Tarte Owt Of Lente - Or Tudor Cheese Pie

Tarte Owt of Lente - well, let's just call it Tudor cheese pie - is an interesting and surprisingly tasty dish.  As part of the online History of Royal Food course I am doing, we are tackling historical recipes like this one.  Yep I know it sounds weird, but we make the recipes, post up our photos and discuss how they worked out.  It is fun, I promise you, and tasty :=) 

very cheesy, golden and tasty  

   
The recipe suggests we seek out any pre-1600 cheeses; the varieties not the actual 500 year old specimens.  Sadly there are not that many ancient cheeses lurking at my local grocer, so I made do with a vintage tasty block cheese.  And it turned out very well I am glad to report.  The recipe is short on instructions; we are told to use a shortcrust or other pastry. No directions given; we just have to figure it out for ourselves.  So here is my version, using a Maggie Beer pastry recipe.   



ingredients:


pastry:


200g. butter, chilled

250g. plain flour

125 ml sour cream



filling:

100g. tasty block cheese - they suggest Cheshire if you can get it, cut into chunks

150 ml cream

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

1 apple or pear, very thinly sliced 

milk or egg yolk to glaze the top


Method:

Pastry:

Dice the butter and throw into a food processor with the flour

Pulse till it looks like breadcrumbs

Spoon in the sour cream and pulse till it starts to form a ball

Tip the pastry into a large bowl and just bring it together with your hands if needed to get that ball shape

Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 20 minutes


Filling:

Either chop up the cheese and pound in a mortar and pestle, or take the easy way and throw the chunks into a food processor

Whizz or pound till it starts to form a paste

Add the cream and egg and whizz or pound again - it should be a spreadable paste at this stage

Season with salt and pepper; not too much salt as the cheese is salty

Now take the pastry out of the fridge, and cut off one third

Roll out the 2/3 piece of dough and line your pastry tin (or form it into a tart case if you think your pastry will stand up by itself.  I used a pie tin as my pastry was very short and floppy

Make sure the bottom layer is quite thin

Spread on the filling and the sliced fruit

Roll out the smaller piece of the pastry for the lid very thinly

Place it over the filling and brush with milk or egg yolk

Put it into a 220C oven for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven


Serve with a green salad and perhaps some roasted potato chunks


Notes:

The original recipe states you can use a soft curd cheese like quark or ricotta, though I think it may be too soft to form a good paste

Use a mix of Tasty and parmesan for a good flavour

I had no sour cream so I used yoghurt - about 110 mls plus 15 mls cream and a splash of lemon juice (maybe a scant teaspoon)

I used a metal pie tin with an 18cm base (24cm. across the top). This tin conducts heat very well so the pie cooked in 30 minutes

Roll the pastry out between 2 sheets of baking paper as it is very short and sticky

The original recipe doesn't include the fruit; that's my addition. Some of my fellow students said it was a very salty dish, so I thought adding the spiced pears I had just been given would go well in it

pastry ingredients  

whizzing the pastry in the processor  

all wrapped up for the fridge   

roll it out between 2 sheets of baking paper   

spread it out in your tin  

filling ingredients   

ready to blitz the filling  

blitzed into a cheesy paste

spread the filling on the pastry base   

lay the sliced fruit on top of the filling   

lay the pastry lid over the top of the filling and give it an egg/milk wash   

bake for 30-40 minutes at 220C or till golden 

Oh I forgot to tell you why it is tarte owt of Lente; it's because you can only eat these things - eggs, cream and cheese when it is not Lent.

my pie tin doodle

My Sunday Photo 3 July 2016

gorgeous orange trumpet creeper 

We went for a country drive yesterday and came upon this exquisite creeper sunning itself across an arch overlooking the small country town of Boonah.  The bees were buzzing, the sun was shining and the sky was a stunning blue.  Hubby and I just stood there amazed at the sheer beauty of it all.  It was starting to get cold as the sun was about to go down in an hour or so.  We had just been to a Winter Harvest Festival in the nearby tiny town of Aratula, where we found lots of wonderful produce.  This time of year is just so beautiful in sunny Queensland, when we have cloudless, clear blue sky days and cool nights.

