Hard at work now putting the final touches onto the manuscript of my cookbook. I am getting really excited about its impending publish. It won't be long now.
It has taken a bit longer than originally thought. I don't think my Editor thought I could do or would do as much as I did so it's going to be quite a large book, but having seen the draft, I can tell you now it is also going to be a beautiful book and I am feeling really good about it!
These last few days have been taken up with fixing little bits here and there, going over the manuscript with a fine tooth comb.
With over 800 pages you can imagine the time involved in that. Its well worth it though because I really want it to be a book you will be happy to make a part of your valuable cookery book library!
I have also re-done some photographs of some of the recipes in the book and I thought I would give you a tiny sneak peak here today of what you have to look forward to.
Peppermint brownies. Just one of the several hundred recipes you are going to find in the book! Let me tell you now, the index alone is 8 pages, double columned. That's a LOT of deliciousness to look forward to!
And this recipe is just a sample of what is in there. They are dense and moist . . . and have a beautiful peppermint flavour.
Mint and chocolate go so well together! It is a flavour combination made in heaven.
You could almost cut these into tiny squares and serve them with coffee after a dinner party as an extra special treat! They are so good.
I think they are just about my favourite kind of brownie. They are also an excellent addition to a Holiday Baking Tray.
There is a double whammy of peppermint flavour in the batter. One form comes from peppermint tea that you blitz with the sugar.
The second peppermint blast comes from the use of peppermint extract. Soooo good!
They have a sweet and glistening chocolate ganache topping. This is decorated with a melted white chocolate drizzle that you run a toothpick through to give it an extra pretty finish.
These are some of my favourite brownies ever, which is saying a lot, and so very pretty!
*Peppermint Brownies*
Makes about 30, depending on how large you cut them
Delicious brownies that get even better tasting after a couple of days! Fantastic!
225g unsalted butter (1 cup)
225g of good quality unsweetened chocolate (8 ounces)
2 tsp peppermint tea leaves
383g caster sugar (2 cups)
4 large free range eggs
2 tsp peppermint essence
pinch fine seasalt
140g plain flour (1 cup)
For the chocolate glaze:
60g unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
60g good quality unsweetened chocolate (2 ounces)
60g semi sweet chocolate (2 ounces)
2 TBS golden syrup (can use corn syrup)
For the White chocolate trim:
60g white chocolate (2 ounces)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking tin and line with parchment paper, allowing it to overhang by at least 2 inches above the long sides so that you can lift them out easily once baked and cooled. Butter the parchment paper.
Heat 2 inch of water in a small pot to a gentle simmer. Place the chocolate (chopped) and butter (chopped) for the brownies into a heat proof bowl. Set over the simmering water without allowing the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Cook and stir, until the butter and chocolate have melted and are uniform, some 6 to 7 minutes. Turn off the heat, but leave the bowl over the water.
Place the sugar and the peppermint tea in a food processor. Blitz until the tea is finely ground. Stir this mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then stir in the peppermint essence and salt. Sift the flour over top and then fold it in. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bang lightly on the counter to settle and then bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until well set and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Allow to cool to room temperature in the pan, on top of a wire rack, before proceeding. Once cool, lift out by the paper handles and peel off the paper. Place onto a foil lined board, or tray.
To make the glaze bring the water in the pot back to a gentle simmer. Place both of the chocolates (chopped) along with the butter (chopped) into a bowl and set over the simmering water, again without allowing the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Cook and stir until smooth and melted. Stir in the golden syrup. Spread the chocolate glaze over the brownies in an even layer using an offset spatula.
Place the whit chocolate in another bowl and set over the simmering water, stirring until completely melted. Drizzle the melted white chocolate over top of the chocolate glaze in lines. Run a toothpick the opposite way through the white chocolate lines to make a decorative pattern. Allow to set for several hours before cutting into squares to serve. Keep well covered and serve at room temperature.
These delicious brownies really make for a delicious change from the regular variety. Its nice to note as well that you can also cut the recipe in half, and bake them in an 8 inch square pan, which is just the right size for my small household. Bon appetit!
I adore Lasagne. I know you must get tired of me saying that I adore things, but what can I say? I put my hand up! I am a foodie through and through and I like and adore lots of things!
