Chicken and Thai Pesto Rolls. Stunning.

This is a fab and healthy way of using up leftover chicken: a delicious canapé recipe or packed lunch that can be prepared hours in advance.  And wonderfully they look so professional but only need the patience and dexterity of a 3 year old.

I am a recent convert to making dim sum and as a result have a stash of rice paper and peanut oil, pretty wonderful ingredients that we hunted out at the only Chinese supermarket in Kwazulu Natal.  With respect to Thai herbs in the recipe, we are the proud owners of a Thai basil plant which the husband won at the local garden centre raffle.  It is an incredible herb, more robust in flavour than the sweet basil I’m used to and is correspondingly more robust in its growth, with a woody stem being more bush like.  Back in the UK I never saw such a plant and so feel free to use sweet basil in its place, I’m sure it won’t make too much difference.  

Ingredients (makes 8 canapes, double up as you need to)

4 circles of rice paper

a few thin slices of leftover chicken

1 baby courgette

½ a carrot

2 spring onions

a handful of either (or a mix of) mint, coriander and basil

For the Asian Pesto

a large handful of Thai or sweet basil

a large handful of coriander leaves and stalks

1 garlic clove

a small handful of cashews

100 ml or so of peanut oil

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper

Method

1. Put all the ingredients for the pesto, bar the oil, in a blender and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Slowly add enough oil until you get a thick pesto consistency, like a runny paste.  Taste and add more lime, oil or herbs as you fancy.  The aim is a very herby, slightly nutty, paste.

2. Slice the courgette and spring onion into fine matchsticks and use a peeler to peel the carrot into fine slices.

3. Soak the rice paper for a minute or so in warm water until soft then place on a board and cut in half.

4. Dollop some pesto on the middle of each half moon of rice paper and top with a few slices of carrot (cut to size), the courgette and spring onion, then finish with a few thin slice of chicken and three herb leaves (either a mix of mint, coriander and basil or just one type).

5. Roll up the wraps and using a sharp knife trim the ends and serve, perhaps with a small bowl of soy or dipping sauce.  

How beautiful and easy is that?

Haloumi, Chilli and Basil Bruschetta. Amazing.

The hubbie loves haloumi, something I’ve never really got to grips with before.  The rumours of it turning to rubber if you overcook it and it being inedible if you undercook it has always put me off the stuff.  Nonetheless as a treat and also in light of the fact that it is miles cheaper than any other cheese out here, I bought a packet and the rest is history.

This is a delicious bruschetta dish that needs to be served in double quick time so the cheese is still hot when you hand it around.  But it takes seconds to make, needs minimal preparation and is a great standby starter, brunch, lunch or canapé.  Again, use a small circumference baguette for canapés and move up in size to ciabatta if you’re serving it as a starter or lunch.  The combination of basil, a hint of chilli, garlic and crisp mild cheese is completely superb.

Ingredients (per starter bruschetta)

2-3 slices of haloumi (cut to 0.5 cm thick)

1 tbsp olive oil

half a clove of garlic, sliced lengthways

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

3 fresh basil leaves

1 slice of ciabatta

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and pop the bread in the toaster.

2. Add the haloumi and chilli flakes to the pan and cook over a high-ish heat . Turning the haloumi once it is crisp.

3. Remove the bread from the toaster when golden and run the cut side of the garlic clove all over one side.  Top the garlic side with 3 basil leaves and then the chilli haloumi.  Drizzle any left over oil from the pan over the top.

Eat immediately.

Butternut, Sage and Ginger Puree. Sunshine.

I only go to the shops once a week these days, a far cry from my London days of popping into Waitrose every evening after work.  As a result I am getting so much better at weekly planning and knowing what are generically useful ingredients.  For example, I try to buy a different veg each week with the intention of creating some sort of soup for the hubbie’s packed lunch or to create a new side dish.  This week it was butternut squash.

I used it yesterday to make a simple puree to go with our early evening braai.  It was completely effortless and tasted so delicious, a kind of sunshine healthy mash.  The ginger and sage add a wonderful depth to the squash.  While we gobbled it down with some steak, I reckon it would be completely divine as a bed for trout or salmon, or perhaps with a roast chicken.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side)

1 butternut squash

3 large garlic cloves

1 large knob of fresh ginger

1 handful of fresh sage leave

2 tsp vegetable stock powder

4 tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper

  

Method

1. Peel, remove the seeds and chop the butternut squash into small chunks, peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves, peel and finely grate the ginger.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a saucepan and add the garlic and ginger, cook over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring.

