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FETA AND MINT TARTS

March 28, 2013 in savoury tarts and pies, Starters, Vegetables

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Wishing fellowbloggers a Happy Easter and wonderful food. The weather in the mornings in Gauteng are a chilly reminder that the warm sunny days that can be spent lazing and entertaining on patios will soon be coming to an end. We have to make the most of what we can currently enjoy hence I did some entertaining last weekend and served these delicious and interesting look tarts as a starter.

I have had this recipe book,Savoury Quiches and Flans, for a while but it was only when I watched Lorraine Pascale in an episode of Easy Baking on the cooking channel  demonstrate how to make these pastry shells that I felt confident to tackle this recipe. These tarts do not require special baking utensils and are easy to make and the filling has an unusual combination of ingredients and the end result is very tasty and was a hit with my guests.

FETA AND MINT TARTS

Ingredients

200g feta, cubed

75g peas, lightly cooked

185g can olives, pitted and halved

Handful of fresh mint, chopped

50ml olive oil

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

375g pack puff pastry

Beaten egg, to glaze

 

Preheat oven to 190C.  Prepare the filling by mixing the feta, peas, olives and mint.

Stir in the olive oil and mustard. Set aside.

Unroll the pastry. Cut into 8 equal rectangular pieces.

Score a thin border on each with a sharp knife taking care not to cut through the bottom of the pastry.

Place the pastry on a baking sheet.

Brush the pastry edges with egg. Bake for 10 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and scrape out the inner pastry.

Bake the pastry shell for 1 minute.

Spoon the filling into the pastry.

Bake for 5 minutes.

 

 

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NUTTY STUFFED DATES

February 28, 2013 in Desserts

9 Comments »

Quick, easy and delicious recipes with minimum ingredients always grab my attention and this recipe for the nutty stuffed dates is just that and healthy as well. It’s ideal for those with a sweet tooth who feel restricted from indulging because of diets.

Dates, the fruit of the date palm are even rich in several vitamins and minerals. It is said that eating even one date daily is necessary for a balanced and healthy diet. Much as I love fruit and  aware of the benefits of eating a date I find it difficult to eat it as is – I usually love it in a cake, muffin, biscuit and my all time favorite is when it is used as a filling wrapped in crispy phyllo pastry and dripping with rose scented syrup – yum.  Recently back from a holiday where I had over indulged I have to eat healthy for a while and hence this recipe.

Dates filled with this nutty mixture are delicious and very moreish. I bought dates which are already deseeded which makes it ideal for this recipe and less time consuming as well.

Nutty Stuffed Dates

Ingredients

500gr Dates

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

6 Tbsp oat meal

3 Tbsp butter

½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped coarsely

 Method

Make a cut, length wise, in each date piece and remove the seeds.

Arrange in baking tray.

Place in preheated oven (180 C) for 3 minutes to soften.

To prepare the filling:

Melt butter in a pan. Add oat and fry for 3-5minutes till browned little.

Add oats to peanut butter in a bowl and mix.

Fill each pitted date with teaspoon of filling

Then dip it in chopped roasted peanuts.

Ready to be served and enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FRESH FRUIT SALAD

February 8, 2013 in Desserts, Salad

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The abundance of fresh fruit available especially this summer is heavenly for someone like me who loves fruit. I have fond childhood memories of my mum, who had a fruit stall at the Durban market, arriving home with her basket full of seasonal fruit. This was our daily treats – very different to what is considered treats these days.

This is one of the few pictures of my mum on her way to the market

It is recommended to eat at least 2-3 servings of fresh fruits every day because of the vitamin content. Fruits are also low in calories which are great when on a weight loss diet.

A fresh fruit salad is very delicious and refreshing served at breakfast or at an end of a meal. When making this salad I cut and slice up whatever seasonal fruit that’s in my fridge but my dressing is always the same.

Dressing

Lemon juice ¼  cup

Orange juice ½ cup

Granadilla pulp (1 small can)

Sugar to taste

 

 

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GINGER BROWNIES

December 14, 2012 in Cakes

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I have always loved the flavour of fresh ginger especially in curries and it was only over the last few years that I became aware that ginger spice is associated with the festive season of Christmas from soft gingerbread cakes to flat crisp ginger biscuits.

Each European country maintained its own variation of gingerbread over the centuries. Of all the countries in Europe, Germany has the most enduring tradition of flat, shaped gingerbreads. Of all the German cities, Nuremberg became known as the “gingerbread capital” of the world. Sculptors, painters, woodcarvers and goldsmiths all contributed in the creation of the most beautiful cakes in Europe. Gifted craftsmen carved wooden molds and talented artists assisted with the frosting. Many of these designs were actually objets d’art, varied and incredibly fancy, depicting angels, hearts and wreaths.

The ginger brownies are a modern twist and the recipe is from theYou Delectable Cookies and the end result is not only delicious but very moreish.

