Happy Australia Day

I've been missing Australia a lot lately so it was nice to spend Australia Day with a bunch of other Aussies even if we were thousands of miles away in Seattle. We enjoyed Aussie favorites including sausage rolls, pavlova, a sausage sizzle and of course, Lamingtons. Most people outside of Australia and New Zealand aren't familiar with these delicious treats. They are cubes of cake, covered in chocolate icing and rolled in dessicated coconut. I used a recipe from Joy of Baking which turned out a lovely result that took me back to my childhood.

Dessicated coconut is just unsweetened shredded coconut that is easily available in most grocery stores in Australia but in Seattle it's a bit harder to find (most of the coconut is sweetened). Normal people would get it from a Whole Foods or Natural Market but after a very busy week I thought I would relax with a bit of kitchen DIY: Home made dessicated coconut! Essentially it involved cracking a coconut, getting out all the meat, peeling the thin brown peel away and shredding the meat in a food processor. The shredded coconut is dessicated in a 250F oven for about 30 minutes.

Ta Daaaaaaaaa!!! Worlds most time consuming Lamingtons. So yummy though. Serve to Australians and skeptical American friends.

Marathon Training Cookies!

Aka Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocoate Chip Cookies

I was looking for a cookie that had a bit of nutritional punch. My sweetie is doing a lot of running right now and the running hungries beg for a cookie like this. Protein from the peanut butter, fiber and complex carbs from the oats, and get-in-my-mouthiness from the chocolate. I found the recipe at Bake or Break and the only modification was to slightly decrease the sugar and increase the salt. Nom Nom Noms.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups AP Flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter (I used Crunchy)
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F and line baking tray with silpat
Whisk together first 4 ingredients in separate bowl
Cream butter and sugars together in a Kitchen Aid until light and fluffy
Mix in Peanut butter thoroughly then add eggs and vanilla extract
Add flour mixture until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips by hand.
Using an ice cream scoop portion out even amounts of dough
Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are just beginning to brown
Cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy after a nice long run :)

Peach and Huckleberry Crostata

 

I adapted this recipe from one of Ina's recipes. The lady knows how to wield a stick of butter!
The peaches were bought from the Yakima fruit stand and the huckleberries were given to me by my wonderful father in law. It was a perfect summer dessert. And maybe a perfect summer breakfast the next day :)

The crust is buttery (duh), flaky and crisp and the filling was really bright from the lemon zest and lemon juice. I think I'm going to try this with pears and cranberries in the fall. Stay tuned!

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup AP Flour
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt (I always add a extra salt because it makes everything taste better :)
1 stick butter cut into cubes (I store this in the freezer until I'm ready to use it)
3 Tbsp ice water (I needed a bit more)
1 egg and raw sugar for sprinkling on the crust

Filling:
1 lb firm ripe peaches (I left mine unpeeled) cut into 8 wedges each
1 pint of huckleberries
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter cut into cubes


Method:
Note: I keep all the ingredients (including the flour) in the freezer until the last minute. It really helps on a hot day.
1) Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor a few times to mix, add butter and pulse 12-15 times until the butter is the size of peas.
2) Add ice water all at once and keep hitting the pulse button until the dough barely starts to come together
3) Empty dough out on to plastic wrap, shape into a disk and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
4) Preheat oven to 450F and line a baking tray with parchment or Silpat
5) Roll dough out to an 11 inch circle on a lightly floured surface
6) Mix filling ingredients (except butter) together, pile into center of dough and dot with little cubes of butter, leaving a 1/2 inch border
7) Fold border of dough over fruit, paint with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar
8) Bake for 25 minutes until crust is golden, let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack (2 large spatulas needed!). Serve warm or at room temp.

