Cooking for the lazy and impatient

Kaj`s roasted eggs recipe

2012-05-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

I love roasted eggs. In Mauritius here you get it in almost all Chinese restaurants and I`m always keen to try it out at new places. Last year, amongst the colleagues, we had decided to carry out a pot-luck. Each person had to bring something on which we could snack. So Kaj brought those eggs and since then I can say that we`re all very much hooked on it. Those roasted eggs have become a must-have of our snack-lunches.

So here we go with the recipe, that I was lucky enough to get from Kaj. As you will notice, I have not provided any measurement for the ingredients required. The thing with this recipe (and I honestly think that is what makes it so fabulous) is that the amount of ingredients used depends on your own taste.

Ingredients:
Hard-boiled eggs
Vegetable oil
Garlic
Salt and pepper and chinese salt
Cinnamon stick
Oyster sauce
Soya sauce
Wine (red or rose)

Method:
Boil the eggs and set aside.

In a skillet or pan heat the oil. Add the garlic and cinnamon to let them infuse the oil with their scent.
Add in the eggs and season with salt, pepper and chinese salt. Add in the oyster sauce and soya sauce until the colour seems adequate.
Last but not least, add the wine. In her note, Kaj mentioned that for the wine "the more, the merrier", so you might just let yourself go with the wine.
Let the alcohol evaporate and let the whole preparation cool together and tadaaaaa!

Week days mini chocolate cup pies

2012-03-01T09:43:00.001-08:00

This recipe is damn simple. First buy mini pie cases from your supermarket and then you just need to make the chocolate ganache to fill the cases.

For the chocolate ganache you will need:
200g of dark chocolate (I used Poulain 1848 baking chocolate)
20cl of cream (use either Elle & Vire or President whipping cream)

Heat the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over a low heat until the chocolate melts. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture until smooth, glossy and thickened.

Pour the ganache over the pie cases.

Moist chocolate cake

2011-11-16T23:52:00.001-08:00

I made this moist chocolate cake for a birthday at work. It was honestly my first attempt at this cake and without being pretentious, it came out beautifully. The cake remained moist despite having spent almost a day in the fridge. Everyone loved it and could not believe how easy it was to make. I got the recipe from the BBC website and I have to say that it was quite accurate. Except that you can still remove some of the sugar.

So here is the recipe:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chocolate_cake_31070

Note that the cake shown in this post is a single layer.

Romantic dinner special: Italian (cucina italiana)

2011-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is the first post of a series of romantic dinners from around the world that I intend to make. The recipes that I will list for these series would sometimes be my own but most of the time I will be linking recipes from other sites or cookbooks. The idea here is to give you ideas of easy and quick and, most importantly, inexpensive dinners `cause there`s no harm in being frugal sometimes! Plus quick, easy and inexpensive recipes would imply that you could make those more often! Special dinners are not just meant for V-day!

This first series, code-named cucina italiana, promises to drag you and your special one to Italy with each course.

Start with something light and fresh - the salad

This caprese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette from Steamy Kitchen is sure to please. This salad is fast to make, requires little ingredients and if you intend to serve pasta (which you surely will), you`re making sure that no carb is added right from the first course.

Caprese salad from Steamy Kitchen

Another salad option is this grilled vegetable salad from Angie`s Pantry. Even though this salad takes a little more time to make than the caprese. It still is a quick recipe with minimal ingredients and is specially ideal if you like grilled vegetables.

Grilled vegetable salad from Angie`s Pantry

The pasta
I couldn`t possibly not include pasta here and I`ve got 2 quick and easy suggestions.

First, spaghetti alla puttanesca or like Nigella Lawson prefers to call it, the slut`s spaghetti, is a simple and delicious recipe. The name of this dish might also just fit in your dinner`s theme or what`s in reserve for after the dinner! Anyhow, this is a quite recent Italian recipe (invented in the 1950s) which combines saltiness, spiciness and aroma.