GINGER BROWNIES

 Ingredients

750ml cake flour

125ml cocoa powder

15ml baking powder

5ml bicarbonate of soda

5ml salt

100g preserved ginger, chopped

100g pecan or macadamia nuts, chopped

250ml soft brown sugar

150g butter

350g golden syrup

200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1 extra-large egg

300ml milk

Icing sugar for the top

Preheat oven to 170C and grease a deep 27cm square tin with butter or cooking spray. Line the bottom with baking paper.

Mix the dry ingredients into a deep bowl, add the ginger and nuts.

Put the sugar, butter, syrup and chocolate in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until melted. Add to the dry ingredients. Beat the egg and milk and add to the mixture in the large bowl. Mix well.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour or until firm. Cool (the mixture will subside slightly). Sift icing sugar on top, cut into squares or slices.

Variation Top with chocolate icing. Beat 1 egg white until stiff peaks form. Melt 3 squares of chocolate and add to the egg white along with 50ml cocoa powder. Mix well. Add 200-250ml icing sugar and spread over the brownies. Sprinkle with gold dusting if preferred.

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by mitzireddy

COCONUT VEGETABLE CURRY

December 10, 2012 in curry, Vegetables

12 Comments »

 

This coconut vegetable curry is an old family favorite – one that I have been making for more than a decade. I cooked this curry over the weekend for lunch for my vegetarian friends – it quick and easy to make and absolutely delicious. I served it with freshly baked garlic tava naan – (recipe posted previously).

It’s perfect for meatless Monday.

COCONUT VEGETABLE CURRY

Ingredients

25mls cooking oil / ghee

2 cups mixed vegetables (sliced)

1 onion, finely sliced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste

½ tsp tulmeric powder

1 tomato, finely diced

1/2 cup desiccated coconut or freshly grated coconut

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

125ml fresh cream

Fry the onions and chopped chilli in oil or ghee on medium heat until the onions are lightly browned.

Add the garlic, turmeric and curry paste. Add the tomato and mix well.

Add the vegetables, salt, sugar and coconut.

Mix well and simmer for 4 minutes. Add the cream and mix well and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Serve hot with basmatic rice, roti or naan.

 

 

 

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PEPPERDEW PATE

December 9, 2012 in snacks savoury, Starters

10 Comments »

The Dinner Divas really put out a fabulous spread in the semi -finals and I am looking forward to watching the 3 finalists in action next Saturday – it must be daunting to cook under such pressure and also to put together a menu –if one is a foodie it must be mind boggling to decide what to cook to impress at this level.

I have been using this website as a platform to post old family favourites after my daughter, Lovely Linda, mentioned that as I have such a huge collection of cookbooks and files of recipes it will be like hunting in the haystack to find a particular recipe. I have been happily sidetracked from my original intentions by learning so much more about food from fellow bloggers.

Pimms, roiboos and ginger iced tea by Sally Graham author of Bitten

Chicken meatballs inspired by Dinner Divas Anel of lifeisazoobiscuit

Roti flatbread by Dinner Divas Usha of HealthVegetarianFoods

This wonderfully delicious and easy recipe for the pepperdew pate is from Garden and Home magazine – it requires only a few ingredients and is fuss free to make.

 

PEPPERDEW PATE

1 bottle pepperdews

80gr macadamia nuts

2 cloves garlic

60mls olive oil

Drain pepper dews. Blend with nuts and garlic and oil (adding slowly) until all come together slowly. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with grilled toasts brushed with olive oil or crackers.

 

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SPICY BEEF MEATBALL SKEWERS

November 20, 2012 in meat

9 Comments »

The Dinner Divas are something special to watch and congratulations to Usha who has gone to the next round – her food looked mouthwatering.

The weather is extremely hot in Gauteng and light quick meals come to mind. My family enjoy this version of spicy meatball skewers which I have been making over the years – its quick and easy to make. As an accompaniment I usually use whatever is handy in my fridge – in this instance I cooked lightly spiced rice with a steamed mixture of vegetables.

I enjoy history and this is what I have found – kebab is a wide variety of skewered meals originating in the Middle East and like other ethnic foods brought by travellers, the kebab has become part of everyday cuisine in many countries around the globe. The phrase is Persian in origin and Arabic tradition has it that the dish was invented by medieval Persian soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires. Necessity brings about creativity – I remember watching Floyd on the food channel some time back where train drivers cook their bacon and egg breakfasts on a shovel placed over the hot coals used to fuel the train.

I usually use metal skewers as I find that the meat cooks quicker (I am sure a big sword will make short work of this) and I also prefer to use a griller – I have made these using the griller in the oven and it also works well.

SPICY BEEF  MEATBALL SKEWERS

 Ingredients

wooden or metal skewers

500g minced beef

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tsp ground coriander and ground cumin mixed ( ½ tsp of each of the spice)

1 Tblsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 Tblsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tblsp fresh mint, chopped

Soak the wooden skewers in water for about 10 minutes and turn the oven to grill to 230 C.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the beef mince and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and using your hands, roll the mince mixture into small round balls and thread 3 balls on each skewer.

