Author Archives: angelica | table twenty eight

13 May 2013

rhubarb, raspberry & coconut crumble

:: Rhubarb is a most unexpected source of happiness.

Whoever first thought to harvest the sour, stocky, crimson-coloured stalks, throw them in a pot and boil them down with a heap of sugar clearly had an eye for potential, because it’s not until you do so that rhubarb reveals its culinary worth.

Admittedly, there are a couple of stumbling blocks for those with less adventurous palettes – one, is its distinct tartness that does need tempering with a certain amount of sugar and two, its stringy texture which some don’t find particularly appealing.

This is unfortunate, as rhubarb makes an excellent accompaniment to many sweeter fruits and its tartness cuts through desserts which would otherwise be too rich.

This rhubarb, raspberry and coconut crumble really is one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted (that is, outside my preferred cheesecake-and-lemon-tart duopoly). Jammy, tangy fruit medley contrasting with golden, crumbly coconut streusel and finally, vanilla ice cream melting over the top of the whole affair… What’s not to love?

Adapted slightly from the recipe in June 2004 issue of Australian Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

1 large bunch rhubarb (8 – 10 stalks)
1 box frozen raspberries
2 cups plain flour (or rice flour if you’re cooking gluten-free)
½ cup powdered coconut milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
125g unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup dessicated coconut (plus ½ cup coconut chips is you’re a coconut fan like me)

Preheat your oven to 180°C and brush a large oven-proof dish with melted butter. Trim the leaves from the rhubarb, wash well to remove any grit and cut the stems into 8cm lengths (or so that you can place two lines of rhubarb stalks down the length of your dish).

Sprinkle half a cup of dark brown sugar over the stalks, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the raspberries, then cover and place back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

To make the crumble, sift the flour, coconut milk powder and baking powder into a medium mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar, stirring so that everything is combined, then add the chopped butter.

At this point it’s far easier to throw everything in a food processor than to sit there rubbing it in manually with your finger tips. Whilst I find many other aspects of food prep therapeutic (kneading dough, peeling potatoes, even shelling prawns), this task is numbingly tedious and messy. Unfortunately my kitchen is not yet home to a food processor (Christmas present, anyone…?) but those of you who own one, TRUST me – bring it out now.

Once the flour and butter mix is thoroughly combined, add the dessicated coconut and coconut chips. Spoon the mixture over the rhubarb and raspberries and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the syrup from the fruit starts to come through the crumble.

Serve hot with plenty of vanilla ice cream.

6 comments | tags: easy dessert, food, fruit crumble recipe, fruit dessert, photography, recipe, rhubarb, rhubarb dessert, winter dessert | posted in baked things, fruit, recipes, sweet things

6 May 2013

french onion soup

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: How many recipes in your repertoire begin with, ‘…heat some oil in saucepan and add chopped onion…’?

Too many to count, I’m sure. So many dishes are reliant on the starting block of the humble brown onion, that to remove it from our modus operandi is almost as bad as skipping the seasoning entirely!

Although onions provide the flavour foundation for a immeasurable number of recipes, the French have gone so far as to create a dish that celebrates the onion in its own right. Served with a crowning glory of melted Gruyère toasties, the broth of this world famous soup comprises mostly of meltingly rich, slow-cooked caramelised onions.

It might have started out as a poor man’s dish, limited to a single vegetable ingredient that was cheap and easy to grow, but now it can be seen on menus of even the poshest French restaurant for its wonderful depth of flavour.

A few notes on this dish before starting…

I use both olive oil and butter to cook the onions, as butter develops a wonderful flavour in the caramelisation process but unfortunately is not so great in the cholesterol stakes.

Also, it is really essential that you source Gruyère as it is this Swiss cheese which imparts such a distinctive sweet, earthy flavour to the cheese toasties. If you can’t track it down then I would recommend substituting Emmental (another Swiss cheese) but I urge you to scour delis and gourmet shops first!

2kg onions, cut into roughly 6mm slices
50g butter, chopped
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 cups good quality beef stock (try to use homemade if you can)
1 cup hot water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

French baguette
1 clove garlic
50g Gruyère cheese
50g Pecorino cheese

Melt butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and the add onions. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until onions are translucent and soft.

