Useless factoids: Orange is notably one of the most common words in the English language that does not rhyme with any other word.

Hmm. You learn something new every day.

Well then. Blood oranges. Beautiful, non? Whilst this probably isn’t the best specimen of a true blood orange, it does offer such a stunning cross-section. In Australia the blood orange season is so short. They turn up at the market one week only to disappear a few weeks later. I love their ruby red juice, which is lip-smackingly refreshing just squeezed and chilled by a couple of ice cubes.

When I saw them at my local a few days ago, I just knew they were destined for marmalade. I have never attempted this before. And to fly in the face of most established marmalade making techniques, I forwent the slice and soak overnight method (which apparently increases the pectin levels?!). Heck, I’m just too impatient for that. And I have a little trick, courtesy of a particular tree in my backyard. Lemons with uber pectin pips.

Further to this, I put the thinking cap on and wondered what would offer an interesting contrast to a pretty standard item. Eureka! How about a little bit of rosemary?

So here I am thinking I am rather ingenious. Alas, a quick search on google afterwards revealed that this certainly is not an original idea. Oh well. At least it concurs that it is indeed a good marriage. It tastes bloody fantastic.

Blood Orange & Rosemary Marmalade
6 Blood Oranges, sliced/shaved ever so finely
1 lemon, sliced/shaved just as finely
2 cups of water
Sugar (see method below for quantity)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Rosemary, fresh, just a few sprigs

Put finely sliced oranges/lemon into a heavy based non-reactive pan with the water and place onto a low heat. Cover with a cartouche made from scrunched up greased paper, the lid, and allow to cook for 1 hour (checking occasionally to ensure it does not stick).

Test the rind at this stage to see if it is tender. It should give when squeezed between the fingers. Take off the heat and measure the rind/pulp/juices. For every 1 cup of mixture, measure 3/4 cup of sugar. In this instance I had 5 cups of mixture and 3 1/4 cups of sugar.

Place the sugar and rind mixture into the same pot and place on a medium to high heat. Bring to high simmer, stirring occasionally, and then reduce heat to a slow simmer and allow to cook for approx 20 minutes. Test the marmalade on a chilled plate to see if it gels. When this stage has been reached, remove from heat and ladle into clean sterilised jars.

This recipe made about six 250ml jars, with a little bit left over for tasting.

Babysitting last weekend was a real hoot. Not only did we cook pizza and rocky road brownies, but we also spent some time at All Fired Up Cafe. The premise is simple. Rock up and pick out a blank piece of ceramicware (plates, cups, teapots, platters, figurines, picture frames, boxes etc.) and hand paint it. Coffee, tea, hot chocolates and snacks are available to keep your stamina up as you labour over your piece of art. And you have full access to paints, stamps, stencils and magazines/books to inspire you.

I decided to paint a tummy rumbles plate (for want of any other magnificent ideas). I thought it would be kinda quirky to serve biscuits on. Heck…I’d use any excuse to bake, eh?! **see below**

So once you paint your masterpiece, you leave it at the cafe and they glaze and fire it. You then go back a week later to pick up your items, and gasp in awe (or disappointment) at what your wonderful hands have created.

So here it is! It turned out very orange didn’t it? Anyway to celebrate the creation of my tummy rumbles plate I have knocked up this little biscuit recipe which is loosely based on a cake that comes from Tuscany, the homeland of my Nonno (grandfather). Therefore I will name it in his honour.

What is so wonderful about these biccies are the beautiful taste and aroma that comes from using marsala, olive oil and sugar. It may seem like an odd combination, but trust me, it is a superb marriage. The taste is fragrant with essence of fortified grape, and the polenta adds a nice texture compliment.

Biscotto di Nonno
0.5 cup Marsala (or a lightish Port will do just as well)
0.5 cup Olive Oil
0.5 cup White Sugar
1 cup Fine Polenta
2 cups Self Raising Flour
Extra white sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsuis.

Put marsala, olive oil and sugar into a bowl. Stir well until sugar has dissolved. Add flour and polenta and mix until combined and a firm dough has been achieved.

Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and coat in white sugar. Place on tray lined with baking paper and press down slightly and/or decorate. Cook for approximately 20 minutes. You want them to be deep golden brown in colour.

This recipe will make approximately 40 biscuits. And it is well served with a short black coffee.

I am not going to bore you with one of my usual half-baked reviews, as Ukulele did a damn fine job at We Do Chew Our Food. I just wanted to confirm what, in Ukulele’s own words, is a “fucking scrumptious” dedication to food that is both slow and delicious.

I went the Roast Pumpkin, Goats Curd, Olive and Baby Spinach Baguette to go. The pumpkin was bordering on burnt in a delectably caramelised way (joy…they kept the pumpkin skin on!). The olives were plump, juicy and recently released from their stone. The goats curd was tart and creamy. And the baguette…hmm…chewy, sour doughy and a perfect vehicle for all those lovingly prepared ingredients.

In summary this place has got everything in spades. And it gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

Here is part two in my series entitled “Babysitting and the art of distraction - cooking with kids”, which follows on from the kid-friendly pizza experience. This recipe is a sure fire winner. Where can one go wrong with chocolate and marshmallows? And let me just say that these are evil, wicked, nasty, horrible, disgusting, bad…but oooooh soooooo gooooood.

