Category: baking

#Poached Side of #Salmon with asparagus salad #christmaseve

We thought a light dinner on a Christmas Eve would be nice ahead of a day of planned feasting today.

I have never actually poached a whole side of Salmon before but I certainly will be in future.

I bought this 1.5kg side from Peninsula Seafood’s Processing Plant outlet in Dromana on our way down to the Mornington Peninsula last Monday. They cryovacced the salmon for me which meant I could keep it in the fridge rather than have to freeze it and defrost it.

The recipe I used is based on Mary Berry’s Poached Salmon with shrimps and asparagus which looks delicious, but I really wanted to keep dinner simple so we had it with asparagus a d feta salad in the side.

Ingredients:

  • Side of salmon – 1.5kg
  • Butter
  • Foil
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Dill – 2-3 stalks
  • Salt and pepper
  • Asparagus – 2 bunches
  • Feta to crumble over asparagus
  • Baby spinach leaves
  • Salt and pepper
  • Foil

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

2. Lay 2 long foil sheets across a large roasting pan, fold over does in middle to join together into one sheet, grease foil with butter.

3. Lay dill in middle of sheet. Season salmon with salt and pepper on the cut side and place face down (skin side up) on the dill. Put a few dabs of butter across top of salmon for good measure.

4. Pour wine and lemon juice around the salmon and fold over long edges of foil to create a packet, then fold over short edges, rolling and scrunching to seal.

5. Bake salmon for 25 minutes. While salmon is baking, blanch asparagus until bright green and tender.

6 remove salmon from from oven, undo package and remove skin which will easily peel off. Using a teaspoon or palette knife, gently scrape off the grey coloured meat/fatty layer under the skin to reveal the pink layer of flesh.

7. Carefully flip salmon and juices onto a serving platter, surround with Baby spinach, asparagus, sprinkle with feta. Dress salad with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

8. Serve with other salads or roast potatoes. We had a tomato, basil, bocconcini salad which went well with it too.

Poached side of salmon with asparagus, baby spinach and feta salad

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Walnut Banana Loaf #coconutflour

This is a very more-some banana loaf with a crunchy maple syrup walnut crust.

Banana walnut coconut flour cake with walnut crust

Organic Coconut Flour is a delicious, low carbohydrate, high-fibre, grain-free alternative to wheat flour. It is made from fresh organic coconut flesh. This cake also uses the natural sugar of maple syrup rather than sugar. So you can enjoy it almost guilt free!

It just involves a bit of hand whisking and mixing so is fuss-free and doesn’t require beaters or mixers.

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup and another 2 tablespoons for walnut crust
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 large or 3 smaller overripe bananas mashed
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1.5 cups coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (1/2 for cake mixture and 1/2 for crust)
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius

2. Coat a loaf pan (22cm long) with oil, then line with baking powder. The oil sticks the paper to the pan.

3. In one large bowl whisk eggs, oil and maple syrup until well combined.

4. In another bowl mash bananas with vanilla essence. then add to egg mixture and mix well.

5. In a third large bowl, mix together dry ingredients: coconut flour, desiccated coconut, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder, salt, 1;2 the chopped walnuts, baking soda and baking powder.

6.Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour egg mixture into the centre, mix well until combined. It will have the consistency of a thick dough almost.

7. In another bowl mix the rest of the walnuts (about half a cup) with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder and 2 tablespoons or so of maple syrup.

8. Put the cake mixture into the loaf tin and then spread walnuts over the top, pressing the walnut mixture firmly into the top.

9. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

10. Allow to cool then remove from pan, slice and enjoy!

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Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake #almostketo

I have been discovering almond flour and coconut flour to make low carb/no carb cakes through lockdown here in Sydney. We’re pretty much out now, but I like them so much I’m going to stick with them .

Coconut flour chocolate cake

Not only do they taste great and are much lighter, they are easy to make. This coconut flour chocolate cake is moist and delicious. It’s almost totally carb free and is lactose free.

Here’s a link to BBC Good Food on Health benefits of Coconut Flour.

If you want to be super-conscientious you can use sugar substitutes and no sugar chocolate, I made it using normal caster sugar and real chocolate chips for the ganache. Use the best quality natural cacao powder for the best taste.

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes

  • Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cacao powder
  • 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
  • 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1 400ml can coconut cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
  • For ganache: 1/3 can coconut cream, 4 tablespoons or thereabouts of small chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons icing sugar. Additional desiccated coconut for decoration.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9 inch baking tin of your choice. I used a small ring cake tin with butter or oil.

2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together coconut flour, cacao powder, desiccated coconut and baking powder until well mixed.

3. In a seperate bowl whisk together just the eggs and sugar for 1 minute until well combined and sugar has dissolved.

4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour egg mixture in, then add coconut cream and vanilla. Whisk together all the ingredients to form a smooth, lump free, silky batter. It will seem a bit runnier than normal cake batter but don’t worry about that.

5. Bake in oven for 50 minutes, check to see skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes.

6. Allow to cool completely before icing with ganache.

7. Make ganache by heating coconut cream in small pan over low heat, add chocolate chips stirring to make sure they don’t stick or burn, add icing sugar half a tablespoon at a time, stirring until glossy until adding next heap.

8. Scoop ganache over the cake or use a squeeze bottle if you want to be more precise. Spread evenly, allowing to drip over sides, sprinkle with desiccated coconut.

Store cake in fridge. Just buzz quilled in microwave if you want it moister. Not too long though.

Shanthini2 Comments

Green Tea Berry Cobbler

This cobbler recipe looks good…but what is a cobbler?..fruit baked with some sort of dough apparently!

Here’s also is a link to some recipes and an explanation of What is the difference between a cobbler, crumble and crisp?

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Clean Plate Club: Green Tea Berry Cobbler! Now you can drink your tea and eat it too. Presenting a unique twist…

Green Tea Berry Cobbler

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Blueberry and almond flour muffins

Working from home through the lockdown means no morning teas with shared baked goods, or breakfast meetings at nice cafes so I have planned for the week ahead by baking some low gluten muffins for us and to drop to some friends who live within 5km!

Using a combination of almond flour and plain flour, buttermilk and a mixture of oil and melted butter makes these muffins super moist and filled with the goodness of frozen and fresh blueberries.

Super-easy to make and just as easy to enjoy.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Baking time: 25 minutes Makes 10-12 muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cups almond flour
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 200g frozen blueberries
  • Handful of fresh blueberries
  • 1/8 the cup of slivered almonds
  • Muffin tin with 12 holes and paper muffin cups

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven 200 degrees Celsius

2. Sift flours and mix dry ingredients including almond flour, plain flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar into a large mixing bowl.

3. Put wet ingredients into a seperate bowl including eggs, oil, butter, buttermilk, and whisk together until smooth.(make sure butter is cooled).

4. Slowly add wet ingredients into flour mixture mixing until just combined. Don’t overmix at this stage.

5. Fold in frozen berries, fresh berries and almonds.

6. Put paper muffin cups into muffin tin holes. Fill each muffin cup with batter ensuring blueberries are as evenly distributed as possible.

7.place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and skewer comes out cleanly. Leave to sit in muffin pan to cool for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy immediately and for days to come.

Shanthini2 Comments

Free-spirited #Profiteroles

Made these a few weeks ago for a lunch party….reminded me how it actually is easy to make Choux pastry with only a bit of attention to quantities. Going to now think about making some new savoury and sweet recipes with it. Stay tuned!

Free-spirited Profiteroles!

Shanthini2 Comments