3. Add the butternut squash and most of the sage leaves, stir then pour over enough boiling water to come just below the top of butternut squash.  Add the stock powder and stir.  (To my mind if you know the rough quantites there is no fathomable reason why you cant add the stock cubes or powder and water separately and let them mix in the dish).

4. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the butternut squash is very soft.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

5. Using a handheld blender, blend the butternut squash mixture until completely smooth.  Season very well with salt and lots of black pepper and blend again. Check the seasoning and then scoop into a warm serving dish.

6. Heat the remaining oil in a small pan and when hot add the remaining sage leaves.  Allow to fry for a moment or two then pour the sage and oil over the top of the puree.

Serve hot, perhaps topping with a piece of fish for a smart dinner.

Layered Gorgonzola and Confit Bake.

Moving to Africa has seen the hubbie spending 24 hours on-call at the hospital.  To avoid buying ready-cooked meals I’ve got into the habit of packing him off with homemade macaroni cheese to microwave for dinner.  But yesterday I thought I’d branch out. 

The combination of some hardening ciabatta, leftover gorgonzola, cheddar and some onion confit led me to invent this rather scrummy bake which, like my Marmite and Cheese bake, works very well warmed up in the microwave. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

4 slices of leftover white bread

50g butter

3 tbsp onion confit (see previous blog)

75 g of gorgonzola 

75 g of mature cheddar

1 egg

½ mug milk

½ mug of cream

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a 2-person-meal-sized ovenproof dish.

2. Butter the bread and roughly chop into pieces that fit the dish.  Top with some onion confit.

3. Place a layer of the bread on the bottom of the dish and crumble the gorgonzola on top.

4. Top with the remaining bread and grate the cheddar cheese over the top.

5. Break the egg into a mug and whisk with a fork, top halfway up the mug with milk, then fill to the brim with cream. Season generously, especially on the black pepper front, and grate in a little nutmeg.  Pour over the bread and cheese, press the bread down with your fingers and allow the bread to soak up the liquid for 10 minutes.

6. Place the dish on a baking tray (to stop the cheese from bubbling over and onto the floor of your oven…) and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden. 

Serve piping hot with a green salad. 

Zulu Bread. Cheese and White Onion.

For our anniversary this year the hubbie surprised me with a tented walking safari. It was completely out of this world.  We stumbled across a lioness and her cubs (we are talking 2 metres away), following which she promptly told us to back off with the most incredible continuous growl.  Purring it was not.

We also came face to face with rhinos and their young, which saw the guide whisper 'hide behind a tree if they charge...'  Trying to translate that via sign langauge to some Polish men while also choosing my tree was a pretty hair raising comedy.  Anyway we survived and weeks later I’m still overwhelmed by how wonderful it was.  The tents we stayed in were permanent, with a fire to sit around in the evenings and a gentle Zulu cook called Sipoh.  Every afternoon we would come back to a huge and completely delicious cheesy loaf Sipoh called Bush Bread.  Apparently it has been passed down through Zulu safari cooks for years.  I asked for the recipe and noted down as best I could, although a lot was lost in translation, the lack of scales made it pretty difficult and I later realised I had no idea what consistency of dough to be aiming for.  I had one huge failed attempt of recreating the bread when we returned.  It was completely disgusting but has luckily made some great breadcrumbs for the freezer.  Second time around I engaged brain and rather than following my notes precisely I channelled thoughts of making cheese scones at home (my mother has the best secret recipe).  I went for a wet scone consistency and changed the levels of ingredients, added a few of my own and hurrah we have success. It might not be exactly the same but it tastes pretty damn good and will remind us of an amazing few days.

Ingredients (one large loaf)

500 g self raising flour

40 g butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp cooking oil

1 tsp caster sugar

35 g thick white onion soup powder, made to a paste with a little milk

275 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tsp Dijon mustard

450 g buttermilk

1 egg

1 tsp mixed herbs (optional, I had run out so omitted them)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a medium load tin with baking paper, or grease and coat with flour.

2. Rub the butter into the flour and salt, then make a well in the centre and add the egg, oil, sugar, onion soup paste, cayenne, mustard, buttermilk and herbs if you’re using them.

3. Use a fork to stir the mix starting from the centre and gradually working your way out until all the flour is mixed in.  Then add most of the cheese and knead in with your hands.

4. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and shape into a loaf tin shape.  It should be quiet a wet dough.

