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SNACK BARS

April 28, 2011 in Biscuits

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Weddings are always a fabulous affair to attend as a guest – it’s a great excuse to wear a traditional sari and look glam and to socialize with friends and families. We are heading to Durban on Friday to attend a family wedding over the weekend. I am especially looking forward to spending some time just chilling with my sister, Dawn and her family. I usually try to bake some of her favorite goodies when visiting her in Durban and she asked for these snack bars – which are full of healthy ingredients including peanut butter – these cookies are delish and very moreish.

 

SNACK BARS

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

250ml (1 cup) rolled oats
250ml (1 cup) rice crispies
4 Weet-Bix, crushed
250ml (1 cup) desiccated coconut
60ml ( 4 Tablespoons) chopped dried apple rings
180ml (¾ cup) Huletts SunSweet Brown Sugar
125ml (½ cup) Huletts Golden Syrup
125ml (½ cup) peanut butter
125g brick margarine

Method

  1. Combine the oats, rice crispies, Weet-Bix, coconut and dried fruit in a large bowl.
  2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and stir constantly over low heat until the butter and sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
  3. Stir the syrupy mixture in the dry ingredients. Press evenly and firmly into a greased pan measuring 26cm x 20cm. Refrigerate until set before cutting into bars. May be drizzled with chocolate if desired.

Makes 30 bars.

 

 

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TUNA ROULADE

April 28, 2011 in Fish, savoury tarts and pies, Starters

10 Comments »

I was having some friends over for a meal and came across this recipe in my files for a tuna roulade and decided to serve it as a starter. Not only had I never made a roulade before but I had also not eaten one. I was having second thoughts with regards to the success of my roulade while I was whipping up the mixture (panic, panic) and sent my ever tolerant hubby to the shops to buy some salad ingredients as a backup plan just in case the roulade was a flop. There is definitely a good feeling when things go according to plan – the roulade turned out to be a hit and the filling is very tasty.

 

TUNA ROULADE

 

 

 

 

 

4 eggs

60 ml flour

15 ml parsley

1 tuna chunks ( drained)

250 ml cheddar cheese, grated

80 ml mayonnaise

15 ml djion mustard

1 spring onion, finely chopped

80 m soft butter

80 ml chutney

TOPPING

125gr cream cheese

50 ml cheese spread

METHOD

Beat the egg whites until firm, then season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Beat the egg yolks until smooth and creamy. Fold the yolks into the whites, along with the flour and the parsley. Stir gently with a metal spoon until just combined.

Grease and line a swiss roll pan with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with non- stick spray before spreading the batter evenly into the pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for 10 minutes or until just golden. Do not be tempted to leave it to bake for longer.

Turn out onto a clean dishcloth, remove the paper, roll up in the cloth and allow it to cool.

FILLING

Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a small mixing bowl, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Unroll the swiss roll, spread the mixture onto it and carefully roll it up again.

TOPPING

Combine the cream cheese and the cheese spread. To serve, place a slice of roulade on each plate and pipe the topping onto it.

Garnish with rocket leave or fresh watercress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FRUIT TARTS

April 25, 2011 in Desserts, sweet tarts and pies

3 Comments »

This weekend we were invited to lunch at my friend, Elizabeth’s, place – which is always a treat with lots of delicious food, booze and fun company. There is a long standing joke amongst her friends – Elizabeth loves entertaining, planning the table décor and putting together the menu – but the cooking is always done by her mum, Nellie, who is a really great cook. (Nellie is now in her late 80’s – Elizabeth seems to have the knack of keeping her mum young and energetic). Do not be fooled by her frail looks – she has the energy of someone 20 years her junior.

 

 

 

 

Life tends to throw curve balls every now and then and Elizabeth has had her fair share of fielding these curve balls. I have known her for almost 18 years – the period during her remission – she is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. She never ceases to amaze me with her strength and her zest for life. She refuses to change her lifestyle and still hosts tea parties and luncheons with the same energy as always and she is fun to be with – truly inspirational.

She served this delicious fruit tart that needs no baking – I am posting the recipe together with some pictures I took at the luncheon.

 

 

 

 

 

FRUIT TARTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makes 12 tarts   8cm in diameter

CRUST

1 ½ pkt tennis biscuits ( 300 gr)

200ml melted butter

FILLING

4 x 250ml (4 cup) milk

1 can (385gr) condensed milk

2 eggs

30ml (2 Tblsp) custard powder

30ml (2 Tbsp) cornflour

Pinch salt

10ml (2 tsp) vanilla essence

 

TOPPING

Fresh berries or seasonal fruit, sliced

 

Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter.

