And that’s why I’m not allowed to play with fire

Accident prone. Klutz. Breaker of nice things. Danger to self and society. I get called a lot of things, and they’re usually all true.

I set fire to my hair once. Ok, ok! I’ve done it twice. Both times were accidents though, much like the time I singed off the tips of my eyelashes. What?! Don’t look at me like that, it could have happened to anybody. All I’m saying is, don’t use a stove-top kettle with a hangover. And curling irons are dangerous. As are aerosol cans and gas stove tops.

I don’t normally like to advocate burning things. Pyromania is bad, mmkay?

HOWEVER. There is an exception to the rule in butter. Sweet jeebus, burnt butter is a miracle ingredient that makes everything taste better. Even butter better is that it has both sweet and savoury applications. That’s right, it goes just as well in pasta dishes as it does in cakes.

Remember how I accidentally ended up with 5 kilos of carrots, and it resulted in epic carrot soup? Well, I also accidentally found myself in possession of 2 kilos of apples. Thus, apple pie.

I’m a little afraid of making proper pies, so instead, I make galettes. It’s all the key ingredients of pie, but easy and ‘rustic’. The simple step of browning the butter before adding it to the apples kind of makes you wonder why you never thought of it before.

With 48 hours to go until Spring, and Winter taking its dying breaths, this weekend is the perfect time to give this a go.

Brown Butter Apple Galette

From White on Rice Couple

2 sheets of puff pastry, or my favourite recipe here
340g unsalted butter
9 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
65g caster sugar
100g packed brown sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (the fresh stuff, not from a bottle)

Preheat oven to 220°C

Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter for a couple of minutes until it starts to foam, and then turn brown. The butter will take on a slightly nutty, toasted smell. Once this happens, remove from heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toss together the apple slices in a large bowl with the sugars and flour, until the apple is well coated. Once the butter has cooled, add it to the apples, making sure you scrape in all the little brown bits (because they’re delicious!). Add the lemon juice, and toss again to coat. Set aside.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of baking paper until evenly round and about half a centimeter thick. Add half of the apples to the middle of the dough, spreading them out evenly and leaving a border around the edge of about 5cm.

Fold the edge of the dough over the apples, creasing if need be. Repeat with the remaining dough and apples.

Brush the edges of the dough with cream, milk or a whisked egg, and sprinkle with a little more sugar, and then a little bit of flaked salt.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 180°C and bake for a further 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Back to Balkan

A day off work during the week is a magical thing.

What to do? Chores that don’t get done during the week? Nap? Brunch? Absolutely nothing for no reason at all?

When blessed with such a day, I couldn’t help but take advantage. Last Wednesday was my dad’s birthday, and I had grand plans of bringing him cake. Sadly, Frankie had the misfortune of being shipped out to the desert for work, so I took it upon myself to enjoy his birthday on his behalf. You know, because I’m a good daughter and all that.

The team from Divido put out the call on Twitter, inviting people to their latest round of Back to Balkans dinners. Because I’m not an idiot, I was the first to put my hand up, and because they are polite and delightful, they said yes! Kindly, they also extended their invitation to my mum so we could enjoy an awesome birthday dinner, minus the birthday boy himself.

The Back to Balkan feasts are a celebration of all delicious things from the region, with a focus on Croatia and Macedonia. The concept came about as the chefs told stories of their favourite foods from their family homelands – comparing the individual tweaks made from home to home. So, the decision was made to have regular dinners showcasing the dishes that felt like home. If you know anything about me, it’s that I love the kinds of dishes that remind you of home, no matter where that is. It means that you’re cooking from the heart, and that’s only ever a good thing.

A lucky twist of fate had us sitting at a table with Jacqui from Pantry in Suburbia, who is a fabulous dining partner when all the meals are designed to share.

The entrees began with a light chicken soup, subtly flavoured with lemon. It’s incredibly warming and comforting, reminiscent of something your nonna would make you when you’re sick.

This was quickly followed by a charcuterie board full of interesting meats – the dried beef is akin to a soft jerky.

The spicy Croatian sausage were a clear winner on our table, full of punchy flavours.

I loved the home-made pastry filled with mushrooms, feta and onion, gently sweet and juicy.

We wasted absolutely no time polishing off everything in front of us, and I ran my eye over the table more than once to see if we had missed any morsels.

Sharing plates is perfect when you’re trying new things – there’s no meal envy!

I wouldn’t have chosen the seafood stew, but I was pleased to find it full of plump mussels and clams.

The wood roasted pig from the Linley Valley was utterly fantastic. Soft, juicy meat, complete with crispy skin. It was well worth the trip to Divido just  for the pig, which we unilaterally agreed was the best in Perth. Get thee to Mount Hawthorn, stat.

Here’s Dan the Macedonian Chef (I’m pretty sure he answers to that), giving that amazing  pork a quick run under a torch, just to make sure the skin is extra crispy. It was awesome to be allowed in the kitchen and see the guys work together seamlessly.

Dessert (always my favourite part of any meal) came full circle in the comfort stakes.

Have I told you how much I love rice pudding? Because I really love rice pudding. In particular, I love this rice pudding. Jacqui’s partner was full by this stage, so I may have eaten his. And some of mum’s too.

The rice pudding was served along side delicate sweet pastries and apple cake.

The service at Divido is nothing short of exceptional. I prefer to be left alone, while others like to be waited on hand and foot, and I find that Divido strikes a nice balance. They’re also one of the few ‘nice’ restaurants that are open on a Monday, where they also do Champagne Mondays – which is pretty great value if you ask me.

The next round of dinners is due to be held in early October – you can sign up to their mailing list at Divido.com.au for news and updates, and I suggest you do, because they book up pretty quickly!

**Dinner was paid for by the lovely team at Divido (and I thank them for it!), but this review is still objective and I would definitely go back and spend my own money (hell, I already have) – it’s worth it.

Lambpage

I’m on a lamb-rampage at the moment – a lambpage, if you will. I’d forgotten how good good lamb can taste.

I love ‘entertaining foods’, meals that are designed to have all the dirty work done in advance and then plated up with minimal fuss when you’re half a bottle of wine down. This particular dish couldn’t be easier – a couple of tubs of hummus, tabbouleh which can be thrown together quickly or even bought, and lamb which cooks up in 15 minutes. Oh, and eaten with pita bread – who needs plates? Probably people with table manners. I’m not that person.

Ras el hanout isn’t typically found in your local supermarket, but it’s stocked in specialty stores. In the absence of that, it’s easily made from the spices you have at home, which is kind of fun. Mixing spices always kind of makes me feel like a magician. Or a chemist, in a non-Breaking Bad kind of way. Don’t be afraid.

Spiced Lamb & Hummus with Tabbouleh

From Delicious

2 tbsp olive oil
1kg lamb leg steaks, diced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ras el hanout
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups beef stock
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
400g hummus
Pita bread and greek yoghurt, to serve

1/2 cup burghul
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed and chopped
1 bunch mint and coriander, finely chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil

For the tabbouleh, put the burghul in a bowl and cover with boiling water and let stand for 20 minutes.

For the lamb, add the oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced lamb to the pan and cook for 6 minutes until browned all over. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and ras el hanout and cook for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, then the beef stock. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and let the sauce thicken for 7 – 8 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, add the lemon zest, juice and season to taste.

Drain the burghul and toss together with the remaining tabbouleh ingredients in a bowl.

Spread the hummus over a serving plate, then spoon the lamb over the hummus, and top with tabbouleh and Greek yogurt.