This is one of those treats that works best when the phone won’t stop ringing, the emails keep piling up and everyone wants your attention at the same time! The pan fried Chocolate and sea salt sandwich was designed for THOSE moments!

All you need to do is to steal away from reality for 5 minutes and a delicious and satisfying gourmet treat is ready and waiting for your undivided attention.

I first discovered the magical properties of the sandwich whilst hosting a chocolate workshop with Boon chocolatiers in Sydney. I was besotted with all the chocolate that was seductively melting and cooking in front of me but slightly frazzled from all the work that had gone into getting the event up and running, I needed a quick fix before all my guests arrived for the evenings workshop. Bread in hand and chocolate in sight I set about making me a hunger busting endorphin lifting chocolate toasted sandwich that Escoffier himself would have been proud.

The chocolate warms and comforts you in its glossy embrace whilst the bread is filing and satisfying with crisp crunch from the frying and flipping.  Use good quality dark chocolate, natural sea salt flakes that you grind between your fingertips and a couple of generous slices of your favourite sourdough loaf.

The amount of salt  that you add to your sandwich is all dependant on the quality of your salt and the state of your nerves.  If you’re using a good quality natural sea salt like Murray River pink salt, you can  be a bit more generous in the pinch as natural sea salt has a more delicate flavour as opposed to ordinary table salt. Avoid table salt at all costs! Rock salt should also be avoided here. If you’re not able to grind the salt between your fingertips, don’t use it.

The perfect on-the-go  snack to keep you on track and on fire!

Ingredients

4 slices of day old sourdough bread

100g dark chocolate ~ the darker the better! I like to use a chocolate with 80% cocoa solids

Natural sea salt flakes

10g butter

10mls olive oil

Method

• Lay out 2 slices of bread and cover evenly with blocks of the chocolate.
• Using clean fingertips, grind a pinch or two of the sea salt over top of each chocolate covered bread.
• Top with the other slices of bread and press firmly to seal.
• Heat a frying pan on medium to hot and melt together half the  butter and olive oil.
• Once the liquid begins to bubble and splatter gently, add in the sandwich and fry for 45 seconds on each side, holding down with a flat spatula to encourage the sandwich holds together by the melting chocolate.
• Remove the sandwich from the pan and wipe out the pan with a paper towel to remove any potential overly crispy bits.
• Place the pan back onto the heat and add the remaining butter and olive oil and repeat the cooking of the second sandwich.
• Slice the sandwiches in half to begin the process of major salivation by watching the melting chocolate oozing out from the toasted bread slices.

Devour immediately!

Seasoned Australian salmon on an avocado tartar with crispy kale furikake (chip) served with Wild Oats Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Warm roast chicken finger sandwich with a lime and tarragon fresh organic egg mayonaisse with Wild Oats Chardonnay 2008

Duck confit with a red wine reduction (Twitter Pie) with Wild Oats Tempranillo 2008

Miniature Wagyu burgers with onion jam and a piquant cheddar with Wild Oats Shiraz 2007

Reviews of Bridget’s food:

“I had two of eveything!”

“Absolutely fantastic, as always.”

“Bridget should be running a lot more events like these.”

From Media140 for Foodie blogger @JohannaBD’s point of view, the food, wine and company were divine.

Johanna Baker-Dowdell (@JohannaBD)

Strawberry Communications

www.strawberrycommunications.com.au/blog

As summer  sizzles its way through  Sydney (Australia), so does the abundance of produce that is available at the local markets. I am impressed and sometimes over whelmed by the beauty and splendor that is on offer at local  markets and especially LOVE summer for its colourful and juicy bounty.

On one such market expedition with my tongue protruding and my tastebuds salivating,  I thought all my christmases had come at once when I came across a box full of scarlet red plum tomatoes for $6.99.

How could I  turn down such a bargain ?

My head was reeling with all the wonderful recipe possibilites that tempted and taunted me when deciding what to do with this ripe summer harvest. Fresh homemade tomato sauce? chunky tomato chutney? or perhaps, delightful jars of olive oil packed semi dried tomatoes?