Ice cream recommendation: Haagen Daaz Bourbon Praline Peacan. Vanilla is also acceptable

Capitol Hill Yummies

I made this list for my Brother's annual Summer in Seattle party and realized that it's a great resource for anyone out on Capitol Hill looking for a good place to eat or drink. It's obviously missing some fancy restaurants (Altura, Cascina Spinasse, Lark, Sitka and Spruce etc) but for a casual outing try one of these...

Breakfast/Brunch:

Wandering Goose (http://www.thewanderinggoose.com/) - Craze Amaze. I go here all the time (but limited seating). Might be good to pick up some stuff for a breakfast at home or in the park.

Monsoon (http://monsoonrestaurants.com/seattle/) - weekend vietnamese brunch)

Kingfish Cafe (http://thekingfishcafe.com/) - Soul food and amazing weekend brunch. Long lines but excellent red velvet cake make it worthwhile

Delicious snacks:

Wandering Goose - Southern biscuits and gravy place with an amazing bakery case. Can you say triple layer coconut cake ?!

Bakery Nouveau (http://www.bakerynouveau.com/welcome/) - Twice baked almond croissant. Best bakery in the city. A visit here at least once is a MUST

North Hill Bakery (http://www.northhillbakery.com/) - Small, cute, tasty. Small and minimal seating though. I usually get a pastry and coffee to go.

Crumble and Flake (http://www.crumbleandflake.com/) - Must get there early or stuff sells out and they close the store. It's usually closed by noon.

Pie Bar (http://www.piebarseattle.com/piebarseattle/):  Sweet and savory pies AND cocktails. Open late night. I suggest we go :)

Burgers:

Lil Woody's (http://lilwoodys.com/) - recently voted Seattle's best burger

8oz Burger Bar (http://www.8ozburgerbar.com/) - a fave of the Boyapati clan

Mexican:

Poquitos (http://www.vivapoquitos.com/Poquitos/VivaPoquitos.html) - yum

Barrio (http://www.barriorestaurant.com/) - fancy mexican

Fogon (http://fogonseattle.com/) - also very yum

Ghetto Fab:

Rancho Bravo (http://www.yelp.com/biz/rancho-bravo-tacos-seattle-2) - a taco truck that got a brick and mortar location. Fantastic, cheap, quick. Conveniently located next to Bike Polo hipsters.

Lalibela (http://lalibelaseattle.com/)- Ethiopian just outside of Cap Hill. $11 will feed 4 people. Big platters of tasty food. Lots of fun.

Ezells (http://www.ezellschicken.com/) - is there really anything to say here?

El Farol (http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-farol-mexican-restaurant-seattle) - fast, cheap, american mexican food. Seating for all of us though. Not fancy but a staple of House Burke (especially when we need a lot of salt)

Libations:

Von Trapps (http://www.vontrapps.com/VonTrapps/HOME.html) - Beer, Bacci, Brats.

Harry's bar (http://www.yelp.com/biz/harrys-bar-seattle)- part of olympia pizza. $5 Happy hour Manhattans will put you on your ass.

Liberty Bar (http://www.libertybars.com/) - best craft cocktails on the hill

Bait Shop (http://baitshopseattle.com/) - Fancy adult slushies, good fried chicken sammie

Pizza Night!

This is Jamie Oliver's pizza dough recipe and it is delicious.  The consistency is perfect for handling and it can be made into a thin crust pizza or a slightly thicker crust (which is what we made here). A pro tip I learnt at Serious Pie is to paint the crust of the pizza as soon as it comes out of the oven with EV olive oil and sprinkle it with sea salt. Ah-mazing! The pizza was also delicious cold the next day :)

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups (1 lb) AP flour
1 1/2-2 tsp fine sea salt (I used regular table salt)
1 packet active dry yeast (1/4 ounce)
1 1/2 tsp raw sugar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/4 cups luke warm water


Method:
1) Mix water, yeast, sugar and olive oil in a large measuring cup. While the yeast is getting excited by all the sugary warmth mix flour and sea salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center

2) Pour yeast mixture into well and mix until dough is shaggy looking. At this point you can put dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is springy but I just threw it into my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook on for about 3-4 minutes.

