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.

Mulled Wine

  

Preparing drinks over Christmas has now become very common and even though most of us spend Christmas with our family, organising drinks sometime before the 25th is a nice way of spending some time with your friends.

With cold winds blowing outside and the temperatures way down the thermometer its always nice to walk into a nice warm house and even nicer to be offered a nice warm drink.  Mulled wine or Gluewien does that perfectly and in addition gives out a lovely spice scent to fill the house and help everyone get into a Christmas mood! 

Even though you can find mulled wine in bottles now a days, this is really a no-brainer. Just choose a bottle of red wine which is not your best wine as the actually taste of the wine will be masked by the spices that you will be adding.

1 bottle red wine

1 whole orange studded with cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

3 tablespoons sugar or artificial sweetener

Start off by making the studded orange.  You can also use a clementine for this or a satsumi.  Wash your citrus and pat it dry with a kitchen towel.  Now take some whole cloves out of your little pot and start pushing them into an orange leave the top parts of the clove jutting out and creating a lovely pattern.  You should be using about 8 to 10 cloves for a normal sized orange - less if the citrus is smaller.  

Now for the mulled wine, place all the above ingredients in a saucepan.  Once emptied - fill up the bottle of wine with water and add it to the saucepan.  Turn the heat on low and stir occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved.  Keep it barely simmering for about 10 minutes.  All you need to do is dissolve the sugar and warm the liquid, it is important that the mixture does not boil since all the alcohol will evaporate.  Pour everything into a punch bowl and ladle into your glasses.

You can also add a tot of Cherry Brandy or Grand Marnier to this recipe to add a little more alcohol.

Merry Christmas!

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.