loose produce

i died and went to heaven the first day i walked into kakulas




why?
1) wooden floors. they'll get me every time.
2) the smell. spices, tea, meat
4) the sound. so many different accents in one room
3) the produce. bags full of grains (processed, unprocessed, organic, gluten free, local, imported) buckets full of spices (red, green, yellow, brown), shelves stocked with every preserve, cordial, jam, pickle imaginable (pomegranate sauce anyone?) fridges full of cheeses, dips, antipesto, meats (sundried tomato and feta) containers full of sweets (real turkish delight and poppy seed bread) baskets full of fresh bread (fig and pumpkin seed) bins of dried fruits and nuts (cherries and almond). not to mention the food from all different nations...tinned poppyseed??!!

to me, a food store is an amazing place. it opens the door to a world of possibilities. there is nothing better than walking through a loose produce store and getting 100g of this and 20g of that to make the perfect cake, or muesli or marinade. unlike a supermarket, loose produce enables you to buy EXACTLY what you need to fulfill the recipe without having open bottles of obscure ingredients that will probably go off before you need them (i mean how many times will you really use elderberry? - sorry to all those mad keen jam makers out there)

the main reason i wanted to write this post is

1) because i am mad keen on kakulas (sisters located in freo and brothers located in northbridge) and recommend it as a place to find the perfect present for those people that have everything...nothing beats freshly ground coffee, loose tea, polish sponge fingers or a basket of cheeses and antipesto.

2) i was cycling down canning hwy and found a shop called 'loose produce', much like kakulas, yet closer to home (YAY) alot brighter inside with a cafe attached (genious!), however the cheese range was not as good.

3) so i want to know if there are any more around town. wherever you are, spread the word, where do you get good loose produce from??

and, once you have found that loose produce, have a go at this:

Alex's Awesome Muesli
(g measurements are approximations! )


1/2 c honey
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 c (300g) rolled oats
1/2 c (50g) bran (can be processed or not, depending on your preference)
1/2 c (25g) coconut
1/2 c (50g) wheatgerm
1/2 c (100g) chopped nuts - macadamias taste best!
150g dried fruit i recommend crasins (dried cranberries) and apricots or dried cherries/blueberries

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcius
Place the first five ingredients in a bowl and into the microwave and heat for 2 minutes or until bubbling. Mix well
Add remaining ingredients (except dried fruit) to a large shallow dish and mix.
Pour liquid over dry ingredients and stir together until dry mix is coated.
Place into oven for about 20 minutes (or longer for more crunch) stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking.
Add dried fruit and mix through.
Store in airtight container for up to 3 months

To serve: place 4 heaped tbspn into a bowl, add a dollop of vanilla yoghurt, a tiny drizzle of honey and fresh fruit (banana or strawberries goes well)
Tip: vary the oat/wheatgerm/bran amounts to suit your tastes. i like extra oats so i usually add about 500g of oats. be creative. there is usually enough liquid still, just reduced the sweetness.

ganache my heart

Cocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake My first ever attempt at making a cake in my oven (note: i own a very very OLD chef oven, not known for their even heating abilities).

recipe from: womens weekly best foods collection (who doesnt own a WW cookbook?)
reason for making it: dinner party with the girls
so what do i think?: i have pretty much spent the past 3 days referring to this cake in my facebook updates thats how much i LOVED it. not only was i extremely excited about the fact that i baked a cake, but it wasn't dry, it was a coco flavour more than the sweetness of chocolate, the bottom was moist, the top was crunchy (best type) the ganace was extreme and the raspberries were tart. there is nothing that could have made this cake better, except more cake, and a nice cake plate. and it was gluten free, but not gross gluten free, you know how sometimes GF is obviously GF? not this.
teamed with: light dollop cream. yes yes yes i KNOW its light, but it actually went really well because the cream wasnt so thick that it was richness overload, it was actually pretty good, and its LOW FAT!!!
dinner: yes i made dinner too, vietnamese noodles with ginger garlic chicken. this was a good choice because it was light and refreshing as opposed to the heavier cake.

so the recipe (coz i know you all pretty much want to make it):

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
1/3 cup (80ml) water
150g dark eating chocolate, melted
150g butter, melted
1 1/3 cups (300g) firmly packed brown sugar (i just loosely packed it)
1 cup (125g) almond meal
4 eggs, separated
200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
2/3 cup (160ml) thickened cream (i used light dollop cream)
300g raspberries (i used frozen raspberries, and about 2 handfulls)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Grease deep 22cm-round cake pan; line base and side with baking paper.

Blend sifted cocoa with the water in large bowl until smooth. Stir in melted chocolate, butter, sugar, almond meal and egg yolks.

Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. (i just used a hand-whisk and beated until they were pretty much stiff) Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture, in two batches. Pour mixture into pan. Bake cake about 1¼ hours. (lies, mine was 1 hr at about 180o but my oven is weird. basically wait till skewer is clean and then turn off oven and leave it in there to cool for a while)

Stand cake in pan 15 minutes; turn, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool. (by this time it was 11pm and i wanted to sleep so i covered mine in glad-wrap on a plate and put it in the fridge for tomorrow night)

Stir chopped chocolate and cream in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. (or microwave!! melt chocolate first, let it cool a little and stir in cream - do NOT microwave once cream is in, otherwise it separates)

Place raspberries on top of cake; drizzle chocolate mixture over raspberries. Stand cake at room temperature until chocolate sets. (alternately, ice cake with the ganache and sprinkle raspberries ontop!)

you can also freeze the cake :D save it for a surprise special occasion. i would suggest serving at room temperature.

its bedtime now...so until next time, eat well!! (i really need to think of a good tag line...any suggestions let me know!!) xo

reckless ambition

Ha. finally figured this out...guess what you press 'new post' to make a new post. who would've thought.

so basically, i see miss K got the (meat)ball rolling ;)

you will find food for the soul regularly dished out from K (as well as normal food) she's pretty cool like that.

as for me?? i just want to be on here to share my enthusiasm of food with you.

my two philosophies are: approach love and cooking with reckless ambition (Dalai Lama) and eat to live, do not live to eat (William Penn) and because this isnt about my epic love life, i guess i better talk about food, which is pretty much my style, seeing as i spend almost every waking minute of my day thinking about food and my next meal, so for those that make my tastebuds dance, i plan on documenting the ride!!

anyways...want to start the first ride...so enjoy!!

p.s i think my food photos are pretty classy...