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For all of you chef's out
there, here are a few great recipes to get you started. |
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Oatmeal Batter
Bread
Ingredients:
2 to 2-1/2 cups of flour.
3/4 cup of rolled oats.
1 teaspoon of salt
1 pack of dry yeast
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1. Grease an 8x4" loaf
pan. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, oats, salt and
yeast and mix well.
2. In a small saucepan, heat water, honey and butter until
very warm, about 120 degrees C . Add to flour mixture along
with the egg, and beat for three minutes. Stir in additional 1
to 1-1/2 cups flour to make a stiff batter.
3. Cover batter and let rise until light, about 25-30
minutes.
4. Stir down batter and place in prepared pan. Cover and let
rise until batter reaches top of pan, about 15-20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees C. Bake bread for 35-40 minutes
until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
5. Remove from pan immediately and place on wire rack to
cool. |
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Pasta with
Meatballs in Tomato sauce
Ingredients:
For the
meatballs
250g pork, minced
250g beef, minced
1 egg
2 tbsp Parmesan, freshly grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Oregano
3 tbsp Semolina, or breadcrumbs
1 pinch Pepper
1 tsp Salt
For the tomato
sauce
1 onion
2 garlic clove
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Olive oil, (not extra-virgin)
700g tomato passata (sieved tomatoes)
1 pinch Sugar
1 pinch salt and pepper
100ml full cream milk
For the pasta
400g '00' flour
1 pinch Salt
4 Eggs
1. To make the meatballs, just put everything in a
large bowl, and then, using your hands, mix to combine,
before shaping into small balls.
2. Place the meatballs on baking sheets or plates that you
have lined with cling film, and put in the fridge as you
finish them.
3. To make the tomato sauce, put the onion, garlic and
oregano into the process and blitz to a pulp.
4. Heat the butter and oil in a deep wide pan, then scrape
the onion-garlic mix into it and cook over a low-medium for
about 10 minutes. Don't let the mixture catch, just let it
become soft.
5. Add the bottle of passata and then fill the empty bottle
half full with cold water. Add this to the pan with the
pinch of sugar, some salt and pepper, and cook for about 10
minutes. The tomato sauce will appear thin at this stage,
but don't worry as it will thicken a little later.
6. Stir in the milk, and then drop the meatballs in one by
one. Don't stir the pan until the meatballs have turned from
pink to brown as you don't want to break them up.
7. Cook everything for about 20 minutes, with the lid only
partially covering it. At the end of cooking time, check the
seasoning as you may want more salt and a grind or two more
of pepper.
8. To make the pasta, either put the flour (with the salt)
in a bowl and crack the eggs into it, or make a mound of
flour on a worktop and add the eggs to that. I don't bother
to beat them before adding them to the flour, but if you
prefer to, then add them gradually, do. Just find the way
that you prefer.
9. All you do is mix the flour and eggs together, and then
knead the mixture until it all comes together in a satiny
mass. Kneading involves no more than pushing the mixture
away from you with the heels of your hands and then bringing
it back towards you. If you've got an electric mixer with a
dough hook, then do use that, but for some reason I don't
find it makes the pasta cohere any sooner. And you don't get
the relaxing satisfaction of making it by hand.
10. When the pasta is silky and smooth, form into a ball,
cover with a cloth and leave for 30 minutes - 1 hour.
11. Get out your pasta machine, read the instructions and
away you go. Two tips first: cut each slice you want to feed
through the pasta machine as you go, and put through the no1
press quite a few times, folding the strip in half and
pushing it through again after each time. When the pasta
dough's been fed a few times through the no1 slot, pass it
through the remaining numbers on the gauge, before pushing
it through the tagliatelle-cutters. And I find that the
pasta strips cut into tagliatelle better if you leave them
hanging over the table or wherever to dry a little first (10
minutes is enough).
