Posts Tagged With: children

Rosemary and tomato focaccia

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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We love preparing dough, and this soft focaccia studded with tomatoes and rosemary is fantastic as part of an antipasto plate or with a hearty Italian-style soup. In class we use the previous class’s dough, and then make the new dough for the next class.

From the garden: tomatoes, rosemary
Recipe source: dough from a recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Serves: 4 or 24 tastes

Equipment:

·       Bowls – small, med, flat small

  • Measures – jug, teaspoon, tablespoon
  • Scales
  • Stand mixer & dough hook
  • Pastry brush
  • 20 x 30cm Swiss roll pan
  • Clean tea towel
  • Chopping board & knife
  • Serving plates
 Ingredients:

For the topping:

·       Salt flakes

  • 1 large sprig of rosemary

·       A cup of cherry tomatoes

For the magic dough:

·       250g plain white flour

·       250g strong white flour

·       1½ level teaspoons fine sea salt

·       1 teaspoon instant dried yeast

·       1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little extra for oiling

What to do:

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

For the focaccia:

  1. Brush the pan with 2 teaspoons of oil. Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes or until dough is elastic and has returned to its original size. Press into the prepared pan. Cover with the clean tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 20 minutes or until doubled in height.
  2. Meanwhile wash the rosemary & pat dry and pick the leaves from the stalks.
  3. Wash the tomatoes but leave any sepals on, and carefully dry on a piece of paper towel.
  4. Use your finger to press dimples into the dough. Brush with remaining oil and sprinkle over the rosemary and a sprinkle of salt. Gently press the tomatoes into the dough.
  5. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and the focaccia sounds hollow when tapped on base. Serve warm or at room temperature, carved into thin slices.
  6. While the focaccia is cooking you can make the dough for the next class before cleaning up!

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Now make the magic dough for the next class:

  1. Put the two flours into the bowl of the stand mixer with the salt and yeast. Mix well using the dough hook. Add the oil and 325ml warm water and mix to a rough dough. Knead for 5–10 minutes, until smooth. This is quite a loose and sticky dough, which is just as it should be – you get better-textured bread this way – so try not to add too much flour if you can help it, it will become less sticky as you knead.
  2. Trickle a little oil into a clean bowl, add the kneaded dough and turn it in the oil so that the bottom is covered with a light film. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size – at least an hour, probably closer to two.

 Notes: What is process of doubling the dough in size called? What is a tomato sepal?

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Veggie patch and feta frittate

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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So we come to the last weeks of term and need to use up a little bit of this and bit of that growing in the garden. This recipe is perfect to do just that!

Fresh from the garden: eggplant, squash, capsicum, eggs, rocket, parsley
Recipe source: Melissa
Makes: 30 individual frittate

Equipment:

  • Pastry brush
  • 3 x 12-hole large cupcake tins
  • Mixing bowls – 2 large, 2 med
  • Chopping board & knives
  • Potato peeler
  • Salad spinner & paper towel
  • Large frying pan or wok
  • Grater, scales
  • Wooden spoon
  • Tongs, whisk
  • Serving plates
 Ingredients:

  • A small selection of ripe veggies: eggplant, squash, capsicum, leek
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • Large handful of rocket
  • Small handful marjoram and parsley
  • Olive oil
  • Flaked salt and black pepper
  • 200g feta cheese
  • 25g parmesan
  • 12 large eggs
   

What to do:

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour a little olive oil into one cupcake hole in each tin and using the pastry brush, spread it into 30 of the holes.
  2. Peel the sweet potato, and then chop flesh evenly into 1cm cubes. Wash the others veggies and chop into thin slices or small cubes.
  3. Wash the rocket leaves in several changes of water and spin dry. Chop the stalks and leaves into very thin ribbons.
  4. Wash the herbs and pat dry with paper towel. Strip the leaves from the stalks & chop finely.
  5. Heat the frying pan with the oil and toss in the sweet potato, leek and veggies. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, for about 4 minutes over medium heat until the cubes are just tender and lightly golden at the sides. Add in the rest of the veggies and cook for another few minutes, then add the rocket and cook until wilted.
  6. Meanwhile, cut the feta into small cubes and grate the parmesan.
  7. Then add the cubed feta and gently stir to mix in.
  8. In the large bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the herbs, parmesan, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
  9. Divide the veggie and feta mixture evenly into the cupcake holes, spoon the eggy herb mixture over and bake in 180C oven for about 20 minutes.
  10. Carefully prise out with a plastic knife if sticking, then divide onto serving plates.

