JUNE 26
Chicken & ricotta dumpling soup and orange marmalade & poppyseed cake
Winter has arrived and my body is singing out for broth, ginger, spices and the loving embrace of carbohydrates. The more I cook the more I trust and allow myself to be comfortable with cooking simple food. There have been many meals, days and years where I pressured myself to cook jazzy food, thinking far too deeply about what I was cooking and the way people perceived it.
Perhaps this is the pilgrimage we all make in our crafts, and in ourselves. First becoming who we think we should be, before slowly finding our way back to what is our truth.
Now don’t get me wrong, a long Saturday spent buried in flour and ambition, cooking some absurd twelve step trout wellington with homemade puff pastry and nettles, baking bread and making some sort of dubious 19th century Swiss cake still sounds like my kind of day.
I’m deeply susceptible to needless culinary suffering and romantic kitchen delusions. But Wednesday night has little patience for Escoffier, and absolutely none for tempering chocolate. So this month I bring you two recipes which honour a truth that winter often demands of us, the need for warmth, softness and satisfaction.
A very wholesome soup with chicken & ricotta dumplings, beans, leeks, ginger, herbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 brown onions, finely chopped
2 leeks, finely diced
A big chunk of ginger, grated
5cm piece turmeric, grated
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 stem rosemary, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 tins butter beans, drained
750ml to 1L chicken stock or bone broth
1 tablespoon chicken bone broth concentrate, optional
1 bunch rainbow chard, silverbeet or cavolo nero, roughly shredded
Handful of dill and parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Juice of one lemon
For the dumplings:
500g chicken mince
250g fresh ricotta, well drained
½ cup parmigiano, finely grated
Handful of dill and parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
Generous helping of salt and pepper
Zest of one lemon
Place a large pot over a medium heat, adding the oil and then the onion and leek, sauteing for 5 minutes until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and rosemary, stirring well for two minutes so that they don’t burn.
Add the carrot, celery, beans, broth and concentrate if you’re using. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat, pop a lid on and allow to cook away for thirty minutes.
To make the dumplings, simply add all of the ingredients to a bowl, minus the egg and mix well to combine. Add the egg and gently mix. These don’t need flour or breadcrumbs but you must ensure the ricotta is nice and dry. Lightly dampen your hands and then roll into heaped teaspoon sized balls, rewetting your hands after every few.
Gently drop all of the dumplings into the soup and simmer for 3 minutes before adding the silverbeet. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the silverbeet is wilted but still vibrant. Season well, add the lemon juice and herbs and it’s ready to serve. A little drizzle of punchy olive oil is delicious on top.
Orange marmalade & poppyseed cake with cream cheese icing
120g unsalted butter, softened
80ml light olive oil
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g orange marmalade
Zest of 1 orange
1–2 tbsp poppy seeds
2–3 tbsp plain Greek or natural yoghurt
For the icing:
200g cream cheese, at room temperature
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch of fine salt
Preheat your oven to 180C or 170C fan force. Butter and line a 20cm round tin. You could also use a loaf tin which would be excellent!
In a mixer with the paddle attached, or using hand held beaters or even a wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and thick. Add the olive oil and mix again until well combined. Now add an egg at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add the marmalade, orange zest, yoghurt and poppy seeds, mixing well.
By hand, gently mix in the flour and baking powder. Make sure it’s all incorporated but be sure not to overmix. Spoon into the baking tin and smooth with the back of a spoon. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely.
For the icing, in a mixer with the paddle attached or with hand held beaters, whip the butter until soft and pale, around 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese, beating until combined. Now the icing sugar, in two batches and the icing sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
Place the cake onto a serving platter and then top with the icing, smoothing with a palette knife or a butterknife.
Happy cooking,
Sian x