The Little Kicks

Let me get it out there: I am a Seinfeld tragic. I can find a Seinfeld reference in every happening in every day of my life. For any other Seinfeld-ers out there, the little kicks will always be a terrifying dance involving jolting body moves, a strangely satisfied grin, and thumbs. To others, however, there are other ways to get some indulgent little kicks.


Whenever I'm in the shop, I find myself magnetically drawn to these little beauties. I have such a thing for chocolate. I may stray when my tree is full of lemons, but I will always return to my dark master: the cocoa bean (that's actually a Seinfeld quote. See: the references just seem to follow me about). Our chocolate is from Belcolade. I challenge you to browse through that website without feeling the chocolate love. Of course, there are a grillion products on the site which we don't receive in Australia, but you only need to know about one: the buttons. Oh, how I love the buttons....


The gorgeous thing about the buttons is their practicality. I have so so many recipes which call for chocolate chips. Chips? Ha! Are you going to go and buy those things in the supermarket cake / baking aisle? Why don't you just help yourself to some instant frosting, while you're there? No no no, I don't think so. Here's the trick: you buy the drops, put them in a zip-lock bag, then bang them with a rolling pin. Now, this might sound like more work than opening the blasphemous supermarket-bought chocolate chip bag and just pouring, but the difference in taste is extraordinary. You will suddenly discover how wonderful home-baked chocolate goods can be. A choc-chip biscuit will never taste the same. This chocolate melts beautifully in a double-boiler situation, but will hold its shape if you use a single button on a biscuit or break them up into pieces. For some ultra-luxury, buy all three varieties and make choc-chip biscuits with the three different sorts combined. Mmmmm....

I do have a favourite biscuit recipe, for which I use the dark drops. I've only ever tried it with dark, as I can't imagine how it could possibly be improved by substituting another variety. If memory serves correctly (but why would it?), the recipe came from a Vogue Entertaining and Travel about a decade ago. For this, you will need 500g of chocolate drops, 125g of which you need to belt with the rolling pin as per the above "method".


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Biscuits

1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
500g dark chocolate buttons (125g broken)
125g unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a double boiler, melt the butter with 375g of the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Stir in the eggs one at a time (not beating) until well combined, then stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Chill the dough for minimum 10 minutes (I find the closer you can get to an hour, the better the consistency).
Drop rounded teaspoon measures of the dough, about 3.5cm apart, onto a greased and lined baking sheet, and stud each one with pieces of the remaining chocolate. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes or until just set (only do one tray at a time). Cool the biscuits on the tray on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to the rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

PS I've always found that sticking precisely to the times has worked out the best.


So, there it is. No excuses for bad chocolate, and now no excuses for average biscuits. They come out a bit wonky, but that's the charm. For a winning dessert, stick two together with a sandwich of luxury icecream. How's that for a little kick?

Oh, and have you noticed I only use biscuit? I refuse to use cookie. I do not need my biscuit barrel permeated by baked goods in backwards-facing baseball caps.

The awards season is upon us...

The September edition of Gourmet Traveller is now out, and accompanying it is the 2010 Australian Restaurant Guide. Now, one of my favourite things is to study restaurant guides like a racing fanatic about to bet his money on the bob-tail nag. These things are my nourishment. The Gourmet Traveller awards are always an interesting pre-cursor to the NSW biggies, the SMH Good Food Guide Awards. A little like the Golden Globes to the Oscars. As Gourmet Traveller takes a national overview of the restaurant industry, the detail afforded to local establishments is much less than in the Good Food Guide. However, the Southern Highlands did have one mention...

So, congratulations to Luke Latimer and his team at Onesta Cucina (Shop 2, The Penders, cnr Station & Wingecarribee Sts, Bowral; ph 02 4861 6620). They received a glowing review, and I recommend you pick up a copy of the latest Gourmet Traveller to receive your copy of the Guide, and immerse yourself in the foodie goodness the magazine is always stuffed full of.