A second pasta suggestion could be Nigella Lawson`s pasta alla genovese. The potatoes add a special edge to this pesto sauce and enables the green sauce to stick perfectly to the pasta.

I know there are too much recipe from Nigella Lawson here, but one cannot possibly pass by the goddess of quick and great recipes when doing such a series.

That being said, if you are in a hurry, you can still buy a packet of fresh gnocchi or ravioli and toss in your favourite canned sauce. The thing is, you will have to give the illusion that all this effortless cooking has come from your heart.

Dessert

I personally cannot possibly imagine a romantic dinner without a dessert. Unless you intend to be the dessert of the evening, you will have to serve one.

The affogato is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a fast Italian dessert. Basically to make an affogato, you just have to pour some hot expresso over some vanilla ice cream. As simple as that!

Another Italian dessert you might go for is the granita, you might substitute the green apple puree in this recipe for some green lime or lemon juice for an authentic Italian flavour.

The decoration
Usually when hosting a themed dinner with your friends or family you would want a quite decadent or over-the-top sort of decoration. For a romantic dinner, it`s quite the contrary. You would want your other one to notice you more than the food. Don`t kill yourself with the decoration.

Image source: Carnival Magic - cucina del capitano table setting

I would recommend a checkered tablecloth on top of which you would display simple white plates, a bread basket, a small candle, your wine and the food, of course. The table might not be glamorous but it sure would be authentic and oh-so-romantic.

So, I only have to wish you a great night and arrivederci!

Homemade romantic dinners

2011-06-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

Forget dinners for two at home where you will be realising complicated meals from starters to dessert. Let`s face it, you won`t get the time to successfully make everything and if you do accomplish this great feat, you will be tired as hell and won`t be up to "the other dessert" that you had in mind for your companion.

The thing is, romantic dinners are more about the visual aspect of things. You would just need meals that look good. Well the taste does play an important part too, but you know that you can achieve that with something simple to make.

Romantic dinners are also about the music, the flowers, the perfumes and YOUR dress and makeup. And if you are a guy, well, you got it, it`s about the visual aspect.

What I`m trying to say is, don`t enslave yourself in a complicated menu. This will leave you time to take care of the decoration and of yourself and to be in a better disposition for what lies ahead of the night.

For the coming weeks, I will be carrying out a mini-series of romantic dinners from around the world including simple recipes, flower arrangements and other decorations.

These mini-series would be inspired by the following places:
Mexico
Thailand
Italy
India
France
Morocco

So stay tuned!

Chocolate gravy

2011-06-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering what this chocolate gravy is like, think smooth, unctuous and chocolaty! This is the perfect recipe if you tend to flunk your puddings or if you feel like eating something chocolaty within less than 20 minutes.

Traditionally, chocolate gravy is one of those grandma recipes made for children and served as a topping for pancakes, waffles or biscuits. I`ve decided to turn this little wonder into something that even adults would find delightful by adding in a little Black Label whiskey and by serving it as "creme" rather than a dessert topping.

The advantage of this dessert is that it is as easy and quick to make as the original version and seems to be quite a fail-proof recipe. So no worries about failing your first attempt.

Let`s get on with the recipe...

Ingredients:

350ml of full fat milk

100g of sugar

5 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp of flour

2 tbsp of butter

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 tbsp of Whiskey (optional; quantity depends on the booze-liking of guests)

Method:

In a medium-sized saucepan mix together all the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa powder and flour).

Pour in the milk and whisk vigorously to combine the ingredients.

Place over medium heat on the stove until the mixture bubbles.

Turn down the heat to low and keep stirring until the mixture thickens to a desired consistency.

Remove the saucepan from heat and add in the butter, vanilla and Whiskey.

Let the mixture cool and serve.

Mini cheddar pies

2011-06-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

For me, those mini cheddar pies are one of the easiest starters to make, especially if you are serving a pie for dessert, because both of them can be made with the same dough - the shortcrust pastry.

