Baklava

One of my favorite Greek desserts.  My first attempt at making it.  Used a filling of walnuts and almonds.  Very sweet and great with a cup of coffee.

Enjoy!

Pan Seared Salmon on a bed of Couscous and Roasted Veges topped with Hollandaise sauce

The title of this post is a bit of a mouthful and so is the dish folks...

The tastes of this one offer so much variety and combine so well.  Enjoy with your favorite white wine!

All you need to do...

For the Couscous with roast veges...
- 1 cup of couscous
- 3 cups of chicken stock 
- 1 zucchini
- 1 red capsicum
- 1/2 head of broccoli
- 1 onion
- 4 mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbls butter
- 2 tbls parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 210C.  Peel and slice the veges into small pieces and then coat in olive oil and pan fry for 10 minutes adding a little salt and pepper.  Transfer to a baking dish and roast for 20-25 minutes.

While the veges are roasting bring the chicken stock to the boil in a small saucepan.  Add a cup of couscous to a casserole dish and then add the boiling stock to the dish and pop the lid of the dish on and leave it for 10 minutes.  After that use a fork to fluff the couscous.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter and parmesan cheese as you fluff the couscous to give it even more richness.

Remove the roast veges fromt the oven and mix into the casserole dish with the couscous.  Leave covered.

For the hollandaise sauce...
- 3 egg yolks
- 4 tbls butter
- 1 tbls fresh lemon juice
- a little cracked pepper

In a metal baking dish whisk the eggs and lemon juice till fluffy.  Then put the dish over a saucepan of simmering water and add in the butter ensuring it is just hot enough to melt the butter (we don't want to scramble the eggs).  Add cracked pepper.  No need to add salt.  Whisk in all the butter until you have a nice smooth sauce.  Put to one side.  If it goes stiff while sitting add a tbls of warm water and whisk again before serving.

For the salmon...
- 2 fillets of salmon skin on and scales removed
- Table salt for drying the salmon
- 3 tbls Sesame seed oil
- lemon juice

Use paper towelling to dry the salmon thoroughly.  Lay on paper towels skin up and pour salt on the skin allowing to sit for 5 minutes to absorb the salt.  Meanwhile heat the sesame oil on medium-high heat in a skillet just big enough to handle one fillet.

Brush the salt off the fish and lay skin side down in the skillet.  It should sizzle as it touches the pan.  Give it 4 minutes squeezing lemon juice on the exposed fillet at the start of cooking.  Then turn over for 20 seconds to complete cooking.  The skin should be nice a crispy.  The inside of the salmon pink.

Plating up...
Make a bed of the couscous roast veges dish patting down nicely.
Pour a generous amount of the hollandaise over the couscous.  Grate a little parmesan coarsely over the plate and cracked pepper.
Top the bed with the salmon straight from the fry pan and your done...

Enjoy!!!

Affogato

Affogato is a very easy to make and delightful dessert with th mix of coffee, liqueuer and ice cream giving the pallete plenty to accept.

All you need is a shot of expresso, or strong instant coffee will work.  Just a couple of tablespoons.
A shot of your favorite liquer.  Here I've used sweet marsala.
And a couple of sccops of your favorite ice cream.  Keep the ice cream simple.  Stick to vanilla or chocolate for best results.  Here I've used choc chip.

Serve the 3 ingredients separately on a plate allowing the person eating the dessert to get involved by combining the three ingredients.  The hot coffee will start to melt the ice cream and the liquer will add the essence and aroma.

Enjoy!!

Pancakes with mango and thickened cream

Ingredients

3/4 cup milk
2 tbls white vinegar
1 egg
2 tbls melted butter

1 cup plain flour
2 tbls white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tbls button for cooking the pancakes

1 mango diced
Icing sugar
1/3 cup cream
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Maple syrup

Directions

1)  in a medium sized bowl combine milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes to sour

2)  add the melted butter and whisk in the egg

3)  in another bowl sift the dry ingredients then add to the milk and whisk to remove lumps

4)  use a 6 inch fry pan to cook the pancakes 3 or 4 tbls of mixture per pancake.

5)  arrange the pancakes and drizzle with maple syrup, sift confectioners sugar, arrange the mangoes and top with cream whipped and combined with the cinnamon

The rest is the easy part...

Enjoy!!!

Anzac Biscuits

I made a couple of batches of this iconic Aussie biscuit on April 24th and ate them on Anzac Day.

Lest we forget!


Ingredients

125g unsalted butter
3 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 cup plain flour
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup fine brown sugar
1/2 cup desicated coconut


Directions

1)  Pre-heat oven to 150C (fan-forced.  higher for conventional ovens) 

2)  Melt the butter and add then add the water and golden syrup

3)  Mix together then add the bicarb of soda.  Mixture will froth and become creamy

4)  In a medium sized bowl sift the flour then combine the oats, sugar and coconut

5)  Stir in the butter mixture.

6)  Form balls about an inch and a half in diameter and place on a line baking tray.  Flatten a little with a fork and then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

7)  Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray before transferring to a rack to dry.

 

Banoffee Pie with a choc peanut butter layer

We had bananas at the office this week, so naturally, Banoffee Pie was the first thing that sprang to mind...

Ingredients

For the base
-  one packet 250gm of your favorite plain biscuit
-  150gm butter melted
-  2 tbls granulate sugar

The filling