Rocky Road Brownies

1 cup chocolate chips (your choice of milk or dark)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1 cup white sugar
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
Miniature marshmallows, chocolate chips, flaked/slivered almonds and dried cranberries for decoration

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, and place approximately 24 double layer patty cake papers on a cooking tray (…or you could do 12 muffin sized).

In a small bowl microwave 1 cup of chocolate chips and the butter at half power until melted (about 1 and a half minutes). Stir in the vanilla and set aside.

In another bowl add the flour, sugar and salt. Scrape in the melted chocolate mixture and stir to moisten. Add the eggs and mix well.

Using a spoon drop the mixture into the patty cake papers, filling them only half full.

Bake for 15 minutes and remove from the oven, allowing to cool for about 5 minutes (the idea is to cool the tray so the little kiddies don’t burn themselves whilst decorating!). But dont’ forget to leave the oven on as we’re not quite done yet!

Place about 3 mini marshmallows, a few choc chips, flaked/slivered almonds and cranberries on top of each brownie cup. Put back in the oven and bake for another 6 or 7 minutes, or until the marshmallows puff and begin to melt.

Cool before eating (if you can), although a warm one is just too irresistable.

I find cooking to be an excellent distraction to keep children amused when babysitting. A friends wedding anniversary was my excuse to teach a 7 year old and 9 year old the finer art of pizza making. And what is really good about this recipe is the dough is relatively trouble free. No rolling. No stretching. No cursing when the damn dough springs back. This is tactile therapy at it’s best.

Pizza (the easy peasy kid-friendly way)
Crust
3/4 cup very warm water
1 tsp freeze dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 and a 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
Olive oil and a sprinkle of semolina for baking trays

Topping
1 cup of sugo / leftover bolognaise / passata / pizza sauce
1 cup grated cheese, mozzarella with a dash of parmesan is good
And your choice of whatever you want and whatever the kids will eat!

Put the water, yeast and sugar in a cup and mix to blend. Let stand for 10 minutes to get foamy.

In a large bowl mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and the teaspoon of oil and mix with a spoon until you have a smooth sticky dough. Note: This dough is not firm, hence the easy peasy factor. Have faith. Cover the bowl in clingfilm and set in a warm place to rise for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and line two trays with baking paper (or oil up some pizza trays). Sprinkle with the semolina flour to prevent sticking.

This recipe will make approximately two 20cm diameter pizzas.

Once the dough has risen, use a spoon to scoop out half the mixture and place it on the tray. Uh huh…goopy, eh? The next bit is fun. Oil up the kids hands and get them to press the dough into round shapes about 5mm thick. Don’t worry if they turn out misshapen. This just adds to their character.

Spread the pizza dough with sauce, and decorate / adorn / garnish with your choice of toppings.

Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes.

Having recently started work in CBD Melbourne, I am now starting my exploration of cafes for cheap and healthy lunch options. One place I have come across is Bluebag. I so loved the soup I had yesterday, that I had to go back for a repeat (albeit different) performance today.

Yesterday I consumed a wonderful chickpea and pumpkin soup, which was fragrant and subtly flavoured with a dash of coconut milk. It was garnished with sprigs of coriander and crispy shallots. Oh yeah.

Today was Gentle Lentil; red lentils, onion, red curry paste, carrot, capsicum, tomato and cumin. This was served with generous shavings of parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Mmm. Hit the spot on a rainy Melbourne day.

A large soup and a hunk of crusty bread is all yours for $6.50. My only complaint is they don’t include the option of multigrain bread. So Bluebag…are you listening? The health conscious demand a wholegrain option!

Anyway, would anyone like to pass on their Melbourne CBD lunch secrets? If so, write them in the comments. I’d love to hear about them.

What a doofus I am. I went all gung-ho, made a kick ass soup that not only tasted bloody brilliant, but looked none too shabby. And I forgot to take a bloody photograph! So my dear readers, you will just have to trust me on this one. This is a soup worth making. It’s temple food. It’s comfort food. And it’s perfect for a cold winters night.

This is a take on a soup my Nonna (Italian Grandmother) used to make. She would make little beef polpettone (meatballs) in broth. This one is a slightly modified/lighter version, throwing in a couple of influences from across the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Broth with Orzo and Chicken Polpettone
2 litres of chicken stock
1 onion, sliced thinly into half moons
2 medium carrots, sliced into half moons
1 bunch of parsley, stalks and all
3/4 cup of orzo/risoni
500g lean chicken, minced
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
The rind of 1 medium lemon
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
100g grated provolone piccante or parmesan
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

First up, chop the carrot and onion and sweat them in a little olive oil. When translucent, add the stock, bring to the boil and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes. Whilst this is cooking away, chop up the parsley. The leaf part will go into the chicken polpettone, whilst the stalky bits, when diced very very finely (see picture above), will go into the soup. Throw them in the pot now and allow to simmer gently for a further 20 minutes.

To make the chicken polpettone combine the chicken mince, parsley leaves, lemon rind, spices, breadcrumbs and egg in a bowl. Mix well and form into little meatballs. Do them whatever size your patience will stretch to. My patience level was set to large green olive size. Just remember that it is better to err on the side of smallness than greatness.

The orzo (or risoni) can be thrown into the broth at the same time as the polpettone. Simmer on medium flame for 10-15 minutes. If the liquid level has reduced too much, just add some water. The orzo and polpettone should cook in the same amount of time.

Serve steaming hot, with a garnish of parsley and a side of crusty bread. This will fill four to six bowls.