Cotto Espresso King William Road – Launch Party

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

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date of launch: Wednesday 7 May 2014

While everyone takes note of a new bar opening (or is that just me?!), a new café on the scene is often a little more low key.

Not so Cotto Espresso which opened officially today (Thursday) and held its launch party last night.

Cotto Espresso is a vibrant, bright orange little café on King William Road. There’s a narrow bar at the front, for grabbing a quick coffee and pastry, and some seating at the rear.

Cotto even has a charity partner, the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation, and proceeds from the sales of the first day of trading were donated to the hospital’s Mother’s May campaign.

The launch party saw coffee flowing freely, with a guest appearance by an orange Lamborghini. As you do!

Cotto will not only sell you coffee – an impressive range of sandwiches and (house made) pastries was on display. And the ice cream looked amazing.

The good news is that there are already plans for future Cotto Espressos in both Glenelg and Prospect, so hopefully there will be one near you soon.

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Cotto Espresso
173 King William Road
Hyde Park SA 5061

Cotto Espresso on Urbanspoon

Lorraine Pascale’s Cookies & Cream Chocolate Brownies

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Cookies & Cream Brownies

It’s been a long time since I made any brownies but in the last week or so the planets aligned and gave me the opportunity to try out another recipe AND a new dedicated brownie pan.

Normally my brownies are cooked in an old, battered roasting tin lined with baking paper. It’s the perfect size for most recipes and it does a fab job. However, one of my friends has been on at me for quite a while to try out one of the many specialist brownie pans available. The idea with these pans is that they create extra edges so you get more corner pieces (and they, after all, are the best bits).

The one I bought was a cheapie from a chain store and it wasn’t entirely successful (thanks to another friend who very patiently fished out the brownies!) BUT I also didn’t read the instructions and I think there are ways I could improve things. Once I’ve discovered that one way or the other I’ll let you know.

Lorraine Pascale is a British model turned pastry chef (one of the weirder job transitions, I have to say!) and she now hosts tv shows and writes books. I do find her tv programmes a little too lifestyle-like for me (soft music, shots of her working at her computer while something bakes …) but a lot of the recipes have seemed really good and I think her programme is the ONLY time I’ve seen a fougasse cooked on tv.

For these brownies I used Delta Creams, though you could really use any chocolate biscuit you like, or perhaps substitute one of the many biscuit based chocolate bars. Or just leave it out altogether – the brownie mix is perfectly rich and delicious without the addition of biscuits!

Download the recipe.

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Lorraine Pascale’s Cookies & Cream Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

  • 165g unsalted butter
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
  • 165g light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp cocoa
  • pinch of salt
  • 154g chocolate cream biscuits (this worked out to be 10 Delta Creams) - optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan, 180°C convention) and prepare your favourite brownie baking receptacle. You'll need one about 20cm x 20cm.
  2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in short bursts in the microwave.
  3. In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together until light and frothy. Still whisking, slowly add the the sugar. Note that sometimes light brown sugar goes a little hard and clumpy in the jar/bag - if yours has done this, then make sure you sieve it/break up the lumps before beating into the eggs!
  4. Once the sugar is well combined, slowly add the chocolate and butter mix, beating all the time.
  5. Finally beat in the flour, cocoa and salt.
  6. The mixture will be very light and mousse like.
  7. If using the biscuits, roughly chop them into quarters and gently stir about a third of them into the brownie mixture.
  8. Tip the mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out. Scatter the remaining biscuit pieces over the top and lightly press into the mixture.
  9. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. The top of the brownies will be set and start to crack and the centre should be cooked through but still moist - a few crumbs will cling to a toothpick.
  10. Allow to cool and then cut and serve.
https://eatingadelaide.com/lorraine-pascales-cookies-cream-chocolate-brownies/

Rachel Allen’s Leek and Fennel Roast Chicken

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Untitled

More cooking (yep, those restaurant reviews are still percolating) – and while this dish looks unspectacular it’s incredibly tasty and easy to do.

If you’re a cook who’s a little frightened by the idea of roasting a whole chicken, or just someone a bit short on prep time (that’s me!) then this dish is fantastic because it’s quick, requires just the one dish (the one it’s cooked in) and can be all prepped in advance, meaning you just need to put it in the oven about 50 minutes before you want to eat.

This is a Rachel Allen recipe that has been on my to-do list for ages. As is so often the case, the cooking time given is woefully inadequate and, with the oven up so high, you do need to be wary of the vegetables in particular burning. However, that is easily solved by popping a lid on part way through cooking. This has the bonus of creating some very tasty sauce that can be served with the dish.

Sadly, it is a bit anaemic looking (not just the fault of my photography this time!). If you were so inclined you could flash the chicken thighs on a grill pan prior to serving (being careful not to dry them out though!) but I suggest that if you’re particularly worried about appearance, serve it with a bright winter salad.

Potato-wise, we used the most beautiful, tiny kipfler potatoes that Andy picked up in Blackwood from the excellent Waggon Wheels (no website). This always busy fruit and vege shop stocks all the standards but also manages to squeeze in a range of varieties that you won’t find in supermarkets or even other fruit and vege shops. It’s one of my favourite places to buy veggies.

Do not be tempted to omit (or peel!) the cloves of garlic. After cooking, the skin comes away easily and the garlic cloves are so soft and so mellow in flavour that they add real depth and warmth to the finished product.

This was a big hit – and if you need to throw something together over Easter, I recommend it.

Quantities below are for 2 people, with tons of leftovers.

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Rachel Allen’s Leek and Fennel Roast Chicken

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken thigh fillets
  • 1 bulb of fennel
  • 1 large leek
  • 6-8 large cloves of garlic, skin on
  • 8-10 small potatoes
  • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conv).
  2. Take a large baking/roasting dish - preferably one that has a lid - and put a splash of olive oil in the bottom.
  3. Chop the leek into 1-2 cm chunks and roughly chop the fennel.
  4. If the potatoes are not evenly sized, cut them into even sized pieces. You want them reasonably small (smaller than a golf ball) so they cook!
  5. Add leek, fennel and potatoes to the baking dish with the garlic, season and toss through the olive oil.
  6. Finally add the chicken thighs and toss through, ensuring they are also coated in oil.
  7. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure that nothing is burning and then cover with lid and bake for another 20 or so minutes, until the chicken and potatoes are cooked.
  8. Serve hot on its own or with a garden salad.
https://eatingadelaide.com/rachel-allens-leek-fennel-roast-chicken/