Both Pâte Brissé and Pâte Sucrée are short cut pastry; Pâte Brissé is the same as Pâte Sucrée but without the sugar. Ingredients: 200g flour 100g cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1 egg yolk ½ tsp salt, omit if using salted butter 3 tbsp, 45ml, ice cold water - or [...]
Some time ago I read about the ‘three holy birds’ of French cuisine, so named by Kate Hill, Kitchen in Camont, in Gascony, France. They are pheasant, duck and guinea fowl, which she also endearingly calls, the ‘three graces. Kate's ‘angels’, have hung in her kitchen and watched over her cooking in her famous kitchen [...]
Every so often I need to advertise for a 'Kitchen Steward' or kitchen assistant/helper to help me with cooking classes at Cooking on the Bay. My Kitchen Steward plays an important and valued role in contributing to the participant's enjoyment of the class. As those of you who have been here will appreciate. This time, [...]
Lemons are one of my favourite fruits, I use them almost every day; they are an indispensable part of my cooking. I just love having a large bowl of lemons decoratively gracing my kitchen bench. There is always a refreshing squeeze of lemon in my water glass; lemon juice is also very rich in anti-scorbutic [...]
Moules Marinière is one of the best-known classic French mussel dishes. The recipe hails from the wives of French sailors living along the northwest coast of Brittany, where most of France’s mussel catch is harvested. It is a typical French provincial bistro dish, in that these Bretagne sailors’ wives could afford to make a [...]
Years ago, as a small child in the May school holidays, my mother and I always drove to visit my grandparents at their farm in central Victoria. May meant it was mushroom time and so we would 'go mushrooming', usually on Sunday afternoons. Armed with a big bucket and small knife, we would drive out [...]
I do look forward to baking this cake in autumn when mandarins are at their peak; some varieties continue into June and winter, so there is still time for you to get into the kitchen and baking. The lusciousness of the pistachios and the sweetness of the mandarins, make a perfect and flavoursome match. The [...]
Now, in February and March, is the perfect time for Passata making. Tomatoes are at their peak. It is an easy process - here is how to make it! Ingredients: To make 12 x 750 ml bottles 1 box of Roma 'sauce' tomatoes, about 15kg Bunch basil Murray River Sea Salt [...]
This cake makes a lovely Christmas gift, full of Brazil nuts, walnuts and various glace fruits. It may be made in a large loaf tin 20cm x 12cm, or smaller cake tins – 8.5 x 14cm and smaller still at 10 x 5.5cm. This quantity also makes 8 tiny puddings, in mini pudding tins; [...]
Cooking all these chicken dishes and stock as I have been in this Covid-19 winter 2020, reminded me of some happier times and our visit to Bresse, the home of the famous Bresse chicken, la volaille de Bresse, and the Monday market day in the market town of Louhans in Burgundy. The summer of 2017 [...]