Firmly press the mixture on the bottom and sides of 12 individual loose bottomed tins (8 cm in diameter).

Chill until needed

 

Reserve 250ml (1 cup) of the milk. Pour the remaining of the milk into a saucepan and bring to boil.

Add the condensed milk and the eggs to the reserved milk and whisk well.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add a little of the hot milk to the mixture and slowly add the mixture to the hot milk in the saucepan.

Stir continuously with a wire whisk until the mixture comes to the boil and thickens. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla essence.

Pour the filling into the prepared crusts and chill until firm.

Pile the fresh fruit on top just before serving.

 

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HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE

April 20, 2011 in Cakes

10 Comments »

The ongoing search for recipes that have new and exciting flavours sometimes make us overlook the simple pleasures of old traditional recipes which might require only the basic of ingredients and yet can be very tasty. I am also guilty of this – with awesome recipes from the food networks, cookery books and fellow bloggers, it’s difficult to find the time to try all the recipes that you fancy. My daughter, Linda, asked me recently to forward her the recipe for a hot milk sponge cake – this was a cake that she baked frequently for her friends when she was still a student. Living in London she has been enjoying the more decadent goodies from the high end shops and craved just plain sponge cake.

I realized that I had also not made this cake for many years and decided to give it a bash and here’s the result.

Instead of the normal icing I just used strawberry jam between the cake layers and sifted icing sugar on top.

HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE

 

 

 

4 eggs

300mls castor sugar

500mls cake flour

15ml baking powder

250ml milk

100gr butter or margarine

5ml vanilla essence

 

Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and light yellow.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Fold into egg and sugar mixture.

Heat the milk and butter. Do not boil.

Stir the milk mixture and the essence into the batter.

Spoon into 2 greased 20cm cake tins.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 c for 25 – 30 minutes.

Make sure that the cake has cooled completely before you begin icing.

BASIC ICING

100gr soft butter

500ml icing sugar

10ml vanilla essence

About 25mls of milk

 

Cream the butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Add enough milk to make the mixture light and creamy until it is a spreadable consistency.

Sandwich the 2 layers together with the icing and then ice the top of the cake.

 

 

 

 

 

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VEGETABLE PICKLE

April 19, 2011 in pickles and relishes, Vegetables

8 Comments »

After shopping at her local Fruit and Veg city my sister, Pepe, arrived home with way too many vegetables – the result of all the tempting bargains on display. Needless to say I was surprised to get a request from her for a simple vegetable pickle recipe – I managed to unearth this recipe given to me by an aunt more than 20 years ago.

Pickling can be time consuming and tedious – this recipe is a very basic pickle recipe and is quick, simple and easy.

It’s advisable when trying out a new recipe to use small quantities of vegetables so that you can play around with the mixture of vegetables that you will enjoy.

The pictures posted are from the jar of pickle that Pepe has given me – pretty impressive for a first attempt.

 

VEGETABLE PICKLE

 

 

250 gr Green beans (topped, tailed and sliced)

4 Carrots (peeled and cut into thin strips)

½ Cauliflower (cut into small florets)

1 cup Peas (shelled)

¼ piece Cabbage (shred fine)

1 cup Green Chilies (Slit -leave one end intact)

1 litre White vinegar

Salt

Pickle Marsala (available at spice shops) to taste

Sunflower oil

 

Pour the vinegar into a pot and heat. The vinegar must be boiling hot before you put in the vegetables.

Add the vegetables to the heated vinegar and steam for approximately 5 minutes.

Remove the vegetables quickly into a colander. Drain and dry on a dish cloth.

Add pickle marsala, salt to taste and enough warmed oil to coat the vegetables.

Can be eaten immediately.

Store in Fridge

 

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by mitzireddy

SPICY LENTIL TART

April 18, 2011 in savoury tarts and pies, Starters, Vegetables

9 Comments »

There is a saying that one can make a curry of almost anything – I was reading a new cook book and came across this recipe for a spicy lentil tart and have come to the conclusion that one can also make a pie or a tart of almost anything. I have used lentils in curries, soups, biryani and salads but a tart, for me, is a new take on eating lentils as a main ingredient. I tried out the dish and it’s delicious. This is going to be my contribution for meatless Monday.

SPICY LENTIL TART

 

 

 

 

1 short crust pastry

600mls milk

175gr red lentils

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. each ground mace, cumin, coriander and mild chilli powder

1 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

50gr cheddar cheese, grated

Pinch ground paprika

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

 

Place milk, lentils and onions in a saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring regularly, until thick and the lentils are tender.

