Recipe #36 Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding

This is a combination of several ideas taken from different desserts. The strawberry pudding is from Lotte, a mother of a friend we had growing up, from a German fruit pudding recipe she shared. Lotte mixed it with an instant strawberry pudding packet for the starch. The base is a typical cheesecake biscuit base and the ganache just had to be added for texture. The less sugar in the fruit the better as this will make it more tart compared to the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 cup raspberry juice

2 Pint baskets of Strawberries 

2 cups Diced Rhubarb

8-10 Digestive biscuits

50g Corn flour

225g Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

100g 70% Chocolate

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup Double cream

Whipping cream

Method:

Melt the butter in a small pan

Place the digestives in a food processor and chop until a fine crumb.

Mix melted butter with the biscuit crumb and press into a pie dish and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

In a double boiler melt the chocolate until smooth add the sugar and gradually add the double cream to thicken

Pour the ganache over the cooled biscuit base and return to the fridge to cool

Slice and arrange the remaining strawberries over the chocolate  

Pour half of the raspberry juice and sugar into a saucepan and add half of the chopped strawberries and all of the diced rhubarb and simmer until soft.

In a cup add the corn starch to the remaining raspberry juice and pour into the pan stirring until it thickens.

Pour mixture on to the sliced strawberries cooled ganache and return to the fridge for 15 minutes

Use the remaining strawberries to decorate the top of the pie and return to the fridge until time to serve

Whip and pipe whipping cream on the top of pie and serve

 

Recipe #35 Pizza Dough & Tomato Sauce

 This makes 8 x 12" Pizzas so you could half it for smaller portions or freeze the remaining dough.

Ingredients:

1k Strong Bread Flour

20g Semolina [durum wheat]

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Sugar

17g Instant or Active Yeast 

600ml Warm water

2 tbsp Sourdough Starter*

*Optional

Kitchen Mixer with dough hook

Method:

In a measuring jug add the sugar to the warm water and dissolve.

Add the yeast and allow to settle to the bottom before stirring.

In the mixer and the flour, salt, semolina and oil.

Add the yeast to the flour mixture and start the mixer on low.

Mix the dough for 20 minutes minimum until the gluten has formed and the dough does not break easily when stretched.

Tip out the dough and knead for 5 minutes and form into a ball.

Rest dough in a large oil-lined bowl under cling film for several hours until the dough has doubled in size.

Knock back the dough and cut into 8 segments and let rest.

Shape or roll dough into pizza pies for baking.

Tomato Sauce:

2 tins chopped or crushed tomatoes

1/2 Red pepper

3 tbsp Tomato Paste

2 tbsp Spices; basil, oregano, ground fennel, 

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Sugar

Method:

Cook all ingredients in a pot and season to taste.

Puree with a hand blender and let stand to room temperature before spreading on pizzas.

Recipe #34 Mike's Irish Wheaten Bread

 This recipe is adapted from one I read on the Interwebs. I added margarine to soften the final texture.

Using less margarine makes for a firmer, dryer bread. Too much margarine makes a crumbly bread.

Ingredients:

350g wholemeal flour
100g strong white flour
300ml buttermilk
60g margarine
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder)
1-2 tsp salt to taste
1-2 tsp sugar to taste
50g porridge oats (optional)

 Method: Prep:10min  Cook:30min  Ready in:40min 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.
2. Sift flours, salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and half the oats (if using) together in a bowl.
3. Add buttermilk and mix into a dough (you need to use your hands, don’t over knead or it will produce a tough loaf, you just want to mix the ingredients together).
4. Form into a ball.
5. Place onto a greased baking tray.
6. Create an indentation half way through the middle of the loaf with the palm of your hand or a finger. This splits the bread into crusty sections.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the oats over the surface of the loaf [this helps to prevent the loaf from scorching]
8. Cook for 30 mins, if you don't like your bread very crusty cover with foil for the last 5 minutes or so. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped.
9. Let it cool on a wire rack for 10-15 mins.

Recipe #33 Mike's Italian Sausage

 

This recipe takes a good part of an afternoon to make so give yourself enough buffer time to prep and clean up.  You will need a mincer and sausage extruder for this recipe.

Yield: 16-18 large portions

Ingredients:

2.5 kl [4.5lbs] Pork Shoulder, for meatiness

1 kl [2.205 lbs] Pork Belly or Streaky bacon, for fat [make sure there is a 3:1 ratio of fat]

Large Sausage Casings [ask butcher to give you enough casings to cover the weight/volume of meat bought]

Spices:  

1 tbsp Salt, 

1 tbsp Sugar, 

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp dried basil, 

1 tbsp dried oregano, 

1 1/2 tbsp toasted ground fennel [toast and grind in mortar and pestle]

1 tbsp chilli pepper or flakes [smoked chipotle is preferable]

2 tsp cayenne pepper [or to taste]

1 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tsp olive oil [ for the extruder lube ]

Instructions:

Meat Prep:

Cut meat into segments and trim any skin or grizzle off. 

[ Segments should be small enough to fit in to the mincer so the sinew doesn't clog the blade.]

Spice Prep:

Toast the fennel and mix in other spices to taste.

Grind the meat into a large bowl using the medium chop for a coarse mix [insuring no dark grease enters the mix].

Thoroughly mix in all the dry ingredients by hand until evenly blended.

Testing:

Take a small ball of meat and fry it in a pan until cooked to test the seasoning balance suits your taste.

Add more of what is lacking...to taste. [eg. more cayenne pepper]

Repeat the testing until you reach desired result in flavour.

Sausage Extrusion:

When satisfied with the mix it's time to make the sausage.

Remove the cutter blade from the mincer and add the extruder to the machine. 

Use the olive oil to moisten the extruder and slide the casing onto the nozzle.

Load meat into the hopper and start the machine up and feed and press the meat through.

This is a two person job; one person feeds the machine and another must keep tension on the casing as it fills while also managing the continuous coil of sausage onto a tray or clean tub.

Repeat this process until all the meat is used. 

The last portion of meat will need help to pass all the way through the process by adding a moist slice of bread or two through the machine until it is seen in the casing.; this ensures there is no waste.

TIP: Let the sausage sit in fridge overnight before freezing to allow spice to infuse.