Squid Ink Spaghettini with Salmon and Cherry Tomatoes

I learnt how to make this dish at the Sydney fish market seafood school. Recipe by head chef Richard Ptacnik from Otto ristorante at Woolloomooloo.

Ingredients:

500g piece chinook salmon fillet, skin off

2 punnets baby parsley

1 bulb fennel, finely shaved and placed in icy water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pink salt flakes to taste (white sea salt is also fine)

250g red cherry tomatoes, halved

250 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small red chilly, chopped finely

250ml dry white wine

300ml shellfish stock (fish stock is fine also)

600g Fresh spaghettini (recipe follows) - otherwise you can buy Latina pasta.

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

120g salmon roe

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Place the salmon on a chopping board and slice down the centre, removing the blood line and pin bones. Cut into 1cm thick strips send set aside.

Combine baby parsley, fennel, a little olive oil and salt and set aside.

Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan.

Add red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and cook for 30 seconds.

Add garlic and chill and cook for another 30 seconds, then add wine and stir well to create an emulsion.

Stir in Shellfish Stock.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add pasta, stir well to prevent it sticking, and cook for about 3 minutes, until tender.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce.

Toss the pasta through the sauce then add the salmon and remove from the heat.

Add the chopped parsley and salt.

Serve pasta in bowls and top with salmon roe. Place fennel mixture on top, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Fresh Spaghettini (makes about 1.4kg)

100g squid ink

1kg type 00 flour (from your supermarket)

7 eggs

Type 00 flour, extra for dusting

Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk eggs and squid ink together and pour into the well. Stir the eggs into the flour, with your hands to form a dough. Tip onto a lightly floured work bench and knead the dough for about 5 minutes with the heel of your hand, pushing it away from you and folding it back towards you until it is smooth and workable (not too soft and not too hard).

Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for 15-30 minutes. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough out to a thickness that can go through a pasta machine. Pass the dough through a pasta machine, starting with the widest setting and decreasing the setting each time so the dough becomes thinner and longer.

Fold the pasta back over itself a few times and put the rollers back to the first setting. Repeat this until you obtain a sheen on the pasta. Then continue rolling to a thickness of 3mm. Cut sheets approximately 30cm long and pass through a spagetinni cutter.

Enjoy!



Gibanica - Cheese layared pastry stack

Traditional Serbian delicacy - often served after the main meal or alongside other dishes. A must at any celebration.

Ingredients for 2 baking trays - half ingredients for one baking tray:

1x packet Turkish pita bread (split in half) - alternatively you can make your own pastry

1x 500g cottage cheese

2x 250g sour cream

1/4 cup butter milk/full cream milk

5 whole eggs

2/3x pinch of salt

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix through well. The mixture should be nice and smooth and the same texture as a pan cake mix.

Brush regular size baking tray with vegetable oil and put the first layer of Turkish pita bread on the bottom (make sure you have cut the pita bread open so that it isn't too thick).

Put a generous amount of the cheese mixture then layer again with pita bread. Do this interchangeably until all ingredients are used up. The top layer should be covered with cheese mixture a generous amount should be left on top.

Preheat oven to 220C and bake for about an hour in a fan forced oven. Take out once golden - it should be soft and moist when cut through.

Serve alone or alongside other meals.

Happy Baking!

Kuglof - Bundt Cake (cut)

Effective and easy - perfect for entertaining.

Ingredients:

1 cup of buttermilk
2 cups of sugar
Half a cup of vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
2 cups of flour
1 sachet of baking powder
40g blended almonds or raisins or both
1 teaspoon of Cocoa

Mix all ingredients except for cocoa together. Eggs should be lightly beaten before added to the mixture.

Separate 1/4 of the mixture into another bowl and add cocoa so that it goes brown.

Place white mixture in a tray (I used a round bundt shape tray) then add the brown mixture in whatever pattern you like, swirl it around with a fork.

Bake on 180C for about 30 minutes or until fully set and golden.

