In My Kitchen

Cream Puff
Filled with cream patissier

Choux pastry is fun to make, and you can have a round or a ring shape.
Did you know that you could prepare the dough and keep in the refrigerator to bake for the following day?
I baked a lot of small choux pastry for deep-freezing, as they keep well for a few months.  I took them out as I needed, defrost and fill them.  The last time I did, I filled them with cream patissier to make cream puffs to serve for a morning tea. For variation, you could fill them up with savoury. The savoury filling could be avocado and cheese or braised vegetables and meat ragu etc.

Choux pastry filled with
vegetable-meat ragu

Mini Cream Puffs Filled with Cream Patissier

Cream puff with
cream patissier filling

A platter of cream puff
for a morning tea

Mini Brioche a tete topped
with melted chocolate
and glace fruits

SWEET BRIOCHE, it is one of  French bread which is light, soft and luxurious, it does need time to prepare.  But,  Quick Mix Apple Tea Cake, is easy, use fresh chopped unpeeled apple.  Mix with sugar and self-raising flour, melted butter or oil, egg and some milk.  Stir it gently but quickly.  Spoon the batter into a lined baking tin and bake in a moderately hot oven for 35 minutes. The cake freezes very well, dress it on the day you wish to serve.

Apple Tea Cake

The cake was dressed. A sweet treat to share with friends

The Baking

I love to bake rich bread-the brioche mainly because it is my favourite.  I do the dough at night, keep in room temperature until it doubled, then punch the dough down and refrigerated, the next morning I can bake the brioches.

The Brioche dough

The brioche dough is ready to proof.

After 3 hours of proving

Stir and punch it down,  and ready to refrigerate
for overnight.

 In the morning was the baking,  two brioches with a different flavour one were sweet brioche, and the other was savoury.
The sweet one was apple pie in brioche, and small brioche a tete and the other was a brioche ring filled with savoury.

Apple pie in brioche doughAdd 

Stuffed Brioche a Tete with jam

Dressed Brioche a Tete

Home baking is always welcome to be shared with friends, and that was what I did.  I shared the brioches a tete, and I also added fresh bouquet herbs from my garden. The herbs garden now is at their best.

The brioche was wrapped for a gift.

I love to serve the brioche warmed, with black coffee.  I am sure the France people would approve.

Sweet brioche is delicious with black coffee.

Warmed brioche served with black coffee.

Brioche ring with a savoury filling.

Savoury brioche ring filled with bacon, cheese

Pumpkin is readily available now, buy a whole pumpkin keeps for months.  I had a leftover fresh pumpkin and decided to make jam and pumpkin pie.  It was good, I did not need to make a significant quantity of fine-lining paste as the cake was an open pie. The pie was dressed with white chocolate icing and chopped pistachio nuts.

Sliced Dressed Pumpkin Pie

The pie was sliced into small wedges and served to friends for supper, and it was well-received.

Meat, cooking meat is always a challenge,  but I love red meat, especially lamb, the best Australian Lamb.  Traditional roast lamb served with gravy and mint is my family favourites.  I cooked differently this time,  I wanted a little touch of sweet and sour, so I added fruits.
Leg of lamb with fruits is delicious, cook slow in a pan with its own juices.  I made the best of oranges and tomato of my pantry, to add to the lamb, and it created a sweet and fruity flavour gravy.

The meat was so moist, the gravy was smooth and silky with fruity flavour.

You can improvise what fruit you wish to have.  Lamb with fruit works so well, you may like my idea and try to cook it for your family.

Swiss chard is still growing since last winter, it does look healthy and has plenty of leaves.  I picked some, and it was plenty.

Meatloaf is an excellent family dish, and everyone can cook it, I am sure.  In my kitchen,  I cook meatloaf with a difference.  It would be okay using the swiss chard leaves to wrap the meatloaf I thought.
This is my meatloaf, and it is made of mixed minced beef, chorizo, nuts, bread crumb, eggs, salt and spices.  To make fancier, I fill and stuff with chicken fillet mixed with bacon and egg.
 I was sure it would be very, very delicious and looks pretty when it cuts.  Indeed it did

Here the process, the pictures are self-explanatory, you don't need the quantities as you could improvise.

