{"id":1583,"date":"2011-08-01T18:46:10","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T08:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2011-08-03T19:03:31","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T09:03:31","slug":"reverse-cooking-positively-strawberry-the-art-of-the-sponge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/?p=1583","title":{"rendered":"reverse cooking, positively strawberry & the art of the sponge"},"content":{"rendered":"

on air on bayfm’s 99.9 on August 1, 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MORE COMING!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

By Khiara Brown (11 years old)<\/p><\/div>\n

Miss August \u2013 Alison Drover<\/p>\n

The sun is shining and the strawberries are putting smiles on everyone\u2019s\u2019 lips. Spring is on the way and it is the time for kissing goodbye the cold.\u00a0\u00a0 Take time to savour the winter vegetable soups \u2013 conserve and preserve surplus so that you can enjoy them in the months to come.
\nAsian greens are high in magnesium and so easy to cook.
\nLook for Choy sum, wombok, bok choy and use finely chopped cabbages with
\nRoot vegetables \u2013 turmeric,\u00a0 galangal, ginger and spring onions.
\nEat locally and waste not, enjoy August<\/p>\n

X Alison Drover<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in season around Australia in August<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Beetroot
\nMushrooms
\nBrussel sprouts
\nBroccoli
\nCabbage green and red
\nCarrots
\nCauliflower
\nCeleriac
\nKohlrabi
\nLeeks
\nOnions
\nParsnips
\nPotatoes
\nPumpkins
\nSilver beet
\nSweet potato
\nWitloaf
\nRhubarb
\nOranges Navel and Seville
\nTangelo
\nMandarins
\nLemons<\/p>\n

ASIAN ROOT FAST CONFIT<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 perfect for vegetables and for basting chicken<\/p>\n

Typically when we make a sauce or stirfry we add our ingredients to the oil.
\nThis technique is the opposite as the hot oil is poured over the ingredients.\u00a0 The benefit is that you have a concentrated flavour and infusion.
\nThis is one recommendation however you can vary this according to individual preference and what is in season<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3 stalks fresh lemon grass peeled and chopped
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 tablespoon ginger\u00a0 – peeled and grated finely
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 tablespoon galangal root \u2013 peeled and grated
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00bd tablespoon turmeric root \u2013 peeled and grated
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 shallot \u2013 peeled and sliced finely
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 clove of fresh local garlic peeled and chopped<\/p>\n

\u00bd cup of Sesame oil or vegetable cooking oil<\/p>\n

*Variations \u2013 add 1 piece of lemon zest or orange approximately 5cm x 5cm piece,\u00a0 palm sugar, coriander roots chopped<\/p>\n

Put all the ingredients into a heatproof bowl\u00a0 – ceramic style bowl is great.
\nHeat\u00a0 oil in a saucepan until it is spluttering but not burning or smoking.
\nPour the oil over the mix and combine. It will splutter and crackle which is the idea as all the ingredients are cooking.<\/p>\n

Ideas<\/p>\n

Vegetables<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cook up some a mix of Asian greens whatever is in season and available. Add your root oil mix and then serve.<\/p>\n

Chicken<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Take a pastry brush and brush the chicken with the oil and then roast in the oven. Alternatively for a stronger more intense flavour pour over the oil and leave to marinate overnight before cooking.<\/p>\n

THE PERFECT SPONGE<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 made even more perfect with strawberries<\/p>\n

Alison writes for Sprout<\/a> Magazine\u00a0 and these are her thoughts on baking the perfect sponge.<\/p>\n

Sponges look easy but really test\u00a0 our baking skills yet they are well worth the patience and can be enjoyed all year around filled with jam in summer, lemon butter in winter as it gets really cold with marmalade and some real custard.
\nThe test is following the instructions and understanding the principles of baking as you go step by step. The proof is my confession that one of the first sponges I made for this article failed, which further highlighted for me the difficulty in baking and the art of the sponge. It was actually a blessing though, as it made me provide much more detail in the method so you can get the perfect sponge every time.
\nThe following recipe seems to be the one that works. Duck eggs are best but if you can\u2019t get these, go for the freshest eggs you can get. If your oven is not fan-forced or has a fan-forced function that can be switched off, preheat oven to 190\u00b0C and move the oven rack to about one-third of the way up from the base of the oven. If you are using a fan-forced oven or are not able to turn the fan off, preheat oven to 170\u00b0C.
\nYou will need two 20cm diameter cake pans that are at least 5cm deep. Grease the inside of the pans and line the bases with a circle of non-stick baking paper, then grease the baking paper (this will make it easier to pull the baking paper off the cake when removed from the oven)<\/p>\n

