I usually use my Chasseur pot.

Season the flour with salt and pepper and place in a large dish. Add the diced veal and roll to coat in the flour in batches. Shake off excess flour and set aside.

To the ovenproof dish, add two tablespoons of olive oil and place over high heat. When hot, slip in some of the veal and fry in batches to not overcrowd the dish. Cook the veal cubes till brown and then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and veal.

Wipe out the dish with paper towel, add the butter and place over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and cook for about five minutes or until soft. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and herbs. Add the veal and stir, bringing to a boil. Check for salt and pepper, adding more if needed.

Add the water, eschalots, mushrooms and potatoes and bring back to the boil. Once boiled remove the lid and place the baking paper circle on the top. Replace the lid and insert into the preheated oven.

Bake in the oven undisturbed for forty-five minutes until the potatoes and onions are softened.  Fish out the herbs and discard.

Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and a potato rosti.

If you feel inclined to replicate retro, you could serve this dish with buttered thick noodles or boiled rice.

Potato rosti

Makes 4 large rosti.

3 medium sized potatoes

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp duck fat or oil

3 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Parboil the potatoes whole with skin on in salted water until just tender, but not soft. Allow to cool and chill for a couple of hours.

Once cooled, coarsely grate the potatoes and squeeze out any excess liquid. Place grated potato into a bowl and add flour, mixing to combine. Season to taste and add nutmeg.

Heat half the butter and oil in a small heavy based frypan on a high heat.

Add a heaped tablespoon of the potato mixture to the pan and press down with the back of a spoon to form a flat pancake.  Allow to cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan to loosen the potato cake.

When the cooked side is crispy and golden, using a spatula or egg lifter, carefully turn the rosti over to cook the other side until golden.

Remove each potato cake to cool on paper towel.

Serve with Veal Marengo as a side dish.

Porridge - Millet and spiced apple with chestnut cream and almonds

 Photo by Steve Shanahan

First published Canberra Times 8 May 2013. 

 It may seem a little weird, but the new food trend that’s burning through the twitter-sphere at lightning pace is porridge. This surprising trend not only includes your ordinary old Quaker’s Oats, but ancient grains of all descriptions, cooked in every which way. 

It just so happens that I was born with a porridge spoon in my hand, so I’m completely comfortable with this, but some of you, perhaps those who went to boarding school, may have an aversion to this sticky, goopy substance. And that’s okay, because in the new porridge world, there’s something for everyone. 
 
As a spinoff, trendy porridge restaurants are popping up in many cities with many variations on a theme, and food vans are hawking their grains to cold, grateful punters hungrily demanding steaming bowls of congee, jook and porridge. 

Café Grød, (Grød is Danish for, you guessed it, porridge) is a hip new establishment that has opened in a trendy suburb of Copenhagen. Grød is leading the way with its informal atmosphere and all-things-porridge menu. The Danes are lapping up this cheap, organic, peasant fare, and in true Goldilocks style, porridge aficionados are rolling in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The specialty at Grød is spelt porridge with apple and toasted almonds topped with a chestnut puree.  

Open your mind to porridge and you’ll be rewarded by a huge range of grainy possibilities to inspire your creative juices, from buckwheat, rice, semolina, millet, barley, quinoa, oats, spelt, to the lesser known teff, amaranth, tapioca and all kinds of ground legumes.  Add any number of things including milk, cream, butter, water, stock, meat, coconut milk, fruit, nuts, spices, fish, sugar, honey or syrup to construct your own gourmet style creations.  

Inspired by the seasonal creamy, fresh chestnuts appearing at this time of year and with a nod to Grød, I whipped up a millet and apple porridge with chestnut cream and almonds ready to reheat for a chilly weekday morning. Pre-made jars of chestnut puree are available from delis or the Essential Ingredient for about $14, otherwise make your own. It’s a bit fiddly but not difficult.

½ cup uncooked millet

1⅓ cups water

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and diced

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

pinch clove

maple syrup, to taste

4 tbsp toasted almonds

¼ cup chestnut puree

¼ cup pouring cream

Combine millet, water, apple and spices together in a sauce pan. Stir and bring to a boil and cover and reduce down to a simmer. Let cook for fifteen to twenty minutes until millet and apple is cooked and tender. Stir and check occasionally while cooking, adding extra water as needed if the mixture is too thick. When almost done, add a drizzle of maple syrup and taste. Start on the low end (a teaspoon or two) and continue until you’ve reached a desired sweetness.

Place the cream and chestnut puree in a small jug and mix together. Warm in the microwave.

Remove from the heat and serve with a large dollop of the warmed chestnut cream and slivers of toasted almonds.