12. When you cook the pasta, make sure you've got plenty of
boiling salted water and start tasting immediately the water
comes back to the boil after you've put the pasta in. Use
about a third of the meatballs in their sauce to toss the
cooked, drained pasta in and then pour the rest of them over
the scantly sauced ribbons in the bowl. This is ambrosia:
food to get you through the winter happily. |
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Mexican Breakfast
Ingredients:
12 Eggs
1/3 cup Milk
1 Onion, finely diced
1/2 bunch Cilantro, with stems removed and finely diced
2 Tomatoes, diced
4 Cloves garlic, minced
1 can Diced green chillies
1/4 to 1/2cup Diced Jalapeños
2 cups Jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup Butter or margarine
1. Place diced
onion in microwave cooking dish. Cook on high for two
minutes, or until onions are wilted. Mix with cilantro,
tomatoes, garlic, diced green chillies and jalapenos. Add
salt and pepper to taste.
2. Microwave again on high for an additional minute, or
until all ingredients are hot. Heat an omelette pan to
medium heat. Melt one fourth of the butter or margarine to
cover the bottom of the pan.
2. Pour one fourth of the egg mixture into the pan and cook
until lightly browned on bottom, about two minutes. Add one
fourth of the onion, cilantro, tomato mixture and one fourth
of the cheese. Cover pan and continue heating until cheese
is melted.
3. Fold omelette in half and serve immediately. |
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Lemon Meringue
Ingredients:
finely grated zest and
juice of 3 organic lemons
40g cornflour
300ml water
3 large free range eggs, separated
60g unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
200g vanilla caster sugar
For the pastry:
200g plain flour
pinch of Salt
100g unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
2 1/2 - 3 tbsp ice cold water
beaten egg white
single cream, to serve
1. First make the pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a
bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Scatter the pieces of
butter over the flour. Process for 20-30 seconds, then add
the water, a tablespoonful at a time, with the machine still
running. If the dough is still crumbly after a minute or
two, add another tablespoon of water. The moment it coheres
into a single ball, stop the machine and remove the dough.
Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.
3. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line a 22-23cm
loose-bottomed flan tin. Line with kitchen foil and weigh
down with baking beans. Bake the pastry blind for 15
minutes, then remove the beans. Brush the pastry with beaten
egg white, and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes more,
until dry but not coloured. Remove from the oven and leave
to cool.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/gas
5. For the filling, put the lemon zest and juice in the top
of a double boiler or heatproof bowl set over simmering
water. Add the cornflour and whisk in with 2 tablespoons of
the water until you have a smooth paste.
6. Bring the remaining water to the boil, add to the lemon
mixture and keep whisking until the mixture is thick and
bubbling.
7. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, butter
and 80g of the sugar. Leave to cool slightly while you make
the meringue.
8. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Sprinkle with one-third
of the remaining sugar, and whisk again until stiff and
glossy. Fold in another third of the sugar with a large
metal spoon and whisk again.
9. Spread the lemon mixture over the pastry. Pile the
meringue on top and sprinkle it with the remaining sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp and lightly browned.
10. Allow to cool slightly, then turn out. Best served with
thin cream. |
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Cheese Cake
Ingredients:
For the base:
200g water biscuits,
crushed
50g brown sugar
50g Pecan halves, crushed
125g Butter, melted
For the filling:
600g Goats cheese
300g Mascarpone
150g caster sugar
6 Eggs
juice and grated zest of 2 Lemons
For the topping:
50ml rose water
100ml water
225g Sugar
225g Strawberries
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3.
2. Mix together the water biscuits, sugar, pecan and melted
butter. Press into the base of a loose-based 20cm cake tin.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together goat's cheese,
mascarpone and sugar.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time and mix in the lemon juice
and zest.
5. Spoon the cheese mixture over the biscuits base.
6. Bake for 1 hour until set. Remove and cool.
7. Meanwhile, make the topping. In a saucepan, heat together
the rose water, water and sugar until the sugar dissolves
and the mixture thickens to a light syrup.
8. Add the strawberries to the syrup, turn off the heat and
let them infuse.
9. Serve the cheesecake with the strawberry mixture spooned
over it.
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