2 tins of coconut milk 100ml milk 250ml tapioca a pinch of salt 83ml sugar 83ml butter 4 eggs 5ml vanilla 6 fresh guavas 83ml coconut shavings
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease a 18cm X 28ccm ovenproof dish. Pour the 2 tins of coconut milk and the 100ml of milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the tapioca and salt to the milk, turn the heat down to low and gently simmer for 25 minutes. Stir the mixture every now and then to prevent the tapioca from clotting and sticking to the saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Pour the egg mixture into the tapioca while stirring. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Peel the guavas and randomly press them into the tapioca. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle the warm dessert with coconut shavings and serve with pouring custard.
Preheat your oven to 190℃ and spray an oven-proof dish or casserole of about 18cm X 28cm. Set aside. Add all the sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together until the sugar has dissolved. Put aside. Cut the chicken in to 2 – 3 cm chunks, season with salt and pepper and toss together in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken and mix to coat all the pieces. Heat about 3cm of vegetable oil in a saucepan. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and fry the pieces in batches, in the oil, until golden. Place the fried chicken into the prepared oven-proof dish. Keep going until all the chicken has been fried. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Give it a stir once or twice during cooking time. Serve the sweet-and-sour chicken on steamed rice or noodles, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Warm the milk and pour it into a mixing bowl. Add the yeast and stir until dissolved. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set the machine on medium-high speed and cream the ingredients together. Add the egg and beat to incorporate into the mixture. Add the yeast and milk mixture and mix again. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add half a cup of flour at a time, stirring the flour into the mixture with a wooden spoon. Keep going until all of the flour has been incorporated. Dust the dough with 15ml of flour and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside and allow to proof for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lightly coat your hands with vegetable oil and knead the dough 5 or 6 times. The dough will be very sticky! Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into an oval shape and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Allow to rise for 15 minutes. Bake the rolls for 8 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and lightly brush the rolls with vegetable oil. You may sprinkle the rolls with brown sugar at this stage. Return the rolls to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.
This potato dish is a quick weekday dinner for vegetarians or a substantial side dish to any meat. If you don’t have ricotta cheese on hand, get the recipe from this site and make your own. Yields 6 – 8 portions.
6 large potatoes 350g ricotta cheese 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 onion, finely chopped a handful of chives, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 40g parmesan/pecorino cheese, grated
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease a 20cm X 28cm baking dish.
Peel the potatoes and boil them until just cooked. Slice them into 1,5cm cubes and put aside. Add the eggs to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the chopped onion, chives, minced garlic and parmesan to the egg mixture and whisk together. Now add the cubed potato and mix through. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 25 minutes until golden. Serve with a green salad.
Pistachio nut butter is relatively low in calories and fat but high in protein. Spread it on toast, stir it into oatmeal porridge or mix it into a cookie batter. You will need a powerful food processor to process the nuts.
Choose the amount of nuts – I used 500ml Blanch the pistachios for two minutes, drain and spread them onto a tea towel. Rub the between the cloth to remove the skins. The more skin you remove, the greener the pistachio butter!
Now roast the nuts at 170℃ for 7 minutes. Add the pistachio to a food processor and blitz until creamy. Scoop the nut butter into a glass jar and store in the fridge.
This is fragrant dessert with rose water and honey and is based on the traditional Roz bel Laban. The recipe provides 6 generous portions depending on the size of the glasses or bowls it is served in.
500ml milk 250ml cream 2 cinnamon quills 6 cloves 1,2ml ground cardamon 250ml rice 30ml sugar 500ml water 83ml condensed milk 30ml butter 30ml rose water honey and pistachio nuts to serve
Add the milk, cream, cinnamon, cloves and cardamon to a saucepan. Turn the heat on medium and wait for the mixture to come to the boil. Turn the heat down so that the mixture simmers and add the rice, sugar and water. Allow the mixture to simmer until the rice is cooked, stirring continuously. This will take 30 – 40 minutes. Do not leave the mixture – keep an eye on it! Take the saucepan from the heat and add the condensed milk, rose water and butter. Stir thoroughly. Spoon the rice pudding into glasses or serving bowls. Drizzle each dessert with honey and a sprinkling of pistachio nuts. The rice pudding is best served warm.