Remove the lid, add the brown sugar and cook for about 30 minutes or until the onions are very soft and starting to caramelise. Begin to add the stock, about a cup at a time and simmer for 10 minutes in between additions, until the stock has almost evaporated. Season to taste and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for a further 30 minutes.

When ready to serve, slice a baguette into rounds and toast each side. Finely grate the cheeses and mix together. Rub the tops of the toast rounds with the clove of garlic, sprinkle over a generous helping of grated cheese and place under the griller until melted and bubbling.

Place three or four rounds of baguette toasties in each bowl and ladle over the hot onion soup. Serve immediately.

2 comments | tags: easy soup recipe, food, french onion soup, french onion soup recipe, french recipe, onion soup, photography, recipe, soup, winter food | posted in main meals, recipes, soup, vegetarian meals

29 April 2013

a weekend of birthdays

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: The past couple of days have done little to contradict the feeling of how quickly time is flying, with tabletwentyeight coming up for its first year and the celebration of my 24th birthday.

Sunday started with a lovely birthday breakfast with friends at the busy, canal-side East Perth café, Toast.

I received a wonderful foodie hamper decked out with balloons and birthday streamers, filled with gourmet cheeses, brightly coloured homegrown chillies (these came with a serious heat hazard warning) and Matt Moran’s latest cookbook.

I fully intended to capture the atmosphere and delightful Toast breakfast offerings but went to take a snap and realised I’d forgotten to put my SD card back in! So unfortunately, no images this time but it gives me a good excuse to return…

Lunch was a beautiful alfresco affair at another good friend’s home. I arrived to find the back deck gloriously decorated with all manner of whimsical touches, in an Alice-in-Wonderland, garden-tea-party sort of fashion.

Gilded birdcages adorned the ceiling, flowers spilled from pewter jugs and ornate vases, tea cups dangled from the crystal chandelier over the dining table and painted letters spelling ‘Happy Birthday’ were strung over the steps leading out into the garden… It was absolutely beautiful.

The menu was simple but full of flavour, with everyone contributing a homemade dish – roasted pumpkin and aubergine salad with grilled haloumi, tiger prawns with avocado and baby spinach, asparagus and prosciutto tart and for dessert, classic vanilla cupcakes.

The other birthday of the weekend belonged to my website. My ‘little online project’ came into being as the result of a friend urging me to do SOMETHING with my collection of recipes, ink sketches, foodie pilgrimages and the relentless need to capture life through my lens.

I live and breathe food. Far from the fundamental need to fuel my body but as the fabric that pulls friends and family together, its flavours and textures and colours, its complexities and subtleties, its comfort factor and wow factor and the parallel enticements of china and silverware and the endless designs of bowls, plates, knife, fork and spoon… I just love it. My mother often laughs that my memory recall is solidly based on whatever happened to be on my plate at the time.

I had never read a blog before I started my own but in putting my thoughts and photos down on a page, I’ve met such a wonderful community of people, all as equally inspired and passionate about cuisine as I am. Thank you to you all for your comments and feedback over the past year, which has seen my little project grow into something I feel proud to share. Santé!

9 comments | tags: birthday, birthday party, cupcakes, food, food photography, garden tea party, photography, prawn salad, vintage party, vintage tea party | posted in accompaniments & sides, light meals, salads, seafood, sweet things, vegetarian meals

21 April 2013

pear & fennel salad with hazelnuts & goats cheese

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: Pears have never really been a fruit I would associate with the word ‘delicate’. This is mostly due to the fact that (until recent years) the variety most often on offer has been the Packham pear – a lumpy, ungainly creature that would never win any beauty pageants.

However, as a finely sliced addition to this autumnal salad, the pear contributes both subtle sweetness and a wonderfully crisp texture to an undeniably elegant and delicate composition. Roasted hazelnuts add earthly tones and of course everything, everything is improved – in food, as in life – by the addition of goats cheese.

Although I normally prefer richer chèvre curds, here I used goats cheese from Hindmarsh Valley Dairy, as it has a firmer texture like feta cheese and holds its shape better.

Make sure you use a fennel bulb that is not too large, as they lose their flavour and grow woodier the bigger they get.

3-4 Packham pears, depending on their size
1 medium-sized fennel bulb
2 handfuls of watercress, leaves picked
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts, halved
150g semi-soft goats cheese

Vinaigrette
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp castor sugar
Freshly ground pepper

To make the vinaigrette, place all ingredients in a small glass jar and shake until emulsified and the sugar crystals have dissolved. Taste and add more sugar or oil, depending on your piquancy preference. It’s best to make the vinaigrette first so that you have it on hand to dress the pears and prevent them from browning.