5. Pop in the tin, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.  Cover with tin foil halfway if the cheese is starting to burn.

6. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.  Serve slightly warm with butter.

Delicious. But best eaten on the day of making if possible, it's wonderful with a homemade soup or stew, but definitely spread with a good dollop of salted butter.  Oh and the leftovers would also make a great  base for my Marmite and cheese bake...

Old School Coconut Macaroons.

One of my absolute favourites when taken to ‘Zonas’ the bakery in Tunbridge Wells, where I grew up, was a coconut macaroon.  The ones with dark chocolate drizzled all over and edible paper clinging to the bottom.  Those and cream horns and iced buns. Oh and Chelsea buns.  I digress.  As I had 3 egg whites in the fridge (thanks to the pear and almond tart) I thought I’d attempt my old favourites rather than be stuck with meringues again.

I read a couple of recipes, Mary Berry and Donna Hay and once I’d got to grips with the basics I invented my own version.  They turned out completely divine all soft and not too too sickly.  Although I’m a bit perplexed about the paper scenario.  As Mary Berry notes in her recipe, rice paper is pretty difficult to come by and so she uses baking paper instead.  But given macaroons are best when only just cooked, still soft and so are cooled on the tray, how do you stop the baking paper from sticking to the bottom? Cleary that was the aim when using rice paper.  Anyway I’ve taken to eating the paper as I cant be bothered to try and pull it off, and to be honest you’d never know it wasn’t the proper edible stuff.  I reckon Mary Berry does the same, as she is suspiciously silent on this point.  And anyway baking paper cant be toxic given its made for cooking... Tuck in I say, it would be a great shame not to.

(UPDATE - I've just realised that I use rice paper from a Thai shop for canapes...maybe that is the answer to my macaroon problems...)

Ingredients (makes 16)

3 eggs whites

150 g desiccated coconut

50 g ground almonds

250 g caster sugar

60 g dark chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a couple of baking trays with baking or rice paper.

2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form soft peaks.

3. Fold in the coconut, almonds and sugar.

4. Take small handfuls of the mixture and roll into a ball, place on the prepared trays and then flatten slightly with your fingers. 

5. Cook for about 15 minutes or until just golden around the edges.   Remember, they are supposed to look slightly anaemic. Leave to cool on the trays.

6. Melt the chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water.

7. Remove the cooled macaroons from their paper and place on another piece of baking paper.  Now go all Jackson Pollack with the chocolate.

8. Allow the chocolate to set and then serve.  I am keeping these in the fridge, which seems to work jolly well.

Beetroot and Carrot Cake. Pink Perfection.

Before we left England we visited loads of National Trust properties to get our historical hit for a year.  At one property they had a lovely cottage garden with a lady handing out National Trust vegetable recipes.  One of which was a beetroot cake.

When the husband was on a 24-hour shift last week I experimented with the recipe.  The mixture seemed incredibly dry so I added some yoghurt to loosen it and also increased the spice list.  I also jazzed it up by using brown rather than caster sugar and topping it with a simple carrot cake icing.  It is truly delicious in a non too sweet carrot cake way and the pink colour of the mixture is unlike anything I’ve cooked before.  Definitely one to shock your take-a-cake-to-work/school/coffee morning - it bats a Victoria sponge into touch in both the taste and novelty categories.  Oh and it makes a pretty good breakfast.

Ingredients

250 g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp mixed spice

150 ml vegetable oil

300 g light brown sugar

3 dessertspoons plain yoghurt (I used low fat)

3 free-range eggs, separated

100 g chopped mixed nuts (I used walnuts and hazelnuts)

Pinch of salt

150 g grated raw beetroot

150 g grated raw carrot

For the icing

100 g icing sugar (sifted)

20 g unsalted butter, cubed

zest of 1 lemon

1 drop of vanilla extract

60 g full fat cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)

Method

1. Line a 20 cm cake tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice, salt and then beat in the oil and sugar.  (I used a wooden spoon rather than beaters).

3. Beat in the egg yolks, beetroot, carrot, nuts and yoghurt.

4. Whisk the eggs whites in a separate bowl until stiff, and then fold into the main mixture using a large metal spoon.

5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour until spring to the touch.  Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out, remove the baking paper and place on a cooling tray.

6 Whisk the icing sugar, butter, lemon and vanilla together in a bowl.   Stir in the cream cheese.  Don’t over beat it or it’ll turn runny.  If it does pop it into the fridge until it gets its act back together.

