winosandfoodies

Hay Hay Donna Has Left Home

There comes a day when you have to let go of your children and send them out into the world. Hopefully if you have brought them up well, they will continue to grow and become better people.

I have decided it is time Donna left home. Born on October 20th 2005, she came into the world with a jar of peanut butter in one hand, a jar of nutella in the other.  Since that day she has traveled the world spending time in Asia, America, Canada, Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

Like all young people she has done her fare share of youthful experimenting. She has tried them all -  cupcakes, macaroons, biscuits, bruschetta, tarts, fritters, risotto, souffle, cheesecake, mousse, Caesar salad, sorbet, gnocchi, tarts again, terrines, pizza, coconut tarts, clafouti. No doubt there are more experiences she has in mind to try.

I said she could leave home but only if she bases herself with my good friend Bron Marshall. Bron is the earth mother I have never been. She has a garden, bakes everything from scratch, is kind to animals, has pets and home schools her children. I think Bron will be a good influence and help her to grow into someone pretty special.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day will continue. Bron will be overseeing things now. She will contact the winners and help them host each event and answer any questions you have.

It has been a privilege to introduce Hay Hay Its Donna Day to the world.  I thank you all for helping her reach the stage where I  am happy to let her go. I'm moving on to complete a  couple of personal projects I've been working on recently. I'll still be around to enter events and keep a motherly eye on Hay Hay Its Donna Day.

Hay Hay A Brilliant Clafouti Or Is That Clafoutis

That's how good my Clafouti was. It didn't look so pretty though 'cos I added too many plums.  A 'tad too brown on top, but so good I ate three slices before dinner, one after dinner and one more at breakfast this morning. I've decided clafouti makes a brilliant breakfast. Next time we have guests for breakfast I plan on serving clafouti.

I don't like to mess with my clafouti  too much.  I'm sorry Donna I would never ever put chocolate in my clafouti. Cherries - mostly , plums - yes, even blueberries -  once , but chocolate never.

For the perfect clafouti (or clafoutis, an "s" is acceptable), I use Julia's recipe. She does pit her cherries though and pitted cherries in clafoutis is an ongoing arguement amongst traditionalists. Cherries are way out of sesson here so  today Bron I used yellow plums.

The Recipe

As many yellow plums as you want

Mixture
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3  cup sifted all purpose flour

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an electric blender place all the above mixture ingredients in order as written. Cover and blend 1 minute at top speed.
Pour a 1/4 inch layer of batter into 7 - 8 cup lightly buttered fireproof baking dish or Pyrex pie plate 1 1/2 inches deep  (I used my tarte tartin dish ).

Set over moderate heat (use an asbestos mat if dish is not fire proof) for a couple of minutes until the film of batter has set in the bottam of the dish. Remove from the heat. Spread the plums over the batter. Pour on the rest of the batter.

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about an hour. It is done when it has puffed and browned, and a needle or knife plunged in the centre comes out clean.

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar just before bringing it to the table. It need not be served hot but it should still be warm. It  will sink slightly as it cools.

Thanks Bron for hosting this round of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Deadline for posts to Bron is Monday April 21st.

Hay Hay Bron Made Clafoutis

Last month's winner and this month's host  Bron Marshall  has announced the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day theme and it is Clafoutis .  Last day for entries to Bron is April 21st.
 

Hay Hay Bron Bron Won Won

Bron's a second time winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Congratulations Bron Marshall . Looking forward to an exciting theme from you. Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to  Bordeaux at Marita Says ,the host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Coconut Chocolate Tarts.

Hay Hay Donna My Tarts Broke

I wish I'd listened to Bordeaux . He wisely put his coconut mixture into paper cases and removed the paper after they had baked.  I put mine straight into a pan and all but 3   broke as I removed them from the pan. So I ended up with  three tarts and a mass of broken coconut shells. Which I turned into layers with the chocolate cream and mango.

I used a 70% cocoa chocolate which is not very sweet. It needed the fruit to lift the flavour.  The flavours and textures  of the mango, coconut and chocolate were a perfect combination.

