Smoked salmon chowder and no-knead bread

Do you fancy yourself as a baker or a cook?

I am certainly the latter. The problem with me and baking is the precision needed. Precision is not my forte. I’m more of a feel-as-I-go, lots-of-tasting kind of girl.

That’s why bread making is not really my thing. HOWEVER, this no-knead bread recipe that I found in my sister’s latest edition of Donna Hay is a WINNER, people. It involved a bit of stirring to bind everything, a little patience and then some quick cutting and manoeuvring of some very sticky, wet dough. Whack it in the oven and Bob’s your Uncle, so to speak.

The bread goes incredibly well with this divine and ridiculously simple salmon chowder. We had plenty for leftovers and it was delicious warmed up, again, two days later. 

Campbell’s liquid stock now does a fish stock so that should be easy to find in your local supermarket. The smoked salmon fillet can be found where the sliced smoked salmon is in the cold section. Supermarkets provide a packet with off cuts of fillets, which are cheaper and work perfectly fine in this recipe. 

Other than that, tuck into these two delightful recipes and enjoy. 

Smoked Salmon chowder with corn and dill.

Smoked salmon chowder with corn and dill

Adapted from Donna Hay magazine Issue 75

Serves 6 

Ingredients 

50g unsalted butter
2 leeks, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
600g potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 litre fish stock
100g crème fraîche
370g smoked salmon fillet, skin removed and flaked
2 corn cobs, kernals removed
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
juice of one lemon
¼ cup dill sprigs
salt and pepper

Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leek and cook for 4 minutes or until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the potato, stock, salt and pepper and cook, covered, for 10 minutes or until the potato is soft.

Remove from the heat and, using a hand-held stick blender, blend to a thick soup. Return the soup to a medium heat, add the crème fraîche, salmon, corn and dill and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check seasoning and add salt or pepper if required.

Add the lemon rind and half of the juice, stir to combine. Taste and ensure the lemon is to your liking. Add more if needed. Serve with no-knead bread rolls.

No-knead bread

No-knead bread rolls
From Donna Hay magazine Issue 75

Ingredients
4½ cups (675g) ‘00’ flour
1¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons table salt
2⅓ cups (580ml) water

Method
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to form a wet sticky dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to stand for 4 hours or until dough has tripled in size and has large bubbles.

Turn out onto a well-floured surface, divide into 7 pieces and shape into rounds. Oil the base of a 30cm-round heavy-based ovenproof saucepan with flour and place the rounds inside. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow to stand for a further 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Remove the plastic, cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped lightly. Turn out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 7 rolls.

No-knead bread

Spiced lentil & pumpkin tagine followed by spiced yoghurt & fruit

There is something very special about old friends. You know those friends who have known you since before 'things' started to change with your body and you were still considered cute and adorable by your parents. Those friends who stood by you while you fell in love for the first time with the cutest boy in your grade and they would go and ask him if he would go 'out' with you; and most importantly, they would tell him he was 'dropped' for you one week later. Those friends who have seen you laugh, fail, succeed, win, lose, cry, break-down, love, hate, and yet, they still remain your friend and love you.

I have one of those old, dear friends, who unfortunately lives in Germany - and has for the last 14 years - but who remains a true and loyal friend despite the distance. I am lucky she visits often and is here at the moment - haven't we put the weather on for her with flooding everywhere in Queensland - and what a treat it is to give her a real hug and not just one over the telephone or via the virtual world.

It would be remiss of me to not treat her to a hearty meal at my place during her stay given I've started a blog about my cooking experiments and adventures. So, the other night, I managed to drag her away from her twin sister and family to spend a night with me and my beloved. As she is a vegetarian I decided to visit Morocco, again - to follow on from the ras el hanout in the Christmas hampers - and cook her a spiced lentil and pumpkin tagine.

First, I must share that one of the most exciting things for me and therefore for, you, who has to deal with my special photographic skills, is Mel is studying photography in Deutschland. So for this blog, and for a few upcoming ones, you will be treated to her fine work. Thank you, Mel!

Spiced lentil and pumpkin tagine
From a little taste of morocco

Spiced lentil and pumpkin tagine with
home made flat bread (photo by Mel)

275 g brown lentils (or use a tin and you can miss the first step in the cooking directions)
2 tomatoes (you could substitute for a tin of diced tomatoes for a wetter dish)
600 g pumpkin (or butternut squash for our European friends)
3 tbls olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or 1 tsp harissa (I used the harissa as it has an incredible flavour to spice up this dish)
1 tsp paprika
3 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbls finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbls chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

Method
Pick over the lentils and discard any damaged lentils and any stones. Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse under cold running water. Tip into a saucepan and add 1 litre cold water. Bring to the boil, skim the surface if necessary, then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes crossways and squeeze out the seeds. Coarsely grate the tomatoes into a bowl down to the skin, discarding the skin. Set the grated tomato aside. Peel and seed the pumpkin and cut into 3 cm dice. Set aside.