Bird's Nest Restaurant - Review

Bird's Nest Restaurant (Yakitori and Bar) is in trendy, busy, whacky West End.  It was my birthday last week so Mr P. suggested we head out to lunch.  I remembered seeing this place on tv last year and being impressed with the passion of the owners.  Right said I, let's head there.  We are both fans of Japanese food - sushi being our default go-to, so he was happy to come try it out.

cute sign  

We had rung to book even though we thought it surely wasn't necessary mid-week, but surprisingly it filled up very quickly. Quite possibly something to do with the lunchtime specials of $12, which include unlimited miso soup and rice.

lunchtime specials

Guess what Mr P. drank?  Yep you guessed it - ginger beer ($5).  I chose something more apposite - Sudachi citrus with lime and mandarin. It is based on shochu, which is a Japanese hard liquor made from grains and vegetables.  It was very refreshing and citrus-y; I didn't realise till later that it was so alcoholic.  (Sudachi is a Japanese citrus fruit used in cooking.)

sudachi lime and mandarin  $12  

Mr P. went for the Japanese hot dog special.  The meat is tsukune - chicken meatballs which are grilled over charcoal.  It is served on a Japanese bun with cabbage and mayo, along with spicy fries.  Mr P. really liked this; he said it was one of the best hot dogs he had ever eaten.  But come to think of it, I don't think he has eaten many in his life:=)  Not sure what makes the bun Japanese but it was fresh and soft.  Perhaps it was a Japanese milk bun which is made with a roux starter, and is very light and airy (thus says Google).

tsukune dog $12 

I had karaage don with wasabi mayo, served on tare rice with pickles, and a cup of miso soup accompanying it.  FYI tare is a sweetened, thickened soy sauce flavoured with dashi, vinegar etc. This was a wonderful dish.  Simple, quick and so tasty.  The fried chicken was tender and had a crunchy golden batter.  The rice was flavourful, and there was a crispy seaweed garnish that added a great little extra texture to the dish.

I loved this karaage don $12    

unlimited miso soup comes with the lunch specials  

Mr P. and I agreed this was the best miso soup we had ever had. Rather than coming out of a packet, it actually tasted fresh and real with delicious silken tofu.  And the colour is a beautiful pale yellow unlike that weird brown stuff you get from the sachets.

delicious as you can see!  all gone   

The crockery is really lovely; thick earthenware that suits the style of food.  And I really loved the cute little wooden spoon that came with my meal to scoop up the rice.

actioning the yakitori grill  

Japanese beer on tap    

love this mural 

fantastic ceiling

It is a rare occasion when Mr P. and I say let's try this place again soon, but we both said it last week.  We enjoyed sitting right at the counter, watching the chef giving the meats a good grilling.  This chef was so on the ball, it was a pleasure to listen to him revving up the staff - in the nicest possible way - making sure that everybody knew what was what.     


Bird's Nest does dinner every night, and also caters for functions and group dining.  If you are after some fresh and flavoursome Japanese dishes, this is the place for you. You can try some Japanese beers and cocktails too.





Shop 5/220 Melbourne St.,
South Brisbane
Ph: 07 3844 4306



 

Herman AKA Helga The German Friendship Cake Part 2

Last night on the coldest night of the year so far, we had a movie night in our carport. As we usually do for the Winter Solstice and my birthday.  Our friends who originally gave me the Herman starter were there and asked when I was going to post the cake recipe?  So here she is.  Helga as I re-named her, in all her sourdough glory.

Helga the Glorious sourdough cake  

ingredients:


one portion of the Helga starter (c. 340g.)

