Spiced Poached Pears in Red Wine

As we settle into the cooler months and shorter days of winter, I spend more time in my kitchen overlooking the sea just as my mother did all those years ago. This is a special realisation for me knowing that her culinary skills and love for delicious home cooked food have been passed down to me.

Spiced Poached Pears in Red Wine
Serves 6

500 mL (2 cups) dry red wine (I used a pinot noir)
250 mL (1 cup) water
50g raw sugar (3 drops liquid stevia or 1-2 Tbs agave may be substituted)
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
2 star anise
2 cinnamon scrolls
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthways (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)
6 Packham pears, peeled

In a deep pan, combine the wine, water and sugar (or sugar substitute) over medium heat, bring to a simmer and grate the zest from your half lemon into the mixture. Squeeze the lemon, being careful not to drop any pips into the wine, then drop the squeezed lemon half into the wine. Add the star anise, cinnamon and vanilla and simmer for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the heat. In the meantime, peel the Packham pears (say that three times quickly!), they don't have to look perfect, the deep burgundy colour will dress them up, and carefully lower the pears into the wine syrup. Poach the pears over low heat until soft (approximately 10-15 minutes), do not simmer. Turn the pears carefully by the stems one or twice and add more liquid if required to cover the pears as they cook. When cooked, carefully remove the pears and place into a heat proof dish. Reduce the syrup, then pour over the pears and allow to cool. You may serve the pears chilled after soaking in the syrup over night but if you prefer a delicately soft, warm spiced pear then serve immediately with your choice of creamy accompaniment, whether it be vanilla bean custard or orange blossom chantilly cream.

Orange Blossom Chantilly Cream
200mL cream
2 drops of organic, gluten free orange blossom water
1-2 tsp caster sugar (I used raw sugar, which I whizzed until fine and powdery in a cup blender)

Whip all ingredients using an electric beater until light, then dollop a generous spoonful over a spiced poach pear in syrup to serve.

This sweet dessert is best served warm with a with dessert wine or in my case, with traditional chai tea.

As I sit here staring at the misty grey sky and charcoal sea through the glass with my warm bowl of spiced poached pears, I recall memories of my mother teaching me how to combine beautiful ingredients to create delicious meals. Blurry rain drops form curved lines that blend and fall against my window and I am comforted by the feeling that comes from knowing that some of our more treasured family traditions will endure over many seasons throughout my lifetime.

Bella xx

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Orange and Polenta Cake with Glögg

Our friends Christophe and Heli came to visit this past week. They were driving south to the city after spending Christmas along the north coast and stopped in overnight to break up the gruelling ten hour drive.

When they pulled into the driveway I was in the process of removing a moist orange, almond and polenta cake from the oven. I then greeted them outside on the grassy lawn and as they hauled their overnight bags inside they were met with my citrus infused kitchen and one seriously excited puppy.

We went surfing for a couple of hours and Christophe was helpful in pushing me onto some of the waves as I'm not very skilled when it comes to paddling onto my own. Byron and I are enjoying surfing and I was pleased B could join us as he'd only just arrived home following a 14 hour non-stop direct flight from Dubai to Sydney. Jet lagged but happy he persevered and I could see improvements in both of our surfing techniques in the short time we were in the water. We laughed and splashed about until we had goosebumps from being in the sea for so long, then came home to shower and enjoy an apéritif on the steps of our veranda before the mosquitoes joined us.

L-R: Christophe, Bella, Heli, Byron.
L-R: (By country) France, Australia, Finland, Malaysia.

We dined on poached salmon, sweet corn on the cob, potatoes and salad for dinner, then Heli prepared for us a Scandinavian nightcap called Glögg. Glögg is generally prepared in the wintry evenings at Christmas time in Nordic and northern European kitchens as it is a hot, spiced mulled wine. We enjoyed ours on a cool Summer evening from large mugs as we strolled along the beach under a full moon. It was incredible to walk along the beach at night under such bright moonlight and although our dark brown puppy was a mere black ball of shadow that excitedly darted along the sand, I could clearly make out my friends faces and the glitter-tipped edges of the small waves.

