Tiramisu lesson learned

Yesterday we had my partner Kirk's Aunt Jenny and Uncle Les over for a barbecue. I thought - excellent - great opportunity to whip up my tiramisu. Last Christmas was the last time I made it, and I noticed that it curdled ever so slightly, but not really enough to affect the taste. Well yesterday it curdled big time, rendering it inedible. Argh! Luckily Jenny (a very generous lady - she doesn't do food at family gatherings by halves) had whipped up a plum cake and a rather scrumptious vanilla slice, this recipe to be precise.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12569/vanilla+slice+with+passionfruit+icing

So my tiramisu wasn't required, but I still wanted to get to the bottom of why it had curdled. Aaaaah, Google, my old friend! A search of "tiramisu curdles" gave me my answer - my ingredients all needed to be at room temp, not straight out of the fridge. Oops! So it ended up in the bin this morning, which is always a sad thing to see. (I did give it a taste before disposing of it - flavours were spot on, texture was icky!) However when this dessert works, it REALLY works - it's utterly divine. Give it a whirl.

Tiramisu
• 3 eggs (at room temperature)
• 6 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 250g mascarpone cheese (at room temperature)
• 200 ml pure cream (at room temperature)
• 1 pkt sponge finger biscuits
• 200ml espresso coffee
• 200ml sweet sherry (marsala)
• Cocoa powder
Separate eggs into 2 bowls (yolks and whites). Beat egg whites until stiff then beat in 3½ tabs of sugar until stiff and glossy.
Beat egg yolks and remaining 2½ tabs of sugar. In another bowl, beat cheese briefly and gradually add cream till smooth. Fold cream and cheese into the egg yolk mixture, then mix everything together.
Split the sponge fingers in half lengthways with a sharp knife. Mix the coffee and marsala together. Cover the bottom of a serving dish with a layer of egg and cream mixture. Layer with sponge fingers dipped in coffee and sherry and cover with another layer of cream (you should get about 4 layers of cream). Repeat. Refrigerate for 4 hours and sprinkle top with sifted cocoa just before serving. MMMMMMMMMMmy favourite!

It's just me being practical, really ...

Everyone seems to have a computer & internet access these days .. right? Right! So this blog is being created for practical reasons really, rather than any burning desire to share recipes I stumble across with the rest of the world. Hi, my name's Peta. I'm 33. In my twenties I spent a good chunk of my life working, partying, getting drunk, eating out and warbling at karaoke bars. Then I met a bloke, moved from Sydney, Australia to Melbourne, Australia, and we had our daughter, the beautiful Edie, now 11 months. Here she is:

A divine wee thing, isn't she! And yeah, so now I live in the deep, not-so-dark south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in Berwick to be precise. I miss certain parts of my old life, sure - mainly my Sydney friends. But I like this existence better. Sure, I'm pretty dull these days, but I'm happy. Which leads me to the subject of this blog, and one of the joys of my life now - cooking! Life with baby sometimes means being housebound a little more than one would like. But some days I'll be teetering precariously on the precipice of boredom, and think, "I know! I'll make a CAKE!" and the activity cheers me immensely. I really like to cook. More on that in other posts.

So why this blog? Well, as I said, it's a practical thing. Next week, Edie and I are taking off to my parents' place on the south coast of NSW. And I thought I might help my Mum out while I'm there by cooking a few dishes. Rather than print out a batch of recipes, I thought I'd stick them on the internet, all in the one place - my little recipe cyberstash. Voila - The Suburban Cook is born!

So I'll be sharing with myself (and anyone else who chooses to read this blog) a stack of recipes. Some will be my favourites, tried and tested over & over - and some I'll be cooking for the first time and reporting on my success or failure. Yes, there'll be failures. I'm no Julie Powell, the character played by Amy Adams in the film 'Julie & Julia'. I'm making it clear here and now: I'm no wonderchef. My skills are pretty basic, but I'm working on being more adventurous and cooking out of my comfort zone.

Right, enough rambling. First recipe - a lovely roasted potato and eggplant salad, pilfered from Taste.com.au, specifically this link: http://www.taste.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6814
All credit to 4everafoodie. Cooked it for the first time last week and I loved it.

Roasted Potato & Eggplant Salad

Serves 4-6

4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large onion, thickly sliced
½ cup olive oil
1 large eggplant, thickly sliced
½ cup flat leaf parsley, coarsley chopped
½ cup basil leaves, coarsley broken
salt and pepper to taste
2 large tomatoes, coarsley chopped
shaved parmesan cheese to serve

1.Place potatoes and onion in roasting pan. Pour over olive oil and toss until well coated. Bake in preheated oven 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Baste and turn vegetables as they cook.
2.Add the eggplant and toss with potato and onion. Add more olive oil to coat eggplant if required. Continue to cook for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are soft and a little charred.
3.Remove vegetables from oven to serving bowl
4.Toss in parsley and basil
5.Season to taste.
6.Toss in tomato and finish with shaved parmesan cheese. Drizzle over extra olive oil if wanting a more moist salad.


Experiment with the herbs, use more or less olive oil, the choice is yours. I found the amount perfect. A great salad served slightly warm, or cold (but probably best not served out of the fridge). Definitely char the vegies - don't underdo them - it's part of this super salad's charm!