Remove the stalks and fronds from the fennel and cut the bulb into quarters. Using either a mandolin or a very sharp knife, finely slice the bulb and stalks into a bowl.

Using the same method, finely slice the pears into thin rounds from either side of the core, until all you have left is a disk of pear containing the seeds and stalk. Place the pear slices and watercress in the bowl with the fennel, pour over the dressing and using your hands, gently toss everything together.

To serve, layer slices of pear, shards of fennel and watercress leaves into small towers on each plate. Crumble the goats cheese over the top and scatter with roasted hazelnuts.

5 comments | tags: autumn, autumn salad, entree salad, fennel salad, food, food photography, goats cheese, goats cheese recipe, pear, pear salad, photography, side salad | posted in accompaniments & sides, entrée, fruit, goats cheese, recipes, salads, vegetarian meals

14 April 2013

lemon syrup cake

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: It seems astonishing to me that we’re already halfway through April.

Autumn’s slowly making its presence known with cooler nights, more frequent cups of tea and the deciduous trees of the neighbourhood transitioning to palettes of copper and carmine.

With the temperature dropping from its ghastly summer heights, I’ve also got another reason to rejoice – I can finally use my oven again!

Hard to believe but it’s been on hiatus for the past four months to prevent my apartment turning into a large-scale furnace in the midst of the summer heat.

Considering the amount of dishes I’d normally prepare that involve baking or roasting, it’s been very hard but thankfully the drought is over and I can go back to using my beloved oven without fear of perishing from heat stroke.

It was my mother’s birthday on Friday and in celebration I baked a simple but delicious lemon syrup cake. This recipe resonates with fond memories, as my brother and I would often come home after school to find it freshly baked for our afternoon tea.

Mum received the recipe some thirty years ago from a colleague and in fact she still has the original piece of notepaper on which she wrote it, now dog-eared, browning and covered with cooking splatters – the marks of a tried and true favourite!

I’ve tweaked it a bit so that it’s gluten-free but you can always use plain flour in place of the almond meal and rice flour.

125g butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup rice flour (or plain gluten-free flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Juice from half a lemon
Zest from two lemons, finely chopped

Lemon Syrup
Juice from 2 lemons
Zest from 1 lemon, kept in long reams
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf pan with baking paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy. On low speed, add the eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest, mixing until all the ingredients are combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until you have a smooth consistency. Pour into your lined loaf pan and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top and a cake skewer comes out clean.

Whilst the cake is cooling in the pan, prepare the syrup. Heat sugar, zest and lemon juice in a small saucepan until boiling, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until the sauce is reduced and syrupy.

Pour syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in completely. Remove from the loaf pan and serve slices of cake with a nice pot of tea.

5 comments | tags: afternoon tea, cake recipes, easy dessert, food, gluten-free, gluten-free cake, gluten-free dessert, lemon cake, lemon dessert, photography, tea cake | posted in baked things, fruit, recipes, sweet things

18 March 2013

ciabatta with figs & gorgonzola

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: Growing up, we had a magnificent fig tree in our backyard. It wasn’t terribly large, unlike the vast white fig tree in the nearby park – huge, knotted and gnarly, and perfect for living out childhood adventures; but our tree bore mountains of the most delicious, beautiful and plump fruit. Pale green on the outside with rich, ruby-jewelled interiors, the initial crop of figs would always reach their ripeness in the first week of February like clock-work.

For the next few months we would feast on them – sometimes in deserts or salads – but mostly fresh picked from the tree. The crop was so plentiful that we’d be begging people to take boxes of them left, right and centre.

Although the figs in this dish didn’t quite live up to the subjects of my childhood nostalgia, their jammy sweetness was the perfect compliment to the pleasing combination of crusty ciabatta, gorgonzola and toasted walnuts.

This isn’t really a recipe as such – more of an assembly job really - and makes a satisfying dinner for one or an entree for many.

Gorgonzola dolce
A handful of fresh, ripe figs
Toasted walnuts
Fresh loaf of ciabatta
Micro herbs, for serving

Slice the ciabatta to your desired thickness and chargrill each side in a grill pan. Alternatively you could toast them but this gives a lovely smokey flavour.