My heart though eventually went with a recipe I started making a few years ago whilst working for the lovely Bill Granger. His dear friend Skye Gyngell from Petersham Nurseries in London had given him a recipe for Tomato chilli jam which I have adjusted slightly making this recipe literally worth breaking the law for.

It’s sweet and sour, salty and spicy and perfectly balanced. It is versatile in its applications where you can have it as a dip, try it with some pungent cheese, devour it as a pasta sauce or crave it on a side of toasted sourdough bread with fresh ricotta and mint leaves.

Either way, it’s a must try when tomatoes and summer are ripe for the picking.

Ingredients:

Makes enough for 6 large jars

4kg of plum tomatoes

4 Tbs yellow mustard seeds

350mls red wine vinegar

150gms of fresh ginger ~peeled and grated

14 cloves of garlic ~peeled and crushed

10 red chillies ~ deseeded and finely chopped. Choose your chillies by order of heat – the hotter you like them the smaller the chillies

300gms of palm sugar

8 Tbs of fish sauce

6 tsp cumin powder

6 tsp garam masala

6 tsp cumin seeds

6 Tbs brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Methodology:

Preheat the oven to 200C on Bake

Remove the edible core from all the tomatoes using a sharp knife and discard the unwanted cores.

Slice the tomatoes in half length-ways and lay them into a couple of roasting trays, flesh side facing towards you.

Drizzle with olive oil, cumin powder and garam masala. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and cumin seeds and seasonwell with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to caramelise and brown  nicely.

Toast the mustard seeds in a dry pan until they go ‘POP’, then grind to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle.

Into a large pot add all the ingredients including the roasted tomatoes and cook on the lowset heat possible for 2-3 hours until the mixture is sticky and jam like in consistency.

Make sure you stir frequently to prevent the JAM from sticking to the base of the pot.

Spoon while hot into sterilised jars and and seal and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

photo by Nicolas.boullosa

The increase in interest of cooking and dining has seen the humble chef lifted to elevations of celebrity status, with the hungry masses hanging off their every turn of the whisk and flip of the pan.

From the depths of our steamy kitchens has arisen celebrity giants that can hold their own on the fluffiest red carpets in the world.

No longer is the dark ‘dungenous’ confines of the commercial kitchen the home of toiling magicians.

They are creating stunning high gloss cookbooks, making entertaining cooking shows with prime time positioning, traveling the world conducting masterclasses and speaking engagements. Nowadays, much to the delight of the millions of tweeters globally, these chefs  have active twitter accounts.

If you love food or even like it slightly, following some..or all of these cooking geniuses will inspire salivation and give you the insider tips on what our favorite food heroes are cooking up today.

Want to follow them all at once? Clink on this link >>  TweepML lists and follow the prompts!

Antonio Carluccio

Twitter ID @CookCarluccio

Web  antonio-carluccio.com

The Godfather Of Italian Gastronomy, Antonio Carluccio is a master craftsmen, lover and fine purveyor of the beautiful cuisine of Italy. He has written 13 cookbooks including  ‘ A passion for Pasta‘ and ‘Carluccio’s Complete Italian Food‘ and has been championing Italian culinary delights for over 50 years.

As well as countless Television appearances including the wildly popular ‘Antonio Carluccio’s Sourthern Italian Feast’ Antonio was given  an Italian knighthood in 1998 and in 2007 was awarded an honorary OBE.

Rick Bayless

Twitter ID @Rick_Bayless

Web rickbayless.com

American Chef Rick Bayless’s commitment to Mexican food has been described by the New York Times as ‘ the greatest contribution to the Mexican table imaginable’

This busy chef and restaurateur has a number of restaurants in Chicago, has written several cookbooks including ‘Mexico- One plate at a time’ where the PBS show of the same name is well into its fifth season.

A committed ambassador of authentic Mexican cuisine, Rick has been awarded many prestigious awards including ‘Chef of the year’ ‘Humanitarian of the year’ and  recently he went head to head with some of the best celebrities chefs in America on Top Chef where he was awarded the grand prize of Top Chef Master in August 2009.