Happy Baking!





Chicken Laksa - Pileca Laksa

Spicy, warm and hearty chicken laksa.

Ingredients:

200g (small jar) of good quality laksa paste (from your Thai grocer) I used Por Kwan Laksa Paste

800ml coconut cream (400ml if making for 2 serves only)

500g chicken/vegetable stock

600g chicken breast cut into slices

(Alternatively you can add prawns, beef strips, duck strips).

200g fresh Asian noodles I used a combination of both shoelace/thin and thicker style noodles

1/2 cup bean sprouts if desired

5 thicker spring onions cut finely and fried until they just start to get golden

Handful fresh coriander to garnish

Fresh red chillies to garnish if desired

Black pepper chili paste to garnish on top if you like your laksa spicy

Method:

Heat the laksa paste in a large saucepan for a few minutes to release the aroma. Add coconut milk and stock and bring to boil. Add the chicken or the chosen meat/prawns and simmer on reduced heat until cooked.

Place noodles in a large bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Allow to stand for two minutes to heat through, then drain. Divide drained noodles between serving bowls (bowls should be fairly large and deep), pour laksa and all its ingredients over and garnish with bean sprouts, spring onion and coriander.

Enjoy!

German Style Salty Pretzels - Slane Perece

I absolutely love the salty pretzels - I often have them for breakfast on my way to work from a German Bakery near by. So I thought I would recreate my own from a great recipe I found.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sachets dried yeast

2 tsp caster sugar

635gm (4 1/2 cups flour)

40g softened butter

50gm bicarbonate soda

1 egg yolk for brushing

Sea salt flakes for scattering

Method:

In a small cup empty out sachets of dried yeast and add a small amount of warm water - combine so you get a paste like texture. Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for 5-7 minutes - it should rise and bubbles will form.

In a large bowl add flour, sugar and a pinch of salt and stir through. Add the yeast mixture and 250ml warm water. Combine and form the dough, it should be nice and soft and all of the flour should be incorporated. If you need to, add more water. Oil the dough mixture slightly and cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave to stand in a warm place (this is called proving) for 1-1 1/2 hrs - until doubled in size. See step by step pictures below.

Knock back dough and divide into 8 even pieces or 10 if you want smaller pretzels. Roll each piece on a work surface to about 45cm long so it tapers on the ends and is thicker in the middle. Bring ends inwards and cross over once, then twist once more, then fold back and press ends onto the thicker side to create the pretzel shape. Place on an oil brushed tray.

Preheat oven to 200C. Bring 5 litres of water to simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bicarbonate soda, stir to combine, then carefully add pretzels into the water to blanch. They should float on the top and you can turn them once then take them out (this procedure should take about 30 seconds on each side). Place the pretzels back into the oiled tray and brush the egg yolk over them. Scatter sea salt flakes over the pretzels as desired. Bake on 200C until golden brown (25-30mins).

Serve warm and enjoy - Happy Baking!



Tennis Ball Cake

Tennis ball cake made in inspiration for my brother's birthday.

The inside is a mud cake as per the below recipe.



Mud Cake - Torta od cokolade

This was my own creation for my 25th birthday - it was delicious!

Ingredients:

250g butter, chopped

200g Nestle cooking dark chocolate, chopped (1 whole block)

2 cups caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

chocolate flakes, to serve

Chocolate ganache

200g Nestle cooking dark chocolate, chopped (1 whole block)
2/3 cup thickened cream

Method

Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced. Grease medium sized cake pan. Line base with baking paper.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add chocolate, sugar and 1 cup cold water. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Cool for 10 minutes.

Add eggs. Stir to combine. Add flour and cocoa. Stir until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre has moist crumbs clinging. Stand for 10 minutes in pan. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the chocolate ganache: Place chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until thick enough to spread. Spread over cake. Top with chocolate flakes. Serve and indulge in this delicious treat.

Happy Baking :)