Slice off shards of gorgonzola, place on the toasted bread and top each with three sliced rounds of fig. Place under the griller until the figs start to brown and the gorgonzola begins to melt. Break the walnuts into smaller pieces, sprinkle over the toasts and top with micro herbs for a bit of greenery.

12 comments | tags: blue cheese, figs, gorgonzola, light meal, starter | posted in breakfast things, entrée, fruit, light meals, recipes, vegetarian meals

11 March 2013

summer angel hair pasta

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: Dusk turning to balmy evening under the stars, surrounded by pine trees and the smells of woodfired pizzas, hot from the oven, all set the backdrop for the dynamic, jazz –Latin sound fusion emanating from a simple canvased stage.

I ended my weekend on a high note with an outdoor concert on the terraced lawns of the old arts centre in Fremantle, listening to the musical force of nature that is The Cat Empire.

The band’s unique style is hard to describe but is made up of a vibrant combination of trumpet, keyboard, double bass, drums, percussion and dual vocals from trumpeteer Harry James Angus and percussionist Felix Reibl. The result is an eight man band creating a funky, jazzy and wilding alluring sound that can’t fail to capture spirits. For me, it imbides all that is summertime, fun, mischievious and enticing.

In a strange way, this dish draws abstract parallels of harmony and vibrance, with its combination of a lot of big, bold flavours. Creamy feta, spicy chroizo, salty olives, sweet caramlised onions and earthy, peppery undertones of rocket – it’s all there, married by the rich and fragrant olive oil from the marinated feta.

You might look at this list and think there are too many competing flavours, that’s there just too much going one. But like music from The Cat Empire, it just works – and it’s just damn irresistable.

500g cherry tomatoes, halved
400g angel hair pasta
200g chorizo, halved lengthways & sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large handful wild rocket
Zest & juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
150g marinated feta
1/4 cup marinated feta oil
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tbsp chopped basil

Heat a frypan over medium-high heat and cook the chorizo slices for about a minute on each side, until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Add a tablespoon of flavoured oil from the marinated feta to the same frypan and add the the cherry tomatoes and red onion. Fry gently over low heat until the onion has softened and the tomatoes are coloured.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente, then drain and place in a large bowl. Toss through a few tablespoons of the marinated feta oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.

Add the chorizo, onion, tomatoes, rocket, lemon juice, feta and herbs, and gently toss through angel hair until the rocket has wilted. You could add some freshly ground pepper at this point but don’t add any salt, as there is enough from the feta and the olives.

Divide the pasta amongst the bowls, top with lemon zest and serve warm.

8 comments | tags: angel hair, chorizo, easy recipe, feta, italian recipe, pasta, summer recipe | posted in light meals, main meals, pasta & noodles, recipes

5 March 2013

tacos de camaron | soft tacos with prawns & guacamole

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: Mexican cuisine has to be my favourite gastronomic fare. This is really saying something, because I would be hard pushed to pick between about a hundred dishes competing for that grandiose title.

But Mexican cuisine – the real deal, mind you – noses to the front with its layers of punchy heat, complex infusions of spice and savoury and those fresh zings of lime and coriander.

Now I’m not saying that oozing, cheesy, sour-creamy Tex Mex doesn’t have its place (it’s definitely a comforting and proven addition in the hangover cure department) but there’s something quite incredible about explosions of flavour that comes from the authentic recipes.

Perth is slowly discovering this very phenomenon after years of lacking great Mexican joints but Melbourne has been way ahead of us. One of my mandatory visits of every Melbourne trip is Mamasita, answer to the emerging popularity and awareness of proper Mexican food in Australia.

This recipe is inspired by their tacos de camaron (prawn tacos).

200g prawns, shelled and deveined
2 red chillies
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped coriander stalks
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 red cabbage, thinly sliced
Soft tacos, to serve

Guacamole
2 avocadoes
3 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
Juice of half a lime
Tabasco sauce
Sea salt

Start by making the marinade for the prawns. Place the chillies, garlic, coriander stalks and oil in a mortar and pestle, and bash everything around until you have a nice, fragrant paste. Pour over the prawns, give a good toss and leave to marinate for at least four hours.

