Thursday, January 31, 2013

Self-Saucing Lemon Pudding


First time I made it I forgot to add milk and was supposed to bake it in a bain marie.
But it turned out very tasty, the sponge was very light and the sauce below was very lemon curdy and tarty, just the way I like it!





Below pictures is the original recipe with 250 ml milk and baked in a bain maire.



Difference in versions:
Without milk, the sponge was very light and the sauce very much like a lemon curd in colour and taste.
The second with milk and baked in a bain maire, was less tarty and more custard curd, rather than lemon curd.  Again very tasty, if you don't like your puddings too tangy and tarty then stick to the original recipe and go for the second version here.  Myself, I like my dessert with a bit of a bite, so not sure which I will do in the future, I guess like all things depends on mood of the moment.

Update: Used just 100 ml Milk to avoid deciding milk or not milk.  Tasty very tangy and creamy too.  Just what you might expect.  Delish just the same.  Served on top of fresh strawberries, super :)

Recipe


  • 50g butter
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 lemon , zested
  • 100ml lemon juice (include the zest from the zested lemon)
  • eggs , separated
  • 250ml milk
    50g Plain flour

Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas gas 4. 
Whizz the butter, sugar and lemon zest until they are pale and creamy in a food processor. Add the lemon juice, egg yolks, flour and milk one by one until you have a smooth batter. Whisk the egg whites until firm but not stiff, and fold the two mixtures together.

Pour into a buttered ovenproof soufflé or baking dish and put it in a baking tray half filled with hot water. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is lightly browned and set and there is a sort of gooey lemon curd below. Remove the dish from the tray, dust with icing sugar and serve hot, with or without cream.


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Bean Soup


Soups up again!



Phew! I swear if it wasn't for this blog I wouldn't remember how to make anything again!
Hope I didn't forget anything.

Found in freezer
White beans (post soaked and frozen)
String beans
Tomatoes crushed (a left-over tub)
Oxtail
Bag of assorted salami
Pearl Barley
Celery leaves and stalks

Onions chopped
Garlic
Coriander seeds grounded
Ketchup
Vegetable oil for frying
Water/stock
Chili (optional)
Paprika (optional)

Fry onions and garlic till soft.
Add and brown oxtail and salami. Add coriander seeds, toast together.
Add water, tomatoes, veggies, pepper.  Do not add salt as I've been told it 'toughens' the beans.  Add only at the end.
Boil, remove scum and simmer forever or till beans are soft.
Add barley simmer till soft.
Taste, adjust seasoning. I added some ketchup here.

I served with chili flakes, parmesan and coriander leaves.

Whole house smells of 'home'

The barley is great here, and as I am not much of a lover of beans this turned out really good.  Be sure to 'order' a really cold wintery day, stuck indoors with just the heat and aroma from the stove for company. :) Enjoy my friends!


Monday, January 28, 2013

Appetizers - Egg Roll - Sushi Salmon Parcels




Slutty Brownies





 


Well, with a name like that how can a girl resist?
So if it's either filth or just a bit of dirt you want, this dessert delivers!
There are Jaffa cakes as well as this Oreo version, I couldn't find any Jaffa cakes at my local haunts, so heeeeeeeeere's OREO's Slutty Brownies!
Slutty doesn't even begin to do it justice, oh! it's slutty alright, the gooier the sluttier.  Take my tip and take it out just before 'YOU THINK'  it's done, under done is better than over done, trust me.

Don't sugar coat, icing sugar this baby, it's a BAD ass dessert.
You 'could' drop a dollop of ice-cream on top, that would be 'cool'
But frankly as is - it's as bad-a-dessert as they come ;)



Ingredients
  • For the Cookie Base:
  • 1½ cups (7.5 oz) all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 12 Tb unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of  chocolate chips

  • 1 big package Oreo Cookies

  • For the Brownie Layer:
  • ⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa
  • 1½ teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
  • ½ cup+ 2 tbps boiling water (or dissolve instant coffee in boiling water)
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate,(micro-wave in butter)
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup +2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup  sugar
  • 1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
  1. For the Cookie Base: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment or grease well. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar and melted butter together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined. Do NOT overmix. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth out the top.
  3. Layer Oreo’s across cookie dough as tightly as possible, breaking any extra cookies to fit empty spaces.
  4. For the Brownie Layer: Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.)  Add  yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Whisk egg whites. Fold.
  5. Scrape batter over Oreo layer and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.


Note: I used 1/2 cup less of chocolate chips and only 1 cup of sugar not 2+1/2 as in the original recipe below.

Source Link - Click here for Original Recipe

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Egg/Spring Roll Appetizers


Cabbage
Carrots
Soya
Spring Onions
Ginger Grated
Egg - whisked
Egg Roll Wrapper

Cook veggies till soft in wok.
Leave to cool
Assemble,  bind  wrapper with egg.
Deep fry

Note to me: Garnish with coriander

Salmon Sushi Appetizers




Salmon steaks
Left-over Egg Roll Filling
Seaweed
Batter
Panko Breadcrumbs
Hot Oil
Spring Onions
Dip: Soya with grated ginger

Here I closed the ends of the sushi, so it puffed up like little parcels when deep fried.
This way, all the veggies and salmon stayed intact and was almost steamed inside.
Delicious! Will always do this from now on.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Fish soup with glass noodles

Farmed Locus fish used here. Nice steak but a fair amount of bones fish.



