Bara Brith

So I've had this recipe in a vegetarian cook book for years wondering what it would be like...

Turns out its Welsh tea cake.

Now if you're reading this its cause you probably know me and you may even know that I'm from Argentina. What you probably don't know is that my maternal Grandmother (who passed away at 102 last year) was Irish and my family has strong Irish traditions. Argentina like Australia is very multicultural, just that it all happened at the turn of the 19th Century and post World Wars. These days not many people can readily admit they don't have an ancestor from Spain, Italy, Ireland, Wales, Armenia etc.

But back to the family traditions.... One of these has been a yearly Welsh Afternoon Tea fundraiser at the local library that my Grandmother and mother founded back in the 60's. I have no idea why it's a Welsh tea and not Irish but I will be there this year and being a chef I've been seconded into cooking Torta Galesa (Welsh Cake) for about 100 people.

I had a go at this recipe and it's delicious, better than your average fruit cake due to the fruit being soaked in strong tea (and ahem... a good dash of whiskey)! This recipe is from the North Wales Tourism website, the whiskey was my addition!

Let you know how the Afternoon Tea goes....

Bara Brith

This is literally translated as ‘speckled bread’. Once a week, the stove was lit for baking day, as the heat began to fade in the stove, so a handful of currants was added to the last of the bread dough and this speckled bread became a treat. The flavour, however, of this spiced, honey-glazed fruit bread is delicious when spread with salted Welsh butter, and it is no wonder that Bara Brith is still produced all over Wales.

450g (1lb) mixed dried fruit

300ml (1/2 pint) tea
40ml whiskey (optional)

2 tbsp marmalade

1 egg, beaten

6 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

450g (1lb) self-raising flour

honey to glaze

1. Soak the fruit overnight in the tea (and whiskey).
2. Next day, mix the marmalade, egg, sugar, spice and flour. Spoon into a greased 900g (1lb) loaf tin and bake in a warm oven (gas 3, 325ºF, 170ºC) for one and three quarter hours or until the centre is cooked through. Check from time to time that the top doesn’t brown too much, and cover with a sheet of foil or move down a shelf in the oven if necessary.
3. Once cooked, leave the Bara Brith to stand for 5 minutes, then tip out of the tin on to a cooling tray. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top with honey.
4. Serve sliced with salted butter and some tasty farmhouse Cheddar. Store in an airtight tin.

My final class for 2008!

In exactly 2 weeks we'll be in Buenos Aires!
Ahhh so much to do, such little time :-)

I've been reminded I should organise an "authority to travel" for the kids as my surname is different to theirs and Tony won't be travelling with us... and now that we've decided to enrol in Distance Education for Term 4 we've got to meet the teacher and get a program together for the kids. How exciting!

Then there's the packing... the dreadful thing about travelling with Aerolineas is that the luggage allowance is HUGE! 2 x 32k bags each. No wonder the private owner is offloading the airline to the Argentine Govt! I've inherited the dreadful temptation to take everything including the kitchen sink. Must resist urge to plan everything to the last outfit, last read, last stitch.

So last night was my final cooking class in Sydney for 2008: fittingly a Picnic, BBQ and Party Food class. This has been a very tight group of students, they've come a long way in learning basic kitchen skills and I barely have to be there after 6 classes! I love seeing how everybody interacts and makes room in their life for someone completely out of their day to day realm.

As you can see from the photos we had Tofu Burgers, Mini Pumpkin and Spinach Frittata and my personal favourite the Zucchini, Feta and Chick Pea Fritters w/ Tzatziki. I especially liked the creative way half of them were cooked - in neat quenelles. (If you decide to do this you will need to finish them off in the oven to cook them through).
We also had Maple Syrup and Pecan cake but that went quicker than I could snap it!
Here's the recipe for the fritters. Enjoy :-)

ZUCCHINI, CHICK PEA AND FETA FRITTERS

These delicious fritters are great as finger food or at a picnic.

Serves: makes c.16 little fritters

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

400 grams tinned chick peas, drained and mashed slightly with a fork

3 zucchini, grated and placed in a colander to drain

150 grams Greek feta, drained and crumbled

3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (parsley/ coriander/ chives/ oregano/ dill etc)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs slightly beaten

¾ cup self raising flour (may need more if mix is too soft due to the zucchini)

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for shallow frying

To serve: Tzatziki (see separate recipe)

Method:

1. Combine the chick peas, zucchini, feta, herbs, garlic and eggs in a bowl.

2. Sprinkle the flour over the mix and lightly combine.

3. Mix should hold its shape when dropped from a spoon, if not add more flour.

4. Heat enough oil to cover the base of fry pan.

5. Spoon tablespoons of mix on to hot oil and cook for 2 minutes till set and golden.

6. Using an egg slice and wooden spoon, turn and cook on the other side.

7. Remove and cook the remaining mix, adding more oil when needed.

To serve: Serve with tzatziki to dip or spoon little mounds onto individual fritters for finger food.