Lasagne wasn't something I ever tasted when I was growing up. It just did not exist in my world. Spaghetti served with tinned Catelli meat Sauce was as "Italian" as my mother got!
My ex Sister in Law Linda made fabulous Lasagne. It was just wonderful and had a delicious filling of cottage cheese. It was made very much in the North American way, which had layers of meat sauce, cheese, and cottage cheese with a final topping of the meat sauce and some mozzarella. Not cheap to make by any stretch, but very delicious.
When I moved over here I got to experience a more authentically Italian type of lasagne . . . one layered with sauce (meat or otherwise), cheese and a rich bechamel sauce. Seriously tasty.
This vesion here today is a totally vegetarian version, consisting of a delicious tomato sauce, a rich bechamel, all layered with thawed frozen leaf spinach and cheese. Do make sure you squeeze as much water from the spinach as you can so you don't water down your lasagne.
I call it Italian Flag Lasagne because it contains all the colours of the Italian Flag. White, red and green! The tomato sauce is a simple one. Use a good Italian tomato for the best flavour. There is no meat in this sauce, so you want to use a tomato that will really shine!
I also like to use full fat milk for the bechamel. It adds a special depth of richness and flavour. This is lasagne and its supposed to be a treat. You can use whatever cheese you want, but I always use Parmesan and Mozzarella, and today I added feta and some sharp cheddar. The feta because it needed using up and the cheddar for the flavour. I find while it has great melting properties, Mozzarella doesn't really have much flavour. But that's just me. You may think something entirely different!
*Italian Flag Lasagne*
Serves 6 to 8
Serves 6 to 8
This is simple, uncomplicated, straightforward and delicious. A delicious tomato sauce, with some great cheese, spinach, lasagna sheets and a good bechamel.
For the Tomato Sauce:
2 TBS good quality olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed slightly
3 14-oz tins of chopped tomatoes in their own juice
(I like to use a good Italian brand)
about a dozen or so torn basil leaves
salt and black pepper to taste
For the Bechamel:
125g butter (1/2 cup)
85g plain flour (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS)
2 pints of whole milk, warmed (5 cups)
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper to taste
Also:
12 ounces of fresh lasagne sheets
85g freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (3 ounces)
170g grated mozarella or a mixture of mozarella, cheddar, fontina, etc. (6 ounces)
(In other words which cheese you are in the mood to eat, or what you have on hand)
butter to dot or additional Parmesan to sprinkle (optional)
For the sauce, place the oil in a saucepan and heat it til fairly warm. Add the garlic and cook until it becomes quite fragrant. Add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or so until it resembled a sauce. Add the basil and 1 cup of hot water towards the end of the cooking time. Puree until smooth with a stick blender, or very carefully in a regular blender. (You can either leave the garlic in, or remove it as you wish.) Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and some pepper if required.
To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the flour. Cook for several minutes over low heat and then slowly whisk in the warm milk. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens and is smooth. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or so on low heat, until you have a very thick and smooth sauce. Set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep 8 1/2 by 12 inch baking dish. Drizzle the bottom with some of the bechamel. Put a slightly overlapping layer of the lasagne sheets over the bechamel. Dollop with some of the tomato sauce, spreading it out. Dollop another two hefty spoonfuls of bechamel over top and then a layer of the cheeses. Add a layer of the spinach. Add another layer of lasagne, and then repeat with the tomato, bechamel, cheese and spinach as before, and then again, repeating the layers one more time, finishing with a final layer of lasagne and a few tablespoons of tomato sauce and a good portion of bechamel. You can sprinkle with some additional parmesan cheese if you desire, or dot with some butter. Place in the heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is bubbling and golden brown on top. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
A little more work than you want to put in for a weeknight supper, this is the perfect weekend or entertaining dish! Add a salad and some crusty bread and you have a meal fit for a King! Buon Appetito!!!
I have oftimes toyed with the idea of becoming a Vegetarian. I could quite happily live on nothing but grains, fruit, legumes and veg with the exception of one thing . . . a good steak. I would dearly miss having a good steak. A perfectly cooked steak is one of my many weaknesses!
I used to love to go to places like the Ponderosa and Bonanza steak houses back home, where you could get a steak perfectly cooked to your preference (mine is medium rare) along with your desired accompaniments. I would always have a baked potato, as well as mushrooms and onions. It was always really good. They knew how to cook steak.