Rice noodles (glass noodles)  used here. But whatever you happen to have is good.
Raw salmon underneath everything, 'cooked' in hot broth  to juicy perfection.
Squeeze one full lemon together with the fiery chilis just before serving.  Bliss.


Boil:
Stock or Water with whatever small frozen pieces of fish you happen to have in the freezer.
Fish Sauce

Soya Sauce
Chili (op)
Squeeze of Lemon
Corriander
Spring onions
Rice noodles Fried Ginger to garnish
Grated fresh ginger in broth
Other Veggies (op)

1. Add Noodles, veggies such as carrots, onions, fennel, cabbage, courgettes, spinach and any root vegetable is generally good.  Cook till noodles are done.
2. Pour hot broth on to raw salmon already in the soup bowl. The heat of the broth will "cook" the fresh fish just right,  juicy and tender.
3. Garnish with chopped green onions, coriander leaves,  black/white sesame seeds, sesame oil, soya.
 Fried Ginger slivers

For instant fish broth, I boil water with frozen fish carcass/spine  I keep in the freezer.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Chow Mein


Noodles of choice - post soaked
Whatever veggies in the fridge ie:

Carrots
Zuchinni
Bell peppers - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green
Spring onions
Cabbage
Spinach
Asparagus
Think colour here, remember the eye eats before the tongue

Ginger - fresh
Soya
Chili flakes
Oyster sauce
Coriander
Oil
Sesame oil - optional
Chicken - optional - chicken preparation - substitute beef with chicken

Deep Fry thin strips of ginger for garnish Ginger for garnish - Delish
Heat oil, fry slices of ginger.
Add veggies in order of 'hardness' and length of time to cook, ie carrots hardest, takes longer to stir fry.
Add noodles, add liquids such as soya and water if necessary to prevent sticking to wok.

Scoop in to serving bowl, garnish with chopped coriander and chili flakes and ginger.
My sons' MOST favourite dish! Yipee!






Sunday, January 20, 2013

Mixed Lentil, Potato, Celery Soup





Jaquelyn Mowszowski Lawrence's
Lemony Lentil Soup (serves 8 or so)

You will need:
3 tablespoons Olive oil
2 small tubs/1 large tub tomato paste
3 medium / 2 large carrots
1 potato
2 stalks of celery
2/3 large cloves of garlic chopped
1 onion
1.5 litres stock (chicken or veg)
500 ml water
1 cup green lentils
1 cup red lentils
1tspn each of the following dried herbs:
Cumin
Basil
Turmeric
Oregano
1/4 tspn ground black pepper
3 Bay leaves
1/3 cup of lemon juice

Chop all your veg into small cubes and set aside.
Heat up a pot with the olive oil and sauté onions, garlic ,cumin, bay leaves,turmeric,oregano,basil.
Once the onions start to soften add in your carrots and potatoes. Mix well and cover and let cook for about 10 mins or until potatoes start to soften (adding in your celery about half way through)
Once the veg is softening add your (rinsed and clean) Lentils to the pot and add your stock and water.
Add in the tomato paste.
Bring to the boil and then let simmer for 20/30 mins.
Once cooked add lemon juice and salt/pepper for more seasoning if needed.
Remove bay leaves and blend until very smooth.
Pour the blended soup through a strainer to remove the grainy pulp. Once you have a gorgeous smooth creamy soup you can add a little more water to it if its to thick (or another potato if its not thick enough).

Serve hot with some feta cheese on top!

ENJOY!!! xxx

Friday, January 18, 2013

Creamy Celery without the cream



Israeli Babies Recipes
Special thanks to Jelena!

Jelena Shapir Herewith: this was altered but somewhat followed the Hungarian "zellerkrèm leves" recipes. (there are many version and this is mine.)

3-4 roots of celery 

2 midsize potatoes


2 L vegetable or meat broth

1 onion

2-3 cloves of garlic

Nutmeg, black pepper, salt to taste

Butter or oil

Chop/cut/dice ingredients. I used butter as I like the smell/taste that it gives to vegetables when frying. 

Fry first onion then add garlic when all these tender add roots of celery and potatoes. Fry a bit and then pour the broth. I used 2 liters but see how much you need. Use spices to your taste. Cook till tender and blend till smooth and looks creamy.

Add to it at serving either croutons or toasted almonds. Enjoy 


Frankly, any creamy soup that doesn't use any dairy is a plus in my books!
I omitted the nutmeg.

Kreplach - Instant soup in 5 mins


Frozen kreplach (meat filling)
Stock or water
Corriander
Onions chopped
Chili flakes
Soya

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Oxtail Soup






Hairst Bree - Harvest Broth comes to mind.  A hearty Scottish broth on a bitterly cold and rainy day in Tel Aviv.  Scottish enough for me :)

Tail (Me thinks it's oxtail)
Onions chopped
garlic
Celery
Carrots
Zucchini
Potatoes
Pearl Barley
White Beans (post soaked - always have stash in freezer ready to go)
Corriander
Bay leaves
Chilis
Worchestershire
Soya
Salt & Pepper

Such a substantial soup, a real meal in itself.  Served with warm bread, with the winds and rains whipping outside as I write, this hits the spot bullseye.




Sunday, January 6, 2013

Pie Crazy

Mini personal Spicy Apple pies











Help! Don't know what pics to keep and what to delete, they're all so beautiful.

Recipe - Click here (exchange pear to apple)
http://artofthepie.com/wordpress/recipes/1/









 
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