Going crackers!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine gave me a simple recipe for crackers made with nuts and seeds. The minute I baked them, the crackers vanished, so it seemed only natural to bake them again :)  This time, I added some chopped fresh garlic and sprinkled it over the crackers before baking.  Feel free to top with chilli flakes, chopped fresh rosemary or even dried dill.

Here is what you need to make around 10 large crackers (slightly smaller than a Ryvita)

Before Baking

50g almonds (raw with skin on)

50g sunflower seeds

50g linseeds

50g pumpkin or courgette seeds

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 egg

1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Chop the almonds as finely as you prefer.  I leave mine quite large (around a quarter of an nut). Next chop the pumpkin seeds. Add all the nuts, seeds to a bowl and stir in the egg.  I do not chop the sunflower seeds or the linseeds!

Add the oil a tablespoon at a time, making sure that the mixture is not too liquidy.  The amount of oil you need will depend on the size of the egg you use.

Once your mixture is stirred well, spread it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Using a spatula or the back of a spoon shape it into crackers.  I suggest that the size is not too big as they will easily crumble otherwise.  Also make sure to have a thin layer of mixture as if the cracker is too thick, your cracker you will not have a crunchy bite to them.

Bake at 180C for about 10 to 15 minutes but this really depends on your oven.  A good indication is that the almonds have taken a golden hue.  It is normal to have some "foam" ooze out of the crackers whilst baking. Also note that the crackers will harden on cooling, so don't worry if they are still soft when you take them out of the oven.  

After Baking

Baking in Belgium on Instagram

Nanna Connie's Truffles

Spring is in the air and Easter is around the corner. These are the sort of days when you want to be out and about and definitely not tied up in the kitchen.

This week, even though the weather was warmer outside, my slow cooker made an appearance on the kitchen cupboard.

But this article is not about food, it's about something sweet to help you clear up the cupboards before the Easter eggs and and chocolate bunnies take over.  This recipe is ideal to de-clutter your shelves.

Even though the blog is "Baking in Belgium" these Truffles are the truffles in the old sense of the word and not the Belgian chocolate versions!

Quite easy to make, these truffles could be a weekend project with your little ones.

Start off by melting some butter in a sauce pan. I would use around 30g to 50g depending on the amount of cake / biscuits you have but do not exceed the 50g.

Once the butter has melted, stir in the any pastries you may have,  It is important that these are crumbled very well, alternatively you can use a blender to chop them finely.

When I say pastries, I mean yesterday's pain chocolate or pieces of Panettone, biscuits, chocolates or chocolate bars.

Make sure that they are all crushed or mashed up very well so that there are no large chunks that can be identified.

Once you have stirred them in, add enough milk or tinned milk to make sure they are well soaked.  Don't worry about adding too much milk, that will only mean you will need to cook the mixture for longer. 

Now, time to season! I like adding a few oats to my mixture to make them 'healthier'  You can add a dash or two of Rum if you have an adult audience. 

If you will be serving these to children I suggest some vanilla essence and perhaps some grated orange zest.

Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of cocoa and stir continuously.

Taste the mixture. 

At this point you could also add some candied fruit or some nuts.

Keep on stirring over a low heat until the mixture starts to come away from the sides of your pot. Your stirring will become harder as the mixture 'dries' further.

When you decide that you have cooked it long enough, remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 mins.

Then, using a teaspoon , roll the mixture into small balls and place them in a prepared plate filled with coconut. Roll the ball in the dessicated coconut until the truffle is well coated.

Keep on repeating this until all the mixture is rolled.

Place the coconut balls in the fridge for about 30 minutes then take them out and give them a final roll in your hands to fix their shape.

Once complete, store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, even though mine never last that long!
If you want to make them look a little fancy, place each truffle in a small paper case.

How to make your own sausage rolls in Belgium

If you, like me, think that sausage rolls are a very mundane food that is readily available from every corner shop, then you, like me (and especially my children) will be very shocked when you come to Belgium.

Sausage rolls are essentially British and apart from England and other places, such as Malta which have been influenced by its cuisine they are quite hard to come by!