Now to the Oscars. The SMH Good Food Guide awards are just over a week away, and I have some high hopes for a few of our local restaurants. The Southern Highlands region usually makes a decent-sized contribution to the guide, and we have some newcomers who will hopefully appear. I hope we manage to retain at least two local "Hats". We will wait with breath that is bated...

Of course, congratulations to all the other winners. There were some interesting, and some predictable, results. It was very pleasing to see Neil Perry back at the top of his game, and Leo Schofield was undoubtedly a deserving winner. Just don't mention the lobster...

A bagel-related accident?

Well, in fact, this is about how to avoid one of those. According to some reports popping up on the web, bagel-slicing accident victims are appearing with alarming regularity in emergency departments all over the USA. Apparently, the crustiness of the outside of a bagel, combined with the desperate hunger of the intended consumer and his or her clumsiness or inattentiveness during slicing is leading to horrific incidents involving knives travelling straight through the bagel and into the receptacle. Also known as a palm. Sound awful? Sure does. To counteract this increase in stress for triage nurses, who have to assess the varying levels of hand-slicing every Saturday morning (and potentially dispose of the bloodied bagels), some very clever bagel-lover has come up with the Bagel Guillotine.

Made in the USA (home of the bagel accident, if not originally the bagel), this guillotine does exactly what you envision it would. Place your bagel in its cradle, slide the blade down on top and hey presto: two perfect bagel halves. There is even an acrylic shield to protect those precious fingers. As you can imagine, care is needed, even with the guillotine: the blade has to be very sharp to pierce that crusty edge. But the design is genius for bagel-lovers, and you are sure to be safer guillotining your bagel than engaging in a horizontal knife-slice. Not forgetting the quantity of bagels that can be sliced by this device: apparently 24 bagels per minute can be decimated. I hope you have a fast smoked salmon preparer and cream-cheese spreader on hand...

Let them eat bagels, I say.

Laaa....La Chamba!

OK, that was an awful title, but it's what springs to mind whenever I think of this: one of my favourite ranges of cookware. I have given these divine pieces as wedding presents to the people who have everything. They are quirky, dramatic, and full of wonderful history. La Chamba is a range of clay cookware and servingware from Colombia. These pieces are not only beautiful, but practical as well.


La Chamba is actually a village in Colombia, and the clay for the pieces comes from the mines around La Chamba and other local villages. The pottery has been made by the native South American Indians since pre-Colombian times, and the techniques have been carried through to today. The men of the villages collect the clay and sell the pieces, but tradition dictates that the creation of the pieces must only be undertaken by the women. These divine artisan pots, originally made for domestic and religious purposes, can now grace your kitchen, offering you a piece that will not only be supremely useable, but thoroughly spectacular and steeped in history.

The pots are hand-shaped from the special dark grey clay, and finished with a fine terracotta and some dried grasses and herbs. Burnishing combined with a high-temperature kiln firing gives the exquisite black appearance. This traditional way of forming the pieces means no two are identical.

My personal favourites are the round casseroles: there is something about their rotundity that makes me imagine them in their homelands, brimming with Ajiaco (never let it be said that I don't have a vivid imagination...). We also have oval platters and baking dishes, available in a number of shapes and sizes. If any questions remain in your mind as to the practicality of La Chamba, let me tell you that it can be used on the stove, in the oven, in the microwave and under a grill (broiler); that you can put it over an open flame, on the barbeque, and on electric or gas cooktops. Use wooden utensils on your La Chamba to ensure the long life of its superb apprearance.


La Chamba makes a distinctive, memorable gift, or a practical and striking piece for your own kitchen. Our online shop is not quite up-to-date with the current styles in-store, so please give us a call, or drop in to the shop, if you see a piece which catches your eye.

Chef's Night Draws a Crowd

I have been meaning to write a little round-up of our inaugural Chef's Night, but The Highland's Post has beaten me to it! Page 5 of today's issue features a write-up of our Chef's Night, with a photo of Richard Kemp from Eschalot creating quite an impression on his audience.