Tzatziki

Ingredients

2 cups plain yoghurt (preferably Greek)

1 cucumber, peeled and grated.

¼ cup mint leaves, chopped

2 garlic cloves

½ lemon, juiced

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Place cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

2. Place over a bowl and let drain for 10 minutes.

3. Squeeze as much water out of the cucumber as possible.

4. Combine all ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

5. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.

Cheesy Scones and a Thai Stir Fry

Ok so there has been much ranting and not enough sewing of scraps nor many recipes happening here!
My Mexican quilt is still up on the design board and it was embarrassing to have to move it aside for Kerry to plough through her gorgeous Dear Jane quilt this weekend!
But I have been cooking: lots of scones, 370 of them for our school's Father's Day Song & Scone!
I didn't think I wanted to see a scone for a while but then decided to make a batch of Cheesy Scones using the delicious Greek kefalograviera in the fridge. A pinch of sweet/ smoky Spanish pimiento and they were delicious for afternoon tea with cream cheese... mmmm!

And then there's my Vegetarian Cookery Classes I teach on Mondays.
Last night the theme was one of my favourites: Thai Vegetarian Cuisine.

The hardest thing about recreating South East Asian cuisines is their heavy use of fish sauce and dried shrimp paste. Once you can find something equally as salty and "earthy" to substitute the rest is easy. I prefer to use mushroom flavoured soy and vegetarian oyster mushroom stir fry sauce.
On the menu was Tom Yum Pak (Spicy Sour Vegetable Soup), Pad Thai, Pumpkin & Zucchini Stir Fry and Sweet Sticky Rice w/ Mango and Palm Sugar Syrup.
The students did an excellent job as you can see from the photos, the Singha Beer was the perfect foil for all that spice and tartness.
One of the easiest dishes to achieve and one well liked by even those that don't usually like Thai food is the stir fry. It's delicious with plain steamed rice.

Pumpkin and Zucchini Stir Fry

400 g Pumpkin; peeled, cut and sliced into 5cm lengths

400 g Zucchini, cut in ½ cm matchsticks 5cm lengths
2 Eggs
2 Spring onions, sliced into 5cm lengths
2 Tbsp Canola oil
2 Garlic clove, finely sliced
100 ml Water

2 Tbsp Vegetarian oyster sauce

2 Tbsp Mushroom soy sauce
1 Tsp White sugar
¼ tsp Ground white pepper

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
1. Cook the pumpkin till just soft in a microwave or steamer.
2. In a wok, fry the garlic in the oil till just golden
3. Add the eggs and stir till half cooked
4. Add the pumpkin, zucchini, water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, white pepper.
5. Stir fry for 5 minute till all combined.
6. Add the spring onion and stir to heat through.

Serve garnished with coriander leaves and a sprinkle of white pepper.

Busy, busy, busy

Someone warned me we'd be busy once we got on the merry go round of activities for G&T children! And we have been very busy!


We've been to the fantastic and inspiring Science Camp at Morriset held by the NSWAGTC where the children met other like minded science enthusiasts and did workshops on probability, space, astronomy and water rocket building. The location was fantastic and we'll certainly be back next year! The kids were so proud that their "eggmonaut" survived the rigours of being blasted into the air nestled deep within "The Shaky Shark". (see picture above)


The following weekend we hosted a Lego Enthusiasts get together with a couple of new friends. There was wall to wall Lego in the lounge room as our guests brought their fabulous creations to show and tell. We didn't really play much with the NXT set as it really needs a little more structure. We'll work on that for next time.


This weekend a friend invited the kids fishing locally. I went along as I'm not really sure how the kids would cope if they actually caught something! I don't know what I'd do if they'd caught something. But as is usually the case I needen't have worried. We just seemed to be feeding the bait to the tiny schools of fish at the edge of the rock ledge, the only tugs on the line were the numerous hooks we lost to patches of seaweed and jagged rocks!

Fishing was pronounced a terribly boring exercise and we went on to watch the Snake Man who was so much more entertaining!

So with only three weeks to go before our trip to Argentina it seems every weekend from now is accounted for! Wish me luck!