Finding a Pain Saucisse in a shop is like finding a pot of gold.

The exhilaration goes on for hours and the purchased items are guarded and finished right up to the very last crumb, even if this means ripping the bag and shaking the contents out on the plate or sometimes even the table.

This technique, according to my wee ones, is the best for getting the crumbs tucked away in the little crevices that every paper bag has.

So, if they are so hard to come by, there is no other solution but to do them at home!

There are 2 simple ingredients to making sausage rolls :

1) The puff pastry
2) The sausage meat

In this article I shall be giving the recipe to making your own puff pastry, which woulds hard but in truth is not. It just requires more resting time than your normal short crust.

You can of course, head down to any supermarket and get a packet of pâte feuilletée, that would be puff pastry for you and me!

For the sausage meat, I used the haché préparé which is a mixture of pork and veal minced meat.  


For the puff pastry, I followed the one in my Great British Bake Off Book (the first version)

For the sausage meat, I opted for the Belgian minced meat labelled as Porc et Veau which would be the closest to what we are used to.

To 500g of mince I have added 1 small and finely chopped onion and 4 fresh sage leaves, also finely chopped.

Now the best way to get all these ingredients thoroughly mixed in is by using your hands and sort of 'mash' the mixture together.

If you are a little squeamish and not too keen on mixing mince meat with you hands, then opt for a fork.

To assemble the sausage roll, roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Make sure that your pastry is not too thick. It should be about the thickness of two 50c coins placed on top of each other.

Next place the minced meat along the bottom most part of the width of your rolled out pastry.

Roll the pastry around it making sure to leave just a slight overlap which will seal your roll.

Cut off the excess pastry and stack it neatly one piece on top of the other so that you may use it again. 

If you roll up the un-used pastry in a ball then you will loose they layers the next time you bake it! Pity really.

So, once you are ready to seal the pastry, brush the end with a little egg-wash. Egg wash is simply 1 egg which has been beaten with a fork!

Place the sausage roll on a baking tray lined with baking paper. It is best to using the baking paper even in the case of a non-stick baking tray as the meat is quite fatty and some of that fat wi most certainly ooze out.

Can an obviously decide make smaller rolls for parties or as a packed lunch so feel free to cut your roll before place it on the baking sheet so as not to damage your equipment.

Once your sausage rolls are ready to bake, your make make little incisions on the top to make them pretty and to allow your pastry to puff up nicely.

Last step is to brush the top of the pastry with the egg-wash. 

Now bake your rolls in a preheated oven at 160C for a convection oven.

Before placing your tray in the oven however, make sure that the oven has actually reached the required temperature. 

You may use an oven thermometer which would sit in the oven and mark the exact temperature or you may use the gauge in your oven. 

If you have an electric oven, you should have a little red light that will go off once the desired temperature is reached.  Even though every oven is different, is should take around 15 - 20 minutes for your oven to reach this temperature.

Your sausage rolls are ready to take out of the oven once they are nice and golden!

These roll cans be frozen and re-heated in the oven from frozen.

If you intend to make a batch and freeze it, I suggest that you bake them till they are a pale gold colour.

Once you re-heat and hence re-bake them you will have a little bit more leeway on the baking time.

Savory Broccoli Cake

Broccoli might not be everyone's favourite veggie but here is an easy way you can add them to your diet. 
This recipe was passed on by a friend of mine and I must admit that it is truely yummy and super quick! Took me less than 1 hour from start to finish (as in baked!)

 

So here is what you will need:

250 gr self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

8-10 small broccoli florets or about half a large head
1 small spring onion
4 eggs

75 ml olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheese such as Gruyere

 

 

Before you start the preparation, pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Place the flour, baking powder, spring onion and the raw broccoli florets in the blender and whizz for about 30 seconds until the broccoli is chopped into small pieces.

Now, measure the oil and crack the 4 eggs into the same container.
Add the liquid to the flour and whizz again.
Finally season with salt, pepper or some herbs such as thyme.