I first made those for last year`s Christmas family lunch as I had some leftover shortcrust pastry from the chocolate-strawberry pie I was serving as dessert. Therefore, I gathered some ingredients and the mini cheddar pies were ready in a jiffy!

What is interesting about this recipe is that you do not have to be accurate about the proportions and you don`t really have to stick to the ingredients I used. I can very well see a more glamorous version of this topped with Parmesan cheese or capers or even some anchovies. Just let go of your imagination and bring together flavours you love on those mini pies.

Ingredients (makes 12 mini pies):

120 gm of shortcrust pastry

150 gm of cheese (approx.) - grated

1 pinch of salt

2 pinches of paprika

2 tbsp of margarine

Parsley or any other herb for decoration

Method:

Preheat your oven at 170 degrees Celsius.

Spread the shortcrust pastry to about half an inch thickness.

Cut with cookie cutters of your choice to obtain the mini pie bases.

Prick the mini pie crusts with a fork.

In a bowl mix the grated cheese, salt, paprika and margarine until the mixture blends together.

Put the mini pie crusts to bake for about 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly golden.

Remove the mini pies from the oven and top them with the cheese and margarine mixture.

Put them back in the oven to bake until the cheese melts slightly.

Remove the mini pies from the oven and decorate with the parsleys.

Serve hot or warm.

The Quick and Easy Fruit Jelly

2010-02-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

I first made this recipe last year when I absolutely needed to bring something to a Mothers' Day party but did not have enough time to shop for ingredients and to make an elaborate dessert.

I had a small can of mixed fruits in syrup and a packet of agar agar in the cupboard and that was all I needed to make this lovely jelly.

No one ever guessed that it took me barely five minutes to prepare this recipe!

Ingredients:

10 gms of agar agar powder

1 small can of mixed fruit in syrup

250 ml of water

3 tablespoon of sugar

Utensils:

1 deep pan

A jelly mould

A whisk

Method:

First drain the fruits while taking care to keep the syrup in a bowl.

Dispose the fruits in the jelly mould.

In the deep pan, pour in the fruit syrup and mix in the water.

Next throw in the sugar and agar agar powder.

Whisk the mixture and let it come to the boil.

Lower the heat under the mixture and let it simmer a minute.

Next pour in the liquid into the jelly mould. Let it cover the fruits.

Let the jelly cool a little before placing in the refrigerator for some hours for it to be cold.

Serve very cold.

Chocolate and almond Chip Cookies

2010-02-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

I tried this recipe for the first time in December 2008. I went to a coffee shop a few days before that and was amazed at how everything in that shop looked kitsch, from the desserts displayed to the way they were displayed. I was mostly mesmerised by the huge chocolate chip cookies sitting in huge cookie jars, a reminiscent of housewives baking giant cookies for their kids. From that day on, I decided that my chocolate chip cookies would be intentionally huge, just to have a feel of that shop again.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe contains no egg but milk instead. This recipe will yield about 5 huge cookies.

To make cookies, you will be needing:

150g of flour

1 pinch of salt

75 of caster sugar (I used only 50g)

25g of soft brown sugar

75g of margarine

2 tablespoon of liquid milk (or half an egg)

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

100g of chocolate chips or a block of semi-sweet chocolate cut in chunks

25g of almond flakes

Method:

Pre-heat the oven at 170 degree Celsius or 338 degree Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Reserve.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter using a whisk for 1 minute

Add the 2 sugars to the butter and whisk till the mixture is now light and fluffy

Then gradually add the milk to the mixture while still mixing the content of the bowl.

The mixture should be creamy and have a very light and fluffy texture by this stage.

Now fold in the flour, chocolate chip cookies and almond flakes to the creamy mixture to obtain the cookie dough.

Next form balls with the cookie dough and place them on a baking tray.

Bake at 20 minutes at 170 degree Celsius or 338 degree Fahrenheit and voila!