This recipe provides a quick method for a rye bread with loads of flavour. The addition of buttermilk gives the typical tangy taste that one associates with a traditional rye and adds to a really good texture. This recipe makes two medium-sized, oblong breads.
Add the flours and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the yeast, water, sugar, buttermilk and melted butter to a separate bowl and whisk together to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Turn the mixer on to a low speed and add the liquids. Mix/knead for 7 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double the volume. Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Knead the dough down by hand for 2 minutes. Divide the dough in half and shape two oblong loaves. Place the shaped dough on the prepared baking sheet, cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to proof until almost doubled in size. Brush the bread with egg white or water for a shiny crust. Make 4 diagonal, shallow cuts in the top of the bread. Bake the breads for 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks until completely cold.
Whenever I eat this sweet potato dish with honey and orange, I am reminded of the city of Casablanca with its sweet smells and the aroma of cinnamon drifting in the air after another very warm day!!
4 – 6 large sweet potatoes 50g butter 62ml brown sugar 62ml honey 62ml orange juice the zest of one orange 2,5ml salt 2,5ml ground cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 190℃. Scrub the sweet potato, cut into chunks and add them to an ovenproof dish. Add the butter, brown sugar, honey, orange juice, zest, salt and cinnamon to a small saucepan and melt together. Pour the mixture over the sweet potato chunks and stir through so that all of the potato is covered in the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until cooked and slightly charred and the sauce is syrupy. Serve warm.
Few things beat an aromatic cinnamon roll on a cold day and these rolls are no exception! I like to hero the yeasty bread and therefore the sugar glaze is toned done in this recipe. Yields 20 rolls but may easily be halved.
30ml butter 30ml white sugar 30ml brown sugar 10ml cinnamon
Add the flour, salt and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the butter and milk to a jug and warm it in the microwave oven. Stir until the butter has melted and the milk is tepid and NOT hot. Add the sugar and yeast to the milk mixture and stir to dissolve. Turn the mixer onto low speed and add the milk mixture. Mix/knead for 2 minutes. Now turn the speed to medium and knead for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a plastic bag and a tea towel. Set aside to proof for 1 hour or until doubled in volume. Line an overproof baking dish/baking tray of about 25cm X 35cm with baking paper. Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough into a large rectangle. About 65cm X 30cm. Melt the 30ml butter and brush an even layer onto the rolled dough. Mix together the sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly onto the dough. Roll into a sausage, in the length. Cut the sausage of dough into 20 even pieces. I do this by halving the sausage, and again halving the half sections and then simply slicing it into five more-or-less equal pieces. Arrange the dough spirals in the prepared baking dish, cut side facing up and about 1 – 2 cm between them, or as evenly spaced as you can manage. Slip the baking dish into a plastic bag and leave to proof for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180℃. Bake the rolls for 30 minutes.
For the glaze: 500ml icing sugar 30ml butter 10ml vanilla 60ml milk
Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Melt the butter and add the vanilla and milk to it. Pour the wet ingredients into the icing sugar while stirring.
Remove the cinnamon rolls from the oven and immediately drizzle the glaze onto the rolls. Serve warm or cooled down.
These mini cupcakes are little bites of pure happiness and comfort! The recipe yields 24 mouthfuls.
45ml + 125ml sugar 250ml flour 5ml baking powder 2,5ml bicarbonate of soda 1,2ml salt 190ml cultured buttermilk 5ml vanilla 30g + 75g butter, melted 1 egg 5ml cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 180℃, NO FAN! Grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin and put aside. Add the 45ml sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, 30g melted butter and egg to another bowl and whisk together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in a thin stream while whisking to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 12 minutes. Take the puffs from the oven and leave to stand for about 5 minutes before removing them from the tin. Pour the 75g melted butter into a small bowl and have a pastry brush ready. Mix the 125ml sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and mix through. Brush each puff with the butter and then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.
My Whisk and I 