Glögg

One bottle of Glögg (750 mL)
(Alternatively you can use a bottle of red wine, but you must also add 3/4 cup of sugar to a 1L bottle of wine)
250-500 mL of vodka (depending on how strong you prefer your drink)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup raisins
peel from half an orange

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan and stir over low heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to bubble for ten minutes. Strain the fruit and cinnamon sticks from the Glögg and pour into mugs to serve. They're are many different variations of Glögg, including the addition of cardamon pods, dried figs and cloves but it's entirely up to personal taste. However, one thing is for certain when you use a bottle of Glögg, the undeniable Christmas scent of cinnamon as the mulled wine simmers.

Moist Orange, Almond and Polenta Cake with Citrus Glaze (Gluten Free)

Cake

2 small oranges or one large orange and 2 mandarines
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs brandy or orange liqueur
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup finely grained polenta
1/2 cup almond meal*
110g unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs

*(Instead of almond meal, you can process 1/2 cup almonds, leaving some large chopped almond pieces for texture)

Citrus Glaze

1 orange (strained juice)
1 lemon (rind and strained juice)
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs brandy
1 Tbs sugar

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit), grease a 22cm cake tin with butter and line the base with greaseproof paper. Wash and cut oranges and mandarines into pieces, leaving the peel on. Remove pips and process the fruit in a food processor or Thermo Chef blender until you achieve a thick pulpy purée. Transfer the purée to a sauce pan with the boiling water, add the 3/4 cup sugar and brandy and boil for approximately 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the purée from sticking to the base of the pan. Make sure you wear an apron because the purée may spit, which I discovered when wearing a white t-shirt (Hmmm... Not so white anymore). Remove from heat after the liquid has mostly evaporated and allow to cool.

Into a clean bowl, sift the brown rice flour and polenta together, add the almond meal and stir together. Set aside.

In your new red Kitchen Aid (Oh. My. Goodness. Was Santa aka Mum kind to us this year?!) cream the butter and caster sugar. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time.

Stir in the sifted dry ingredients, then the orange purée. Spoon the mixture into your prepared cake tin and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for five minute before transferring to a wire rack.

For the glaze, carefully cut the rind from the lemon, remove any white pith from the fruit and rind, then slice the rind into long, thin strips. Strain the juice from the orange and lemon into a saucepan, add the lemon rind, honey, brandy and sugar and boil to reduce the mixture slightly. The glaze should be thick and syrupy.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly before serving the warm glossy syrup over a generous wedge of cake, whipped cream optional. I skipped the cream and enjoyed this moist orange cake on our veranda in the late afternoon sun with a cup of hot tea and Maxi cat curled up on my lap.

Did I mention I love the Summer time?

Bella xx

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Citrus Iced Tea and James Bond

It's the festive season in sunny Australia at the moment. Summer arrived last week, bringing with it very warm weather, hot enough in my opinion to make fresh citrus iced tea. Byron mowed our front lawn this afternoon and now he's resting inside after a cool shower with a glass of the chilled sweet tea.

Hurrah! We have a lawn and a seaside garden filled with palm trees, seashells and large white pebbles from our afternoon strolls along the beach. There are a few succulents, a lavender bush, a frangipani tree and now thanks to my recently acquired green thumb, a vegetable garden that will hopefully flourish with rosemary, basil, cherry tomatoes and avocados.

Citrus Iced Tea

9-10 black or English Breakfast teabags
1 Litre clean drinking water
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 lemon
1 orange
Additional chilled, clean drinking water

Makes approximately 1 Litre of concentrated tea which dilutes to make 3 Litres of citrus iced tea

Place tea bags in a saucepan with the water and sugar, bring to the boil and boil for five minutes. Remove the tea bags from the hot tea and squeeze to drain the water from the tea bags into the tea. Allow to cool. Try to avoid cooling your tea concentrate in the fridge as it may become cloudy.

Slice two slices of lemon and one large orange slice...

Plop them into a large glass...

Add a half dozen or so ice cubes...

Pour in one part of your cooled iced tea concentrate to two parts chilled clean drinking water.

Add a generous squeeze of fresh lemon to each glass you pour and enjoy your sweet iced citrus tea as the ice gently clinks and tiny beads of condensation trickle down the side of your glass.

I absolutely adore Summer.

Be mindful that this iced tea does contain caffeine from the black tea so it's not the best idea to guzzle it down before bed, lest you find yourself awake into the wee hours watching James Bond movies and marvelling at how handsome a young Sean Connery was in his Dr. No days...

Honey: 'What are you doing here? Looking for shells?'
Bond: 'No, I'm just looking.'

Sherioushly shexy accshent, Mishter?

Connery. Sean Connery.


Bella xx

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