Green Apple Granité

2010-01-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

Nothing sounds more exotic than Granité. You can even bet that some of your friends or guests would have never even heard about it before and this, ladies and gents, significantly increases the probability of you impressing them by making one.

A granité is basically a frozen fruit juice that has been raked with a fork to obtain tiny sweet and delicious ice cubes that are a wonderful delight to the mouth. This recipe is ideal as a summer dessert and a great way to accommodate fresh fruits in an original fashion.

For the green apple granité you will be needing:

About 5 medium size green apples

300 ml water

6 tablespoon of sugar

The juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Peel the apples and dice them. Place them in a pan along with the lemon juice, sugar and water. Bring the mixture to the boil and let it simmer for about 7 minutes or until the apples are soft enough to be mashed.

Let the mixture cool and then mash the apples until a smooth and slightly runny consistency is obtained.

Place the mixture in a large and deep plate and put the plate in the freezer.

Take the mixture out of the freezer every 30 minutes and rake it with a fork so that the ice does not form huge crystals.

After about 3 hours of raking the mixture could be ready to go.

Note: The granité can be realised with a lot of other seasonal fruits such as the watermelon, pineapple or passion fruit.

Agar Milk Jelly

2010-01-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

The milk jelly is a relatively light dessert that I love to serve very cold in summer. It's also ridiculously easy to make and require very few ingredients so that it can be an option if you've got surprise guests coming or not enough time at your disposition to make an elaborate dessert.

Let's get on with the ingredients required to make this delightfully easy dessert.

For a maximum of 5 copious servings you will be needing:

1 can of unsweetened condensed milk (carnation)

250 ml of water

3 tablespoon of sugar

10g of agar agar

Utensils:

1 large deep pan

a jelly mould

Method:

Mix together, in a large pan, the unsweetened condensed milk, the water, sugar and agar agar powder. Place the pan on the stove and bring the liquid mixture obtained to the boil. Once the mixture has come to the boil you can pour it in your jelly mould and let it set in the refrigerator.

Note:

1. If you don't have a jelly mould, any deep plate or bowl will do. The only inconvenience is that the jelly might break during unmoulding.

2. The agar agar can be replaced by 2 sheets of gelatin. In that case you will need to let the gelatin soak in cold water and heat a mixture of condensed milk, water and sugar and incorporate the gelatin in the hot (but not boiling) liquid.

Napolitaine Recipe

2009-10-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

I made Napolitaines today. They were not perfect to the eye but they tasted great. I followed this recipe and I must say that it was really accurate! It took me about one hour to bake 2 platters of these cookies. I guess my family will really enjoy this one!

Mauritian Banana Pie Recipe

2009-06-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Those pies are almost a Mauritian classic dessert and they are sold in nearly every pastry shop. If those pies became so popular in Mauritius, it might be due to the fact that bananas are readily available in the island and let's face it, this dessert is really delicious.

You might laugh if I tell you that I make this recipe almost every week or at least twice a month. The reason for this is simple: my parents are great fans of banana pies and we always have a stock of banana at home, which, if not eaten, might have to go spoiled, so the best ways to use those bananas was to bake some good old banana pie.

So without saying further, let's get into the core of the recipe:

To make a 20cm Banana Pie you will need:

For the base:
300g plain flour
150g unsalted butter
1 pinch of salt
3-5 tablespoon of milk

To make the shortcrust pastry, proceed as indicated in this post

First cook the base "a blanc", that is for about 15 minutes, until the dough hardens but is not coloured yet

While the shortcrust pastry is in the oven, make the pie filling

For the filling, you will need:
About 12 small bananas, sliced
2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoon of sugar

Method:
Start by melting the butter in a saucepan.
Drop in the banana slices.
Sprinkle the sugar on top of the bananas and let cook by stirring occasionally.
When the bananas have melted and the mixture has got a lovely caramel colour, the filling is ready.

When the shortcrust pastry has finished cooking for the first time, remove them from the oven and pour in the banana paste.

