Chocolate Flourless Torte

I am always on the look out for recipes of delicious, quick and easy desserts.

When preparing a dinner party for friends I usually end up underestimating the preparation time for my first two courses. Something to do with guests arriving and my desire to gossip rather than chop. Having a big open-plan kitchen only encourages this! Luckily, I know that the day will be saved by some deliciousness that I already have baking in the oven.

This recipe is pulled from one of my multitudes of Delicious magazines spread over the coffee table (although as I have now swapped to an SBS Feast Magazine subscription there is a bit more variety around the house). Valli Little calls this a torte, but to me it is more of a flourless chocolate cake.

NOTE: this is not something to leave on the bench unattended. My housemates managed to polish this off in less than a day!

Ingredients

• 210g roasted pecans (cooled if you roast them)
• 180g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 220g butter, melted
• 1 1/2tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the over to 170 Celsius and line a medium sized spring form tin. If you want a perfect edge to your cake then grease the pan and dust with flour.
2. Use a food processor to grind pecans and chocolate until finely ground.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and pale. Slowly add in butter and vanilla.
4. Stir in pecan-chocolate mixture.
5. Beat egg whites until firm peaks.
6. Whisk a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture then gently fold-in remaining until combined.
7. Pour into pan and gently shake so that it settles. Make sure not to knock it too hard or you will lose all the air from the egg whites!
8. Bake for 50mins; until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
9. Cool in the pan. Don't be worried when it collapses - its meant to be quite a dense cake.
10. Dust with cocoa or icing sugar to serve warm with cream.

Glutton

Cheesy Crab & Zucchini Risotto

A cold winter night in Victoria, what better way to warm up than with a cheesy risotto.

Inspired by Glutton’s Thermomix Crumpets, and with another offer of the holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula that came with it's own Thermomix (TM) I began to investigate. And can you believe – you can still make a creamy perfect risotto without stirring (simply because the TM does it for you). I used two recipes as my inspiration, one from the Community website, another from a Thermomix Blog.

As with Glutton’s Crumpets, a TM isn't necessary for this recipe other than to save you all that stirring - so I've put the instructions for both below.

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini meduim quartered and sliced
• 1 cup crab meat
• 200 g mozzarella cubed
• 1 red onion peeled and quartered
• 2 stalk Celery
• 30 g Butter
• 300 g Aborio Rice
• 800 ml stock
• 200 g white wine
• 50 g parmesan cheese,
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Grate mozzarella and parmesan 4 secs speed 8 set aside 
• (NO TM = grate by hand)
2. Chop onion and celery 4 seconds speed 5,  
• (NO TM = chop very fine by hand)
3. Add butter and sauté 3 minutes, 100 deg , speed 1 
• (NO TM = use a saucepan and sauté for 5 min on medium heat)
4. Add rice and cook 2 minutes at 100deg on REVERSE +speed 1 
• (NO TM =heat on medium for 3 min – until rice is coated)
5. Add wine, stock, crab and zucchini cook for 18 mins at 100degs on REVERSE + speed 1.5
•  (NO TM = add zucchini & crab, and heat wine and stock in a separate saucepan)
• Then add 1 cup warm liquid to begin and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until nearly absorbed. 
• Continue adding 1/2 cup warm liquid at a time, stirring constantly, until it is nearly absorbed between additions).
6. Remove risotto from the TM into a large bowl.
7. Stir all cheeses though until melted and creamy.
8. Leave to absorb for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Notes

I don’t think it was necessary to add so much mozzarella – so I might half the amount next time I cook this recipe.

Delicious and winter warming – perfect with a glass of wine (but then, what doesn't work with wine!).

Lush

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

As the colder months of winter approach – it’s the perfect time to start making those delicious soups. One of my favorite is Jerusalem Artichoke Soup – well worth the effort of peeling them.



To start – you will need to carefully select your Jerusalem Artichokes (they should be firm and fresh – not mushy)

Ingredients:

• 5 Tbsp butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 large garlic cloves (peeled but whole)
• 20-30 medium Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into dice sized chunks 
• Note: The most difficult part by far is peeling the Jerusalem artichokes – be sure to leave about 45min for this.
• 4 peeled, and diced potatoes
• 3 Bay leafs
• 1 litre chicken stock 
• (use vegetable stock for vegetarian option, and gluten-free stock if cooking gluten-free)
• Nutmeg (to taste – about 0.5 tsp)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Cream to dress

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a deep saucepan over medium-high heat (I used a large cast iron one)
2. Microwave on high the diced potatoes for 4-5 min (until 80% cooked)
3. Sweat the onions, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes and microwaved potatoes for 5 minutes. (Be Careful not to brown them)
4. Add the chicken stock (homemade stock is always best), and bay leafs and simmer till the Jerusalem artichokes are cooked (tested by inserting a skewer into them – should push in easily) – approx 15-25 min. 
5. In a blender - purée the soup in batches (when using an upright blender only fill the blender a third of the way)
6. Once all blended returned to the saucepan and add nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste.

Serve with drizzle of cream on top and fresh bread.

 Lush