Place the skewers on a lightly greased baking tray and grill for 8 – 12 minutes, turning them now and again until cooked through. Serve with spicy rice or couscous and spiced yoghurt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TUNA MOULD 6 MINUTES (MICROWAVE)

November 15, 2012 in Fish, Starters

4 Comments »

 

I was given this recipe by an old family friend nearly 20 years ago and I make occasionally and its been a family favorite.  I have included the recipe for the filling that I use. It makes an impressive starter served cold in summer or as a light lunch or main filled with a cooked tomato based sauce in colder weather. Whenever I serve this to friends I am always asked for the recipe – it looks like a dish that is time consuming to make but it only takes less than 10 minutes to make including the preparation time.  I remembered to take pics only after I had filled the mould – I put this down to good company and good wine.

TUNA MOULD 6 MINUTE ( MICROWAVE)

 Ingredients

250gr tuna, drained ( I use 2 cans of tuna)

30ml lemon juice

150ml milk

150ml crushed potato crisps ( tomato flavoured crisps)

2 eggs, beaten

1 onion, chopped

5ml aromat

2ml pepper

5ml dried mixed herbs

5ml parsley

2ml chopped chilli (I used 1 green chilli)

Sprinkle lemon juice over drained tuna. Mix in milk, chips, eggs, onion, salt, pepper, aromat, chilli, mixed herbs and parsley.

Pour into a greased ring mould. Cover with paper towel and cook on high in microwave for 6 – 8 minutes. Turn out and garnish with lettuce, prawns, lemon etc. Serve cold with salad and buttered bread.

Filling

1 cup mayonnaise

150ml fresh cream

3 Tblsp tomato sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 chopped gherkin

2 tsp brandy ( or whisky)

Dash of cayenne pepper.

Mix all the ingredients and chill for 1 hour.

Add steamed prawns, shrimps, crabsticks etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TINNED FISH SAMOOSA FILLING

November 13, 2012 in snacks savoury

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Wishing the Hindu community a Happy Diwali and here is a tongue in cheek greeting especially to my children, Luscious Lynn and Lovely Linda who will be celebrating a cold Diwali in London.

This Diwali,   May you be blessed with good fortune as long as Ganeshji’s trunk,

Wealth and prosperity as big as his stomach,

Happiness as sweet as his ladoos and

May your troubles be as small as his mouse

May the light and beauty of DEEPAVALI illuminate your homes and your hearts… As you celebrate this holy occasion.

I am doing a quick post of my easy tinned fish samoosa filling which is a sure fire winner ( I have just made  some now ) -  this quantity makes just over 2 ½ dozen samoosas with generous filling. I recommend you make these samoosas the day you need them or even a day earlier and keep in the fridge rather than the freezer – it just tastes so much better.

Tinned fish samoosa filling

 

 Ingredients

1 tin pilchards in tomato sauce (remove from can, removes the bones and reserve the sauce)

1 large onion, finely chopped (dry with a clean dish cloth)

6 – 8 green chillies, finely chopped

Handful fresh mint, wash and dry well with dish cloth – finely chopped

Handul of coriander , washed, dried and finely chopped

2 Tablespoon oil

Saute the onions, green chillies in about 2 Tablespoon oil in  a frying pan. Add fish only (not the sauce )and salt to taste. Cook for approximately 5 minutes Add all the greens. Mix well. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Break up the fish in small bits without mashing it. Simmer for about 5 minutes. If too dry add more oil and a little of the reserved tomato sauce.

Nb. Do not use the balance of the tomato sauce.

Please see my previous post for a step by step on how to make a smoosa. http://blogs.food24.com/mitzireddy/2011/10/18/samoosa-filling-chicken-mince

 

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PATTA PASTRY

November 11, 2012 in snacks savoury

7 Comments »

The traditional savoury snack, puri pattas, which requires time and effort to make, has evolved into so many interesting varieties in taste, shape and presentation and will amaze and bemuse the old grans who spent hours making and preparing this snack in the “old days”. This recipe using ready- made puff pastry and ready -made pattas which are usually stocked in most Indian spice shops can be prepared in a less than an hour and is a boon for today busy mothers.

Pattas are  layered madumbi leaves which is spread with a spicy batter and rolled into a swiss roll and is then cooked by steaming, then sliced and lightly fried or baked and traditionally served with puri (it’s a soft deep fried bread).

It’s now been given a modern twist and is prepared in many ways some of which is with the pattas being enclosed and baked in pastry, fried in spring rolls or samoosa pastry.

 PATTA PASTRY

8 Slices of patta

1 x puff pastry

Juice of 1 lemo

n 2 Tablespoon cooking oil

3 Tablespoon chilli sauce

Open out the pastry and place on a flat board.

Evenly spread the chilli sauce on the rectangular shaped pastry.

Loosen the patha slices into ribbon like pieces and place it on the pastry from end to the next, making sure to leave a ½ inch gap only at the bottom.

Cut the lemon into half and squeeze the lemon juice over the patha.

Start rolling the pastry tightly from the top like a swiss roll. Seal the bottom edges tightly.

Smear the oil on an oven tray. Evenly cut the patta into 1cm to 2 cm slices and flatten it slightly. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30 minutes.

Serve with chutneys.

 

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