7. Spread the icing over the top of the cake and devour.

Smoked Haddock. With a Cheese Roux.

I love smoked haddock, it keeps well in the freezer, it's so much more exciting than cod and everyone adores it.  This is a recipe I’ve created and has since become a firm favourite in our little household.  You basically poach the fish in milk and then use the milk to make a cheesey roux, like in macaroni cheese.  Pop a few buttery leeks or spinach in an ovenproof dish, top with the fish, the roux and then sprinkle with breadcrumbs.  It isn't particularly beautiful looking but what it lacks in glam it makes up for in taste.

Peas are a must (like with macaroni cheese) as is a good movie and a large glass of scrummy wine.  Go on, join the haddock party.  It’s a pretty delicious place to be.

Ingredients (it probably should serve 4 but its so yummy that two can devour it without thinking…)

4 smoked haddock fillets (undyed would be best but there’s no such thing out here)

500 ml milk (whole would be best)

1 bay leaf

25 g flour

25 g butter (plus extra for the leeks)

200g strong grated cheddar (or anything that’s lying around)

Salt and black pepper

Nutmeg

3 leeks or a couple of large handfuls of spinach

A handful of breadcrumbs (I use them straight from the freezer)

Method.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a medium baking dish.

2. Place the haddock fillets and bay in a deep frying pan and pour over the milk. Bring to the boil.  Cover and turn down the heat allowing it to simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow the fish to sit in the milk for a little longer.  Keep the milk.

3. Meanwhile if you are using leaks heat a knob of butter in a saucepan and the cook the leeks, sliced, over a medium heat until soft.  If you’re using spinach, wash and place in a saucepan.  The water left on the leaves will be enough to allow the spinach to steam. Remove from the heat when limp and squeeze out the excess moisture. 

4. Spoon the leeks or spinach into the base of the dish and top with the poached haddock (keep the milk), pulling it into flakes as you go.

5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan then add the flour, stir over a moderate heat for a minute.  Then gradually add the poaching milk, stirring with a wooden spoon, until you have a smooth roux.  Cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Then remove from the heat and add the grated cheese, stirring until it’s all melted. 

6. Add a good grating of nutmeg to the cheese sauce along with lots of ground black pepper and some salt.

7. Pour the sauce over the haddock and then sprinkle with breadcrumbs and dot with extra butter.

8. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes or until bubbling and the breadcrumbs are crisp.

Despite the lengthy instructions, it is so easy to make and is a winner for both a tv dinner and to serve for a dinner party.

Welsh Rarebit. With Caramelised Pears and Onion Confit.

My all time favourite Sunday lunch is a ham ploughmans (home cooked lean ham, white doughy bread, chutneys, pickled onion, a little salad, an apple, some butter…) with half a bitter shandy, all served in a sunny pub garden somewhere in the English countryside.  But living the other side of the world I now just settle for a half a bitter shandy on a Sunday.

Wonderfully there are a number of independent breweries in Kwazulu Natal, some of which make delicious stouts and ales.  They come in large glass bottles often too big for our shandy ways, so with the leftovers I’ve started to make a truly scrumptious Welsh Rarebit.  I serve it as a starter in two ways – one slice topped with caramelised pears, and one slice topped with onion confit.  Although if you cut larger slices they'll do for a main, or if you use a small baguette they'd be great canapes.  But they are completely divine however you serve them.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a starter or 4 for a lightlunch)

50 g butter (salted is fine)

1 tbsp plain flour

50 ml whole milk

50 ml ale

200 g mature cheddar cheese

1 tsp Dijon mustard

a dash of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and black pepper

8 small slices of ciabatta bread (see ciabatta blog)

For the caramelised pears

1 pear

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp unsalted butter

For the onion confit (see onion confit blog, you will need a couple of tbsps)

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes.

2. Gradually stir in the milk then the ale, until you have a thick sauce and allow it to bubble for a couple of minutes.

3. Grate and add the cheese and stir until melted, then add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning (go heavy on the black pepper).

4. For the caramelised pears, cut the pear into cubes, removing the core....

...melt the butter in a pan and add the pears, sprinkle over the sugar and allow to cook until the pears are lightly golden.

5. Warm the confit in a saucepan.

5. Toast the ciabatta and spread over the cheese mix... 

Pop under the grill until bubbling, then place two slices on a plate and dollop a teaspoon on confit on one and a few pear cubes on the other.  Serve hot.

They are unbelievably delicious.