Meatloaf ingredients

Putting meatloaf on a terrine

Terrine is lined with blanched swiss chard leaves and filled
with the meatloaf, cover it with extra sheets of the swiss chard
And bake it in a slow hot oven for one hour

Cooked warm meatloaf on a plate

The look of the meatloaf when is cut

You could serve it hot with lemon sauce, hot baked potato and vegetables.  I did serve it warm, with yoghurt dressing and fresh salad.  It was delicious, and the family loved it.  That was a great success.

Serving, the stuffed meatloaf with chicken and wrapped in
swiss chard leaves.

We all have to be creative in using ingredients for cooking to make the dish more interesting.
Any activities need common sense to achieve a better result, so in cooking.
If I do a roast cooking, as the oven is going, I must make the best of it to do other baking.  That way, I am not only saving the bill for the fuel, but I save time as well.
I baked sweet chicken legs for dinner, also ricotta cheesecake and a savoury baked to freeze. The result was excellent as the three dishes had to be cooked at the same temperature.
I don't have a plan in daily cooking,  most of the time, I do whatever fits for me. Often I do a new dish and new flavour, and it works.

Baked Sweet Chicken Legs

Mushroom, cheese baked
in short pastry

Susy Ricotta Pie

Baking pies using puff pastry, together with baking scones work very well as they need similar heat in an oven.

Freshly Baked Open Leek Pie

Feta cheese, leek and eggs 

Scones are ready to be baked.

Freshly baked scones

In my kitchen, mixed fresh herbs, lime or lemon are always there, I do use a lot of herbs, but if I don't need them that day, they give fresh and lovely smell anyway.

I am very fortunate that I have potted herbs and herb garden in my backyard.

Curry with herbs and braising chicken in a Tajine

Stir fry or cooking on a stove is best in Spring or Summer.  The kitchen stays cool, and we do have hot meals.  Rice and stir fry noodles are favourite in my family.

Steam Yellow Rice

Bami Goreng

Serving stir-fried food together with braising dishes work well for any season.

Nasi goreng, telur semur and chicken (Javanese Cooking)

 Fried food is delicious, but you have to put up with the smell of oil, I do it though mainly if the dish is not available in the shop.  Tofu Ball with vegetables is healthy, and I cook it for a treat.

Preparation and Frying Vegetable and Tofu Balls

Fresh vegetables and fresh fruit harvest from the garden are amazing, I am so fortunate to have them.  Fresh salad is there almost daily, and fruit salad can be a treat if I got the pomelo fruit.

 Vegetables and Herbs in my Vegetable Garden

Pretty Salad

Fresh Treviso from my garden

Treviso salad dressed with balsamic vinegar and
olive oil.

Fresh Pomelo from my Garden

Pomelo fruits from my garden

Halved and cut Pomelo

 Adding the pomelo segments to mixed fresh fruit salad (Lotis) is common in Java. Lotis is Javanese fruit salad and served with Dipping Sauce

Segment  Pomelo 

Lotis

Choux Pastry Dough

Tips:
Remember I mentioned that choux pastry dough can be refrigerated, bake the next day and this is what it looks, soft, smooth and shiny.

When it baked and cooled, place in an airtight container to freeze or use it straight away.  If you keep in the refrigerator, it becomes soft, but you can heat up in a microwave for one minute, and let it cool to make it crispy.


Follow any choux pastry recipe you have as it is easy to make, you cannot fail.

In my kitchen, I do a lot, from preserving fruits, drying herbs, baking cakes and bread, to cooking daily food and cooking for my children, grandchildren and their parents when they come home for a visit.  The family is helpful, in my kitchen, we have good times.



Until Next Time
Susy