An Electronic Restaurant

Monday, April 06, 2009

Caramelized Banana Slice

An incredibly simple snack turned restaurant dessert through presentation. Here's the recipe for the big kids. You'll soon have school kids looking like masterchefs cutting with paper scissors and plastic knives!

For each small kid allow the following quantities:

1/2 sheet of flat bread (lavash)
1 tablespoon hazelnut spread (Nutella), or 2 squares chocolate, grated
1 banana, sliced
2 teaspoon raw sugar
melted butter, optional
Frangelico liqueur, optional
icing sugar, wattleseed, cocoa for dusting, optional

Brush the flat bread with melted butter if liked. Cut the flat bread into quarters. Spread with Nutella or sprinkle with grated chocolate. Neatly arrange banana slices over the the slices. Brush with more melted butter and Frangelico liqueur if liked. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until the sugar melts and turns brown. The flat bread should be crisp.

Stack the 4 slices neatly on a dinner plate. Dust with icing sugar or cocoa powder. Serve hot or cold with vanilla ice cream or custard sauce. For variation, use apple.

To make a soft textured version, place creme patissiere between the stacked layers.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Masterchef Australia Preview

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Fresh Apple Slices

A lovely fruit basket arrives on April 1st brimming with fresh apples.

The unblemished red apple looks irresistible, until cutting, and suddenly, it is: April Fool! What a surprise that the beautiful apple has a rotten core.

Since this is electronic reality, Noodle Cook rushes behind the scene for a sharp knife, and 2 minutes later, out comes beautifully presented apple slices for dessert! The cut slices cleverly avoided the rotten core.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Savoury Mince and Vegetables

A successful family classic proven over time to thrill the worst food critics, beautifully showcased in a Jamie Oliver's cast iron tegame which survived the trip from Perth to Sydney in a suitcase. The dish cooks to perfection thanks to the even heat distribution of cast iron.

The dish combines the simple tastes of onion, garlic, celery and a touch of thyme. There is no curry spice to drown the natural enhancement of flavours achieved through browning of onions, celery, mince and flour.

There is no leftover since everyone wants double serve when Noodle Cook prepares the dish. Leftover savoury mince, if any, is ideal for toast, pasta, pies or rice.

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500 g lean mince
1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce
4 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried chives
500 mL water approx
1/2 cup water + 1 tablespoon cornstarch, optional
1/2 cup frozen corn kernel
1 potato
1 cup frozen peas
pepper to taste

Roux:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 tablespoons flour
1.5 cup water

Monday, March 30, 2009

Noodle Cook Chops Like the Professional!

It's a day of chopping onions and vegetables, made easy with the use of a quality Wusthof Trident chef knife, a beautiful 23 cm European made classic that Noodle Cook dreams of owning.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Classic Sunday Roast Dinner

There's no chance of a tantrum when it comes to the classic Sunday roast dinner of stuffed chicken, potatoes and pumpkin served with two vegies. An hour to cook at 180 degrees Celsius using organic chicken and garden fresh vegetables. Thumbs up by all at dinner.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Sydney Earth Hour 2009

Sydney plunges itself into darkness for global "Earth Hour" to highlight the threat of climate change. For sixty minutes Noodle Cook watches television by candlelight.

Sydney, Here Comes the 2-minute Noodle Cook!

A week of solid house bound cooking for the worst food critics. Noodle Cook has to prepare for everything including specialist dietary requirements low fat, low protein, low Na/K/P.

What does a "masterchef" pack in the suitcase without exceeding 23 kg?

Favourite cookware: cast iron, the tegame chosen for versatility
Favourite cookbook: The Food I Love by Neil Perry
Favourite utensil: Whisk (double up for cakes and sauces)
Favourite ingredients: bush tucker herbs and spices
Favourite chef's uniform: green and gold 2-minute Noodle Cook uniform complete with the splashes thrown by the Masterchef Australia judges.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Osmanthus Chiffon

A beautiful moist chiffon flavoured with peach smelling osmanthus flowers. Just right for a special occasion.

Recipe adapted from Pandan Chiffon by Bakel Singapore

Group A: Batter
4 egg yolks (100 g)
40 g sugar
1.5 teaspoons Ovalett
40 mL water
60 g plain flour
20 g cornfour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder (3.5 g)
1 tablespoon dried osmanthus flowers, milled
30 mL camellia tea oil

Group B: Foam
4 egg whites (100 g)
55 g sugar
0.5 teaspoon cream of tartar (1.5 g)

Whisk egg yolks, sugar, Ovalett and water for 10 minutes. Fold in sifted dry ingredients. Fold in oil.

Separately, whisk the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar until satin-like around 5 minutes.

Gently fold the egg white foam into the egg yolk batter.

Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

Variation: Reduce sugar to 70 g. Reduce baking powder to 1 teaspoon to avoid doming. Increase cream of tartar to 1 teaspoon

Comment: The resultant cake looks well formed, and golden. The height is 5 cm. It gives off a lovely peach aroma from the osmanthus flowers. For maximum flavour, eat on the day of baking. The Ovalett has little effect on preparation time and the final outcome.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Perseverance Bread

There is nothing more romantic than bread by candlelight, and here is why. Some 15 hours after botching up making bagels, Noodle Cook persevered on the longest bread making marathon in history.

The fiasco starts at 7 am, when after 45 minutes the yeast sponge stalls at 30% rise. No chance of bread for lunch, so may as well let the bread rise slowly in the refrigerator. At 5 pm, the dough looks no better.

A bit of heat in a car parked in the setting sun, and the sponge doubles at long last! Punch down, scale, mold... Most cooks would have abandoned the attempt by now. This strange yeast is SLOW. There is no smell of over fermentation even after all these hours.

By quarter to 11 pm, a very hungry John wakes up from the couch after spending the evening waiting for bread. A triumphant Noodle Cook presents a golden brown loaf, hot from the oven, the perfect bread to eat with extra virgin olive oil and black olives.

The used by date on the box of yeast reads 1995. The yeast is at least 15 years old.