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Showing posts from 2020

PISTACHIO ROULADE WITH RASPBERRIES AND WHITE CHOCOLATE

This is an excellent dessert to have any time of the year, but it could be a great dessert for  Christmas, especially if you are not that keen on the traditional Christmas pudding. It is certainly better if it is consumed on the same day, but we kept it in the fridge for about 4 days and it was still delicious. I would make it the previous day if wanting it for Christmas lunch or dinner. The original recipe only uses raspberries, but unfortunately they were too expensive at the time I made it, and decided to use a combination of blueberries and raspberries. We thought it was lovely and turned into a fabulous dessert. Ingredients:  70g shelled pistachio kernels, plus an extra 15g, roughly chopped 4 large eggs, whites and yolks separated 130g caster sugar 2 tbsp hot water 80g self-raising flour ⅛ tsp salt ⅛ tsp almond extract 20g icing sugar 100g fresh raspberries  200g fresh blueberries White chocolate cream: 200g white chocolate buttons, or 200g block of white cooking chocolate, rough

PUMPKIN AND TURMERIC LOAF

Pumpkin and Turmeric loaf. No flour. Lovely with some spreadable cheese on top or cold meat or both. It is delicious and I am going to make it again. Difficulty: easy  Preparation time: 10 min  Total time: 1h 50 min  Serving size: 10 portions Ingredients 60 g coconut oil, plus extra for greasing 300 g blanched almonds 2 garlic cloves 3 sprigs fresh rosemary (approx. 10 cm long), leaves only 450 g pumpkin, peeled and cut into pieces (2-3 cm) 4 eggs 2 tsp gluten free baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 pinch ground black pepper 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp coconut flour 1 tbsp pine nuts 1 tbsp pepitas, for sprinkling Preparation  Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a loaf tin (25 x 9 x 11 cm) with baking paper, leaving a 2 cm overhang and set aside. Place almonds, garlic and rosemary into mixing bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 9. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl with spatula. Add pumpkin and chop 10-12 sec/speed 6, until finely chopped. Add oil and all remai

SEAFOOD PAELLA

There are many different recipes to cook a paella. From very traditional - click here  - ( you can add English subtitles using the settings button .) to more modern ones. I love the seafood paella, and my mother used to make a delicious one. She is now too old and doesn't cook them anymore. I have tried to use her recipe here, but unfortunately where we live we do not have a fish coop with the type of fish needed, so I had to adapt it to whatever I could find. However, the recipe below is the one my mother used to make. Mine turned up quite nice, but not as good as hers. Will keep trying ...  Ingredients 800 gr. 'bomba' rice 2 l. fish stock 1 kg. fresh mussels, cleaned 1 kg. fresh clams, rested in salted water to spit the sand 16 scampi 16 prawns 1 big fresh cuttlefish (with the spleen) 1 big onion ½ red capsicum 2 garlic cloves 2 grated ripe tomatoes 1 dried cayenne chili brandy oil salt a pinch of saffron white wine (optional) For the light fish stock (3 litres) the head

ZUCCHINI SLICE - TM

This is a easy and tasty recipe that we have almost every couple of weeks. The recipe that follows is done with the Thermomix, but it can easily be adapted using a food processor and frying the onion and bacon on a frypan. Last time I made it I used a round pyrex casserole and the slices were a bit thicker than using the rectangular one. However, I had to keep it in the oven for a bit longer. If you want it to make it vegetarian, you could just omit the bacon and I really think that it would be as good. Delicious, easy and healthy. Difficulty: easy Preparation time: 5 min Total time: 50 min Serving size: 8 portions Ingredients 80 g olive oil, plus extra for greasing 100g brown rice  100g parmesan or pecorino cheese, cut into pieces  100g cheddar cheese, cut into pieces (3 cm) 350g zucchini, cut into quarters 1 brown onion (approx. 150 g), cut into quarters 3 rindless bacon rashers (approx. 160 g), cut into pieces 5 eggs 1 pinch sea salt 1 pinch ground black pepper Preparation Preheat o

CHAKCHOUKA - TOMATO, ONION & CAPSICUM SALAD

  According to the cookbook, this salad is made every day in Moroccan households for the midday meal. It is delicious and the only difference I made was to add some avocado - it needed to be eaten. Loved it! INGREDIENTS: 2 green capsicums ( I used a green and a yellow one for colour! ) 4 tomatoes 1 red onion 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley ( I didn't have any! ) 80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar salt and freshly ground pepper 1 avocado (optional) METHOD: Cut the capsicums into large flattish pieces and remove the seeds and white membranes. Place the pieces, skin side up, under a grill and grill until the skin blackens. Turn them over and cook for 2-3 minutes on the fleshy side. Remove the cooked capsicums and place in a plastic bag, tuck the end of the bag underneath and leave to steam in the bag until cool enough to handle. Remove the blackened skin and cut the flesh into short strips. Place in a bowl. Peel the tomatoes. To do

B'STILLA - FESTIVE CHICKEN PIE

  It's been a while since I wanted to cook some yummy Moroccan recipes. We first tried B'stilla or Pastilla in Marrakech a few years ago. Such an interesting recipe.. Who'd think a chicken pie with icing sugar and cinnamon on top would taste so amazingly good... And it does ! Traditionally it was cooked with pigeon but nowadays is most common with chicken. And the more modern recipes are also with seafood if you are near the coast. I have to say that I tried a vegetarian one in a very small and fantastic restaurant and it's still in my mind.. it was scrumptious.. I served it with a Moroccan salad - Chakchouka which is made for the midday meal in many households and for dessert we had M'hanncha , an almond filo coil with ice-cream. It was absolutely delicious and it paid off for the amount of work I put in. I can understand that this is a recipe that people make as a celebration to greet the people who come for a visit. Not difficult to make but it is very laboriou