Souvlaki captures all the tastes of Greece and so these chicken skewers will not only transport you back to the azure sea and clear skies, but delight your tastebuds!
10 chicken breasts, skin removed 60ml olive oil the juice of one lemon 1 clove garlic, minced 30ml dried oregano salt and pepper 10-24 wooden skewers
Cut each chicken breast into 3 equal sized pieces. Add the chicken and all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and rub everything together with you hands so that the chicken gets coated with it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (you may leave it overnight).
Cut the wooden skewers to fit inside your griddle pan. Now thread 4-5 pieces of chicken onto a skewer. Lay it flat on a work surface and push another skewer through all the pieces of chicken so that you have to parallel skewers. Place a griddle pan on high heat and wait for it to warm up. Cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes, turning 2/3 times during cooking. You may add a few splashes of olive oil if you think the pan needs it. Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of lemon on the side.
250ml flour 5ml baking powder 1,2ml salt 45ml butter, cubed 2 eggs 15ml sugar 2,5ml salt 2,5ml ground cinnamon 125ml butter, melted ground cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle over
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. Add the eggs and 15ml sugar to another bowl and whisk together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix together. Fill a large saucepan at least 7-8cm deep with hot, simmering water. Add 2,5ml salt and 2,5ml cinnamon to the water. Spoon a teaspoonful of batter into the water. Add another 4 dumplings – do not crowd the saucepan- and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a heatproof dish. Drizzle with the melted butter and some cinnamon-sugar. Keep the dumplings warm while you cook the rest. Serve warm with extra cinnamon-sugar.
This is slow cooking at its best with a punchy umami deliciousness! Leftovers and some salad make a fabulous wrap the next day.
about 2kg of beef brisket, bone in 2 onions, chopped 2 carrots, diced 4 cloves of garlic, minced 250ml red wine 500ml beef stock (cubes are perfect!) 500ml water 3 tins of diced tomato 2 bay leaves 45ml Worcestershire sauce 5ml salt
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Put a heavy-base ovenproof saucepan on to medium-high heat and cover the bottom with vegetable oil. Add the beef and brown it all over. Remove from the saucepan and set aside. Add some more oil to the pan and add the onion and carrot. Cook on a medium heat, stirring every now and then until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the stock, water, tomato, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Return the beef to the saucepan and bring back to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid, place in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Turn the meat, return the saucepan to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Take the brisket from the saucepan, place it in an oven tray and shred the meat by pulling it apart with two forks. Remove any bones and chunks of fat. Return the meat to the sauce and warm through. Serve on buttery mashed potato.
Chocolate and pear is a match made in heaven and with this delicious chocolate pastry as a base, few desserts will be able to compare to this tart!
Poached pears: 3 ripe pears 750ml water 250ml sugar 15ml lemon juice
Chocolate pastry: 80g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa 175g butter, cubed 230g caster sugar 4 egg yolks 10ml vanilla 15ml milk 50g cocoa powder 350g cake flour
Chocolate frangipane: 120g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa 120g butter, cubed 120g caster sugar 5ml vanilla 2 eggs 125g ground almonds 25g flour
Poaching the pears: Pour the water into a small saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Turn the heat on to medium and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Peel, halve and core the pears and add to the poaching liquid. Cut a square of baking paper that is large enough to cover the saucepan. Scrunch the paper up and then slide it down into the saucepan until it touches the poaching liquid. Bring the poaching liquid to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently until a wooden skewer can easily be inserted into the pear quarters. Turn off the heat and allow the fruit to cool in the poaching liquid. Remove the pear once it has cooled and keep aside. Simmer the poaching liquid until it reduces to a syrup. Reserve this to glaze the tart with once it comes from the oven.
For the chocolate pastry: Chop and melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir until silky smooth and completely melted. Take the bowl from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the cubed butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and milk to the bowl of a food processor and blitz together. Pour in the slightly cooled chocolate and pulse to blend in. Sift the cocoa powder and flour into the chocolate mixture and blitz until the mixture comes together in a smooth ball of pastry. Wrap the pastry with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for one hour.
Lightly spray a tart tin with baking spray. Roll the pastry to a thickness of 3mm and line the baking tin on the bottom and sides. Place the pastry case into the freezer for 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Line the pastry case with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
For the chocolate frangipane: Keep your oven on 180℃. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir until completely melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and beat together, scraping down once or twice, until well blended. Add the almonds and flour and fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Pour in the melted chocolate and stir once again to incorporate, with the spatula. Spread the frangipane mixture onto the baked pastry case. Slice the pears and position each sliced half onto the chocolate frangipane, spacing it so that there is enough space for all of the pear. Bake the tart for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the reduced poaching liquid (syrup) onto the warm tart. Allow to cool in the baking mould. Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
My Whisk and I 