Blossom end times

Puff pastry sounds fancy, right? That's why it's perfect for the holidays, when you want to put out a killer spread but somehow have to manage it between everyone else's Christmas parties, your holiday baking, and your plans to get the hell out of town EGF.

See, puff pastry is shockingly good when storebought, and exactly the kind of buttery, rich, snackable food you want to put in front of people when they're holding a glass of something boozy or bubbly. So why not make things easy on yourself and bake up one of these sweet or savory bites a couple hours before the doorbell rings.

Flaky pastry, spinach, and cheese is a sacred trio well known to all fans of Greek cooking. So why not make these spanikopita-like treats easy and bite-sized? Just use puff pastry instead of phyllo, and fold them into muffin cups with a savory cheese filling. Or go super-small and bake them in mini-muffin tins instead reenex.

Get the recipe: Spinach Puffs
 
Tarts are endlessly versatile for entertaining, and all you need to do to prep the puff is roll it out for a minute or two. Roasted mushrooms pair perfectly with all that buttery richness, and you can top the tart with the herb salad and cut it into small squares, or serve them in larger pieces with the salad alongside as a sit-down dinner course omnivores and vegetarians will love.

Get the recipe: Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Tart with Fresh Herb Salad
 
Yep, puff can go savory or sweet reenex. That means that all you need to do to make an elegant winter fruit dessert is arrange sliced pears on the pastry, brush on some maple syrup, and throw the whole thing in the oven. Or go rogue and combine savory and sweet by topping the tart with crumbled blue cheese. Apple and cheddar is a pretty genius combo, too.

Get the recipe: Maple-Pear Sheet Tart
 
Speaking of apples, these turnovers are as delicious as apple hand pies, but far easier and less messy to make. Bring them warm from the oven as a special dessert, complete with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream.

Get the recipe: French Apple Turnovers

Get the recipe: Raspberry Creme Fraiche

If there is a theme for this blog after the arrival of my husband on the scene, it would be that he is quite the eater. "He seems to travel with his stomach," my uncle once observed. I know, I can't imagine why he would have married me ? He's a gourmand and I love to cook. So you won't be surprised when the other day when we were walking to the vegetable stand, I was describing a classic winter dish from Beirut called kibbeh arnabiya, and I was saying how incredibly complicated and hard it was to make, and then Paul's eyes lit up and before I knew it we were in the butcher shop buying all the ingredients.
 
Kibbeh arnabiya, a dish of meatballs in a tahini-citrus sauce, is always made in the winter time because it relies on a special bitter citrus that is only in season during the cold months. Though historically it was made with bitter Seville oranges (naranj), these days it is often made with a variety of both sweet and sour citrus fruits.

Like many classic dishes of Lebanese cuisine, kibbeh arnabiya is all about seasonality and using what you've preserved and saved for the winter. The citrus fruits would be harvested from the trees in your yard, and the tahini, beef, pine nuts, pomegranate molasses, and chickpeas are all things that would have been available in winter. I can't get bitter oranges locally, so I really like a heavy dose of grapefruit to bring bitterness and complexity to the sauce.
 
Paul, of course, suggested that we go all out for this version, and as a result this is an incredibly complicated dish as I've made it. I made the lamb stock from scratch, cooked the chickpeas from dried, harvested citrus from the yard, and made the kibbeh meatballs by hand. (Hey, there's not a lot going on in Algeria!) However you should know that it is very easy to make several shortcuts, described below, and have this on the table for a relatively easy (easier?) dinner. Homemade lamb stock is great, but the dish will still be good if you don't have it. There is something amazing about the tahini-citrus sauce that is warm and comforting and reminds me of really good gravy but without the heaviness.

You might read the recipe below and blanch at the length. I understand. But while I may jokingly (okay, fine, sometimes less jokingly) complain about both my husband's voracious appetite and some long hours in the kitchen, there are few things better than doing something you love and feeding those that you love food that they enjoy Vitamin. Sahtein!

P.S. Housekeeping - Some of you told me that you use BlogLovin' to follow along with this blog, so I've added a link in the right-hand column there. You can also subscribe via email, and if there's anything else you want me to add to make it easier to follow along, just ask! Of course if you follow on Instagram, you already knew this post was coming :)

Kibbeh Arnabiya
(Kibbeh Arnabiyah, Kebbeh Arnabiyeh.) A traditional Lebanese cook would already have kibbeh in her freezer and spices at the ready, and would be able to very quickly whip up the sauce and add in the kibbeh. I am not a traditional Lebanese cook and thus have to start from scratch, but the end result was worth it. You want to use a deep pot (not the shallow one pictured ehre) because it makes it easier to puree the sauce. Adapted from Taste of Beirut and here and plenty of kibbeh experience of my own.