 Notes: Why do we need to preheat the oven? What is feta cheese? What does to prise mean?

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Kitchen news March 22nd 2016

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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It has been ‘Leftovers Fortnight’ in the Cottage with the Movie Night dough being reused for the pizza and the tomato sauce also being used for spinach and ricotta cannelloni as well as the pizza. Some of the children have been learning to make homemade ricotta from scratch too, patiently waiting a whole hour for the temperature to gradually reach 95C and the curds separate from the whey. And what do we do with the whey? Well apparently as it is a fermented product it’s great to splash on your skin (on your face OR your feet!) or to drink when you’ve an upset tummy. Or to use as the water part when making bread or pizza dough. And most of all it’s great for citrus trees. So that’s where ours has been going!

Last week we also harvested a massive watermelon from the desert-like bed that runs between the Cottage and D Block. The watermelon was orange when we opened it up! Pale but juicy, perfumed and ripe – and I lifted a fab recipe from Ottolenghi’s Plenty for it: Watermelon and feta salad with red onion and rocket. Try it and see what a great combination it is!

And a massive hit again with the kids has been the Sean’s Panaroma sweetcorn chowder: a tricky recipe with a few twists and turns. But that’s how we roll baby.

Some lucky students got to flex their knife-wielding muscles this week too and reprised the Cornersmith’s bouillon recipe to replenish our bare shelves. Chopping onions, celery, carrots and their green tops, parsley, coriander, fennel and loads of garlic (and other secret herbs and spices, natch) and then blending it all up into a paste with lots of salt to make into our version of stock cubes, and then squishing into sterilised jars to waterbath and preserve. The bouillon keeps for at least 6 months, unopened in a dark and cool cupboard, and at least 3 or 4 months in the fridge once opened.

 

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Sweetcorn chowder

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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In the restaurant Sean’s Panaroma, Sean makes this soup with a super-intense prawn stock and serves it with velveted prawns, spicy Italian sausage & chilli oil. This version is great for Bondi students who may prefer it vegetarian & not so spicy!

Fresh from the garden: sweetcorn, basil, potatoes, spring onions
Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by Sean Moran in Let it Simmer
Serves: 4 or 24 tastes

Equipment:

  • Saucepans – 1 heavy based, 1 medium
  • Small frying pan
  • Mortar and pestle
  • Chopping board and knife
  • Wooden spoon
  • Measures: 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, ½ teaspoon
  • Measuring jug
  • Garlic press, potato peeler
  • Salad spinner
  • Stick blender, ladle
  • Serving bowls

 

 

 Ingredients:

  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 large onions
  • 3 corn cobs
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 100ml white wine or verjuice
  • 1.5lt vegetable stock or boiling water with 2 tablespoons bouillon paste
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 large branch of basil
  • 2 waxy potatoes (about 120g each) ideally kipfler
  • 2 spring onions
  • Pinch of saffron threads or ground turmeric

What to do:

  1. Pour the stock into the smaller saucepan and heat to a simmer, or fill the kettle to the 1.5litre mark and set it to boil.
  2. In the small frying pan dry toast the cumin seeds over a low flame until fragrant, then grind with the mortar & pestle. Peel and finely chop the onions. Remove the ears and silk from the corn, then carefully slice the kernels off the cobs by standing on one end and cutting don each side of the cob.
  3. Heat olive oil in the heavy-based saucepan over gentle heat, add onion and stir occasionally until lightly coloured. Add the ground cumin and sauté for another few minutes until fragrant.
  4. Add most of the corn (saving a handful for later) and sauté briefly. Deglaze the pan with the wine or verjuice, then add stock or hot water and bouillon and bring to the boil.
  5. Meanwhile peel and crush the garlic cloves and add to the pot, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile wash, spin dry and pick the basil leaves to yield about ½ cup loosely packed. Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm dice. Wash and trim the spring onions and slice thinly on the diagonal.
  7. When soup has finished simmering, add the basil to the pan, then using the stick blender blend to form a smooth soup.
  8. Add potato, saffron or turmeric and remaining corn and simmer over medium-high heat until the potato is tender for about 10 minutes.
  9. Ladle into serving bowls, and serve hot scattered with the sliced spring onion.
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Watermelon, pomegranate and feta salad

