Recently in Recipes Category

Last night I went to a really great Mexican restaurant. We'd been in the pub first, then when we got to the restaurant there were no tables so while we waited I asked for frozen margaritas. Slush puppies with alcohol. Yum.

First a classic frozen margarita which we drank while we waited for a table. Then once we were at the table, 1 litre of frozen peach margarita between the two of us. And we could still ride bicycles home!

Anyway, it got me thinking about the Zimbabwean and South African booze recipes I know.

There's the Dom Pedro. It's a mixture of ice cream and Kahlua, whiskey or Amarula. You can vary the amount of liquor, but it's usually a double shot and a couple of scoops of ice cream per serving. You can add cream too but I don't think I ever saw it being added. Maybe if you want to then go ahead and add a couple of tablespoons full. Blend it all 'til it's foamy and drink it out of a big glass with a straw. I can remember being allowed to have these from when I was about 13 or so if we went to a restaurant. Extra fancy with chocolate shavings on top.

In the daytime one had to be proper so it was Malawi Shandy for those under the age limit. This is non alcoholic and it's a mixture of a shot of orange cordial, dash of bitters, lots of ice in a pint glass then half lemonade and half ginger ale. Sometimes half ginger ale half ginger beer. I think I remember the glass being decorated with sugar and an orange slice, but I could be wrong. Anyone know? There's a variant with grenadine, but I can't remember how it's made or what's in it or what it's called. I just remember the colour. Another one where if you know what this is please let me know in the comments.

My mom just reminded me of another Zimbabwean drink that's great on a sunny day - the Rock Shandy. Not sure if this is entirely a SA/Zimbabwe thing or if it comes from somewhere else and got transplanted. Anyway, it's half lemonade, half soda water and a hefty dash of bitters over heaps of ice. I prefer the Malawi Shandy because it's sweeter, but either are good.  I remember drinking these at Carribbea Bay at Lake Kariba.

Another 70's throwback recipe - alcoholic punch! Mom's recipe:

1 lemon, I lime and 1 orange, squeezed
1 big bottle (I assume 1 litre) soda water
375 ml brandy
1 bottle red wine
4 tbsp sugar
mint leaves to float in the top

You have to try the Dom Pedro recipe and the other's are pretty good too. Give them a try and let me know.

Comments are open again.

'The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago.' - REM, Nightswimming

This month's Daring Baker challenge was hosted by Morven in New Zealand and she chose Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. Dorie Greenspan's recipes popped up all over the internet last year when this book was first published and it's been on my cook book wishlist ever since. So I was pretty happy to get a chance to make one of her recipes as part of something where I absolutely had to get in the kitchen and do something.

It's funny actually, thinking about life in retrospect, I always associate it with food. Growing up we had a cook at home who did all the 'boring' cooking, so anything my mom or I made was more complicated or a dessert or a cake. I got to mess about in the kitchen and someone else got to clean up. Perfect huh?

When I started dating Nick, my first love, I was a little less than enthusiastic about him. He wasn't my type. I thought he was all wrong for me and that he would break my heart (which he did). He was rather persistent about getting me to go on a date with him though. He called me one evening while I was baking a cake, which needed taking out of the oven. After a few minutes talking, I said 'I'm sorry, I really need to go now, I'm baking a cake', to which he replied 'and I'm flossing the cat' and hung up! I don't know if that was the moment that I stopped being resistant to being pursued but it was pretty funny. He never believed that I was really baking a cake, even after we'd been together a while. Obviously I have no doubt at all that he really was flossing the cat.

Back to Dorie's cake. I enjoyed making this recipe, but I think the differences in ingredients here in Europe vs. the USA really came to the fore in this recipe. First off, I used English baking powder and the cake barely rose, which is why it's two layers instead of four.  The flour was also a problem I think. Even though I used patisserie flour the texture was somewhat grainy instead of the superlight texture the cake should have had.

The buttercream split when I was beating it, and it separated a little on standing, but I think that was because I didn't cook the egg white/sugar mixture long enough over the double boiler. I've made swiss meringue based icing before, but this one was a little more difficult to achieve a very smooth result with. I'll be trying it again though to see if I can improve on it.

Those things aside, this cake actually improved with standing. The buttercream was much lighter than I expected it to be and the texture of the cake was no different on the Friday after baking than on the Monday when it came out of the oven. I especially appreciated the opportunity to use up half a jar of raspberry jam that had been standing in the fridge for ages.

My only complaint is that I ate almost the entire cake on my own! Definitely a thing to make for a group of people or to take to work. I just don't want my colleagues to get too spoiled, especially after the hot cross buns of the week before. And let's be honest, I liked eating the majority of the cake on my own. Not sure about my hips and thighs though ...

You can read other daring bakers' adventures in cake baking over here. See my last challenge here. You can find the recipe here.