Stir in the spices and salt and leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 190 C.

Line a greased 20cm flan dish with the short crust pastry and place in fridge to chill while preparing the filling.

Stir in the egg and cheese into the lentil mixture.

Spoon into the pastry case.

Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden.

Serve sprinkled with coriander.

 

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Mexican Eggs with Chorizo

April 17, 2011 in meat

3 Comments »

We had to go to our local Portuguese fishery on Saturday and included in our purchases was chorizo which Rajen enjoys ( not my favorite). I remembered that a fellow blogger posted this tasty sounding recipe for weekend brunch with eggs ( which I enjoy) and chorizo. I told Rajen about it – we skipped eating breakfast while out shopping so that I can prepare the dish when we got back home. This is the result. It’s deliciously spicy – going to be one of my favorite ways of eating chorizo – thanks to my fellow blogger.  I am posting the recipe again for those who might have missed it.

Chorizo can be a fresh sausage, in which case it must be cooked before eating. In Europe it is more frequently a fermented cured smoked sausage, in which case it is usually sliced and eaten without cooking. Spanish chorizo and Portuguese chouriço get their distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers (pimentón/pimentão or colorau). Due to culinary tradition, and the expense of imported Spanish smoked paprika, Mexican chorizo (and chorizo throughout Latin America) is usually made with chile peppers, which are used abundantly in Mexican cuisine

 

Mexican Eggs with Chorizo

 

 

 

1-2 Tb Olive oil

1 finely chopped smallish white onion

100g chorizo chopped into chunks*

1 deseeded and finely chopped red chillie ( used green chillie – did not have any red in the fridge)

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

1 quarted plum tom or small handful cherry toms halved

6 free range eggs

splash low fat milk

50g grated Pecorino or mature cheddar cheese

handful coriander leaves

 

Gently fry the onion, chorizo* and chillie for a few minutes before adding the garlic. Dont colour too much to avoid bitter flavours.

 

Add the toms to the pan, whisk the eggs and milk togther, season with salt and cracked pepper. Add the eggs and cheese to the pan and cook to preferred consistency – i like them a touch wet but get them out the pan asap.

 

Serve on toasted English muffins with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and tablespoon of Chipotle. The smoky,tangy, deep chillie flavours are a yummy foil to the creaminess of the eggs. 

 

 

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by mitzireddy

PAVLOVA / HOW TO STABILIZE WHIPPED CREAM

April 15, 2011 in Desserts

7 Comments »

  

I was inspired to make this pavlova after watching the Masterchef Australia. You know how it is –they make it look so easy – just a matter of whipping up egg whites and sugar. I have always taken the easy route previously by buying my meringue base – one does not have to worry about how the meringue turns out – it’s always perfect. Stories are always fascinating and there is one about the Pavlova.

 

 

The Pavlova is a famous Australian dessert and is also one of the national dishes of New Zealand.The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but formal research indicates New Zealand as the more probable source.

 

It is basically a meringue cake with a light, delicate, crisp crust and a soft & sweet marshmallow center that is produced by folding a little vinegar and cornstarch into stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar. This dessert is then served with whipped cream and some fresh fruits. Light and airy, this meringue dessert is a wonderful way to make use of seasonal or frozen fruits.

 

 

 

The recipe used in the Masterchef competition is by the well known Australian cookbook author, Donna Hay. She was also one of the judges in this stage of the competition.

 

Pavlova Recipe –  Donna Hay

 

 

 



150ml egg white (approximately 4 eggs)
1 cup (220g) caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons corn flour (corn starch), sifted
2 teaspoons white vinegar

 

When preparing a Pavlova recipe, the most important thing is to have scrupulously clean utensils, free of grease or egg shell. The success of the meringue depends on it. It is also important that the egg whites are at room temperature before beating them.

1.  Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F).

2.  Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar – one tablespoon at a time, whisking well, until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Add the cornflour and vinegar and whisk until just combined. Shape the mixture into an 18cm round on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.

3.  Reduce oven to 120 degrees C (250 degrees F) and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven.

4.  Decorate with your desired toppings.
 

This is the recipe for the topping that I generally use.

Berries and Whipped Cream Topping
1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry sauce
1 cup frozen mixed berries (thawed)
1 cup fresh cream – whipped

Assembling the Pavlova
Just before serving, gently place the meringue onto a serving plate. Whip the cream in your until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue. Arrange the thawed mixed berries on the top, then drizzle some raspberry sauce over it. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours.