The mixture should resemble that of a stodgy cake mixture and should not be as flowing as cake batter would usually be. 
Place the batter into your prepared cake tin or loaf tin.
I used a 1.5L loaf tin.

Sprinkle the top with some grated Gruyere and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

.....and there you have it!

You might also want to add about 100g of lardon or bacon bits to the mixture before baking.
If you do this, then I suggest you stir them in by hand as the blender would chop them too finely.

 

GIANT Cupcake it is

My little princess is turning 10 and had her school birthday party this weekend.


Here's the final version......

and this is how is was made!

After making my madeira cake, I divided the batter into 4 bowls.  I added more mixture to each new bowl, so it had more than the previous one.  Dividing the mixture equally would not have given the desired effect as below.

I just wanted to make the topping of the cupcake a rainbow cake so the tip (the cherry on the cake) needed less batter than the next layer and that layer needed less than the layer after it and so forth till the cake was complete.








and once the cake was cut, the surprise was revealed!

 

If you need a recipe for a simple madeira, find me on twitter! 

It's chocolate week chez-nous!

So my chocoholic daughter is off on a school trip and as part of her luggage will contain a few snacks, she has specially requested a chocolate selection of midnight snacks!

Anything would do really; chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits as long as it is of course CHOCOLATE! But then we settled on chocolate chip cookies and some truffles.

If you need some chocolate inspirations, here are some of mine:

Chocolate orange fudge cake - http://concitademicoli.blogspot.be/2009/04/chocolate-orange-fudge-cake.html 

Banana choc-chip ice-cream - http://concitademicoli.blogspot.be/2008/04/banana-chocolate-chip-ice-cream.html 

Pasteis de nata

Having spent a good amount of time chatting to a foodie who happens to be Portugese, I became intrigued with the Portugese custard tarts or as they are referred to locally " Pasteis de nata"

The original recipe for these delicious little tarts is guarded by few and in most cases taken to their grave. So I cannot really claim to have the original recipe!

Having said that I think I came quite close to the original version. My first attempt was based on a Portuguese recipe. Luckily I know enough Italian to be able to comprehend! Must confess that the custard needed to be cooled further before pouring over the pastry. Having said that, the judges (or guinea pigs, depending on how you look at it) were very pleased with the result.

And another confession is

1- I made a giant Pasteis (9 inches) instead of tiny ones
2- I used ready made puff but worked it a little extra.

I shall try and post the recipe shortly.

Is making bread the new black?

I love the expression "the new black". Admittedly is it mostly (and should be) used for colours, nevertheless I like to sprinkle it into different contexts and seeing people's reaction!

So is making bread the latest in thing?

I must admit that I am a big fan of home made bread. The scent of freshly baked bread around the house really turns the house into a home. But what if you have no time to make it? What if you work 9 to 5 and cannot be bothered with this sort of "waste of time".

Well my answer to that, my dear sir (or madam) is to plan it as a weekend project.

If this is your first or your umpteenth attempt at making bread, you need to know or you already know that this is not to be rushed!

This week I finally got down to making my own starter, i.e. my own natural yeast which takes a number of days before it can be used. And here is my little baby. I called her Do-do or dough-dough!

Easter week

So finally seems like we're having some sunshine in Belgium and I am certainly NOT complaining! Easter is synonymous with everything yellow, orange and green and that means green grass and a nice bright sun shining over it!

Here are some inspirations to help you though this gluttonous week.

Ruth from the Pink Whisk shows us how to make beautiful little chocolate eggs. Her step-by-step instructions with matching pictures are just perfect!

Paul Hollywood was on the BBC yesterday and made some Portuguese inspired chocolate custard tarts.

and here is the recipe for the Maltese Figolli. Almond filled pastries that are a must in Malta!

I wish you all a peacful Easter, Pâques, Pascqua, Ghid!

Breakfast Muffins

With the cold weather fast approaching I am trying to give my girls a warm breakfast before they head out for the day.  Last week it was nut filled rolls, the week before it was oregano flatbreads and this week it will be savoury muffins.

I must admit that the rolls and the flat bread were easy to warm up as I would toast them literally whilst they were putting on their shoes.