'This little universe between our backs is so beautiful, and colorful, I lean on that.' - KT Tunstall, Little Favours

So last year I made some hot cross buns.  As buns go, they were perfect.

This year I'm making them again. I'll be tripling the recipe to make as many buns as I possibly can.

Some will go with me to work, some will stay home for the kids and some will come with me for the weekend.

Want one?

'It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes.' - Peter Gabriel, The Book of Love

If every book ever written is a love letter, even cookery books, then ...

The Daring Bakers are at it again. This month's challenge, hosted by The Canadian Baker was a Lemon Meringue Pie.

So, over two weekends, (yes it took me that long), I baked pie. Last weekend I made the pastry crust and then put it in the freezer til this weekend. Saturday night I made the lemon filling and then Sunday I made the meringue.

Verdict: nice pie, but uh, hmm.

What's with all the sugar? I'm used to the sharper taste of a classic tarte au citron, and this was too sweet. It was pretty though and the taste test team liked it. The cornflour/sugar mix for the lemon base was also kind of peculiar. The cornflour taste came through quite strongly in the final product, and the lemon mixture didn't set thoroughly.

I favour a good lemon curd mixture which you can make ahead, keep in the fridge and convert into lemon meringue pies whenever you want.

So instead of giving you the recipe for this pie, I'm giving you the recipe for lemon curd, which means you can go make lemon meringue pie every time life gives you lemons. (Sorry! Had to!)

Lemon Curd

200g butter
700g granulated sugar
grated zest of 4 -5 lemons
300 ml lemon juice (about 4 - 5 lemons)
300 ml beaten eggs (about 4 - 5 lemons)

1. Place the butter, sugar, lemon zest, juice and sugar in a large bowl and microwave on full for about 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. (or use the top of a double boiler on the stove top).
2. Add the beaten eggs and continue cooking in 1 minute bursts and stirring each time, reducing to 30 seconds for each burst as the mixture thickens until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. On the stovetop just keep going, stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency you like. I prefer mine more solid than runny so I cook it a while longer.
3. Strain through a sieve into a wide necked jug, to remove bits of zest and any cooked egg bits, and then pour into sterilised jars and keep in the fridge.
   

This recipe takes about ten minutes in the microwave and about forty minutes in a double boiler. You can also make orange curd, passionfruit curd, grapefruit, blood orange etc. You can use this to serve with ice cream, in meringue for pavlovas and of course, in your lemon meringue pie.

Visit the Daring Bakers to see everyone else's interpretations of this month's recipe.

 

'Please me, tease me, go ahead and leave me.' - Garbage, I Think I'm Paranoid

Look, it's a recipe. Wow, who would have thought?

Actually, this is a really nice recipe.

It's yeast based so no weird baking powdery aftertaste and it makes a thin base. It's also super fast. Almost as fast as a bought one. Faster than ordering in. Fun to make with the kids.

The kind of pizza that makes you look good in your flour-dusted denim apron all flushed and rosy-cheeked from the heat of the oven while you roll the dough.

Hey, they say sex sells.. Nigella can't be wrong, right?

The recipe comes from one of those 1970s style books that call themselves 'The Bible of ...' which is why the title of the recipe is:

Make & Bake Pizza

15 ml (1 tbsp) dry yeast (or one sachet instant easy blend yeast)
1/4 cup warm water
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup lukewarm water.

1. If you're using dry yeast, sprinkle it over the 1/4 cup water and leave to stand until it makes a nice head of foam (think beer). If you're using the instant easy blend yeast skip this step and move on.
2. Process the flour sugar and salt in the food processor for a few seconds. Add the yeast mixture (or add the sachet of yeast and the 1/4 cup water).
3. Combine the oil and water and drizzle through the feed tube while the processor runs and process until the dough forms a mass around the blades. Process for about 30 - 40 seconds longer. The dough will be slightly sticky.
4. Divide the dough in half. Knead it on a floured surface into two smooth balls, (think boobs). Flatten and press out into two 12 inch circles. Spray baking sheets, place dough on sheets. Crimp the edges to make a little edge so the toppings don't fall off. Allow to rise for 10 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 200C and brush dough with oil. Use toppings and sauce that you like and bake for 20 minutes on lowest rack of the oven.

If you don't have a food processor then, uh, just do it by hand? You know, where you actually mix the stuff in with your hands? Like Jamie Oliver?

You can freeze the pizzas unbaked and then bake from frozen for five minutes extra. You can also freeze them after baking and then give them 10 minutes in the oven at 200C.

Jane, this recipe is for you. Have fun pizza making and don't forget the sexy apron and the pose, Nigella-stylee.

'Take a chance, 'cause you might grow.' - Gwen Stefani, What you waiting for?

... Beef in a bit of pastry with a bit of stuff in the inside to make it taste nice.

