Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree . . .

I did start this blog yesterday, but Miss Le Coiffure needed my help so the day slipped away without me getting back to finishing it.

Now you must be thinking I am mad talking about Christmas, but when we turn the calender over on Saturday we are into the month of October. Which means we are on the slippy slope towards Christmas.

Now I love all things Christmassy but I don't love that madness that surrounds it. In a shop recently I was buying a couple of things for my girls as stocking fillers - yes they still have their Santa sacks - I tried and failed last year to convince Miss Fish that we don't need to put out Santa sacks - because of her disability she still believes in Santa. I had her nearly convinced when Miss Le Coiffure told her that they can still put their sacks out !- anyway I mentioned to the the lady serving me that they were presents for Christmas, she commented that she wasn't that organised but she had a lady in the day before who had not bought all her Christmas presents but had wrapped them as well !!!

I ask you doesn't that take the fun out of wrapping presents after you put the Christmas tree up and putting them under the tree. I have a bit of a game with Miss Fish as to whose presents are under the tree, everyday after she gets home from work her bottom can be seen sticking out from under our tree while she reads the cards to see if any presents are for her !

So I put the presents out under the tree over the month of December to keep the surprise going.

Not only do I buys presents over the year, but I also think of foodie type presents that I can make.

Like the Asian style nuts I make

http://cooklikeina.blogspot.com/search/label/Nibbles

Or chocolates which can be put into nice boxes or even lovely cellophane bags and tied with Christmas ribbon.

http://cooklikeina.blogspot.com/search/label/Chocolates

Or even shortbread, which can be made ahead of time and stored in airtight containers till needed.

Also don't forget the container that you give your foodie present in make sure it is useful after it is empty, so you are really giving two gifts.

I hope this gives you some ideas for the upcoming celebrations.

Ho, ho, ho . . .

Tips for your kitchen

I am going to have a bit of soapbox moment today, as I think people need to go back to the basics in food storage so when can reduce our garbage and also be able to buy and store food that has been grown for flavour not length of storage.

As Mr CLI says about most of the tomatoes on sale "they are grown for travelling not eating."

Now I must admit that we seem to have raised a generation of adults, those in the 18 - 25 year old category, that don't seem to know how to keep their food fresh for longer. Or even how to store their food properly. I am not saying all are like this, but from what I have seen there seems to be lack of education.

They seem to just piff the food in the fridge or cupboard and when they have the annual fridge clean out, which seems to be either when the fridge has no more room or there is a funny smell, it all gets thrown away.

While we are trying to eat seasonally and not eat to much processed food, we need to be aware how to store food properly to keep it at its best.

So here are some of my tips, I am not saying that these are the only way to keep food, but this is what I do and what I have taught my 2 daughters- even Mr CLI for that matter.

Cold Meat - Now as soon as you get home remove it from the packaging it has been wrapped in, especially if it is a plastic bag. Place paper towel in the bottom of an airtight container, then place the meat in. Place more paper towel on top. Then seal with the lid.

Now the reason I do this is so that the paper towel absorbs any moisture that might come from the meat which will stop it from sweating.

Feta Cheese - When you buy a piece of feta, not the feta in oil. I place it in a sealed container with fresh water and a teaspoon of salt. This creates a brine to store it in. You just needs to change the water every 2 -3 days.

I have kept the feta for over a week this way.

Jam - Now you may think what do you need to know about storing jam, but you would be surprised how many people use a dirty knife to get their jam out then are surprised next time they open it to find it all mouldy.

Please use a clean knife.

Cheese - Wrap your cheese in either tin foil, baking/parchment paper or even cling wrap, don't leave it partially covered in the fridge as when you get it out next time all the exposed areas will be dry.

Leftovers - These seem to be some of the major fridge tragics that get left behind at the back of the fridge, to be forgotten.

It is pretty simple if you don't really want to eat the leftovers the next night, pop it into a container and put it in the freezer for another time. Don't leave it in the fridge for a week then think "I should freeze that", when it is too late.

Sometimes I will make up a meal with these leftovers and they can be quite good a bit like a buffet on a plate.

You can even add to them to make them some thing else. Like I had leftover meatballs in tomato sauce, what I did was make some more plain tomato sauce broke up the meatballs added this to cooked pasta mixed in some cubed mozzarella, popped it into a baking dish with some more grated cheese on top and baked it till hot.