Jamie Oliver

Twitter ID @jamie_oliver

Web jamieoliver.com

We are all familiar with the lovely lad from Essex~ Jamie Oliver with the enduring lisp and bee stung bottom lip. When Jamie leaped on to the stage he took being a celebrity chef into a whole new stratosphere.

With a growing restaurant empire,  multiple books, television shows, live stage shows,The Jamie Magazine and a rather spiffy looking website Jamie’s presence on twitter only solidifies his place as one of the hottest and most sort after celebrity chefs on the planet.

Curtis Stone

Twitter ID @curtis_stone

Web curtisstone.com

According to People magazine, Curtis Stone is one of the sexist men alive! Hailing from Australia this celebrity chef is barnstorming his way across the US with his popular reality cooking show Take home chef.

Curtis cut his teeth as a young apprentice chef in some of the toughest cooking environments in Europe, having spent some of that time in the kitchen of the legendary Marco Pierre White.

As well as cooking shows, Stone has  written several cookbooks and has developed a Curtis Stone range of kitchen equipment.

Stephanie Alexander

Twitter ID @GrowCookEat

Web stephaniealexander.com.au

Stephanie Alexander has been at the heart of Australian cuisine since she opened her first restaurant in 1964.

A campaigner for good quality produce from small thoughtful suppliers, she has been instrumental in teaching us ‘down under’ how to eat.

Stephanie’s most popular book The Cooks Companion sits on  many a kitchen shelf as an inspirational bible of culinary terms and endearments. Stephanie is a pioneer of  good food and has been delighting the public for many years with her stylish and delicious creations.

Her latest book Kitchen Garden Companion is an A-Z encyclopedia of how to best use and cook the glorious crops that can be grown from your own kitchen garden. The book coincides with her work with the Kitchen Garden Foundation where their aim is to promote and encourage a pleasurable outdoor food education for young children.

Raymond Blanc

Twitter ID @Raymond_Blanc

Web raymondblanc.com

Master French Chef Raymond Blanc has been mesmerizing diners of his UK restaurants for over 30 years.

With a slew of Michelin stars, awards, accolades and achievements under his apron strings, Raymond has also found time to write cookery books, star in the highly successful BBC reality cooking series called The Restaurant and operate his own Cooking school.

Self taught Chef Blanc is a firm believer in striving for culinary perfection and is a campaigner for the consumption of healthy food as a core competent to family life. He was Awarded an OBE in 2007 from Her Majesty the Queen  for his services in promoting  culinary excellence.

Andrew Zimmern

Twitter ID @andrewzimmern

Web andrewzimmern.com

Chef, traveler, writer and teacher ~ Andrew Zimmern is in search of crazy and bizarre foods.

Host of the sometimes shocking and always highly entertaining travel/cookery show ‘Bizarre Foods‘ Zimmerman is a man on a mission to track down the unusual.. and eat it. Being the  International spokesperson for Pepto-bismol also helps.

Eating what most people wouldn’t has won him fame and fortune with his first book ‘The Bizarre Truth‘   being  released in September 2009.

Rocco DiSpirito

Twitter ID @roccodispirito

Web roccodispiritio.com

Rocco is a Chef, restaurateur and author hailing from Jamaica in Queens. With a strong Italian family up bringing, Rocco injects  Italian flair into his comfort driven  food creations.

DiSpiritio shot to fame from the kitchen of his 3 star New York City restaurant and since went on to star in the reality show ‘The restaurant’ which won him international stardom.

The author of 5 cookbooks and the receiver of many prestigious awards and accolades for his exciting and genuine brand of cooking.

Cat Cora

Twitter ID @catcora

Web catcoracooks.com

Cat made television history in 2005 as the first and only female Iron Chef in kitchen stadium on the ever popular Iron Chef America after making her TV debut 6 years earlier on food networks Melting Pot.

Cora has written several cookbooks and also operates a number of restaurants with her latest acquisition being Kouzinna at Walt Disney World.

Cat  loves  sharing her culinary knowledge and was given the honor of ‘Teacher of the year’ from Bon Apetit Magazine to which she also became Executive chef for the same publication.