Our first Chef's Night (held earlier this month) was a huge success. We were lucky enough to have Richard as our first guest chef; an inspired choice, as it turned out, as his food, presentation and connection with the audience were perfectly on the mark. The response to the idea was far beyond our expectations, with the evening booked out within three days of the first advertisement. We are quite limited in our space, but this creates an intimate environment in which all the attendees can get in close to the action, so to speak, in order to really get a clear view of what the chef is doing. We thank Richard for his fabulous demonstration, and look forward to inviting him back again.



Our next Chef's Night, which will be held on September 8, promises to be a whole lot of fun. We have the effervescent Melinda from Red Olive coming in to demonstrate tapas for us. She is just the perfect person for this style of cooking: warm, friendly, enthusiastic, and completely approachable. She is almost as excited as we are about the upcoming evening! She has lined up some wonderful dishes: exotic and impressive, yet achievable for the home cook. The demonstrations run for about 2 hours (commencing at 6pm), and the cost is $30 per head. If this particular demonstration takes your fancy, I suggest you book without delay: we expect this class to be very popular!



Our October class is shaping up to be one for the gourmands. Without giving too much away, our chef is one of the most progressive and passionate foodies in the Highlands, who immerses himself in everything the world of modern gastronomy has to offer. This will be food to admire and revel in...

Bundt There's More...

We now have, in store, the most wonderful selection of pieces from Nordicware. If you are unfamiliar with the brand, please head to their homepage to find out a little more about this amazing company, and their extraordinary take on the humble cake tin.



Nordicware is designed and made in the USA. One look at the elaborate designs, and this is clear. These are the bakeware equivalents of the Cadillac Eldorado, or the buffet breakfast at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. Americans love to do things bigger, better, best, and this bakeware is no exception. While we reach for our dog-eared copies of the Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cakes cookbook with a sense of nostalgia for cakes of our youth and trepidation at the number of different tins we might need to create the nominated cake, the Americans clearly don't see the point in making generic shapes and following complicated patterns to bake a novelty cake. No siree, Bob. Why spend hours cutting squares and rounds and bars and even savarins into pieces when you can buy one tin, put the mixture in, and out comes the perfect shape, already cut and shaped for you?


But Nordicware have not stopped at the cake tin. They have produced a pikelet pan. Not just any old pikelet pan: these ones have patterns. Forget the struggle to even make the blasted things round; now, we're imprinting bugs on them. Or how about some "Silver Dollar" waffles, and Ebelskiver. What's that you say? You don't cook Ebelskiver? Surely that's only because you don't have the pan...one look at the label will have you rushing for ingredients. They look scrumptious!


If you haven't already worn yourself out with the sheer excitement of the possibilities, let me mention the Petit Four pan (perfect for teeny tiny cakes or jellies), the English shortbread tin, and the Cookie Plaque: an ingenious double-sided cookie press which conveniently comprises eight designs in one square. No more searching for the escaped cookie cutters when Christmas or Hallowe'en rolls around this year. I'm trying this little device for my festive gingerbread.


Our Nordicware selection has arrived direct from America. You will find one of the widest selections of Nordicware anywhere in Australia, but be warned: these beauties are selling like hotcakes (isn't that just a big pikelet?), and as our current stock includes some festive designs, you might like to start thinking about a Holiday Wreath tin now, rather than waiting until Christmas and being disappointed. A savarin tin is just so not the same thing...

Elephant Boy Takes the Cake

Our fabulous neighbours, Elephant Boy Cafe (329 Bong Bong St, Bowral), have exciting news for their dessert-loving patrons. A new pastry chef, Ercan, has joined their illustrious team. Ercan has an extensive menu of sweets parading out of the kitchen as I write: you will find his very own cookies, fudges and delectable cakes, including some gluten-free morsels for those needing such specialities (or just those who adore a dense slice of heaven!).



Elephant Boy was described in delicious (August 2009) as a "little corner of the British Raj". If David's food wasn't so fabulous, and the ambience so exquisitely quirky, you'd go anyway just for the attentive and exuberant service from Claudia. And to see what she's wearing today. Utterly gorgeous.

Need a little more Jamie?