Still haven't decided whether I should toast the muffins, microwave them or leave them simply at room temperature.

Having 2 girls, I try and bake in even number so there are no arguments on who will be gobbling up the last one and I managed quite well with this batch as I made 16. Here is what you will need:


For the basic Muffin recipe 
250g Wholemeal flour
150g Plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
100 ml sunflower seed oil
2 eggs
250 ml buttermilk*

Veggies

1 small tin of sweetcorn (rinsed and drained)

1 handful of shredded carrots

3 frozen squares of spinach leaves (defrosted)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

100g sunflower seeds or sesame seeds or poppy seeds

You can really choose any veggies that you fancy but these are usually readily available and hence my choice. No need for mixers!

Place your basic recipe ingredients together in a bowl. Stick to the above order and mix well, using a wooden spoon or a knife after every addition. Next add the vegetables. You can substitute any vegetables you wish. you may want to add chickpeas or beans instead of the sweetcorn. It is really up to you and what you fancy!

Once all the ingredients have been properly mixed through, you should have a soft, smooth mixture that just falls back down when scooped up. If this is what you have then carry on, if not you will need to check your ingredients.

Scoop the mixture into a 12 deep hole muffin tin, sprinkle your seeds on top and bake at 170C for about 15minutes.

*Buttermilk is a sour milk-like dairy product. If you cannot find it then dilute natural yoghurt with enough milk to turn it into a drink. It should have the consistency of runny cream.

Chistmas Cakes

Ok, so for some Summer is still up and running, for others it's been tucked away and neatly folded for another couple of months!

September is always the right time to start thinking about Christmas; Christmas meals, holidays, presents and of course the baking.  For those of you who have been following The Great British Bake Off, i'm sure you are already geared up with what to bake and how to present it, for the others who need a nudge or a little inspiration, here are some ideas from Ruth, #GBBO contestant from the 1st series ThePinkWhisk

And of course, here is the link to my Christmas section on this blog.

Enjoy your cinnamon scents and smells.....
Concita!

New ....2011

Starting the new year must mean new things.

Lots of new things happening this week (or since the beginning of 2011) First was my new start date.... ever changing and ever being pushed back. But I sort of got used to it now... might be surprised when I actually walk through the door!

On the internet side, I just discovered the new Google Reader and it's absolutely great if you, like me follow a few blogs.  You get the latest blog or website posts on one page and you can scroll down and choose which to read further.  All you will need to do is to "follow" or "subscribe" to the blog or site and all your pages will be displayed on your reader front page.

  

There was an interesting post on one of the blogs about Tiramisu which I must admit I have become a big fan of! Always liked the dessert but now (possibly due to an older age stated on my new ID card) I look for a hit of coffee in my sweets.

Another new gastro discovery this week was a chocolate truffle filled with pepper - absolutely divine.  Even though I didn't know what I was eating at the time, the pepper just hits the sides of your mouth and turns a tiny truffle into a new experience.

Lomo - Spanish cold cut is yet another new discovery.  There is a tiny market which sets up round the corner from my house which is now catering for it's new Spanish customers and this lomo is one of the new items on sale.  Delicious and very low in fat, fit in perfectly with my spread of parma (specially dedicated to my foodie friend) and cooked hams.

But if you are reading this post for the recipe, click here for my Healthy Options if you are trying to curb the fats and move onto healthier meals.  If you have decided that detox or January healthy eating is a thing of the past, why not try this super easy tea-time snack.

Here are my baked doughnuts.  They are delicious once filled with jam or nutella but sadly they will not keep for the following day.  If you do have any left-overs, I suggest that you heat it in the micro-wave for about 15 seconds until they are softened slightly.

Here is what you need:
500g plain flour preferably 00
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp sunflower oil
300ml warm milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
11g dried yeast

Place the sifted flour and sugar in a large bowl and stir using a knife.  Next add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast into the other corner of the bowl.  In another bowl, place the warm milk and stir in the vanilla, oil and egg.

Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and using the knife once again stir into a dough.