You can serve the pie as it is and the recipe would end here, provided that you let the crust bake till it gets a golden brown colour.

Or you can push the recipe further by adding the rustic touch of "dough ribbons" on top of the pie.

For this you only have to keep a piece of the shortcrust pastry, roll it out and cut it vertically to obtain those ribbons.

Now after baking the shortcrust pastry "a blanc" for the first time for 10 to 15 minutes, you pour in the banana filling and you as artistically as possible place those ribbons on top of the pie. Now you only have to bake again until the ribbons get a lovely golden colour.

You might refrigerate the pie once it's baked if you are not planning to serve straight-away.

All I gotta tell you now is, Enjoy!

The Quick and Easy Cheesecake Recipe

2009-06-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

This recipe breaks so many cheesecake rules that cheesecake purists would not even call it a cheesecake but I say since it has got the aspect, it ought to be called a cheesecake!

I first tried this recipe a few weeks ago following a friend's instructions. I had just come home on a Saturday evening and I did not want to spend too much time making dessert for the following day. She told me to use digestive biscuits as the base, which I did and the result was pretty cool.

Let's jump into the recipe...

To make a 20cm cheesecake you need:

For the base:
About 10-13 digestive biscuits
2 tablespoon butter

For the topping:
300g dark chocolate
100g double cream
About 50g icing sugar (or to taste)

Method:
First blend the biscuits finely in a food processor.
Mix the butter to the biscuit crumbs.
Lay down the biscuit mixture at the base of your pastry tin and place in the oven for about 5 to 7 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Now for the topping, melt the chocolate "au bain-marie".>
Whip the cream a little along with the suger to put in some air but not enough to turn it into a Chantilly. Reserve in the fridge.
When the chocolate is melted, let it cool before mixing it to the cream.
Mix gently so that the cream does not lose its air.
By now your biscuit base must have cooked and cooled.
Pour in the chocolate mixture and reserve in the fridge.
You might want to decorate the cheesecake with some fruits or nuts.

And voila! A nice and simple recipe!

For the mini version, simply use cupcake tins and the steps are the same.

Easy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

2009-06-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is a hybrid between a muffin and a cupcake as I used a muffin recipe and enriched it a little to get cupcakes. The result was amazing. I made 12 yesterday and there is only one left today.

This recipe is made without eggs but you won't even notice the difference because of the liquid milk added to it which gives a rather fluffy aspect to the cupcakes.

Let's get to the recipe without further ado...

Ingredients for the cupcake:

150 gram of plain flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
70 ml of liquid milk
25 gram of butter
50 gram of sugar
3 drops of vanilla essense

Method:

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees celsius.
First start by sifting the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl.
Then add the suger to the flour mixture and mix well.

In another bowl, mix the milk, butter and vanilla essense together.
Now pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture by mixing a little.
The end mixture should not be too smooth or else the cakes would have peaked tops once cooked.

Now you can drop spoonfuls of your mixture into buttered or papered cupcake tins.

Cook the cupcakes at 200 degrees celsius for about 20 minutes or until the cupcakes turn golden brown.

Once the cupcakes are done. Remove them from the oven and put them to cool on a rack. You can add you favourite cupcake topping on the cakes now.

Mauritian chili and carrot pickles recipe

2009-06-11T23:05:00.001-07:00

Have you wanted to make some hot chili pickles to accompany your Indian dishes and thought it would be too hard and gave up? Well this chili and carrot recipe is certainly meant for you as it does not require much ingredients and most importantly it does not require any maturing time as compared to other pickles.

The first time I made this chili and carrot pickles was two years ago. I had never heard of carrots in pickles before that. It was only when my boyfriend was telling me about his mom's carrot pickle that I thought I should give this a try and it worked wonders. The sweetness of the carrots combines well with the hotness of the chilies, making this pickle not too hot and so much tasty.

So, are we ready to roll?

