6 large brown mushrooms 90ml pasta sauce 6 eggs 50g mozzarella cheese, grated 50g mature cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. PLACE THE OVEN RACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OVEN! Gently break the stalks from the mushrooms and place them on the baking sheet. Spoon 15ml of the pasta sauce into each mushroom, break an egg on top and season with salt and pepper. Bake the egg-mushrooms for 10minutes or until set to your liking. Place a handful of cheese on each egg and grill for another five minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve warm.
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Place a 24cm cast iron pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Pour in the milk and cream and add the cinnamon. Whisk to incorporate. Remove the pan from the oven, add the butter to it and swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Pack the croissant halves, cut-side down into the pan and pour the egg mixture over it. Cover the pan with aluminium foil, place it back into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes. Sieve some icing sugar over the croissant bake and scatter over fresh berries. Serve while warm.
Cinnamon paste: 113g butter, melted 310ml brown sugar 30ml ground cinnamon a pinch of salt
Icing: 30ml cream cheese, room temperature 1,2ml almond extract 1,2ml vanilla a pinch of salt 250ml icing sugar, sifted 30ml milk
Warm the milk until tepid and pour it into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over, stir to dissolve and set aside until bubbly. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix together. Add the yoghurt and egg to a small bowl and whisk together. Add the milk mixture and yoghurt mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until a ball of dough forms. Place the dough in an oiled mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for about 2 hours. Lightly oil a clean work surface. Roll the dough on the oiled surface until it is a large rectangle. Mix the butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and spread it evenly over the dough rectangle – spread it right to the edges. Roll the long side of the dough up and cut rolls from it: divide the roll in half; divide the two half in half; etc. Grease a 22cm round cake tin and place the rolls cut side up in it. Cover and set aside to rise for an hour or refrigerate overnight. Preheat your oven to 190℃. Bake the rolls for 25 minutes before removing and placing it on a cooling rack. Add the cream cheese, almond essence, vanilla and salt to a small bowl and whisk together. Now add the icing sugar and stir through. Add the milk a little at a time so that the mixture is thick. Drizzle the icing over the rolls while warm.
Preheat your oven to 170℃ and spray the sides of a fixed-bottom cake tin with cooking spray. Peel the pears and slice them into 8 wedges each. Arrange the wedges on the bottom of the cake tin and set aside. Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan set over medium heat. Do not stir but swirl the mixture from time-to-time until you have a caramel. Remove from the heat and pour the syrup over the pear wedges in the cake tin. Set aside. Add the butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat and gently simmer it for 5 minutes or so. Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl and add the honey, buttermilk, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Whisk the mixture together. Now sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt. Mix until you have a smooth batter. Pour the cake batter onto the pears wedges and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven and invert it onto a plate – leave the upturned cake tin for a few minutes before removing it. Serve the cake with a dollop of cream, ice cream or yoghurt.
400g prawns, shelled and deveined 450g hake medallions (hake cut into more or less 3cm x 3cm) 500g seafood and fish mix 60g butter 4 cloves of garlic, minced 125ml white wine 10ml salt 125ml cream 1 lemon, zest grated
Topping: 1 x 200g box of KIPS, Bacon Flavoured Biscuits or any other savoury cracker 30g butter, melted 125ml grated parmesan cheese
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and place all of the seafood in a large oven dish. Flatten/spread out as evenly as possible. Set aside. Add the butter to a small saucepan set over medium-low heat and allow it to melt. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Add the wine, turn the heat up to high and simmer rapidly until only half the original liquid remains. Add the salt, a few good grindings of black pepper, the cream and the lemon zest. Turn the heat down to a low simmer for 30 seconds or so, remove from the heat and pour over the seafood. Mix through so that the seafood is coated in the sauce. Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes. Crush the biscuits finely and add it to a mixing bowl. Pour over the melted butter and add the parmesan cheese. Remove the baking dish from the oven and evenly scatter the mixture over. Return the seafood to the oven, turn the heat up to 240℃ and bake until golden. Serve with charred lemon to squeeze over.
Peel the clementines and bead them onto a chopstick – you need something that will keep them atop each other. Place them in a container that allows about 1cm on the diameter. You may ‘stabilise’ the clementines with two horizontal dowels so that you can pour the gelatine mixture around it. Add the gelatine, milk and sugar to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar and gelatine has dissolved. Pour around the oranges and leave to cool before refrigerating until set. Place the container in a bowl with very hot water for 30 seconds and immediately invert onto a chopping board. Slice and serve.
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a roasting tin with baking paper. Spread the cauliflower florets out in the tin, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, remove and set aside. Turn your oven down to 180℃. Add the butter to a small saucepan set oven medium-high heat and allow it to melt. Add the flour and stir to cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the milk while whisking for at least one minute. Keep stirring until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat and add the salt. Add the 250ml cheddar, 125ml gruyère and 60ml parmesan a handful at a time and stir vigorously until melted before adding more cheese. Keep going until all the cheese has been incorporated. Add the roasted cauliflower to the sauce and stir to coat. Now pour the mixture into a 28cm x 21cm ceramic dish and scatter over the remaining 125ml cheddar, 125ml gruyère and 60ml parmesan. Bake the cauliflower cheese in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve as a side dish to any meat or as a comfort-bowl-of-goodness on its own.
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Fill a large saucepan with water and cook the potatoes until done. Drain and cool slightly. Crush the potato with the bottom of a glass by pressing down on it. It shouldn’t be thicker than 1cm once crushed. Lay the potato on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle some olive oil over. Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Flip the potato over and repeat. Bake in the oven until crispy – about 20 minutes or so. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together. Set aside. Add the diced cucumber and onion to a serving platter and arrange the crispy potato on top. Mix lightly. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.
3 bananas, very ripe 200g brown sugar 150g butter 2 eggs 240g flour 10ml baking powder 1,2ml salt
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 13cm x 23cm loaf tin with baking paper. Peel the bananas and place them in a mixing bowl. Now beat them with an electric whisk until completely mushed. Add the sugar, butter and eggs and lightly beat the mixture together on low speed. Set aside. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to another bowl and stir to mix. Add one or two spoonfuls of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture while beating on a low speed. Keep adding and beating until all is incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes. Cool the loaf in the baking tin for 15 minutes and then remove it and cool completely on a cooling rack. Serve thick slices of banana bread spread with salted butter.
My Whisk and I 