Leave the dough in the bowl and allow it to rise for about 1 hour until it has doubled in size.  Once the hour is up, topple the dough over a floured surface and shape into tiny balls and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Next turn on the oven on to 200C and give the doughnuts another 30 minutes to settle into their shapes.

Once you are ready to bake, pop the tray into the oven and turn the heat down to 180C.  Bake the doughnuts until they are a pale golden brown.

Take the doughnuts out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 10minutes before filling.  To fill your doughnuts with jam or nutella, fill a piping bag with your choice and using the nozzle to pierce into the doughnut squeeze your sauce into the doughnut until the piping bags starts coming off the doughnut.  This means that the doughnut is filled enough in the centre.

Serve immediately.

Crème Caramel

With all the rich food we serve over Christmas here is a lighter ending to your meals.  Fresh Crème Caramel is can be prepared in advance and then baked at the last minute. 

 And since most of you will have your ovens on, this dessert is idea as it can be baked minutes before serving and served warm. 

Here is what you need to serve 6

500ml milk

4 eggs

50g sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Warm the milk in a pan until warm but not boiling.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale.  This mixture should have increased in volume too.  Now add the vanilla essence and once the milk is warm pour the eggs into the milk.

In the meantime, you can place a little sugar (about 50g) in a pot and, without stirring, allow the sugar to melt over a low heat.  Now add 2 tablespoons of water just before the sugar turns a dark brown and remove from the heat.  This will be your caramel which is placed over the inverted moulds or usually at the bottom of the moulds before baking. 

Place about 1 teaspoon of the melted sugar into the 6 cups or small oven-proof bowls and top it up with the milk and egg mixture.  You should place enough sugar to cover the base of each mould.  

Now place the moulds in an deep oven dish and fill the dish  with approximately 2cm of water.  The amount of water depends on how deep your moulds are but the water should reach just about half-way up the moulds and not more than that.

Bake the creme caramel in a pre-heated oven at 160C for about 30 minutes until the caramel feels firm when tapped gently with your fingers.  

This dessert is delicious when served warm but can also be stored in the fridge and serve as a cold dessert.

This recipe has been previously published in the Eating & Drinking Magazine, out with The Times of Malta.

Bread Ring

There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread to fill the house!  Even though this seems like a daunting task, bread is actually very easy to make at home; your only consideration is allowing enough time for the dough to prove.  

I suggest that you try this recipe out if you can bake the bread in 2 hours.  If you are still unsure about the timings, try it out in the weekend.  Best not to start your bread after a days work at 8pm!

Other than calculating the right time, there is really nothing else.

I like to make the dough using my Kenwood with the hook attachment in place.  Of course any other food processor will do. always follow the intruction manual to see which attachment would be best

Here is what you will need to make this delicious and yet extremely easy bread ring.

500g flour - I suggest you try and find strong flour, alternatively you can use normal plain flour NOT self-raising.

50g butter or margarine

1 packet (11g) yeast

1 tablespoon salt - I prefer using rock salt

300 ml luke-warm water

Place all the ingredients in your  mixer bowl and give it a stir on low speed.  With the engine running and even if the margarine is still in 1 whole block, add the water gradually until you have added all of it.

Turn the engine to full speed and mix until a dough is formed and moves easily around the mixing bowl.  Mix for a few more seconds then stop the engine.

Prepare your work surface by pouring about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and using your hands spread is slightly so that it covers a diameter of about 20cm.

Now place the dough on your work surface and knead it with your hands for about 5 mins.  You can also bring little hands out at this point to help you knead as you cannot really ruin the dough.  Just make sure to give it the last knead yourself and shape it into the smallest ball you can.

Now place the ball of dough back into the bowl and let it rest for about 1hr.

Once your 1 hour is up, remove it from the bowl and knead it into a ball yet again. Now roll it out into a long roll. If you think the roll looks too big don't worry.  Bring the ends of the roll together to form a ring. Allow the ring to rise one last time for about 45 to 60 minutes then bake in a pre-heated oven at 225C. Once the bread is in, lower the temperature to just under 200C.