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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Yotam says, ‘This you must eat on the beach or at least outdoors, on a hot day, with the sun’s rays unobstructed. It reminds me of hot sweaty nights on the seafront in Tel Aviv, when everyone is out enjoying themselves with loud music and often a heated conversation. (So, Tel Aviv not so different from Sydney after all?) The sweet juiciness of the watermelon and the crumbly saltiness of the feta give this salad its character.’

Fresh from the garden: watermelon, red onion
Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi in Plenty
Serves: 4 or 24 tastes

Equipment:

·       Chopping boards & knives

·       A selection of mixing bowls

·       Wooden spoon

·       Paper towel

·       Salad spinner

·       Scales

·       Serving bowls

 Ingredients:

·       Half a watermelon (ideally 700g without rind)

·       Half a pomegranate

·       A small red onion

·       150g feta

·       A handful of basil leaves

·       Olive oil

 

What to do:

  1. Wash the outside of the watermelon and then carefully cut into 1-2cm slices – you may need to ask a grown up to help. Cut off the peel and then slice each bit into bite-sized triangles. Reserve in a large bowl.
  2. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate: hold one half over a bowl and smash it with a wooden spoon from the outside. This will capture the juice and seeds for the salad, and add all of it to the watermelon.
  3. Cut the onion in half through the root and top and peel it. Then slice it as thin as you possibly can and separate into thin rings. Add it to the salad.
  4. Wash and spin-dry the basil leaves, then pick from the stalks and tear up into tiny pieces into the salad.
  5. Using the scales, weigh the feta and then crumble into chunks over the salad with your hands.
  6. Divide the salad into your serving bowls, drizzle over a thin trickle of olive oil and a grind of pepper and then serve.

Notes: What is a pomegranate? What other savoury ingredients go well with fruit? Have you ever seen an orange watermelon before?

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Spinach and ricotta cannelloni

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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We often make our own pasta here at school, but sometimes it’s easier to buy ready-made dried pasta – especially when you can stuff the round tubes  with yummy fillings!

Fresh from the garden: spinach, basil, garlic
Recipe source: Melissa
Serves: 4 or 24 tastes

Equipment:

·       Large mixing bowl

·       Chopping boards & knives

·       Grater & microplane grater

·       Large frying pan

·       Slotted spoon

·       Scales

·       Measures: tablespoon

·       Teaspoons

·       4 small baking dishes

·       2 baking trays

·       Serving plates

·       Paper towel

 Ingredients:

·       1 bunch spinach

·       3 cloves garlic

·       1 nutmeg

·       1 tablespoon olive oil plus extra

·       20g butter

·       400g ricotta – homemade if possible!

·       25g parmesan or grana padano

·       200g mozzarella

·       700ml tomato sauce or passata

·       Flaked salt and pepper

·       16 cannelloni tubes

What to do:

  1. Please start all the initial elements ASAP as the dish will need to bake for 35 minutes!
  2. Preheat oven to 200C.
  3. Wash the spinach in a large bowl of water, changing several times and checking to make sure all leaves and stems are clean. Shake dry over the sink and then finely chop.
  4. Peel the garlic and finely chop. Using the microplane, grate about half the nutmeg.
  5. In a large frying pan heat oil and butter, add garlic and fry gently for one minute then add grated nutmeg, spinach and a pinch or two of salt and cook for a few minutes. Use the slotted spoon to scoop into a clean bowl and leave to cool.
  6. Using the scales, weigh the parmesan and then grate it. Then weigh the ricotta.
  7. Once spinach is cool add ricotta, parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
  8. Using teaspoons or the end of a table knife, fill the cannelloni tubes with the spinach and ricotta mixture.
  9. Weigh the mozzarella and grate it on the widest setting.
  10. Spoon half of the tomato sauce into the baking dishes, then lay four filled cannelloni in each, then spoon over the rest of the tomato sauce.
  11. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle over the parmesan and mozzarella.
  12. Lay the dishes on to baking trays, then bake for about 35 minutes or until bubbling.
  13. Line your serving plates with a piece of folded paper towel.
  14. Carefully remove from the oven with oven gloves, place each on its own lined plate. You may want to slice each cannelloni tube in two to serve.