Worst steak I have ever eaten was from a place called Buffalo Grill in France. It is a chain of restaurants and Todd and I both had gastroenteritis the morning after, with the thing being in common that we had both had steaks for dinner there the night before. Both medium rare. Or at least they were supposed to be.
They were so rare that they practically mooed when you stuck a fork in them. We ate them because we don't like to complain in restaurants and they were expensive. I also have never trusted that the chef won't spit on my steak if I complain and return something, and so I just err on the side of caution and shut up and eat it.
This steak here today is perfectly pan grilled to medium rare, especially if you follow my directions and use a steak which is the exact thickness that I have described. Nothing fancy needed, just salt and black pepper. And a nice hot pan.
This simple parsley chimichurri sauce is beautiful So simple to make as well. Just blitz the ingredients in a food processor and Bob's your uncle. Fresh parsley, vinegar, olive oil, red onion, seasonings and crushed chili flakes. Beautiful. I have a mini food processor which in all honesty I use far more often than I do the large one. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting one. You will never regret it.
The chips are begun in the microwave which makes fast work of them, and then they are finished off in the pan juices from where you grilled your steak, which adds flavour and colour to them. Easy peasy.
Just look at that beautifully cooked piece of meat, golden brown and juicy . . . with that lovely sauce napped over the top of it . . . the colours and flavours are quite simply fabulous!
You really can't go wrong. This sauce also goes very well with grilled chicken or fish. It's herby and earthy from the parsley and slightly tart (I use Sherry Vinegar, but you could use a good red wine vinegar) . . . with just a hint of heat from the chili flakes.
This is an instance where you will want to use a good extra virgin
olive oil. I used a Spanish one that I have in my larder with a
beautiful flavour. You cannot beat the olive oil of the Iberian peninsula. It's great. Greek, Spanish . . . both lovely.
Altogether this steak (small thick rib eyes) combined with the sauce and chips make for a beautiful supper. All you need is perhaps a salad on the side. I call this dinner . . . . the epitomy of perfection!!
*Steakhouse Steak and Chips*
Serves 4
To
make the sauce, blitz everything together in a small food processor
until well combined and finely chopped. Set aside until you need it.
Look at those beautiful chips with all of that lovely colour and smattering of meat juices. Oh boy, some good eating those are . . . some good. I hope you will give this a go! Perhaps this weekend. Bon Appetit!
Its hard to believe that August is already here and our salad days will soon be winding down and we will be moving into a type of autumnal/harvest kind of cooking!
I want to wave a magic "time-stand-still" wand over August and keep it with us for much, much longer than it usually stays. Why is summer always so slow to arrive and in such a hurry to leave!!
I love Iceberg Lettuce. It has such a lovely benign flavour . . . not too sharp, not bitter . . . just right. I am afraid it gets a bad rap these days.
There are so many other lettuces available with prettier rufflier dresses, more colourful and flavourful to be sure. Don't ever underestimate the appeal of Iceberg Lettuce however . . .
Its crisp and never limp. It has a beautiful crunch and mild flavour, and it never, ever wilts under pressure!
It can stand up to the most robust of flavours and ingredients very well, thank you very much!
It is the lettuce of my childhood. We never ever had anything else, except for maybe leaf lettuce from the garden . . . and to this day iceberg lettuce is the only lettuce my mother will eat.
She totally eschews any other kind. That is just one of my mother's best qualities. She is loyal to the core . . . to political parties, to grocery shops, to hair dressers, to cars . . . and yes, to lettuce. God bless you mom. We love you.
Seriously though, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING on the planet that can compare to the beauty, flavour and crunch of a salad made with iceberg lettuce, especially when presented with and served with the most perfect accompaniments.
That's one of the beauties of iceberg lettuce. It never minds sharing the plate with a willing dance partner, and it goes very well with lots of other flavours. It is like the chicken breast of the lettuce world. It makes a beautiful canvas.
In this instance I have cut the lettuce crosswise horizontally . . . into half inch "steaks." Yes, you will need a knife and a fork to eat it, but just wait, it gets even better.
The "steaks" are drizzled with a beautiful creamy herb buttermilk
dressing . . . with just enough flavour to really bring out the best of
that crisp and crunchy iceberg lettuce . . .