As well as operating and overseeing her expanding empire, Cat is the founder and president of ‘Chefs for humanity’ which is an alliance of culinary professionals giving humanitarian aid to help reduce hunger across the world.

Luke Mangan

Twitter ID @lukewmangan

Web lukemangan.com

Luke Mangan is an Australian boy with an impressive portfolio of restaurants spanning the globe from Tokyo to San Francisco. Chef, Author and television star, Mangan is one of Australia’s best known exports.

Luke is due to release his latest cookbook ‘At home and in the mood’ in November 2009 after successfully releasing his own product range- ‘Luke Managan Providores’

Luke travels constantly to meet the demands of his busy international business interests but still finds time to devote his culinary skills to several charitable organizations including The starlight foundation, The Royal Children’s Hospital and The James Beard Foundation.

photo by mao_lini

There are a myriad of tangible things one can achieve in 3 minutes.

In 3 minutes you could win the Eurovision Song Competition.

3 minutes is all you need to start a dance party like this king of the fandango managed to do at the Sasquatch Music Festival.

Take 3 minutes out of your busy schedule and learn how to play the ukulele or  invest 3 minutes to find your soul mate.

But when given the challenge to cook a chocolate cake in 3 minutes, I have to declare I was skeptical.

I decided to bring in the big guns, the heavy hitter so to speak. My 14 year old niece Lilly, to test the theory~ An edible chocolate cake in 3 minutes that doesn’t begin life in a packet. Hmmmm… We had to have our witts about us.

I began feeling anxious. Was there going to be enough time or  were we leaving it to the last minute?  The last 3 minutes. It was the final day of the mid-winter school holidays…we had to get humming!

Scouring the Internet, I came across scores of quick cooking cake recipes, but none of them  were deemed  acceptable.  Using Lilly’s intuition we were able to tweak the recipes to something we could both be proud of.

Drum roll please…

Lilly’s Totally Edible 3-Minute Wholemeal Chocolate Cake Miracle

4 tablespoons of wholemeal self-raising flour

5 tablespoons of caster/fine sugar

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1 large egg

3 tablespoons of milk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips

Pinch of salt

Into a bowl  or using a blender~ mix together all the ingredients until well combined.

Pour into a large mug and cook on high in the microwave for 3 minutes!

Serve immediately with fresh strawberries, creamy ice cream, runny cream or on its own with a long spoon.

Share with someone you love!

Crepes by Bridget

I weighed. I tested. I tasted. I rejected.

My thirst for finding the best crepe recipe was unquenchable.

I was living life on the boulevard of broken dreams, having been let down by so many crepe recipes that had been unable to deliver their promised thin pancake goodness. I was feeling desperate, a  fugitive without her crepe sucrees.

My luck was about to change, as I finally happened upon on a recipe that would alter my crepe making destiny.

It was the day after Bastille Day, Le Quatorze Juillet…Viva La France! and I had just finished watching Julia Child’s “The French Chef” re runs on You Tube. I was feeling somewhat nostalgic with the words of Julia Child ringing sweetly in my ears… “In cooking you’ve got to have a WHAT THE HELL attitude…”

What the hell…I decided to give my crepe search one last ditch attempt by picking through a few cookbooks that have been lurking unceremoniously  in a pile under my bedside table.

I was reunited with some dear old friends like Philip Johnson’s Ecco 2 and The Two Fat Ladies Ride Again before I came across a tender favourite from years gone by. Encased in the pages of Charlie Trotters white hardcover dessert cookbook was what I had been looking for.

Here was a recipe for crepes that was decisively different and richer sounding than any other recipe I had previously stumbled across. Voila!

So a few dummy runs, a couple tweaks and some minor adjustments later,  I have come up with a glorious crepe recipe that produces rich and silky pancakes with good chew and a soft interior.

Combined with fresh lady finger bananas, oh so sweet and starchy. Crunchy toasted pecan nuts, lightly crumbled to perfection and a très agréable salted caramel sauce makes for a decadent and simple dessert.

A dessert reminiscent of dinner party delights that Julia might have whipped up for husband Paul and any friends lucky enough to have been invited for tea  by the “Queen of the ladle”.