1 cup sugar

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup flavourless oil (I used peanut oil)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cooking apples cut into chunks (I used Granny Smith's)

1 cup sultanas (or raisins if you must)

2 heaped tsp of cinnamon

2 heaped tsp of baking powder

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter


Method:

Place one portion of Helga into a large mixing bowl and stir well

Add all the above ingredients and mix together well

Pour the batter into a large, greased baking tin

Sprinkle the sugar and butter over the top of the batter

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 170C, depending on your oven - mine is slow so it took the hour to bake

I put alfoil over the top for the last 10 minutes of baking as Helga was starting to turn very brown

Let her cool in the tin for 5 minutes

Then turn her out onto a rack to cool down, or eat warm with cream and/or icecream


Tips:

Make sure Helga is done by checking her middle with a skewer, and baking for a few minutes longer if not completely cooked

I used a 22cm springform tin, but you can use a regular cake tin 

ingredients

Helga erupting out of her container   

give her a big stir  

all the ingredients go into the bowl with Helga    

stir everything well together    

pour the batter into the greased tin 

sprinkle the brown sugar over the top  

pour the melted butter over, and into the oven for 45-60 minutes at 170C   

golden and warm and ready to eat    

warm, spicy and apple-y 

my Granny Smith apple doodle 

The Defiant Duck - Review

All right, you know I love rabbity stuff so it won't surprise you to know I like ducky stuff too.  Yep, stuffed (as in toy) or pink and juicy on my plate.  So it was a no-brainer that I wanted to head to this place when I saw the name.

I don't know what I thought it would be like - kind of trendy and a bit quirky maybe. Sadly I was wrong.  Turns out it is just one big, blokey sports bar.  My fault I guess that I didn't check out their website properly.  Not that there's anything wrong with being a blokey sports bar of course!

the front of the food and drink pavilion    

Yes folks, that's what they call themselves - a food and drink pavilion.  What was I thinking?  Could I not see the writing on the wall metaphorically speaking?  And to add insult to injury, the website tells you they are located in the Gasworks precinct.  So Mr P. and I spent 10 minutes hunting for it where it was not.  Finally we saw it away in the distance across the wee park with the imposing and beautiful Gasometer still standing.

thru the looking glass i.e. Gasometer on a glorious blue sky day in Brisbane

Mr P. and I sat down and grabbed a menu.  (We know by now that table service is a thing of the past.)  The food is as you would expect for a sports bar - hearty, snacky and fried.  I chose Maryland crab cakes with fennel, cilantro (sic) and chipotle mayo.

Maryland crab cakes $12

These deep fried morsels had a lovely crunchy exterior and you could actually taste crab on the inside.  The mayo went well with it, and the pickled fennel gave it a nice tangy hit.  

a side of shoestring fries $6  

The fries came with chicken salt and aioli. (chicken salt? Not very noticeable).  As an add-on to a burger, they are just $3.00.  We were charged $3 each although we had only asked for one serve.  And sadly they were luke-warm verging on cold.  We had ordered sweet potato fries, but these came instead. The waitress was happy to change them, but we stuck with the fries in the hand etc. You know that old saying.

'The Duck' hotdog $12    

As you can see the hotdog was quite large with lots of American mustard.  Frankly waaay too much mustard.  I finally found the grilled onion shoved up one end; I wish it had been spread over the whole dog.  The actual Chicago dog itself was chewy and hard to bite into.  Not my fave dish so I left a fair whack on the plate.  

beef and bacon burger $15  

inside the burger  

This burger gets a bit of a mixed review.  Mr P. said it was juicy due to the BBQ sauce, but the meat pattie itself was so oversalted and so tough that I was very glad I wasn't eating it.  It had the weirdest texture and flavour; I can't imagine what they did to it to get it like that.  Mr P. really loved the bacon.  I tried it and yes it was smoky and delicious.  

coffee $5

It is a very large and noisy space, and when we went on a Wednesday lunchtime it was full of blokes.  I may have been the only female there.  I am perhaps sounding over-critical but the food was adequate and filling.  It is just not the place for a quiet meal for couples.  If you're interested in sports, it's a goer.  Or if you are after a quick feed and a beer, you're set.

They do lunch and dinner 7 days a week.  It is of course licensed. And BTW, they have a Josper oven which is a great thing apparently.  Oh, and an express coffee window.

looking up at the Gasworks 

3/84 Longland Street,

Newstead  QLD

Ph: 07 3252 1581