We had this for Christmas lunch. It was tasty.

If I were an eloquent food writer I would start off by saying something like 'The British think they invented Beef Wellington, but so do the French, who call it Boeuf en Croute' (which is just what wikipedia or some other online fount of wisdom says).

And then I'd blah blah blah on and on about it and it's origin and it's background and you'd all either be asleep or saying 'wow, Ash knows an awful lot about Beef Wellington/Boeuf en croute/Beef in a bit of pastry'.

Instead, being ineloquent (which actually seems to be a word, thanks spell checker) and neither British nor French, nor apparently a food writer seeing as I used the word 'tasty' above to describe this dish, I will simply give you the recipe.

First of all make the pastry. It uses puff pastry which is both fun to make (yes really) and infinitely rewarding. Do you see my tongue pressed firmly into my cheek there?

This recipe makes 450g and comes from the venerable Good Housekeeping Institute. Which means it's been triple tested. Which is another way of saying 'if it goes wrong it's YOUR fault!'.

How to make Puff Pastry

450g plain white flour
pinch of salt
450g butter (yes, you have to use butter here), chilled
15 ml lemon juice
300 ml chilled water

1. Sift the flour and salt together. Cut off 50g of the buter and flatten the remaining butter between two sheets of clingfilm into a long flat slab about 2 cm thick. Put it in the fridge.
2. Put the flour and the 50g butter into the food processor and whizz until it resembles very fine crumbs. Add the lemon juice and enough of the water in a steady stream through the processor funnel to make a soft elastic dough. Turn it out onto a floured board and then shape it into a round ball. Using a knife cut a cross half way through the dough ball and then open them out to form a star shape (this makes sense when you do it but I should have taken a picture for you). Roll out and make the star points about four times thinner than the centre bit. Put the cold slab of butter (from the fridge) in the centre of the star.
3. Fold the flaps over like an envelope to cover the butter. Press gently with the rolling pin. Flour liberally and then roll out to a rectangle about 16 x 8 inches. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle up to the centre and the top third down and keep the edges straight. Press with the rolling pin, wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Take it out the fridge and with the folded edges to the sides repeat the process. Do this sequence five times in total.
5. Shape the pastry as required, then rest it in the fridge for about another 30 minutes before baking.
6. Bake at 220C unless otherwise specified in the recipe. If you want to freeze it roll it out to the size required, then cover it with wax paper and roll it up, then put it into a polythene bag and freeze.

Darlings, that was just the pastry!

Now for the beef.

Beef Wellington/Boeuf en croute/Beef in a bit of pastry

50g butter
1.6 kg piece of fillet of beef. I used a 900g entrecote which was nicely rolled and tied by the butcher. A fillet of beef would be different because you wouldn't have to untie it after browning and cooking it for the first bit before you do the pastry shell. If you use an entrecote or other rolled up beef thing, remember that you don't want the strings in your finished dish!

For the filling:

250g button mushrooms, chopped
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped.
1 red pepper
2 tablespoons or so of tomato concentrate
splash of red wine
bit of red thai curry paste, or chilli paste or whatever else you want to put in for zing
2 tablespoons dried thyme or fresh thyme to taste

1. Heat some of the butter in a frying pan and when it foams add the beef (which you previously dried off with a paper towel after bringing to room temperature), and brown it all over. Put the lid on the pan and allow it to cook at a lower heat for about 25 minutes or put the oven on 220 and roast for 20 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Using the same pan melt the rest of the butter, add the shallots and garlic, fry for about 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and red pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients and then cook until you have a thick mixture, it shouldn't be watery. Let it cool down in the pan.
3. Roll 1/4 of your pastry out into a rectangle about 1 inch larger than the beef and prick with a fork. Bake it at 220C for 10 - 12 minutes until crisp and golden. Allow to cool then trim to the size of the beef and place on a baking sheet.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry to a rectangle about 12 x 16 inches. Cut a small square out of each corner. Keep all the trimmings.
5. Place the meat on the cooked pastry square. Season the beef with salt and pepper (take off the strings if you used a rolled cut of beef). Spread the filling all over. It's easiest to use your hands.
6. Wrap the uncooked pastry all around the beef, tucking it under the cooked pastry base. If you're doing this ahead then put it in the fridge until you're ready to cook it.*
7. Make a slit in the top of the pastry and brush with beaten egg. Decorate with shapes cut from leftover bits of pastry. I made little hearts, aren't I sweet? Brush the little hearts with egg.
8. Bake at 220C for about 35 minutes for medium rare, 40 - 45 minutes for medium. Leave to stand for 10 minutes  before serving.

I served mine with roasted butternut and tomato.

*If you want to freeze yours then do it at this stage. Open freeze until solid then wrap in freezer film and then in foil. Thaw overnight and cook as above.