Banana and Salted Caramel Crepes with Toasted Pecans

Serves 4

Ingredients for the Crepes

125gms  butter- melted

1  1/4 cups  organic flour

3 Tablespoons of caster sugar

Pinch of salt

4 large free range eggs

2 large free range egg yolks

1  1/2 cups of milk – warm

1/2  cup of cream -warm

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Ingredients for the crepe filling

4 Lady finger banana’s

1/4 cup brown sugar

25 gms butter

1/4 cup of cream

sea salt flakes

toasted pecans

Don’t be put off with the long list of ingredients. To make the crepe mixture is as easy as banging all the ingredients into a blender and whizzing for 1 minute on high. Done.

Now rest the batter in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour before using. This allows the gluten in the flour time to relax and  will help to keep the crepes soft and light rather than gluey.

To cook the crepes

Heat a crepe pan or small fry pan on a medium heat with a good spray of nonstick cooking oil. Using a small 120mls/ 4oz ladle, place the mixture into the pan and swirl to distribute.

Once the edge of the crepe begins to brown-approximately 40 seconds- carefully slide a thin spatula underneath the crepe and gently flip the crepe over to cook on its reverse side for a further 30 seconds.

Shake the crepe from the pan onto a large plate and repeat the crepe making process until all the mixture is used up.  You should end up with a stack of 9-10 crepes. Your own mille crepe.

Cover your stack with foil to help keep them warm while you prepare the ingredients for the filling- but not to worry, this will only take a second.

To prepare the filling

Make the caramel sauce by melting the brown sugar in a small pan on medium heat, stirring continuously. This will only take a minute so best not to walk away or answer the phone as the sugar can burn very easily.

Once the sugar has liquefied, remove from the heat and drop in the butter, mixing until well incorporated.

Place back onto a low heat and pour in the cream. It will spit at you a bit, but don’t be afraid, it wont overflow. Beat the heck out of it until its glossy and smooth and set aside off the heat.

To assemble the crepes

Place a few slices of banana and a sprinkling of pecan nuts on to the crepe and then fold into a triangle.

Use 2 to 3 crepes per person and drizzle well with the caramel sauce.

Finish your crepe plate with a light sprinkling of sea salt flakes over the caramel sauce and serve.

Bon appétit!

Once upon a time… I began compiling recipe links that would flitter seductively past me in my twitter stream as I sat doodling and discussing the day’s happenings with friends and fellow foodies.

After much clicking and opening, I would downsize  my favourite  selection  to a manageable and rather appropriate

15 Top Recipe Posts.

Well I’m pleased to announce that keeping my selection contained to within 15 recipe posts is no longer achievable.

This post has seen my 15 Top Recipe Posts increase to 25 glorious offerings in order to share  as many of the high calibre resources  that I have been fortunate enough to click through to.

Listed below are my Top 25, but if you think I’ve missed something out, please feel free to let me know via twitter or direct email.

bridget(at)theinternetchef(dot)biz.

Happy dining!

Banana Pineapple Cake- Belachan2

Braised Char Siew-- House of Annie

Lime Square Bars- Evil Shenanigans

Kahlua Fudge Brownies- The Recipe Girl

Billionaires Bacon- Sauver

Vanilla and Rhubarb Jam- Food in Jars

Whiskey Ginger Ribs- Gastronomic Blog

Banana bread Ice cream- The Kitchen Illiterate

Spicy cilantro Peanut Slaw-Kalyn'sKitchen

Perfect MacnCheese- My Cooking Quest

Radicchio Salad- Fare To Remember

Tequila Marinade- The Parsley Thief

Very Good Chocolate Cake- A Yankee in...

Toasted Cheese Sandwich- Taste and Tell

Black Sesame Ice Cream- My Buttery Fingers

Lychee Granita- Seasaltwithfood

Juicy Lucy Burgers- Food Mayhem

Milliondollar Cake- A Yankee in Southern Kitch

Root Beer Cookies- Makes and Takes

Pear Butter-- Bittersweet Blog

Drunken spaghetti--The Cooking Photographer

Peanut chocolate caramel bars-- 17 and Baking

Dulce de leche- the easy way-- Pigpig's Corner

Cheesecake Brownies--Rosa's Yummy Yums

Millionaire's Shortbread-- Baking For The Cure

photo by tico24

Served piping hot from the oven slathered in a rich helping of butter and its Good Morning Good Friday!!