The ingredients to make this chili and carrot pickle are:

About 5 regular size carrots
12 chilies
5 garlic cloves
3 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon of turmeric
3 teaspoon of ground mustard seeds
3 teaspoon of tamarind paste (mine were with seeds, if you find some without seeds, add a little less.
4 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Utensils
A food processor (Grinder, use the coarse grinder blade)
A glass can to store the pickles in

Method:

Peel the carrots and dice them up, to facilitate the grinding.
Peel the garlic cloves.
Remove the chilies' tails.

Now for the grinding:

Coarsely grind the carrots along with the garlic cloves first.
Transfer the carrot and garlic mixture in a bowl.
Then place the chilies in the food processor bowl and pulse for a second or two so that the chili is not finely ground.
Add the coarsely ground chili to the carrot and garlic mixture.
Then add the turmeric, salt, mustard seed and tamarind to the vegetable paste.
Mix all those well.
When the mixture has taken the nice orange colour of pickles, you can add the oil.

Note:
The tamarind paste is important as it adds a little sour taste which balances the sweetness of the carrots and hotness of the chilies.
It is important to add the oil after the dry spices have been mixed to the paste, or else the oil will dominate on all the other flavors.

The pickles can be served right away, though the taste will get better after 24 hours. So do make it in large portions.

Weird Mac and Cheese Recipe

2009-06-09T03:36:00.001-07:00

Today I was sitting at my desk talking to my boyfriend about how weird Google is when I realised that it was almost noon and I was getting hungry. So I took a look at the kitchen cupboard, grabbed a few vegetables from the veggie basket and I was ready to improvise a lunch to which I gave the name of "Weird Mac and Cheese" since it goes really far from the regular macaroni and cheese recipe.

This recipe is simple and it is a little lighter than regular the regular Mac and Cheese with more vegetables plus it does not require much preparation time.

So, are we ready to start?

For this recipe I used:

100g of macaroni (roughly a quarter of a 500g packet, that was for 1 person)
4 tomatoes
1 small green pepper
a bunch of spring onions
a little dried thyme leaves
1 large onion
1 tablespoon of ketchup
a drop of soya sauce
about 40g of cheese (grated)
salt and pepper
Oil (to be put in the boiling water with the macaroni and to cook the sauce)

First start by filling a large saucepan with water and putting it on the stove on full heat. When the water starts boiling, drop in a large pinch of salt and some oil and then throw in your macaronis.

Since I was using a cheap brand of macaroni, I had to constantly watch it while it's cooking. Be sure to turn it round with a wooden spoon every minute or so or else the macaronis might stick to your saucepan. Check if the macaroni's cooked by tasting it or pinching it between your fingers. They should be cooked "al dente" that is not be too boiled and soft but not crunchy as well. Damn! This is getting complicated.

Then on the side, while your macaroni is getting boiled, chop your veggies. Then pour a tablespoon of oil in another saucepan and start by first dropping in the onion and then the green pepper. Let them cook for a minute before dropping in the tomatoes. Then add the spring onions and thyme, you can add a little ketchup now and a drop of soya sauce. Add salt and pepper and let the sauce cook for some minutes (until it starts looking like a real sauce).

When the sauce is ready, drop the macaroni into it or vise versa. It works both ways. Add the grated cheese on top and let it melt.

You can now eat it. Or your dog will have it if you ruined it. :p

Chocolate cup pies recipe

2009-06-08T06:11:00.001-07:00

Chocolate pies are my favourite pies by far. They are so easy to make and please almost anyone, from the youngest to the oldest.
I named this recipe "chocolate cup pies" because of Chuck in Pushing Daisies who calls her mini pies "cup pies". This is in a way my tribute to this TV show.

This chocolate pie is simple as hell to make and rapid as well, as many shortcuts have been used.

Without further delay, let's get into some action...

Ingredients:
For the crust (makes 12 cup-pies):
300 grams of flour
150 grams of unsalted butter cut in small cubes
1 pinch of salt
5 tablespoon of milk

If you wish to know more about the crust, I have previously written about how to make the crust.