100g (2\/3 cup) self-raising flour
\n50g (1\/3 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
\n1\/8 teaspoon fine salt
\n5g (1 teaspoon) butter, at room temperature
\n60ml (3 tablespoons) boiling water
\n4 large eggs, at room temperature (I used eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
\n150g (2\/3 cup) caster sugar<\/p>\n

Sift the self-raising flour, cornflour and salt together three times to remove lumps, aerate, and thoroughly combine the ingredients.
\nOnce the ingredients have been thoroughly sifted, place the sifter over a bowl or on a piece of greaseproof paper to catch any flour that might escape from the sifter and return the flours to the sifter. Set aside.
\nPlace the butter and boiling water in a small heatproof jug. The water needs to be hot so that the butter will completely melt.
\nBreak the eggs into a large bowl. Using an electric mixer beat on medium-high speed for about 10 seconds to combine the yolks and whites. With the beaters running, add the sugar and continue beating on medium-high speed for about 6 minutes When you lift the beaters, the mixture that falls from the beaters should sit on top of the egg mixture (rather than sinking in).
\nSift about one third of the flour mixture over the egg mixture, and using a large deep spoon, gently but quickly fold the flour into the egg mixture until nearly combined. Sift half the remaining flour over the egg mixture and gently fold until nearly combined.
\nSift the remaining flour over the egg mixture and pour the water\/butter mixture around the edges of the bowl. Fold the ingredients together, making sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl as you fold so the water combines with the other ingredients and doesn’t remain in a pool at the base of the bowl. Don’t mix any more than is necessary to combine the ingredients\u2014if you knock too much air out of the mixture the resulting cakes will be flat and tough.
\nDivide the mixture evenly between the prepared pans.
\nIf your oven has any hot spots, try to avoid placing the cake pans in the hottest areas of the oven. Bake for 20\u201324 minutes or until the cakes are lightly golden and spring back when gently pressed in the centre. Don\u2019t use a knife\/skewer to test the cakes in case they deflate.
\nPlace a piece of non-stick baking paper on a wire rack, and turn the cakes out onto the baking paper. The baking paper helps prevent the tops of the cakes from being marked by, or sticking to, the wire rack. Gently peel the baking paper off the cakes.
\nTurn the cakes over so they are top-side up. Place a piece of greaseproof paper loosely over the cakes while they are cooling to help prevent them from drying out.
\nSpread a thin layer of strawberry or raspberry jam on one of the cakes\u2014the least attractive side as it won\u2019t be visible\u2014top with a layer of fresh whipped real cream, gently place the other sponge on top.
\nMake a real pot of leaf tea, gather around and enjoy immediately.<\/p>\n

CAKE MAKING TIPS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use eggs at room temperature\u2014and for goodness sake use organic or free-range.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To ensure good volume, use a metal spoon with a cutting and sweeping action when mixing in the flour\u2014any grease in the bowl, even a small amount of yolk with the egg whites, will prevent the sponge from rising.<\/p>\n

Principles of cake baking<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beating introduces air into the mixture, therefore, beat butter, sugar and eggs well together in some varieties, and eggs thoroughly in all cases.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beating the mixture after adding the flour and any fruit forces out the air; therefore never beat mixtures after the flour and fruit are added.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Air expands with heat, thus raising and lightening mixtures, so a hot oven is necessary.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Large cakes, if baked quickly, brown on the outside before being baked through. Small cakes baked slowly lose their moisture through evaporation and become dry and hard, therefore, bake large cakes slowly and small cakes quickly.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lay one or two layers of paper over the top of large cakes, to prevent them over-colouring.<\/p>\n

Other reasons cakes can fail<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ingredients. Bad or damp flour, rancid butter, cheap, dirty, or dry fruit, doubtful eggs, inferior sugar.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Methods. Rubbing the butter into the flour badly, or creaming the butter and sugar together insufficiently.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moving cakes before they are set, this causes them to sink, and sometimes form holes in the centre. Banging the oven door during baking produces the same effects.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not testing cakes with a skewer to ascertain if they\u2019re thoroughly baked before removing from the oven.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Placing cakes when baked in such positions that the steam is unable to escape, with the result that it condenses inside the cake, and causes it to become heavy.<\/p>\n

STRAWBERRY MUFFINS<\/strong> <\/span>\u2013 made with buttermilk
\nsmall is beautiful and no need for a muffin top – quality over quantity
\nRecipe Alison Drover<\/p>\n

Makes 10 muffins<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 380g flour plain
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 150g sugar
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1tsp baking powder
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pinch of salt
\n.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 150 grams butter
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 eggs organic or free range please
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 300ml buttermilk
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00bd vanilla bean
\n*\u00a0\u00a0 1 punnet local strawberries \u2013 rinsed, hulled (green bit removed from the top) and then chopped roughly but taking care not to squash\u00a0\u00a0 the fruit or bruise it.
\n*\u00a0 \u00bd cup approx Demerara sugar<\/p>\n