Heath the oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic, cook for a few seconds, then stir in the cumin turmeric and cayenne pepper or harissa. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the paprika, grated tomato, tomato paste, sugar, half of the parsley and coriander. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add lentils and the prepared pumpkin, stir well then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the pumkin and lentils are tender. Adjust the seasoning and transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and coriander leave. I served this with fresh flat breads that I baked while making the tagine.


Spiced yoghurt with a middle eastern fruit salad
From the Marie Claire Zest cookbook.

I think this is a winning dessert, especially if you would like something a little lighter for your guests but still something to amaze them. I've also used fresh fruit instead of the middle easter fruit salad with the spiced yoghurt. Both work equally well.

Spiced Yoghurt
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
2 cloves
2 vanilla beans, split lengthways
2 cardamom pods, split lengthways (I added 4 because I love cardamom)
250 ml cream
1 tbls sugar
300 g Greek-style yoghurt

Put the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, vanilla beans, cardamom pods and cream into a small saucepan over a low heat. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain, then str in the sugar before allowing to cool. Fold the spiced cream through the yoghurt and serve over a fruit salad.

The spices in the cream ready for cooking.
Mel said it smelt like Christmas. (Photo by Mel)

Middle Eastern fruit salad
70 g dried figs
70 g dried apricots
70 g pitted prunes
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp rose-water
(I also added some dried cranberries I had left over in the cupboard)

Cut the dried fruit into bite-sized pieces and place in a small bowl. Place the sugar, 250 ml (1 cup) of water and the orange juice in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium hear, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Remove from the heat and stir in the rose-water. Pour the liquid over the dried fruit and allow to soak for several hours.

Place fruit salad in glasses, top with the spiced yogurt. I like to grate fresh nutmeg over the yoghurt to add another delightful fragrance and look to the mix.

Spiced yogurt with middle eastern fruit salad
(Photo by Mel)

The one thing I did learn during this cooking experience is I am pathetic at talking and cooking at the same time. I think we ended up eating by about 8.30pm. Prior to this I had to kick Mel out of the kitchen so I could finish the meal in order to prevent us from eating by the year 2012.

Home made pizza

There is nothing like the smell of a pizza cooking in the oven to get those taste buds salivating. Thanks to a very generous Christmas gift given to my beloved, - therefore me ;-) - a pizza stone and a pizza cutter, we decided to bring out the Italian in us and make our own pizzas last night.

First the dough had to be made so I referred to a great little pizza book, Ben Riccio's Pizza from Naples, for his basic pizza dough recipe.

Pizza dough
The following recipe makes enough dough for six 30cm (22 inch) pizzas. I cut this recipe in half, but you can make the pizza base, wrap it in plastic and freeze it for up to two months.

30g yeast
2 teaspoons salt
600ml water
1kg flour (I used a specific pizza and bread making flour as it is stronger. However, normal plain flour will still work)

Place the water in a bowl with the yeast and salt. Mix this thoroughly (use a small whisk or fork to help) to ensure the yeast is fully dissolved.

Place the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the middle and pour in the mixture of water, salt and yeast. Mix all together to form and smooth dough. I have a dough hook on my Kenwood Mixer (which I LOVE), so I just used this to make a smooth dough.

Pizza dough after mixing all
ingredients together

Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for at least one hour or until it is about double the size.

Pizza dough after about one hour of resting

After the dough has risen, cut or break it into pieces to make six dough balls. The balls can be rolled in the palm of your hands or on the kitchen bench with plenty of flour spread over it. Leave the dough balls to rise again for at least one hour. The dough can now be stretched with your hands or, like me, with a rolling pin.

Now the fun part begins...placing whatever toppings you love on to the base. We included garlic, onions, prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, anchovies, fresh basil leaves and olives.

Our scrummy pizza being sliced with
the new, very cool pizza cutter

The pizza was delicious, the stone making the base perfect and crispy after only 15 minutes in the oven at the highest temperature of 250 degrees celsius. 

For our next pizza attempt, however, I do think my beloved and I need to learn how to transfer our pizza from our working surface to the pizza stone; which has to heat up in the oven to work. We had flour everywhere trying to get the pizza base to move, along with all the toppings, from the upside down tray we were working on to the stone. Apparently a 'pizza paddle' could help, but if anyone out there has any other handing hints...I'm all ears.