Visit Marita Says  for the recipe. If you are joining us at Hay Hay Its Donna Day you need to get you entry to bordeaux76ATmailDOTcom by 02 March.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Marita Says Coconut Chocolate Tarts

Bordeaux at Marita Says is our latest host for Hay Hay Its Donna Day and she has chosen Coconut Chocolate Tarts.  Last day for entries is March 2nd.

Hay Hay Spanako-Pizza's A Winner

 
Congratulations to Bordeaux of Marita Says  with their Spanako-Pizza which has been voted top pizza in the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. We'll be announcing the next event very soon so stayed tuned. Thanks to Joey for hosting Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza.

Hay Hay Joey You're A Star

Joey has posted the round up of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza . Don't forget to send your votes to Joey at  eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com!

Fig Balsamic Shallot with Fetta and Proscuitto Pizza for Donna

During a recent discussion over dinner I asked my children which of my cooking endeavours would they remember the most. They both said my pizza crust. Even I think I make a great pizza. My standard recipe of 3 teaspoons yeast, 4 cups flour, 1/4 cup oil, 1 1/4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt makes 2 big pizzas.

For this pizza I used Donna's recipe as Joey posted when she announced the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. It was adequate but not my best effort. That could have been  the flour I used. Donna said all purpose and I saw a packet of flour for bread and pizza in the shop and decided to try it out.

Here is the Donna Hay recipe:
Pizza Dough
(from Modern Classics I by Donna Hay, page 186)

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• Pinch sugar
• 2/3 cup (5 fl oz) warm water
• 2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

- Place the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Set aside until bubbles form.
- Add the four, salt, and oil, and mix to form a smooth dough. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover, and allow to stand in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Makes one quantity.

Here's how I topped it.
Slice 3 shallots and soften in a little olive oil. Add a couple of tablespoons of fig balsamic vinegar* and evaporate over high heat, watching so it doesn't burn. Cool
Top pizza with some slices of mozzarella cheese, spread with shallots and crumbled feta cheese.
Drizzle with oil and bake in hot oven about 15 minutes.
Top with thinly sliced prosciutto to serve.

*Fig Balsamic Vinegar: this is my latest favourite condiment. The one I used in New Zealand was from a Middle Eastern importer and much nicer than the supermarket product I purchased in Australia. Fig Balsamic is a mixture of fig puree and balsamic vinegar so I have plans to make my own after I've done a little research.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day Pizzas is hosted by Joey at 80 Breakfasts

Deadline for all posts to be up and submitted is January 26, 2008. You can email all your entries to eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com on or before January 26, 2008. In your email, please include the following information: your blog name, your name, your location, your recipe name, and the permalink to your entry.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Pizza

I've braved the dial up connection to announce Joey has the latest HHDD challenge out. Show us your pizzanality with PIZZA .  Visit Joey for the details.

Hay Hay Joey - You're a Winner

Congratulations to Joey at 80 Breakfasts . You voted her terrine tops in the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day  Thanks  Tami at Running With Tweezers  for the great theme and hosting.  We are taking a short break over Christmas and Joey will announce the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day in January.

I made Joey's terrine this week. Mine doesn't look as nice as Joeys but it did taste good.

Hay Hay Tami Rounds Up Terrines

The Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Terrines presented by Tami are in her round up.  Check them out and vote for your favourite.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day Won By the Queen of Tarts

Trini Gourmet  has announced the winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day #15 Tarts.  Congratulations again go to the lovely Queen of Tarts, Tami, at Running With Tweezers with her Chocolate Tartlets With Candied GrapeFruit Peel. Drop by and congratulate her and watch out for the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day announcement.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Tarts #2

Here is my very quick entry to the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Baked in some one else's kitchen and downloaded on some one else's computer. Even on holiday Hay Hay Its Donna Day is important... although I've had a few computer problems.

There is no set recipe, just cut out some squares of puff pastry, prick with a fork, bake in a hot oven till puffed and golden. Cover with some sliced strawberries, sprinkle on a little sugar and caramalise under the grill till bubbling...or use a chef's torch if you have one.

