1 x 400g Today Puff Pastry 2 large apples egg-wash: egg yolk + 15ml water whisked together
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Unroll your pastry and divide and cut it into 8 equal squares. Place 4 squares on the prepared baking tray and set aside. Make 0,5cm incisions in a vertical line on the other pastry squares. Fill the squares with these incisions following a “brick-laying” pattern. Peel, halve and core the apples. Place half an apple on a square on the baking sheet and cover with a square with incisions. Press down to seal and trim off the excess pastry. Brush with egg-wash and repeat with the rest of the squares and apple. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and serve with custard.
Flavoured butters are a simply way of adding flavour and punch to meat, easy to make and can be kept in your freezer for when you need it! The Olive Butter is particularly good with chicken, fish and roast vegetables! The method for the three flavoured butters are the same.
Café de Paris Butter: 125g butter 30ml chives, finely chopped 15ml parsley, finely chopped 5ml Dijon Mustard 1 clove of garlic, minced 5ml capers 1 anchovy fillet the zest of half a lemon, finely grated
Method: Allow the butter to come to room temperature and soften. Mix all the ingredients together. Spread a piece of plastic wrap on a kitchen surface, spoon the mixture on top and roughly shape it into a log shape. Fold the edge of the plastic wrap closest to you over the log shape and proceed to roll the butter in the plastic so that you have a plastic sausage. Now take hold of the two ends (the overhanging/extra plastic wrap) and roll the butter away from you on the surface. Tie the plastic ends and freeze until required.
Olive Butter: 125g butter, softened 190ml olives, chopped 15ml rosemary, chopped salt to taste
Garlic Butter: 125g butter, softened 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1,2ml salt 1,2ml pepper
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 is a savoury dish that will get conversations (and your tastebuds) going….. Serves 6 people.
500ml bread flour 190ml cocoa powder 5 eggs 2,5ml salt
For the filling: 250ml ricotta cheese 80g dark/bitter chocolate, finely chopped a pinch of salt
100g butter 20 sage leaves
Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt together onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and put in the eggs. Mix the eggs with your fingers and gradually draw in the flour and cocoa mixture to form a soft, but not sticky, dough. Add more flour or egg, if needed, to get the right consistency. Knead for 10 minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge to chill for one hour.
Mix the ricotta, chopped chocolate and a pinch of salt with a wooden spoon until smooth. Roll the pasta through a pasta machine. Lay one sheet of pasta flat and form walnut-sized balls with the ricotta mixture. Place the ricotta balls onto the sheet of pasta. Wet the area around the ricotta-balls with water and lay a second sheet of pasta on top. Press down and around the ricotta balls so that the top sheet of pasta sticks. Cut individual ravioli shapes with a round cutter and cook them for three minutes in simmering water. Keep warm while making the sage-butter.
Add the butter to a small saucepan and place it on a high heat. Allow the butter to melt and then to caramelise – regulate the heat: you want the butter to turn brown and become nutty without burning. Add the sage leaves once the butter has browned and immediately turn off the heat. Be careful the butter will spatter as you add the sage.
Arrange the cooked ravioli on plates and spoon the butter and sage over. Serve with a crusty bread.
This recipe works well with any white fish, fresh or frozen, and is the perfect nutritious weeknight dinner. Ladolemono dressing is traditionally Greek and a basic olive oil and lemon dressing that is drizzled onto fish before and after baking. This version has garlic and origanum added and will have you longing for a Greek vacation!
6 – 8 portions of white fish fillet Ladolemono Dressing:
90ml olive oil 30ml lemon juice 5ml salt 15ml fresh oregano 1 clove garlic, minced
Preheat your oven to 220℃. Lay the white fish portions/fillets onto a baking sheet and put aside while making the dressing. Add all the Ladolemono dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until the mixture turns thick and is completely blended. Spoon half of the dressing onto the fish and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the fish from the oven and drizzle the rest of the dressing onto the cooked fish. Serve with a salad or roasted vegetables.
My Whisk and I 