There are plenty of different versions for guacamole out there but I prefer those with a good dose of acidity to balance the richness of the avocados. Here the bright lime juice and vinegary notes from the Tabasco sauce do just that.

Halve the avocados and remove the seeds. Slice lengthways, then across the width and scoop the flesh out of the husk using a soup spoon. Add the red onion, lime juice and coriander, and add enough Tabasco and sea salt for your liking. Mix together so that the cubes of avocado begin to break down and incorporate the other ingredients. Taste and add more lime juice, Tabasco or salt as required.

Just before it’s time to eat, heat a frypan over high heat and fry the prawns for 1-2 minutes on each side or until just opaque. To serve, warm the soft tacos, top with shredded red cabbage, guacamole and the grilled prawns. Garnish with extra coriander leaves and a squeeze of lime.

9 comments | tags: easy recipe, food, guacamole, lime, mexican recipe, photography, prawns, shrimp, summer recipe, tacos | posted in light meals, recipes, salads, seafood

24 February 2013

piña cola ice cream

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: What’s not to love about this recipe? The quintessential holiday drink is transformed into a creamy and indulgent ice cream, rich with coconut and spiked with rum.

These would be perfect for a summer cocktail party – easy to prepare ahead of time, you need only spoon scoops into small glasses and garnish with bright cocktail umbrellas for a delightful dessert.

One of the best things about this recipe is that you don’t need to be the owner of an ice cream maker. Simply whip everything together the night before and place in the freezer. Too easy!

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup of Malibu or other white rum
3-4 drops coconut essence
2 tbsp lime juice
2/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
500ml thickened cream
1/4 cup coconut chips, for garnishing

Pour the pineapple juice and rum into the bowl of a mixer. Add the coconut essence, lime juice and icing sugar, and whisk on low to dissolve the sugar.

Pour in the thickened cream and whisk until soft peaks form. Keep an eye on the mixture, as it will thicken quite quickly and you don’t want to over beat it. Taste to see if the mixture needs more coconut essence or a squeeze of lime juice, then spoon into a shallow, airtight container. Smooth over the top and freeze overnight.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer about five minutes before serving to allow it to soften slightly. Lightly toast the coconut chips in a hot, dry frypan until lightly golden. Sprinkle a little over each ice cream portion and garnish with cocktail umbrellas if you’re feeling in the mood to celebrate!

6 comments | tags: cocktail, dessert, food, ice cream, photography, pina colada recipe | posted in fruit, recipes, sweet things

19 February 2013

crab cakes with zesty dill mayonnaise

By angelica | table twenty eight

:: Although we had some blessed relief over the weekend from a run of temperatures nudging 40°C (104°F), the heat is creeping up again.

Unfortunately my apartment is sans air-conditioning, which means no oven – or even the stove top for extended periods – to try and keep the temperature at a habitable level.

The worst of the weather has seen me and Bailey streched out on the bare floorboards, fan on full force with a spray bottle of water close by, and the roman blinds fully down to shut out any wily rays of sunshine. And out of the two of us, I’m the luckier one – at least I’m not stuck with a fur coat!

Hot weather means fresh eating with minimal prep time, so continuing on with the seafood theme, these golden crab cakes found their way onto my dinner plate this week. Teamed with a zingy mayonnaise, they were light and tasty and so easy throw together.

This recipe is adapted from the one found in the February 2013 edition of delicious. magazine, with limes used in preference to lemon.

500g fresh picked crabmeat
750g (about 4) kipfler potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
12 small savoury crackers, crushed (I used Jatz)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Zest and juice of one lime
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

Dill Mayonnaise
1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1/2 cup thick greek yogurt
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
Zest from one lime

Cook the potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, drain and set aside to cool. Once cool, mash to an even consistency and add the crab.

Using a fork to flake the crab meat, mix together with the potato and add the spring onions, crackers, mustard, lime juice and zest, egg, parsley and seasonings. Roll the mixture into small balls and flatten slightly into a pattie shape.

In a large, heavy based frypan place enough oil to shallow fry the crab cakes. Fry in batches over high heat until golden, crunchy and just browned on each side. Remove and drain on absorbent paper when finished.

To make the mayonnaise, stir together all ingredients and serve immediately with the hot crab cakes.

5 comments | tags: crab, food, light meal, photography, seafood recipe, summer recipe | posted in entrée, light meals, recipes, seafood

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