Thanks to Sarini at http://www.trinigourmet.com/ for hosting this months Hay Hay Its Donna Day. You have until September 29th to get your entries to Sarina at HHDD@TriniGourmet.com

Hay Hay It's Donna Day - Tarts Mark 2

Trini Gourmet has chosen this Donna Hay Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Tart as the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day challenge. You may make the recipe as posted over at Trini Gourmet or by adding your own spin to the original recipe.

Deadline for entries is 29th September 2007. After you post, please send an email to HHDD@TriniGourmet.com with the following information: your name, the name of your blog, your recipe’s name or title, your location, and the permalink to your HHDD post.

Hay Hay TriniGourmet's A Winner

Lynn at  CaféLynnylu has announced the winner of the Hay Hay Its Donna Day #14 - Gnocchi. Congratulations to Sarina of TriniGourmet , who you voted the best HHDD entry this month. Her beautifully light Gnocchi Pomodoro looks so appealing. 
Thanks to Lynn for hosting and selecting gnocchi as the theme.  I'm looking forward to Sarina's choice for the next event. Thank  you to everyone who entered.  As always every entry was special.

Hay Hay The Gnocchi Roundup

Lynn has posted the Hay Hay Its Donna Day Gnocchi round up .  There are all sorts of gnocchi beginning with Lynn's Basil Ricotta Gnocchi to my Gnudi Gnocchi with several dessert gnocchi in between. Head on over and read the round up and vote .

Send an e-mail with your vote to staranise.ld [at] gmail [dot] com by September 1, 2007. The lucky winner will have the opportunity of hosting the next Hay Hay It's Donna Day.

Hay Hay Donna Its Gnudi Gnocchi.

It's not quite  a gnudi as I used the original Donna Hay basic gnocchi recipe which contains flour. Gnudi traditionally contain little or no flour.  Read more about the difference  here .

I started with  the basic gnocchi recipe from Donna

500 grams(1 lb) fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plain all-purpose flour
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Place the ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine.
Turn out the mixture on a lightly floured surface and roll into 4 15cm (6 in)long ropes. Cut into 2cm (3/4 in) lengths and press lightly with the back of a fork.

Then I switched to my adaptation of the gnudi method from the Spotted Pig which is in the latest Delicious magazine.

Pour a thin layer of semolina flour in a shallow baking dish.  Roll  teaspoonsful of dough into  balls and drop onto the flour. Refrigerate for several hours uncovered. (True gnudi are tablespoon size)

Place 60 grams butter in  a fry pan over medium heat and cook for two minutes or until foaming. Add sage leaves and fry until crisp and butter is golden brown and nutty smelling. Remove from the heat, use a slotted spoon to transfer the leaves to a paper towel and reserve the brown butter in a bowl.

Place in a large saucepan of salted water over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook the gnocchi in batches for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through.  They will rise to the top when cooked. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. 

Reserve a half cup water and place in a large fry pan with another 60 grams butter.

Gently transfer the cooked  gnocchi to the fry pan and cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until liquid reduces a little. Add a tablespoon grated Parmesan to pan and shake pan to combine and cook for 30 seconds or until sauce is a coating consistency.

Transfer gnocchi to plates and drizzle with sauce. Drizzle reserved brown butter over and top with the sage leaves. I was unable to get sage leaves so used garlic chives.

They were sensational. The gnocchi were as light as a feather. This is a much easier way to make gnocchi than rolling dough into ropes and cutting off lengths. I didn't bother marking them with a fork.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day #14 - Gnocchi

Lynn at Café Lynnlu , the winner of last months Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Sorbet, has announced Gnocchi  as the  theme for the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day.  Here is the recipe.

 * The gnocchi should be homemade and can be a main dish, salad, side or dessert. You can use any ingredient, such as cheese, potato or any other vegetable or fruit to make the gnocchi.

*Post your recipe no later than August 18, 2007. When you post, send an email with the HHDD #14 in the subject line to staranise.ld[at}gmail[dot]com. Include your name, the name of your recipe, your location, the name of your blog and the permalink to your post.

*Round-up posted and voting begins on August 25, 2007.

*Voting closed and winner announced on September 1, 2007.