Your bread should be ready and golden in about 20 minutes. If you prefer a darker loaf, then leave it in for another 5 to 10 minutes.  The best test to check whether your bread is nicely done on the inside is to tap the bottom of the bread.  If it sounds hollow, then the bread will be good.

Allow the bread to rest for about 15 minutes before you eat it as this will cool the bread slightly making the inside nice and light but still allowing you to eat a warm loaf.

Qaghaq tal-hmira

Qaghaq tal-hmira are Maltese tea treats. The name translates into yeast rings; these rings are delicious brioche-type rings topped with sesame seeds and baked for not more than 15 minutes. The longest part of the preparation is the resting time.

Even though we are used to eating these rings in the colder months with some tea or coffee, try making these rings for a day at the beach and they will be devoured in no time!

Here is what you need to make approximately 20 rings of about 7 cm in diameter.

500g plain flour

200g caster sugar

200g butter

11g  dried yeast

½ tsp aniseed

½ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp vanilla powder

Grated zest of 1 lemon lemon

180ml luke warm water
1 egg

Sesame Seeds

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and add the lemon zest. Using your hands, rub in the butter until you have a sandy mixture. You can use a mixer with a dough hook for this.

Next add the water a little at a time to form a dough and knead it for about 10 mins. Allow the dough to rest in a warm place for about 1 to 2 hours or even overnight.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a floured surface. Next cut small pieces of pastry and roll them round to form a long pipe. Twist the pipe around to form a ring and place it on your baking dish. Once all the rings have been formed, allow them to rest for another hour. Do not worry if the rings puff up and touch each other.

Now brush the top with eggwash (1 egg beaten with a fork) and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for not more than 15 minutes. The rings should be browned on top but still soft when you touch them.

These rings are best served warm but will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.

Cherry Almond Cake

I couldn't resist making a cherry cake once I saw the delicious and plump cherries at M&S. these are completely different to the candied cherries we are used to. And the most apparent difference is the colouring!

To make this tea-time cherry cake you will need –

300g unsalted butter

400g sugar

4 eggs

300g self-raising flour

150g pure ground almonds

200g M&S Morello Cherries

Start off by beating the butter and the sugar together until the butter turns pale and creamy. Next add the eggs one at a time beating well after every addition. Now in a separate bowl sift the flour and add the almonds and stir using a spoon to incorporate the two well.

Add the flour slowly into the egg, butter mixture leaving about a third behind. Now switch the beater off and add the cherries into the remaining almond flour mixture. Stir slowly using a wooden spoon to coat the cherries with flour without breaking them.

Add the coated cherries and remaining flour into the cake mixture and stir gently using the same wooden spoon.

Pour the cake mixture into a 9inch non-stick cake pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160C for about 30 minutes.

The pie that made it safely till Saturday

So, what to make that can serve you more than 1 portion without having to prepare anything again.... a pie of course!..  Ricotta Pie is one of my favorite pies but the one I made this week has a little twist to the original recipe.  Firstly the pastry is made with wholemeal flour and secondly I added on "gbejniet" to the ricotta.

Here is what I did:

Place 250g Margarine into your electric mixer and add 1 tsp of salt and 400g wholemeal flour. Sift in 200g plain flour and set the motor running.  Once the margarine is totally incorporated into the flour and you have a nice sandy mixture, keep the motor on and add enough water at room temperature to form a soft dough.  If you want to make this pastry extra cheesy, grate in some cheddar into the flour mixture before adding the water.

Now take out the dough and place it on a floured surface.  

Roll out two thirds of the pastry and line the bottom of your baking dish.

Place 1.5kg ricotta into your electric mixer, add 2 eggs, some chopped fresh parsley and about 1 tablespoon of grated cheese.  Mix these ingredients slowly making sure that the eggs are well mixed in.

Spread the ricotta filling in the baking dish covered with  the dough and set aside. Now slice about 4 to 5 fresh gbejniet and place them over the ricotta filling.

Roll out the remaining dough and cover the pie completely.  Brush the top of the pie with some water and lastly sprinkle some sesame seeds.  