We have just received a new shipment of Jamie Oliver by Tefal cookware. The highlight of this range is the 6 piece stainless steel / copper set. Love him or hate him, Jamie Oliver has done for a generation what Masterchef did for a nation: he made us want to get in the kitchen and have a go. Now, while you may be a little cynical of celebrity endorsements, in this case, Jamie + Tefal = success. His cookware is really superb. This copper range has taken his excellent stainless steel range, and added copper to the base for the most even and speedy heat distribution. The non-stick pans feature Tefal's Thermo-Spot heat indicator, all the cookware has super-comfy stay-cool handles, and Tefal is made in France. Not convinced you need a splendid set of six? How about a chaser...

For a limited time, each one will come with a Jamie Oliver at Home Oval Cocotte. This is a whopper: solid cast-iron construction in the traditional French style, and it will hold 6.5L of your finest slow-cooked melanges. It is a beautiful piece, and in a wonderful Cookshop green, no less! Of course, the Cocotte can be purchased on its own, should your kitchen only be yearning for this piece. The price of the Cocotte is $199, making it excellent value singularly, or a generous gift-with-purchase. Combined with the six-piece set, you have an entire saucepan cupboard fit-out.

Jamie may well already have a spot or two on your bookshelf. Perhaps there is room for him in a cupboard as well?

stepford dreams: Monday Giveaway - Cookshop Plus!

stepford dreams: Monday Giveaway - Cookshop Plus!

Go to the above site for your chance to win a Cookshop Plus-sponsored giveaway! Hurry: today is your last chance to enter...

A slice of colour

Now, if you needed to buy yourself a set of serrated knives, are these not the ones you would grab? These knives have just arrived, along with a cutlery set in the same divine rainbow colours, or (for the more reserved host or hostess) a variety of sets with an ivory handle. But what are they?

These knives are made by Andre Verdier for Laguiole. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Laguiole, they are ancient (the first Laguiole knife was "born" in 1829) manufacturers of exquisite knives, corkscrews and, more recently, cutlery. The corkscrews are held as prized possessions by the sommeliers who use them. Laguiole products are all made in France, with the care and precision of specialist artisans. For more information on the history of Laguiole (originally the name of the village in which the knife originated), please go to the Laguiole website.

Now that is a set of steak knives...

Welcome!

Well, as it says, welcome to the blog. Apart from the obvious advantage of being able to bring you Cookshop Plus information anytime, and from anywhere, now seems the perfect time to begin. Why? Because some nasty little gremlins did something anti-social to our website. So while we put together a spiffy new website for you, we can begin here with a more casual approach to becoming familiar with Cookshop Plus, one of Australia's premier kitchenware, and now homeware, boutiques.

We have so much exciting stock coming through the doors every day that we will never be short of something to say. The owners have just returned from a triumphant visit to trade shows in America, and have brought back some exclusive new products: some fabulously innovative, some deliciously retro. How have you ever lived without chop frills? The exclusive Regency Wraps brand has all the kitchen bits and pieces your grandmother used to use (and some she wished she had!). I have a stock-mad friend currently testing out the Soup Sock. We will bring you more in-depth reviews and product information from this brand over the coming weeks.

Ina Garten? You might recognise her more easily if I call her The Barefoot Contessa. Anyone who has watched her television show cannot help but be enticed by her fabulous creations (although, it can be hard to keep one's mind on the food with the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer wizzing about, and the flashing of All-Clad cookware everywhere...). Now, you too can be a Barefoot Contessa (or Count, perhaps?) with Ina's divine baking pre-mixes. We are in the process of testing them all (well...we need to be able to describe them) and we have plenty more info regarding these gorgeous products, and other Barefoot Contessa business, to come.

Phew! Who would've thought the first post would become so fullsome? We have so much in store (literally) for you. Of course, if there is anything you would like us to look at, or if you have any comments or suggestions, shoot us an email. Better yet, come in for a visit.

And if you happen to be a restaurateur, chef, providore or similar, let us know what's happening for you. We'd love to let our readers know what's going on in the Southern Highlands' food scene.