 Notes: What other baked pasta dishes do you know?

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Homemade ricotta

Posted on April 12, 2016 by melhm

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Ricotta from the shops can often be bland or rubbery – but this one made fresh is amazingly light and soft and totally delicious. And take the time to find really great quality milk – as you really do reap what you sow in this recipe. And if you leave it to dry in the colander, in the fridge, for 4 days you can bake it with lovely hardy herbs and olive oil.

Fresh from the garden: lemons
Recipe source: Kristen Allan, mighty cheesemaker
Makes: about 600 – 700g depending on quality of milk

Equipment:

·       Citrus juicer

·       Small stockpot

·       Thermometer

·       A slotted spoon

·       A ricotta colander

·       Large mixing bowl

·      Storage container

 Ingredients:

·       3 litres of good quality organic milk

·       150ml pouring cream

·       100ml lemon juice – 1.5 lemons?

·       A pinch of good salt

What to do:

  1. Cut the lemons in half and juice the halves to yield 100ml. Spoon out the pips and discard.
  2. Measure out about 1cm of cold water into the bottom of the pot.
  3. Gently pour all the ingredients into the stockpot and stir.
  4. On the lowest possible heat, gradually bring the milk up to about 95C. This should take about one hour. Try not to stir the mixture too much, but make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  5. At about 80C you should see curds starting to form and if you pull the curds away from the side of the pot, you will notice the milk starting to separate.
  6. Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes.
  7. Place the ricotta colander into the large mixing bowl to catch the whey. With the slotted spoon, gently scoop the curds into the colander.
  8. Drain for approximately 10 minutes or longer (2 to 4 days) if you want a firmer ricotta for baking or drying.
  9. Transfer to a storage container or eat while still warm.
  10. Refrigerate and use within 10 days.

Notes: What does ricotta taste like? Why make your own? What else do you make from scratch?

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Kitchen News 8th March 2016

Posted on April 11, 2016 by melhm

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These next few weeks mark my 5th birthday at Bondi! How fitting that today Mr Forbes brought me in some popping corn that they had just harvested. ‘Our Very Own Popping Corn’ recipe – with one part with rosemary and thyme-infused olive oil, and the other a sweetened cumin, paprika and cinnamon butter topping – was on my very first menu! Also featuring was a recipe for ‘Juicy Juice’: preparing and peeling a combo of beetroot and carrot chunks, spinach, silverbeet, cucumber, celery, apples, tomatoes, oranges, strawberries, ginger and soft herbs. And also on the extensive menu of three dishes (!) Insalata Caprese, with tomatoes, bocconcini, basil and rocket… (a surefire winner of a salad that we’ve repeated lots of times, no less in the last menu!). The littlest cooks at the time, the Year 2 kids, are now in Year 7 and flown away, and that for me is the biggest sign of change, when children grow so quickly but everything else remains the same…

Fast-forward to 2016 and it’s pounding our paste and bruising the lemongrass stalks for Tom Yum soup, and scooping, mouli-ing and microplaning nutmeg for Potato gnocchi with burnt butter and sage, and also tossing the remains in olive oil with rosemary and flaked salt to make the crispiest Potato skins ever – an original Harry C-N idea..! We’re soaking, boiling and blending for our old fave: Ottolenghi’s hummus, and carefully refreshing heat-wilted leaves, in Rocket salad with poached eggs, and an initially stinky but ultimately delicious and savoury anchovy, lemon and olive oil dressing… and talking of recipes past, we revived the Brazilian Pao de queijo cheese balls that Ligia – our gardener from 2011 to 2103 – inspired from back in the day… And yes it does sound like a crazy menu but somehow it all works – chilli, cheese and all…

And thanks to all who responded to this column and came along to the tasting on Saturday 5th. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of dirty glasses! Watch this space for the next event.