There is a sprinkling of finely julienned radish for some heat and colour, a bit of mustard cress for a bit more colour and flavour, and then . . . finally . . . instead of croutons . . . some toasted salt and pepper pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped.
This is a salad I would be happy serving to my lady friends for lunch, and I guarantee they would all be pleased as punch with it. This is a salad that would have been quite at home at the Manor for one of Madam's luncheons.
*Creamy Herb Dressed Lettuce Steaks*
Serves 4
A very attractive salad with a lovely herbed dressing. Pretty enough for a ladies lunch.
1/4 tsp garlic powder
few dashes hot pepper sauce 
Finely chop the dill leaves, flat leaf parsley, and thyme
leaves. Set aside with the chives. Whisk together the vinegar, sugar,
buttermilk, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, garlic powder and hot pepper
sauce. Stir in the herbs. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
Note - a bit of grated cheese is also nice scattered over top, or blue cheese crumbles.
You could also grated a bit of cheese on top if you wanted. Blue cheese crumbles would be nice, or a bit of sharp cheddar, maybe even some Parmesan shavings, but try not to mess with it too much.
This is beautiful just as it is. Bon appetit!
I confess, I have had a love affair with Mexican food and flavours for a very long time. My sister introduced me to nachos one time when we were visiting her. I had never tasted anything Mexican before. She layered tortilla chips onto baking sheets and topped them with oodles of cheese, and peppers, spring onions, jalapenos, olives, etc. before baking them in the oven. It was love at first bite!
Ever since then I have totally embraced Mexican flavours . . . tacos,
nachos, enchiladas, etc. I just love them all. Most people will do a turkey curry or pot pie after
Christmas, and I do that sometimes too, but more often than not I will make turkey enchiladas. Its a family
tradition that we love and embrace down through the generations.
I remember one time I had made a huge batch of Turkey Enchiladas and froze a pan of them for supper at a future date. My oldest boy had a friend to stay overnight, and I found the empty pan under the sofa bed the next morning. They had indulged in them as a midnight snack, and I dare say they ate them frozen. Yes, they are that good. But I digress . . .
Another thing we really like in this house are Quesadillas. They make for great appetisers, snacks and light lunches.
Essentially they are tortillas that are filled with whatever is going, folded over and then grilled or baked to heat up the insides and crisp up the tortillas. You cut them into wedges to serve and usually serve them with a dip of some sort.
Quesadillas are a great way to use up bits and bobs of things you have that, on their own, are not really enough to feed a family, but when you throw them all together, and then pop them into a quesadilla, well . . . you have something really tasty
I had some leftover chicken from the weekend, but it wasn't enough to really feed both of us as a meal, it was only one grilled chicken breast. I put my thinking cap on and came up with these.
We both really love Artichoke Dip, and we both love Quesadillas and so I combined the two loves and came up with these easy, tasty bites of deliciousness! I chopped the chicken up and combined it with chopped tomatoes, spring onions, marinated artichokes and lime juice.
I layered this mixture on some corn and flour soft tortillas that I had spread first with some herbed garlic cream cheese. The cream cheese held everything in place, I sprinkled some pepper jack on top, folded the tortillas over and then baked them in a hot oven, until the cheese melted all scrummy yummy and everything was piping hot! Alternately you could fry them in a skillet, lightly brushed with oil.
*Artichoke Chicken Quesadillas*
Makes 16 wedges
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Butter a baking sheet. Set aside.
Spread the herbed cream cheese evenly onto each tortilla, almost to the edges. Mix together the chopped chicken, lime juice, salt, tomato, spring onion and chopped artichokes to combine well. Spread this onto half of each tortilla over the cream cheese. Sprinkle an equal amount of pepper jack cheese over each and fold the other half of the tortilla over top to cover completely, pressing down lightly to adhere. Place onto the buttered baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cheese has melted, the filling has heated through and the tortillas are turning golden at the edges. remove from the oven and cut each tortilla into 4 wedges. Serve hot with your favourite accompaniments. We like salsa and sour cream with ours.
These went down a real treat as a light lunch with some sour cream and salsa on the side. They also make great (but messy) appetizers! Some good! Buen Provecho!
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