So what started out as some leftovers became a yummy pasta bake that we thoroughly enjoyed.

So please give some thought to how you store your food to make it last better and help reduce the waste.

Daring Bakers Challenge September 2011

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Now I must admit the last time I made puff pastry I was in high school. Which actually was quite successful.

So I didn't mind making a slightly different type of puff pastry this one has yeast that has to be activated and risen, before you add the butter as in puff pastry. The result was vary buttery croissant nothing at all like what you buy in the shops. I would only consider making it again if I wanted it for a really special occasion, because there is a lot of waiting involved with this.

Croissants

Servings: 12 croissants

Note from Lis: Sarah took so many gorgeous and helpful step-by-step photos for this challenge, that I found the best way to display them is at the bottom of the recipe. Each photo is notated with what you are looking at. :)

Ingredients

¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)

3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)

1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar

3¼ cups (450 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used Polish all-purpose flour, which is 13% protein)

2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar

1½ teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt

½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk (I am not sure if the fat content matters. I used 2%)

2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)

½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter

1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.

2. Measure out the other ingredients

3. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar

4. Place the flour in a large bowl.

5. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour

6. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated

7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl

8. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below). It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.

9. Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag

10. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size. (Photo 3)

11. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.

12. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).

13. Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up)

14. Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.

15. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge

16. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the butter.

17. Once the dough has doubled, it’s time to incorporate the butter

18. Place the block of chilled butter on a chopping board.

19. Using the rolling pin, beat the butter down a little, till it is quite flat.

20. Use the heel of your hand to continue to spread the butter until it is smooth. You want the butter to stay cool, but spread easily.

21. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.

22. Spread the dough using your hands into a rectangle about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

23. Remove the butter from the board, and place it on the top half of the dough rectangle

24. Spread the butter all across the top two-thirds of the dough rectangle, but keep it ¼ inch (6 mm) across from all the edges.

25. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third of the dough up.

26. Turn the dough package 90 degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book). (Photo 19)

27. Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

28. Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.

29. Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.

30. After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter.

31. Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little

32. Let the dough rest for 8 to 10 minutes

33. Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

34. Fold in three, as before

35. Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

36. Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (or overnight, with something heavy on top to stop it from rising)

37. It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants

38. First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready

39. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter

40. Roll the dough out into a 20 by 5 inch rectangle (51 cm by 12½ cm). (Photo 24)

41. Cut the dough into two rectangles (each 10 by 5 inches (25½ cm by 12½ cm)) (Photo 24)

42. Place one of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold

43. Roll the second rectangle out until it is 15 by 5 inches (38 cm by 12½ cm).

44. Cut the rectangle into three squares (each 5 by 5 inches (12½ cm by 12½ cm))

45. Place two of the squares in the fridge

46. The remaining square may have shrunk up a little bit in the meantime. Roll it out again till it is nearly square

47. Cut the square diagonally into two triangles.

48. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles.

49. Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape.

50. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet

51. Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 12 croissants in total.

52. Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 1 hour

53. Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.

54. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water

55. Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.

56. Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely

57. Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

So give it a go, but remember it isn't anything that can be hurried.

Another One Bites The Dust

I am a bit late in blogging this morning as I have been busy being a taxi service, Mr CLI to the Doctors for his torn muscles in his hip and Miss Fish off to her School Holiday Program.

I am now back in a quiet house, so I can relax till this afternoon when everyone returns.

I have been busy in the last couple of weeks working on my quilts the photo is of another quilt that I have finished.

It is made using Kaffe Fassett fabric, he is a designer from England who started out designing very bright and interesting knitting patterns, then he got into designing fabric for patchwork. The one thing you can say about his fabrics are that they are not shy and retiring, but bright and bold.

I also designed this quilt and the stitcheries that I placed amongst the squares.

Here is one of the stitcheries.

On our trip the other week Mr CLI found a piece of material with different birds in gold, fawn and dark red. I have been working on a quilt using them all last week and finished the quilt top on the weekend. It is in creams, fawns, aqua blue and dark red.

Mr CLI says it is too nice to sell, but the colors aren't what I am decorating my house with so we will see if I keep it. I really enjoy the designing and crating process and don't mind selling them as I can then justify buying more fabric and making more quilts. Also I have quilt tops to finish that I have made for my house.

Anyway I better get a wriggle along so I can put another quilt together ready to free motion quilt tomorrow. So till then bye for now.