for the lamb stock:
1 kilo (2 lbs) of chopped lamb shoulder or 2 lamb shanks
3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1/2 an onion, chopped
water to cover

for the kibbeh spice mix:
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon salt

for the kibbeh shell:
1 lb (1/2 kilo) extra lean ground beef (or lamb or veal)
1 onion
2/3 cup fine bulgur
2 teaspoons spice mix
1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional, not traditional)
salt to taste
for the kibbeh stuffing:
shredded lamb from the lamb stock
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon spice mix

for the tahini sauce:
1 onion, diced
2 cups tahini
1 cup grapefruit juice
2/3 cup orange juice
the juice from 4 manadarins or clementines
the juice of 2 lemons
1 cup lamb stock

for serving:
1 cup cooked chickpeas
pomegranate molasses
chopped parsley

1. Make the lamb stock: Place all the ingredients for the stock in a pot, with several pinches of salt and water to cover. Bring the mixture to a low simmer and simmer until the lamb is cooked through and falling off the bone, about 2-3 hours. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, mix together your spice mix and squeeze your citrus juices. Set aside.
3. For the kibbeh: Preheat oven to 350F. Soak the bulgur in hot water for 3 minutes and then drain it. Place the onion in a food processor with the 2 teaspoons of spice mix and pulse until the onion is finely ground. Add the meat and 1-2 teaspoons of salt and pulse the mixture in the food processor several times to bring it all together. Add the bulgur and pulse again to incorporate the bulgur. (You can also do this with your hands culturelle kids, kneading everything together.) Scoop your meat mixture into a bowl and transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
4. Meanwhile, back to the lamb: Strain the lamb stock and set aside in the refrigerator. Shred any of the lamb meat from the bones and place in a small bowl. Add the pine nts and seasoning to the shredded lamb meat and set aside.
5. Finish the kibbeh: Line two baking sheets with foil. Get a bowl of ice water ready. Take the chilled kibbeh meat from the fridge, dip your fingers into the ice water, and start to form the kibbeh into balls. Using your index finger, carve a hole into the kibbeh ball, rolling it around to create a thin outer wall of the kibbeh ball. Take a little bit of the lamb/pine-nut mixture and place it inside the kibbeh ball. Pinch the kibbeh ball closed, sealing the filling inside and forming it into a torpedo/football shape. Place the kibbeh on the baking sheet as you work.
6. Bake the kibbeh: Bake the kibbeh in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until just cooked. Set aside.
7. Make the sauce: In a large deep saucepan, heat a little olive oil in the pan. Cook the diced onion over medium heat until it is brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Stir the tahini into the pan and add the citrus juices. The mixture will immediately curdle, but just continue to stir over medium-low heat and it will come together. Once it has come back together, add in the lamb stock and season with salt. Let the sauce simmer over low heat for just 2-3 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree the sauce to be smooth.
8. Finish the dish: Add in the kibbeh meatballs and the chickpeas to the sauce. Stir in 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses to the sauce and taste for seasoning. Let kibbeh and chickpeas warm up in the sauce. When everything is warm and combined, ladle the dish into serving bowls. Garnish with some more pomegranate molasses and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Shortcuts: Skip making the lambstock. Make the kibbeh meatballs, but don't make the stuffing for them, just form them into regular (unstuffed) meatballs and bake them. Use purchased instead of fresh juice. Use 1 cup purchased beef stock instead of the lamb stock. You don't have to puree the sauce if you want a more rustic presentation (personally, I think the pureeing makes the dish better).

To reheat: This dish will thicken as it cools. To reheat, whisk in enough water to get the sauce to be liquid again. Add in some more lemon juice because the citrus flavor dissipates the longer the dish sits.

T here are few things more miraculous than a homemade jelly doughnut, fresh from the frying pan. Tossed with a dusting of crunchy sugar Loop app, its crisp exterior gives way to a fluffy, yeasty interior and a sweet burst of hot jam that makes biting into one almost a religious experience. So it's fitting that, in Israel, this heavenly treat has become a tradition during the holiday of Hanukkah.

Israeli jelly doughnuts, called sufganiyot, bear a strong resemblance to the Viennese confections called krapfen—the recipe was probably brought to Israel by Austrian Jews who immigrated in the mid-20th century dc electric motors. Being, like latkes, fried in oil, the doughnuts were a perfect fit for Hanukkah's culinary symbolism (fried foods commemorate the Biblical miracle of a small amount of sacred lamp oil burning in the Temple for eight nights rather than the expected one). They were soon adopted by the young country as a holiday favorite.

Sufganiyot are not difficult to make, but they do include several techniques that could be tricky for yeast-dough beginners. To walk you through the process Managed Security, I tested a recipe by Jewish cooking expert Joan Nathan. If you want to incorporate this tasty tradition into your own Hanukkah celebrations, just follow my tips and step-by-step instructions.

