Beating the Heat

Unless you've taken up residence in a cold-room for some bizarre experiment, or hail from the Northern hemisphere, then you would have noticed that it has been HOT. The only people who are not bothered by this are either
a) cold-blooded (these people can be identified in winter as they insist that the heating should be set at 25oC) or
b) have air-conditioning.

Unfortunately, the majority of our family fits neither of these two categories (and the one that does fits both when he is at work!) so we have spent the time working out ways to "beat the heat".

1. One of the effects of this warm weather is that no one finds it easy to sleep so there have been a lot more lethargic games played.

2. In the evening before dinner, Alex waters the garden (but not just the garden of course)

3. Playing with ice. (I discovered this one when Alex got into the freezer and pulled the tray of ice out and tipped it all over the floor



4. Not cooking, but eating salads, sandwiches and BBQs

5. Eating ice-blocks/cream


This is actually frozen yoghut that I made earlier this summer. It comes from The low GI Family Cookbook. I also made iceblocks using pineapple that had been blended. (better than juice as it retains the fibre)

Makes 10 iceblooks

250g fresh or frozen fruit (berries, mangoes work well)
600g low fat vanilla yoghurt
2 egg whites
2 tbspn honey

1. Blend fruit and yoghurt together in food processor until smooth
2. Whisk egg-whites until stiff peaks form. Add the honey, a tablespoon at a time,, whicking well after each addition until thick and glossy
3. Fold eggwhite mixture into fruit yoghurt mix until just combined
4. Either
a) Pour the mixture into 10 1/3 cup capacity moulds. Tap the moulds to settle the mixture. Freeze for four hours or until set.
or
b) Pour the mixture into an airtight container and place in freezer for 4 hours or until frozen. Break the mixture into chunks with a metal spoon. Blend again in the food processor until smooth. Return to the airtight container and refreeze for 3 hours. Serve in scoops.

Fabulous Foodie Friday

Cath asked me to post the recipe for the panforte that I made at Christmas time. The book that the recipe is from is English, so I had to modify some of the ingredients. My comments/hints are in italics.

Ingredients:
edible rice paper (I just used the sort for rice paper rolls you can get from the Supermarket)
60g walnuts
115g blanched almonds (I just used plain, unpeeled, unblanched almonds!)
105g hazelnuts
45g chopped dried figs
150g glace mixed peel (I bought plain mixed peel rather than glace)
50g dried apricots
2 tbspns grated orange peel
2 tbspns cocoa powder'
60g plain flour
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (175g) honey
60g castor sugar

1 tbspn plain flour (extra)
1/4 tspn ground cinnamon (extra)

1. Preheat oven to 180oC (350oC). Line the base of a 22cm round springform tin with the rice paper (you shouldn't need to trim it). Place the walnuts and almonds on a small tray and bake for around 8 mins or until fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool, then repeat with the hazelnuts. When cool, tip the hazelnuts onto a clean tea towel and rub vigourously to remove all the loose skin. [I bought preroasted hazelnuts so could skip that step] Roughly chop all the nuts
2. Combine the nuts, dried figs, mixed peel. apricots and orange peel in a bowl. Sift in the cocoa, flour, spices and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper and stir to combine, the make a well in the centre.
3.Combine the sugar and honey in a pan and stir over low heat without boiling until the sugar has dissolved (I did this step in a Pyrex jug in the microwave - less washing up as that can go in the dishwasher, you just need to use < 100%)
4. Pour the honey miture onto the dry ingredients, stirring until well combined. Transfer to the prepared springfrom tin and press in firmly. Smooth the surface with a wetted hand. Use a small seive to dust the surface with the combined extra flour and cinnamon. Bake for 35 minutes, then cool completely in the tin. Serve in thin wedges.

This makes a large panforte - I easily cut it into 16 pieces for my work colleagues. It is dairy and egg free if you have to cook for people with allergies as well.

Cath also asked for the recipe for the shortbread stars. I used the recipe from taste, but refrigerated rolled and cut it out rather than making a round shortbread. This is a very fine shortbread (uses icing sugar and cornflour), rather than a crisp one. The lemon and lime shortbread variation is also v. good.