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C (electric fan oven) for about 25 - 30 minutes until the pastry has risen and turned golden.

Ricotta pie can be served straight out of the oven with some side salad or veggies or packed for picnics or as a lunch pack!

No fuss food

Over the past weeks I've had to adapt my recipes at home. Portions are smaller and the food preparation is more on the spare-of-the-moment, rather than a planned meal!

Yesterday I had some chicken breast which had been defrosting and was not in the mood of grilling the chicken then cooking some vegetables or some salad, so I opted for a 1 "pot" meal.

So here is what I used -

1 chicken breast - Fresh or simply defrosted
2 medium onions
4 new potatoes - or you can use 2 medium sized potatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 lemon, grated
1/2 tangerine, grated. - if these are not in season, you can substitute with an orange
1 cup of water

At this point, put your oven on and set it at 160C

Place the peeled, sliced onions at the bottom of a non-stick oven dish.  Next wash the potatoes and slice them. I like to keep the skin on, but if you prefer you can peel the potatoes before slicing them.  

Next place the chicken breast over the potatoes. You can cut the breast into portions - you should be able to get 4 portions out of each whole breast, or you can leave it whole.

Finally season the chicken with the herbs and the lemon and tangerine zest. you can also add some fresh pepper if you prefer. Pour the water into the roasting dish, try and find a corner where there is no chicken to pour your water so that you do not remove any of the dressing. Cover the pan tightly with some baking paper or some foil and cook in a pre-heated oven at 160C for about 20 minutes.

Baked Curry

I was looking for something easy to prepare with a packet of 500g minced beef. I wanted something simple to prepare and yet delicious; something that is low in fat, low in Glycemic index and at the same time something warming for these cold winter days.

As I searched through my stash of recipes I came across a curry recipe there was no turning back. A little tweak here and there and this is the end result.

As I write this article I'm sampling it and I can assure you that if you love curry and have little time to cook your mid-week supper, then this dish is for you. Here is what you need to make enough for 2 to 3 or to make a dish for 1 which you can eat over 2 days.

500g minced beef

1 large onion – finely chopped

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons curry paste – medium

2 tablespoons of mango chutney

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon mustard powder

Fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon rock salt

½ cup sultanas

1 cup oats

2 eggs

1 cup milk

4 beef tomatoes - sliced

Cook the onion and the garlic in a pot and once they start to soften, add the minced beef. Make sure to mix the mince whilst it's cooking so that it will not clump up.

Now add the curry paste and cook for about 2 minutes before adding the mango chutney and the dried herbs and spices.

Lastly add the sultanas and remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the oats and place the mixture into a baking dish about 20cm x 15cm. Arrange the cut tomato slices over the mixture.

Now in a separate bowl, mix the milk and the eggs together and pour the mixture over the tomatoes.

You can bake it at this point or else you can allow it to rest for about 1 hour and bake later.

Once you are ready to bake, preheat your ovens to 160C and bake until the top custard has hardened and is nice a golden.

Gorgonzola & Pear Canapé

Start off your Christmas meal with something different this year. Pears are in season and i managed to find some nice firm ones which were still sweet on the inside. Mixing pears with blue cheese is aperfect combination as the freshness of the pears will clean your palate from the rich blue cheese flavour.

You can buy some vol-au-vent cases for this recipe or simply use puff-pastry. Some brands of puff pastry are also sold ready rolled out, so all you have to do is cut the circles and bake!

200g puff pastry

200g gorgonzola

2 fresh large pears

1 tablespoon honey

To make the pastry base, just roll the pastry out and cut into neat squares or circles. Make sure to keep the sizes of your pastry base small as these canapé need to be held comfortably in one hand whilst holding your drink with the other.

Once the pastry is cut, place it on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 160C.

Whilst the pastry is still warm, place a small piece of gorgonzola cheese on top, about the size of a teaspoon. Drizzle a bit of the honey and then top with thin slices of pears.

These canapé can be served warm or cold.

This article has been previously published in the Best Buy Supplement, out monthly with The Times.