And so happy Bondi birthday to me 🙂

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Tom Yum soup

Posted on March 22, 2016 by melhm

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This soup from Thailand is great if you have a cold, as it has a warm spicy heat, and if you leave the fish sauce out is ideal for vegans and vegetarians. If you do eat meat though, you can add sliced raw chicken here to poach for 5 minutes at the end.

Fresh from the garden: lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander, spring onions, limes
Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by David Thompson

Equipment:

·       Kettle

·       Chopping boards and knives

·       Paper towel

·       Salad spinner

·       Measures – tablespoon, teaspoon

·       Mixing bowls – selection

·       Serving bowls

 Ingredients:

·       1.5 litres water

·       A clove of garlic

·       3 stalks lemongrass

·       150g assorted mushrooms

·       1 bunch fresh coriander leaves

·       1 sprig fresh basil leaves

·       1 lime

·       1 tablespoon bouillon

·       1 quantity tom yum paste (see recipe)

·       2 kaffir lime leaves

·       1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

·       1 teaspoon chopped fresh green chilli (optional)

 What to do:

  1. Fill the kettle to the 1.5 litre mark and set it to boil.
  2. Peel and finely chop the clove of garlic.
  3. Cut or strip the leaves from the lemongrass (reserving the leaves for another time) and wash the stalks. Chop them into 10cm lengths and bash lightly.
  4. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a piece of paper towel, then slice them into very thin slices.
  5. Wash and spin the coriander and basil leaves dry, then finely chop. Cut the lime into quarters.
  6. Pour the hot water into the large saucepan and add the bouillon. Bring back to the boil and stir in all the tom yum paste and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
  7. Stir in the lemongrass batons and whole kaffir lime leaves.
  8. Mix in the mushrooms. Add the fish sauce if using and a squeeze of the lime quarters and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  9. Remove from heat, sprinkle in the chopped coriander and basil, and ladle into bowls.

Notes: What does ginger smell like? What will you use the paste for?

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Tom Yum paste

Posted on March 22, 2016 by melhm

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This paste is commonly used for our Hot and Sour soup but you can also use it as a marinade for fish or chicken.

Fresh from the garden: lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander, spring onions, lime
Recipe source: adapted from a recipe by David Thompson
Makes: approx 100ml

Equipment:

·       Chopping boards and knives

·       Measures – tablespoon, teaspoon

·       Peeler

·       Salad spinner

·       Mixing bowls – 5 med & small

·       Citrus juicer

·       Stick blender and mini chopper with lid attachment

·       Mortar and pestle

·       Spatula

 

 Ingredients:

·       1 lemongrass stalk

·       3 cloves garlic

·       1 small sized piece ginger or galangal

·       1 fresh red chilli, sliced or 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli

·       A small handful of coriander

·       2 spring onions

·       1 lime

·       1 tablespoon soy sauce or gluten free tamari

·       1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar 

What to do:

  1. Cut or strip the leaves from the lemongrass stalk, taking care not to cut yourself on the leaves. Finely mince the lemongrass stalk (reserving the leaves to make tea) to yield 2 tablespoons.
  2. Peel and finely chop the 3 garlic cloves. Peel and finely chop the ginger.
  3. Slice the fresh chilli if using, discarding the stalk and seeds (unless you want it really hot!).
  4. Wash and spin the coriander dry and finely chop all the leaves and stems.
  5. Wash the spring onion, strip off the outer layer and trim off the roots. Finely slice.
  6. Cut the lime in half and squeeze out the juice.
  7. Place all ingredients in the mini food chopper and blitz to create the fragrant paste.
  8. You may need to grind the paste with the mortar and pestle and a sprinkle of flaked salt to make it really smooth.
  9. Scrape out the paste with the spatula & use!
  10. To store for later, spoon into a clean and dry jar, smooth down and add a thin layer of oil to cover, pop lid on and refrigerate.

Notes: What does fresh ginger smell like? What will you use the paste for?

 

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