Have you ever wondered where this Easter tradition stemmed from and how can you could get your hands on some more hot buns?

Most people believe that the hot cross bun symbolizes the Crucifixion of Christ, and yes to a great extent this is the case.

The bun that we now know,  serve and eat on Easter Good Friday is a symbolic gesture to a christian heritage that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These leavened buns are traditionally made with spices and currants and crossed with a paste before being baked to a golden brown and eaten with much gusto and even more butter!

To delve a little further into our colourful history is to uncover our humble little spiced bun as a baked goodie steeped in traditions and folklore.

Some believe the origins of the hot crossed bun to be in honour of the Saxon goddess of light Eostre whom they celebrated at the time of the spring equinox in April with the cross symbolising the four seasons. Eostre is also believed to be the origin of the word Easter.

It is also said that in merry old England during the reign of Elizabeth the 1st, a squabble of sorts broke out amongst the Protestants and Catholics over what was a very popular spiced bun served throughout the land. Queen Elizabeth I attempted to ban the sale of hot crossed buns to ease the conflict but due to public outrage passed a law restricting the sale of these hot tempered baked goods to Easter and Christmas only.

Superstitions come thick and fast with the hot crossed bun, with a couple of my favourites being:

1. Hang a bun in your kitchen and it will protect you from fire- now  a smoke alarm seems to do the trick.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         2. If going on a sea voyage pack a little bun in your Louis Vuitton and you will be protected from shipwreck.

A few folklore’s that might make you smile are:

1. Kissing the hot cross bun before you eat it as it’s is supposed to bring you good luck.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. Sharing your hot crossed bun with someone special will ensure a long lasting friendship.

If you need anymore reasons to eat your way through a batch of hot crossed bun I’ve included a spice infused recipe that I’ve adapted from Nigella Lawson that  should get you into the kitchen and into a great Easter tradition. Or even better maybe you have a recipe you would like to share that’s tried and true. Drop me a note, I would love to hear from you!

Happy Easter everyone…. now pass me the chocolate.

Hot Cross Buns

Photo by Bridget

Firstly infuse your spices by heating the ingredients below until they just come to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool and infuse further until the mixture cools to blood temperature. This little spice mix will form the flavor profile of these hot cross buns and make them extra special and tasty.

220mls of milk
50gms of butter
5 cardamom pods- slightly crushed
The zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
2 cinnamon quills- slightly crushed
2 cloves
1 Marsala chai tea bag- for extra spicy kick!

Into a large mixing bowl combine the ingredients listed below.

400gms of strong flour- the type used for baking bread as a high gluten content is required here
15gms of instant yeast
150gms of raisins
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger

Remove and discard the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon quills and tea bag from the liquid and mix one egg into it. Now combine the liquid with the dry and knead the dough either by hand on a floured surface or in a mixer with a dough hook attached until the dough is smooth and elastic.If the mix is dry add a few more drops of warm water. This could take 3-5  minutes depending on the elbow grease that you apply.
Mould the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled large bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to prove and double in size in a warm place in the kitchen for 2 hours.

Once it has doubled in size, punch back the dough and knead again until smooth. Divide the dough into small balls- approx 14-  and roll into cute little balls. Place the balls on a lined baking tray so that the buns are just touching and cover with a tea towel and allow to prove again for a further 45 minutes. While this is happening preheat your oven to 220 C.

Using an egg wash made of 1 egg mixed with a touch of milk, brush this over the buns and make the cross paste using 3 Tblsp of flour, 2 Tblsp of water and a pinch of caster. Mix this together well and dribble a cross on each bun before placing in the oven and baking for 20 minutes or until the buns are golden brown and hollow sounding when you tap the bottom.

Make a fruit glaze using 2 Tblsp of apricot jam mixed together with 1 Tblsp of boiling water and brush this over the hot buns before serving with lashings of fresh butter.