ARI'S COOKBOOK RAFFLE
Over at Baking and Books Ari is raising funds for the Hazon Foundation 2007 NY Jewish Environmental Bike Ride with a raffle of cook books.  There are two Donna Hay books "Instant Entertaining" in the raffle . Other wonderful books being raffled include books from Nigella, Jamie and David .

Hay Hay Blackberry Sorbet

Congratulations to Lynn. With this gorgeous Blackberry Lemon Verbena Sorbet  she has won the thirteenth edition of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. We will be announcing Hay Hay Its Donna day #14 very soon.

Thank you to Laura  at Eat Drink Live for hosting the sorbet edition of Hay Hay Its Donna day.

Hay Hay No Race Today

A rest day on Le Tour,  Robbie is out and I no longer have a favourite rider, so time to catch up on a bit of blogging and blog reading.

This is the yummy birthday cake I enjoyed last night. Bryan had told me he would be ordering Thai takeaways for dinner but he was keeping a secret.  Just as I was starting to wonder where the Thai takeaways were my lovely friends Dale and Sylvia arrived with a three course birthday dinner complete with birthday cake and wine. Then our neighbours Mark and Jenny called by with another cake and we opened more wine. Thank you to everyone who dropped by and left birthday wishes...and special thanks to Bron for the lamingtons .

Laura at Eat Drink Live has posted the round up of the sorbet editon of Hay Hay Its Donna Day . Check it out and cast your vote before 22nd July.

Hay Hay Laura Here's My Sorbet

I've been without my computer for a few days while it's been in for an upgrade.  This morning I was as excited as a new mother waiting for her baby to be delivered as  I waited for my computer to be delivered.   It 's now back and it's more beautiful faster than before.

When Laura at Eat Drink Live announced sorbet as the theme for the latest Hay Hay Its Donna Day  I thought I might make something with a touch of chili or ginger to warm things up a bit. It's winter down here and a cold winter at that.  Being autumn, and finding the shops  full of persimmons  all thoughts of some chocolate chili combo went out the window.

I followed Donna's original recipe, poaching the persimmon to soften it before pureeing.  Frozen persimmon is not as tasty as fresh persimmon.  This would possibly work better with the astringent persimmon. New Zealand grows the non astringent variety Fuyu, which I prefer to eat raw while it is still young and crisp.

DONNA HAY'S BASIC SORBET

• 3/4 cup 150g caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 cup 240ml water
• fruit puree of your choice

1. To make the basic syrup, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat and stir without boiling until sugar is dissolved.
2. Increase the heat and bring to the boil for one minute. Set aside to cool. While the syrup is cooling, prepare one of the fruit variations below.
3. Combine the fruit puree and sugar syrup, place in an ice-cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions or the instructions below for a thick and scoopable sorbet. If you don't have an ice-cream maker, place the fruit and syrup mixture in a metal bowl or cake tin, cover and freeze for an hour or until just beginning to set at the edge. Beat with an electric hand whisk and return to the freezer. Repeat three times at hourly intervals or until the sorbet is thick and smooth.

 

Hay Hay Its Donna Day #13 - Sorbet

I love it when the theme rhymes. Like Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Sorbet. How perfect is that.  Laura has  chosen Sorbet as the theme for this round of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Visit Laura at Eat Drink Live  for the details and the Donna Hay recipe,then make your version.   Laura's Mango Sorbet looks tempting doesn't it? Send your version to Laura at  eatdrinkliveATgmailDOTcom by 8th July.

Hay Hay Laura Won

Katie  has announced  the latest winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day -  Caesar Salad. Congratulations to Laura at Eat Drink Live.  Drop by and say hi to Laura and look out for her Hay Hay Its Donna day announcement.

Hay Hay Its Caesar Day Roundup

I know this picture of a pink rose has nothing to do with Caesar Salad but it's so pretty I decided to share it with you.  Check out the others on my  Foto Blog. 

Katie has posted the Hay Hay Its Donna Day Caesar Round Up . Read it and cast your vote to decide who will be the next host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day.

Voting begins today, June 3rd, and runs until midnight on Saturday June 9th. The winner will be announced Sunday the 10th! Anyone can vote by emailing your choice to Katie at otherpeoplesfoodATgmailDOTcom. Good luck!!!