The Hangry Chef

This sweet and flavourful jam goes brilliantly with freshly baked scones and double cream, or on hot crumpets for a yummy breakfast. You will need... 1 bunch of rhubarb, washed well 2 cups of fresh cherries, rinsed and pitted 1 cup of caster sugar 1 lemon, juiced 1 tsp vanilla  Method... 1. Using a small, sharp knife, trim the ends off the rhubarb and peel away any imperfections on the outside of the stems. Be careful not to peel too much of the outside layer off as this gives the jam the ruby red colour.  2. Cut the rhubarb into 1inch thick peices and place in a medium sized saucepan (one bunch should equate to about 3 full cups of chopped rhubarb) 3. Add the pitted cherries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and mix to coat. Place the saucepan on the stove and heat on medium. 4. Once the sugar begins to dissolve and you see the rhubarb begin to breakdown, reduce heat so that the jam is gently simmering and leave to cook down, uncovered, for...

For some reason strawberries are ridiculously cheap at the moment... I'd say there is a surplus of them because of the unusually warm weather. At some stores you can buy 4 punnets for a dollar which is crazy because usually its $4 for one punnet! Having about 5 punnets in my fridge and knowing I wouldn't be able to eat them all before they turned yucky I decided to make some jam out of them. It's super easy and you should do it now while strawberries are cheap! You will need... 4 punnets of strawberries, washed and hulled 3/4 cup of caster sugar 1 vanilla pod (split in half) 1-2 drops of lemon juice Method.. 1. Chop your strawberries up roughly and place them in a pot with the sugar, vanilla and lemon juice, give them a mix to coat. 2. Turn the heat to low, and slowly cook for 45 minutes. Jam is ready when it is thick and gelatinous. 3. To store, sterilise a jar by placing it in boiling water for 30 seconds, remove with tongs and spoon the hot jam into ...

This is a pretty basic recipe, so we were talking about what we could add to it to make it a bit more interesting. I suggested making it a mexican-flavoured relish, by adding about half a tsp of ground cumin, paprika and coriander with a squeeze of lime and some kidney beans. You could also chuck in some chopped capsicum, raisins or fresh herbs if you like! I'll also let you in on a little trick when cooking with tomatoes**... You will need... for 2 jars worth! 4 large (organic if you can) vine tomatoes 2 large brown onions 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp sea salt 2 tsp mustard powder 2 tsp mild curry powder 2 tsp plain flour 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or malt vinegar) 1 tsp olive oil Method... 1. Cut out the core, and score the bottom of the tomato with an x. Drop in boiling water for 15 seconds and remove with tongs, drop into a bowl of iced water. Skin should peel off with a small knife. If it's not coming away easily, repeat the process if necessary. 2. Slice the ...

A nicely made condiment can make even the most boring dish amazing...  I'll give you 3 easy recipes for 3 different meals! Romesco Sauce This is a Catalan sauce that is made of roast capsicums, almonds, bread and olive oil. It goes well with anything off the barbecue, but works best with seafood! You will need... 1 jar of roasted capsicums** 1/2 cup blanched almonds 1 clove garlic 1/2 tsp smoked paprika 1/4 cup olive oil 1 slice bread (vienna or sourdough work well) 2 Tbs red wine vinegar salt and pepper Method... 1. Soak the bread in the vinegar and olive oil. 2. In a mortar and pestle, bash the almonds and garlic to a fine paste, add the bread, salt, pepper and paprika and crush all together. 2. Chop up the capsicum finely and add to the almond paste and continue to smash all the ingredients together until they form a nice paste- it doesn't have to be super smooth, just to your liking. 3. Serve over grilled fish, prawns or squid with chopped basil to garni...

I'm in my third week of Sourdough already- can you believe it? We've decided it's about time we give it a name, after all, we've grown close- feeding it, watering it, giving it TLC, so we've named it 'Daintree Dough'. It's looking extra loved this week, we can't decide weather it's because of the crazy winds we've been having, or just the extra time that's lapsed but when I did my reduction yesterday and again decided to use the 'waste' to make a dough, it rose beautifully. I may have done a couple of things differently- like leaving the dough a bit wetter, adding about 4 grains of sugar (I was petrified if I added too much I'd be ruining my beautiful dough), leaving the dough to prove next to the heater for 2 hours, then on the kitchen bench overnight before punching it back and leaving it again to prove all day (so 24 hours of proving all up). And baking it according to Hugh's instructions , in a hot oven, wi...

image from  http://www.ivillage.com/chocolate-ganache-glaze/3-r-61069 You will need... 250gr good-quality dark cooking chocolate (such as Calebaut) 60ml pure cream, room temperature 15gr (1Tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature Method... 1. Using the water bath method, put your ingredients all together in a clean, metal bowl over a saucepan half-full of simmering water (making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl). 2. Slowly stir using a wooden spoon, bringing the ingredients from the outer edge of the bowl to the middle, more of a folding method rather then a vigorous stirring. Once the chocolate has completely melted, remove from the heat and use as desired!

This will go really well with the Orange Almond Cake if you wish to serve it with a nice fruity summery sauce! You will need..  400gr frozen raspberries (you can use fresh if you prefer, but frozen work just as well!) 1/3 cup of caster sugar 1 Tbs water 1/2 Tbs lemon juice (leave the seeds in if you can- I'll explain why later!) 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon rind 1 vanilla pod, seeds only Method... 1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan, simmer over a medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes and don't bring to the boil. 2. Using a stick blender process the mix to get any lumps out (or pop into a food-processor or blender) 3. Then sieve through a fine mesh strainer. Use the back of your spoon to push through all the pulp. As you squish the raspberry seeds and lemon seeds to release the  PECTIN  which aids to thicken your coulis :-) this is also a technique for making jams and marmalades too. 4. Leave the coulis to sit for an hour or so befor...

I thought I'd do a few different standard dessert sauces and get them out of the way. There are a plethora (I like this word!) of different sweet sauces you can make up to spice up any dessert you make. All sauces are variants of Four classic sauces; 1) Milk or cream based sauces 2) Chocolate based sauces 3) Fruit based sauces 4) Sugar based sauces Today I'll do Anglaise (milk), Ganache (chocolate) and Raspberry Coulis (fruit) as I've already done butterscotch in my Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe which is a sugar-based sauce. Picture from wiki (I'll do the hardest one first!) You will need... 300ml full-cream milk 30gr caster sugar 3 egg yolks 1 vanilla pod, split in half (for alternative flavours you can also use star anise and cinnamon) Method... 1. In a large bowl, combine your egg yolks and sugar until they become a little lighter in colour. 2. Add the vanilla and milk in a heavy-based saucepan and slowly bring just to simmering point, then...

No blabbing, just straight to this one... W hite Stock (2 Litres) You will need... 1Kg Raw Bones - beef, veal, chicken whichever you require 1 Brown onion, peeled, diced 1 Carrot, peeled, diced 1 Stick Celery, diced 1 Bouquet Garni* 6 Peppercorns 2.5Lt Water Method.. 1. Cut up the bones and remove any excess fat or ask your butcher to trim them for you 2. Place the bones in the stock pot, cover with cold water, blanch and refresh** 3. Put the bones in a clean stock pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. 4. Using a ladle, skim the scum from the surface (if you leave it your stock will be cloudy) then add the washed and cut vegetables, the bouquet garni and peppercorns. Re-boil, then turn down to simmer, and continue to skim any scum from the top. 5. Chicken stock will be ready after 3 hours, beef and veal will take 4-5 hours. 6. When straining, use a clean heatproof container, and strain through a fine sieve- I like to use muslin cloth or an oil-filter to g...