3) Wash out bowl and oil it lightly. Put dough in and turn to coat. Cover bowl with damp towel and leave in a warm spot for an hour. The dough will double in size.
4) Punch the dough downThe dough can be used immediately or put in the fridge wrapped to be used later
5) Roll dough out 10-15 minutes before you want to cook it. For a thicker crust use a half sheet pan. For thin pizzas use two half sheet pans. When ready to cook preheat oven to 500F. I prebake the dough for 5-7 minutes before adding toppings just because I like a really crisp crsut.

Toppings: We did half chicken (shredded left-over chicken, feta, olives and basil) and a vegetarian side with just mozarella, olives and basil. Delicious. I think a pesto pizza would be great too. If my Basil plant would just stop dying on me...

Trail Mix Cookies

I got the Joy The Baker cookbook for my birthday. I already have a huge baking crush on Joy so I was excited to try a recipe. The first one I tried was these trail mix cookies and they are awesome! Vij described them as Craze-Amaze but that's probably more a function of Vij's crazy. They are a basic oatmeal cookie dough with whole wheat flour with trail mix and peanut butter chips mixed in. I used the Costco pre mixed trail mix (with m&ms, raisins, cashews, peanuts and almonds) and peanut butter chips. These cookies seem pretty healthy because of the amount of oats and the trail mix and are great on a bike ride :)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks/8oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated cane sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (6oz) peanut butter chips

1 cup M&Ms

1 cup roasted and salted peanuts 

1/2 cup golden raisins

(**Instead of the last 3 ingredients I used 2 1/2 cups of trail mix)

Method

1.  Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside.

3.  In the bowl of an electric hand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment  (or using a good amount of elbow grease and a wooden spoon), cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes).  Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute between each addition.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary.  Beat in the vanilla until incorporated.

4.  Stop the mixer and add the flour mixture all at once.  Beat on low speed until just incorporated.  Then add the peanut butter chips, M&M’s, peanuts, and raisins.  Turn on mixer again and beat the additions at low speed until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer, and finish incorporating (get those loose batter pieces at the bottom of the bowl), the cookie batter with a spatula.

5.  Using a cookie scoop, scoop out dough and place on prepared cookie sheet (if you don’t have a cookie scoop use a tablespoon, scoop out dough, and roll it between palms to make dough balls).

6.  Bake for about 13 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

BBT Carrot Cake

For those not in the know, BBT stands for Boyapati-Bobba-Thalluri which is a magical combination of smart, fun, sweet, hungry and more often that not, drunken bodies. This carrot cake was the Pièce de résistance for a cousins BBQ held as party of pre wedding celebrations on the Mornington Peninsula. A major bonus: It is super easy to throw together in one bowl.

The final cake was moist, full of flavor and the cream cheese frosting really puts it over the top. I think it may have been better the next morning as a hang over breakfast...just saying.

What a magical part of the world!!

The recipe was adapted from this site and I used my own Cream cheese frosting recipe (stolen from here)
Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups Self raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
2 cups grated carrot (about 2 medium)
1 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs lightly beaten
Frosting:
- 4oz cream cheese (you can use the 125g container in Australia)
- 1/4 cup butter (you can use half of one of those 100g blocks of butter in Australia)
- 1 1/2-2 cups icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Method:
1) Pre Heat oven to 180C (350F)
2) Line a 19cm square cake pan (I used a 9 inch round pan) with parchment paper and butter both paper and sides of tin
3) Sift flour and cinnamon in a bowl and add grated carrots, oil, eggs, walnuts and raisins
4) Pour into pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes (until a tested comes out with just a few moist crumbs). Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before turning onto a cake rack to cool completely
5) Cut cake in half horizontally and frost between layers and on top. Decorate with additional walnuts.

6) Stand Back and Watch cake get demolished.