Whipped cream that gets runny and messy can be off putting – I am including a tip to prevent the whipped cream from separating. According to my source this is what the professionals do.

Here’s How

  1. Soak plain gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes
  2. Dissolve by placing it in a container over a small pot of simmering water
  3. Whip the cream until barely stiff
  4. Add melted gelatin all at once to the cream during whipping

 

Tips

  

  1. Dissolve by placing it in a container over a small pot of simmering water
  2. Whip the cream until barely stiff
  3. Add melted gelatin all at once to the cream during whipping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Honey-glazed pork chops/ Jam cookies

April 13, 2011 in Biscuits, meat

4 Comments »

 

 

 

These two recipes falls under my category of quick and easy.I came across this recipe for the pork chops in the Ideas magazine – it is not only quick and easy – it’s also delicious – well worth trying.

 

Honey-glazed pork chops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

 

 

Ingredients

  • ·       30ml lemon juice
  • ·       60ml honey
  • ·       60ml soy sauce
  • ·       1 clove garlic
  • ·       5ml dried crushed chillies
  • ·       8 pork chops
  • ·       10ml oil
  • ·       baked potatoes and vegetables, to serve

 

Method 

Mix together the lemon juice, honey, soy, garlic and chillies in a shallow dish. Marinate the chops for at least 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan over a high heat.
Add the chops and brown on both sides.
Reduce heat and pour in any remaining marinade and 50ml water.
Simmer for five minutes until cooked through.

 

 

These biscuits are so quick to put together and very moreish – do not last for long.

 

JAM COOKIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

80g soft butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
30ml milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup custard powder
Strawberry jam (about 100g)

 

Heat the oven to 180 Celsius and line 2 baking sheets with grease proof paper  or spray and cook while you prepare the dough.

Place the softened butter and the caster sugar in a bowl and cream together until the mixture is light. You can use an electric beater for this.

Add the milk and vanilla essence, beat with your electric beater on medium to combine well.

Now add the custard powder and flour and mix again into a soft dough.

Take heaped tablespoons of dough, roll them into little balls and place on the baking sheets. Press your thumb or the back of a wooden spoon into the center of each ball to form a small well.

Fill each well with jam and into the oven for 15 minutes or so.

Thats it…remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.

 

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by mitzireddy

RAJEN’S BEEF CURRY

April 11, 2011 in curry, meat

4 Comments »

 

My husband, Rajen, cooked his delicious beef curry last night – I have learnt over the years not to enter the kitchen while he is cooking – so I can remain in blissful ignorance of the unholy mess that he generally creates whilst working in the kitchen. I just enjoy the lovely aromas that waft in from the kitchen and relax knowing that he usually cleans up the mess once he has finished.

He has experimented with this curry over the years using different cuts of meat and spices and now cooks what he calls a genuine “Durban” curry – I have to admit it is really good.

This brings back memories of the time we had just returned from Paris to our daughter’s apartment in London and we had less than 1 hour to get a music concert at the O2 arena in North Greenwich – it was Ne Yo’s “The Year of the Gentleman “ concert – my youngest daughter is a big fan – so there was no way that we were going to miss the concert. We got back from the concert around 4.00am on quite a high buzz and Rajen had cooked his beef curry for us – so there we were, tucking into this curry, at that part of the morning – it was heaven!!!! – makes some good memories.

 

Rajen’s beef curry

 

 

 

  

 500 gr rump steak – diced

3 Tbsp sunflower oil

1 onion – peeled and chopped

1 Tblsp biryani mix spice (not powdered)

1 tsp crushed garlic

2 Tbslp chilli powder (can be adjusted according to taste)

1 tsp salt

3 potatoes – peeled and cut into quarters

1/2cup frozen peas

Fresh coriander

 

Heat the sunflower oil in a pot and add the biryani mix and the chopped onion. Cook until the onion starts to brown – then add the garlic, chilli powder and the meat. Stir until well mixed. Add the salt. Braise the curry for approximately 3-5 minutes – stirring the mixture occasionally to avoid singeing the curry. Add enough hot water to just cover the meat. Put the lid on the pot and lower the heat to medium and cook for approximately 45 minutes until the meat is tender.

Add the potatoes and enough hot water to just cover the potatoes. Cook for approx. 15 minutes and then add the peas. Mix well and simmer until the potatoes are fully cooked.

Garnish with fresh coriander.

Serve with rice and sambals.

 

 

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