For the filling:
200 grams of dark chocolate
10 cl liquid cream
2 tablespoon of icing sugar
30 grams of butter

To make the crust:
Sift the flour and mix the salt.
Put in the butter.
Rub the flour and the butter together. The mixture should look like moist sand.
Add the 5 tablespoon of milk gradually to bind the mixture together and obtain a dough.

Leave the mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

If you are in a hurry, start spreading the dough with a rolling pin right away.
Dust the pastry board and rolling pin with a little flour before rolling, this will prevent the dough from sticking.

Next place the rolled and thinned dough in any pastry tin that you have and prick the dough with a fork before placing it in the oven to be baked at 210 degrees celsius for about 15 minutes on the oven's top shelf. The crust should look golden brown after coming out of the oven.

Mine are a little less tanned.

Note: The crust will be baked alone. The filling will be added after baking the crust.

To make the filling
Simply chop the chocolate beforehand using a bread-knife and place it in a bowl.
Heat the liquid cream until it starts simmering and pour it over the chocolate. The chocolate will start melting on contact with the hot cream. Start mixing and add the sugar and butter immediately.

The chocolate filling is ready, just fill the empty crusts!

You might also use canned peaches or apricots as well as sliced, grilled almonds to decorate.

If you ever try out this recipe do let me know how it went. Enjoy!

Tea party sandwiches recipe

2009-06-08T05:39:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been to those posh tea parties often organized by the classy girl of your class and you've wondered, how you could ever convince your mother to do that? When I was in high school, I was often invited to tea parties. It was just "in" at that time and we had to pretend we were all classy and nibble those sandwiches while sipping some hot tea.

When it was my turn to receive my friends, I thought we would not be able to make it and to our surprise it did not turn out that bad...

At first planning your own tea party looks like too much job, especially when you have to fill platter full of fluffy and tiny triangle sandwiches of all kinds. But then with a little imagination you can just turn that little tea party into something creative which will require very little job (compared to regular tea parties that is).

It is always considered appropriate to provide 3 sandwiches in a party. So our tea party will consist of the classic butter and cheese sandwich, an egg sandwich and a sweet nutty sandwich.

The classic butter and cheese sandwich

Ingredients:

Sandwich breads
Butter (you might need to buy an extra tub just in case),
Cheese (grated finely using a cheese grater so that the cheese sticks to the bread)
Pepper (for some extra flavor)
Cucumber or tomato slices and some lettuce leaves (patted dried so that it does not wet the sandwich)

Proceed by first grating the cheese in a bowl, then add twice as much butter as the cheese. For example if you have grated 100g of cheese, you should be adding 200g of butter. Then add pepper to the cheese and butter and mix well.
Spread this mixture on both surface of the sandwich, add the cucumber slices and lettuce leaves between the bread slices and squeeze lightly.

Your butter and cheese sandwich is done.

The egg sandwich

Ingredients:

Sandwich breads
Hard-boiled eggs (add a little vinegar or lemon juice to the water when boiling. This will prevent the eggs from breaking in the water).
Butter or mayonnaise sauce or salad cream
Mint or coriander or parsley or basil (anything green you can lay your hands on- Finely chopped)
Salt and pepper

This sandwich filling can be prepared on the eve of the party and I would really advise you to do so.

First mash the hard-boiled eggs, add the cream or butter and the finely chopped herb. Salt and pepper comes in next. The mixture is ready.
Butter the sandwich breads slightly before spreading the egg mixture so that it sticks to the bread. Press the sandwich lightly and it's ready to be served!

The sweet nutty sandwich

This is a sweet sandwich and it might actually save your life if you forgot to prepare a dessert for the tea party.

Ingredients:

Sandwich breads
A cup of Nutella (which can be substituted by chocolate sauce or melted chocolate)
Some roasted almond slices
Some strawberries or any other fruit for the decoration.