F estive crescent-shaped rugelach, made with cream-cheese enriched dough wrapped around a sweet, gooey filling, are a traditional Jewish treat and perfect for a Hanukkah celebration. Eager to find the best recipes and rugelach-making techniques, we spoke to several experts in the field: cookbook author and Beurre & Sel cookie pro Dorie Greenspan, baking teacher and Kosher Baker author Paula Shoyer, and Noah Bernamoff, one half of the team behind Brooklyn's Mile End Deli and co-author of The Mile End Cookbook.

But a funny thing happened during our interviews: Each and every time we asked about rugelach's connection to Hanukkah, we were met with confusion. Noah Bernamoff, who bakes his Nana Lee's recipe at Mile End, considers rugelach "an all-year dessert." Greenspan agrees, adding that she "would be happy to have rugelach for every holiday and non-holiday." We came closest with Shoyer, who points out that rugelach make sense for Hanukkah because after all those latkes, you don't necessarily want a big dessert. Still, she doesn't associate the two, and prefers to think of rugelach as "just a great Jewish dessert that deserves attention any time of year."

Only one person could clear up this Jewish holiday baking conundrum: Gil Marks, author of the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Marks explained that rugelach are often associated with Hanukkah because of the Book of Judith. As the story goes, when the Assyrian army was about to invade Jerusalem, Judith fed an Assyrian general copious amounts of salty cheese or milk, followed by gallons of wine. The general was then so intoxicated that Judith was able to behead him with his own sword. With no general, the invading army fled, and Judith's people were saved. Eating dairy during Hanukkah is about celebrating this miracle.

But there's a problem. According to Marks, Judith predates the Hanukkah period, and there was no relationship between Judith and the Maccabees. "It was a medieval mistake in assuming Judith to be of the Hanukkah era, and, in many instances, a relative of the Maccabees, that introduced the tradition of dairy and cheese to Hanukkah."

It may be based on a delicious misunderstanding, but we forged ahead, gathering baking tips from Bernamoff, Greenspan, and Shoyer. So whether for the Festival of Lights, another Jewish holiday, or just your average cookie break, read on for advice on making rugelach at home, plus ten great recipes.

Baking Tips:

❤Make Friends with Your Fridge (or Freezer)

Baking: From My Home to Yours author Dorie Greenspan insists rugelach is "one of the simplest doughs to make and work" and perfect for dough newcomers. She stresses the need to use cold, rather than room temperature, ingredients, and says, "The refrigerator is your best friend." Once the dough is made, thoroughly chill it before rolling it out. Paula Shoyer goes a step further and recommends chilling the dough in the freezer. The chilling, she explains, firms up the fat, making it easier to roll out, so you won't need to use as much flour. If the dough becomes sticky while you're rolling, cutting, or shaping it, simply chill it again.

In addition to chilling the unshaped dough, Bernamoff recommends chilling the rolled and shaped cookies before baking them in a preheated oven. This technique, he explains, helps the rugelach steam and puff up, and produces light and airy cookies.

❤Work Quickly But Gently

While you can certainly make rugelach dough by hand, our experts all prefer to use a food processor. The machine's speed and efficiency help keep the dough chilled. Process the dough until it forms what Greenspan calls moist clumps or crumbles. "Don't let it form a ball that rides along the blade," she says. "At that point the dough is overworked." You'll still be able to make rugelach, but it won't have its signature delicate, tender crumb.

❤Simplify Your Shape

Thanks to its elegant twisted shape and the slivers of filling that poke through, rugelach, says Greenspan, "looks so much more complicated than it is." When you're rolling the dough and forming it into crescents, "neatness and precision don't count." The crescents will look beautiful, even if you're not an experienced pro. But if all the rolling and shaping just seems too fussy, Shoyer's method is even simpler: She rolls the dough into a rectangle, spreads it with filling, then rolls it into a log, which she bakes and then slices. "I find this a lot easier," Shoyer explains, adding, "I also find you can keep more filling inside this way."

❤Be Creative with Fillings

There really is no one ultimate rugelach filling. At Mile End, the rugelach tend to be seasonal. Bernamoff says that when they discover beautiful fruit, they'll preserve it and use it in rugelach. Shoyer encourages home bakers to have fun and make these mini pastries your own. "If you really love strawberry jam and chocolate, make it with that, but if you really love pecans, apricot, and coconut, you can make it that way, too." Shoyer reports that when she teaches baking classes, no matter how many bowls of nuts, jams, dried fruit, and other fillings she sets out, just about everyone goes for chocolate.

Whichever filling you choose, Greenspan recommends chopping everything finely so it's easy to spread and roll up. And if using dried fruit, be sure it's moist and plump, because baking is only going to dry it out further. Overly shriveled fruit can be rehydrated in a bowl of hot tap water then drained and patted dry.