Weigh flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir don\u2019t\u00a0 beat several times with a whisk.
\nMelt butter \u2013 take care not to split the butter so melt slowly on the stove on low. Break eggs into a separate bowl and stir in the buttermilk and vanilla.
\nPour the eggs over the melted butter and then place the bowl over the gas flame.
\nStir continuously and until it is about 38 degrees blood temperature. (If you use a temperature once you will know what this should be for the future)
\nGently fold the wet and dry ingredients. Don\u2019t worry if there are a few lumps as it is more important that your dough is not overworked, as this will make your muffins heavy.
\nAdd chopped strawberries halfway through this process.
\nTake a metal spoon and knife and transfer to patty tins.
\nSprinkle carefully so as not to spill on the tin as this will burn the top the sugar on each individual muffin. This will give the muffins the crunchy top, which is delicious and also compliments the strawberries by creating a toffee like top.
\nand bake for 150 degrees Celsius for 20-25 mins.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BELLY BULLETIN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald this week is investigating sales of rural land in NSW.
\nMining and energy companies have bought up more than 35 000 hectares .\u00a0 Foreign investors in agriculture have bought 225 000 hectares – both just in the last year.\u00a0 The dominance of overseas buyers is being put down to Australia’s openness to foreign investment, and recent difficulties in getting credit within Australia.\u00a0 There is growing worldwide demand for agricultural produce, as well as rising prices for mineral resources, especially coal and natural gas in NSW.\u00a0 Many farming communities are concerned about agricultural land being used for mining.\u00a0 Mining companies say some land is being bought as environmental offsets, and will not be lost to farming.<\/p>\n

Do you remember all the rain we had in the first half of this year?\u00a0 Unfortunately it also fell in most of Australia’s wine regions.\u00a0 Wine grapes really don’t like rain just before and at harvest time, it dilutes the flavours and tends to cause rot.\u00a0 So when you see the 2011 vintage<\/strong> on a bottle, maybe look for wines from Western Australia, which had very little rain.\u00a0 The NSW hunter Valley was also ok.\u00a0 You should expect very cheap prices though, as it was a big harvest.\u00a0 Experts are concerned that many winemakers added concentrated grape juice to low quality wine to boost alcohol levels and richness, which is legal but doesn’t lead to a fabulous wine.\u00a0 Concentrate has little flavour and can also be made from rot affected grapes.\u00a0 Former Winemakers association of Australia president Alister Purbrick says as much as a quarter million tonnes of grapes may have been made into concentrate this year.<\/p>\n

In local news, the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival<\/a> starts this week, with workshops from today and festival events all over the region.\u00a0 The main event is back at the old beach resort aka North Byron.\u00a0 Festival director Candy Baker told me on the weekend she is predicting a mini draught for the rest of the week.\u00a0 No cooking workshops this year unfortunately, but plenty of lunches and dinners.\u00a0 Food obsessed festival guests include locals Belinda Jeffery and Janella Purcell, last year’s Masterchef winner Adam Liaw, and Victoria Alexander.\u00a0 The very first session on Friday, at 9am, is called ‘eat my words, why we love foodbooks’, so make sure you get there for that one.\u00a0 There’s also a new event, called Writers at the Lakehouse<\/strong>, where you can have a nice cuppa tea or coffee, and hopefully a biscuit, with your favourite writer.\u00a0 This is a separately ticketed event, with tickets available at the Box Office on the day, so you could go along just for that.\u00a0 15 people per writer, five writers in the Lakehouse at any one time.<\/p>\n

It’s a good time for cookbook writers.\u00a0 At the Australian Book Industry awards last year, 5 out of 6 finalists in the illustrated book category were food books.<\/strong> And the first Masterchef winner, Julie Goodwin, won with “Our family table”, beating books by 3 well known food professionals.\u00a0 The\u00a0 Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry went to the first lady of Australian cooking teachers, Margaret Fulton. She is the first woman in six years to win the award and the first cookbook writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

on air on bayfm’s 99.9 on August 1, 2011   MORE COMING!   Miss August \u2013 Alison Drover The sun is shining and the strawberries are putting smiles on everyone\u2019s\u2019 lips. Spring is on the way and it is the time for kissing goodbye the cold.\u00a0\u00a0 Take time to savour the winter vegetable soups \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[213,210,214,211,209,212,215],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio-show-posts","tag-asian-greens","tag-cake","tag-ginger","tag-muffins","tag-sponge","tag-strawberry","tag-turmeric"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1594,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions\/1594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.belly.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}