Spread the nutella or chocolate sauce on the bread. Add a few roasted almond slices. You can either add fruit slices in the sandwiches or on top of them,it doesn't matter how you place the fruits. What matters is that this will help finish your tea party beautifully, without much sweat on your part.

I sure hope these recipes will be useful to you. So when's the next tea party?

How to make a shortcrust pastry

2009-06-08T02:18:00.001-07:00

Shortcrust pastry is the name given to the crumbly base that you see (and eat) in most tarts, pies, flans, rolls and pasties. This is accomplished by the rubbing-in method and once you have tried making it yourself, you will notice how ridiculously simple it is (even my boyfriend makes his own shortcrust pastry).

The first time I tried making my own shortcrust pastry was last year and I followed those instructions and it worked out just like I wanted it to. I hope you can make the most of this recipe, so here goes...

Basic ingredients for the shortcrust pastry are:
100g of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
50g of unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
2-3 teaspoon of cold milk

Note:
1. If you are using salted butter, just don't add the salt.
2. Having the correct proportion of ingredients is important in this case. Try using a kitchen scale.

Now for some action:
1. Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Put the pieces of butter in the flour and rub them together using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Next sprinkle the milk over the mixture and mix it all well until you obtain a stiff dough.

At this point you might consider putting the dough in the fridge if you plan to use it later.

Or else you might start rolling the dough with a rolling pin to fit your pastry tin.

Use a fork to prick the dough so that it does not puff up while cookies.

Use milk or a little beaten egg as a glaze on the pastry.

Bake it in a preheated oven (between 200 degrees celsius and 210 degrees celsius) on the top shelf for 10 to 15 minutes or until you see the dough changing color to a golden brown.

Enjoy!

Orange Christmas Cookies Recipe

2009-06-07T05:43:00.001-07:00

Ever wanted to make a different kind of cookie for Christmas? These cookies would be just perfect for you as they are light, original and so tasty.

These cookies are not really orange in color but they sure have got the flavor. I first made those a few days before Christmas in 2007 to test them out and they turned out so tasty that none of it was left by the afternoon. Since I am of the generous kind, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Note: This is a non-egg recipe.

So the ingredients for the Orange Cookies are:
150g of flour
1 pinch of salt
75 of caster sugar
25g of soft brown sugar
75g of margarine
2 tablespoon of liquid milk
1/2 teaspoon of orange essence
100g of lemon/orange peels cooked in sugar

So firstly I've creamed the butter in a salad bowl using a spoon
then I've added the 2 sugars and mixed till the mixture is light and fluffy
the I've added the milk to the mixture while still mixing the content of the bowl
the the orange essence has been added
and then I've folded in the flour and fruit peels
Then it was the turn of the oven to do his job! After cooking for 20 minutes at a temperature of 170 degrees Celsius, the cookies are ready!

It would be ideal to leave them in an open space and let them cool down before serving.

Enjoy!

Honey Cake Recipe

2009-06-07T01:32:00.001-07:00

This cake was baked in 2007 for mothers day and the recipe has not changed mainly because it is really awesome and it pleased all those who were lucky enough to taste it.

The advantage of this cake is that is contains so much good flavours that you can eat it straight out of the oven without even decorating it. Served with a good tea or a cup of coffee, this is the kind of simple cake which would go well on any occasion, be it a dinner, a housewarming festival and just a night out with your friends.

The only disadvantage of this cake is that your guests will be nagging you for the recipe after they have tasted it, but I guess you could live with that!

So without further delay, here goes:

Honey Cake

Ingredients:
2 large cups of flour (normal one, not self-raising)
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1 can of sweetened & condensed milk
160g of pure honey (that basically a medium container, in sale everywhere)
Half cup of liquid milk
250g of unsalted butter (keep a little for greasing)
1 drop of vanilla essense

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients together in no particular order until you get a thick and smooth paste.

Things should look more or less like this!

Put the mixture in a greased bowl and put it in the oven at a heat of around 180 degrees for about 30 minutes! Enjoy!