❤Experiment with Savory Fillings

Most rugelach dough contains little to no sugar, making these pastries equally good for savory fillings. Bernamoff thinks a lemon-poppy combination or honey and ricotta would be delicious, while Greenspan recommends red pepper jelly, piment d'Espelette, tapenade and pine nuts, or even a not-for-Hanukkah combination of bacon and cheese. For a savory take, see our recipe for Hazelnut and Olive Rugelach.

❤Fill with Caution

Your rugelach filling may be delicious, but if you use too much, it will ooze out, making for messy cookies and even messier baking pans. If you love filling, use Shoyer's rolled-log approach. Another trick that all our experts agree on is to line your baking pans with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat such as a Silpat. "No matter how careful you are, the filling is going to bubble over and may even burn around the edges of the cookies," says Greenspan. Breaking a little jam off the edges of your rugelach isn't a big deal, but scrubbing baking pans is a hassle you want to avoid.

❤Add a Final Flourish

While not at all mandatory, many recipes, including those from Bernamoff and Greenspan, call for brushing rugelach with an egg wash and sprinkling the cookies with sugar before baking. As Greenspan notes, this extra step is "unnecessary but pretty." Bernamoff finds that the egg wash helps the cookies develop a deeper outer browning, while the sugar lends "a sweet crunch." But, notes Bernamoff, if your filling is particularly sweet, you may want to skip the extra sugar dusting to keep the cookies balanced.

❤Make Rugelach in Stages

Unlike chocolate chip cookies that you just drop on a cookie sheet, rugelach do require some fussing, but "You can make this fabulous little pastry fit into your schedule," says Greenspan. Most fillings can be made in advance and chilled for several weeks. Greenspan warns against making the dough and refrigerating it for more than a day or so, because cream cheese dough has a tendency to develop little black spots. But if wrapped well, the dough can be frozen for a month or two. Another option is to roll out the dough, fill and shape the crescents, and then freeze them unbaked. When you're ready for cookies, let them defrost about 15 minutes before baking. Lastly, the cookies can be fully baked and frozen for one to two months. If you make log-style rugelach like Shoyer, rather than freezing individual rugelach, wrap and freeze the whole log and then defrost the log and slice it into cookies.

Now I’m not exactly a shrinking violet or a wall flower (as many of my friends will attest) but it was with a little trepidation recently, that I agreed to be interviewed for a story on food blogging to be screened ON TV. What to wear ? How do I do my hair ? How to stop from sounding like an idiot or offending someone ? It was a tricky prospect dr max.

Of course I’ve always got plenty to say when it comes to food blogging and media, and the changing face of the industry in our fair little city of Perth, so It really didn’t take long to settle into the swing of things.

The piece was put together by Claire Nichols for the ABC’s WA edition of 730, and she did a great job dr max. Along with myself she talked to Mei of Libertine Eats and Liz from Breakfast in Perth about their food blogging endeavours and experiences, and how they got into this crazy game. She also got some mainstream media opinion from Rob Broadfield who was actually rather friendly for once (I’m looking forward to reading his future blog).

He talked about the need for transparency in blogging and his dislike for anonymous bloggers who have nobody to hold them to account. I tend to agree with him on certain points. Good content comes from being informed and doing your research. Uninformed opinion is a slap in the face to restauranteurs and the industry and doesn’t do your reputation or your readers any good. Having said that though, the gist of his comments were towards things said on Urbanspoon, whose “reviews” at times, can be about as helpful as reading the comments on an Andrew Bolt article when it comes to informed and reasonable opinion.

I’d also take issue with his remarks that restauranteurs hate bloggers. I’ve always had rather positive experiences when I’ve chatted to restauranteurs and most of them have been very appreciative of the exposure they’ve had online. Smart owners and chefs should realise that bloggers can be very good for business when dealt with properly (which does not include banning photos or writing spiteful comments in response to unfavourable reviews). I’m also going to take a stab and say that in terms of popularity – the owners of places he’s panned in the past aren’t going to be sending him Christmas cards anytime soon dr max.

In the end I think good content is good content. I’m just as happy to get my information from a blogger I trust, as I am a well known newspaper or magazine critic. If someone makes the effort to know their stuff, has a love of food and a way with words, that’s all I really need. That I write a blog is simply the medium I most often choose to get my words out there, and the one that suits me the best.

And what can I say, blogging has been very good to me. It’s given me the opportunity to write for professional publications, it’s led to my photography appearing in exhibitions and magazines, and it inadvertently led me to meet my wife, which are all what I’d call fairly significantly moments.

So here’s the interview, I hope you enjoy it, and keep your eye out for a quick glimpse of the wonderful Jerry Fraser who joined Marcela and I for a quick lunch at the excellent Five Bar in Mt Lawley (post on them coming soon).