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VALENTINES COCKTAIL

10 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Cocktails, Recipes

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Champagne is always fun for a celebration, making a special occasion even more exceptional. I love this spicy sweet combination, but champagne is wonderful because you can add any liqueur or juice to it for a quick and easy cocktail.

GINGER SPARKLER

1 ounce elderflower liqueur
1 ounce ginger liqueur
champagne to top

Pour the liqueurs into a champagne glass and top with champagne.
Enjoy!

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VALENTINES DAY

09 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in Appetizers, Dessert, Recipes, Salad

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From our first Valentines together, my husband and I have always cooked at home.
Initially it was simple, luscious pasta dishes, both of us inhabiting the kitchen, easily and joyfully cooking together. Then, as we moved out of our cocoon for two, and included friends in our celebration, the dinners became more complicated, transforming into more elaborate, four course meals, but still maintaining the fun and intensity from those evenings early in our relationship.

Here is part of a menu from a previous Valentines dinner party.

BAKED GRAPES

Heat oven to 400F.
Place a bunch of grapes on a baking pan, lined with foil. Splash with about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Serve with cheese, toasted walnuts and honey.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, January 2013
www.bhg.com/recipes/‎

BEET SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUT VINAIGRETTE

SALAD
1 1/2 pounds beets, rinsed and scrubbed
1 tablespoon olive oil
salad greens
1/4 cup walnut halves, toasted
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese

VINAIGRETTE

4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons walnut oil

Heat oven to 350F.
Place beets on a large piece of aluminum foil, rub each beet with olive oil and fold foil to enclose beets. Place on a cookie sheet and roast until a knife pierces center of beet easily, about 1 hour.
Remove skins with a paring knife. Slice beets.
In a small bowl, whisk together sherry vinegar, shallots, salt and freshly ground pepper, slowly whisk in oil.
Place greens on 6 plates, top with beets, walnuts and blue cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, October 2007
www.arkansasonline.com/news/features/food/

CHOCOLATE RED WINE CAKE

2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups red wine
confectioners sugar and whipped cream for dusting

Heat the oven to 350F.
Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat for 2 minutes longer. Working in two batches, alternately fold in the dry ingredients and the wine, until just incorporated.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack, let cool completely. Dust the cake with confectioners sugar and serve with whipped cream if desired.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food &Wine Magazine
www.foodandwine.com/…/chocolate-red-wine-cake

LEMON SQUARES

22 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in bars and cookies, Recipes

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These bright and pretty bars reflect the gorgeous sunny days that have been a beautiful reprieve from the chilly winter.

LEMON SQUARES

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 eggs
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350F.
Place flour, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, pine nuts and salt in a food processor, pulse to combine. Add butter and oil, pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse meal. Place mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray, press into bottom of pan.
Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Reduce oven temperature to 325F.
Combine sugar, flour, lemon rind and juice and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour mixture over crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, August 2012
www.cookinglight.com › Food › Recipe Finder

BREAKFAST BAKE

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

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Lovely for a serene Sunday!

BREAKFAST BAKE

14 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (I used turkey bacon)

!4 ounces frozen hash browns, thawed

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

6 eggs

1 cup milk

2 green peppers, chopped

6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

paprika
Heat oven to 350F.
Cook the bacon, drain and chop. Place into a large mixing bowl, add the thawed hash browns, salt and half of the cheese. Mix well and place into a 9 by 13 baking dish.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk and eggs until thoroughly mixed. Stir in the green peppers and mushrooms and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over mixture in the baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately top with remaining cheese.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Dining Guide, September 2013
www.nwaonline.com/dining/‎

LEMON BUTTER COOKIES

28 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by in bars and cookies, Recipes

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A friend generously delivered dinner to our family and I returned one of her dishes filled with Lemon Butter Cookies.

LEMON BUTTER COOKIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

GLAZE

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

MAKE THE COOKIES
Heat oven to 350F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter with the confectioners sugar until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest and juice, then beat in the flour and salt until just incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Place 1 tablespoon sized scoops of cookie dough on cookie sheets, gently flattening each cookie.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned on the bottom and just firm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
MAKE THE GLAZE
In a bowl, whisk the confectioners sugar with the lemon juice and butter until smooth. Spread the lemon glaze on the cooled cookies.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food and Wine, April 2014
www.foodandwine.com/recipes‎

APRICOT GINGER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

27 Monday Jul 2015

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A lovely little indulgence!

APRICOT GINGER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

225 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
225 grams golden brown sugar
170 grams condensed milk
350 grams self-raising flour
226 grams white chocolate, chopped into chunks
50 grams of crystallized ginger, chopped
100 grams of dried apricots, chopped

Heat oven to 160C.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the condensed milk and sift in the flour. Add the chocolate, ginger and apricots and stir to form a dough.
Dollop large teaspoons of mixture onto the trays and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Leave to cool, then transfer to a tin.
Enjoy!

 

POTTED SMOKED FISH WITH TOAST and GREEK SALAD WITH OLIVE DRESSING and FEIJOA CAKE

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Appetizers, Dessert, Recipes, Salad

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Naturally, after all the outdoor activities we engaged in while at our beach house in New Zealand last Spring Break, (http://recipedoodle.com, 3/3/15) we very much looked forward to mealtimes.

I really enjoyed looking at the New Zealand magazines for recipe ideas, and incorporating into our meals, lots of beautiful fresh produce, seafood, and foods that are harder or impossible to find here.

Steamed Mussels, picked fresh from the bay

Steamed Mussels, picked fresh from the bay

Steaming Pipis

Steaming Pipis

Bowl of cooked Pipis

Bowl of cooked Pipis

Pipi fritters

Pipi fritters

I mainly made appetizers and sides to go along with the main meals and great New Zealand wines, and a little something sweet to finish off the evening.

fresh figs from garden

– Figs fresh from the garden at the bach

Appetizer with ricotta, fig, crispy bacon and arugula

Appetizer with ricotta, fig, crispy bacon and arugula

POTTED SMOKED FISH WITH TOAST

potted smoked fish

150 grams butter, melted
500 grams flaked smoked fish (I used trevally)
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons horseradish
1 tablespoon capers, drained well and coarsely chopped
1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest
toasted bread for serving

Place melted butter, smoked fish, sour cream, horseradish, capers, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and mix well. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place mixture in a serving dish, cover and refrigerate until set.
Remove potted fish from fridge 15 minutes before serving, garnish with extra capers and lemon zest, if desired, serve with fingers of toasted bread.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from NZ House and Garden, March 2014
nzhouseandgarden.co.nz/category/food/‎

GREEK SALAD WITH OLIVE DRESSING

greek salad with olive dressing

1/4 cup finely chopped, pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
pinch of sugar
400 grams cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 red capsicum, sliced
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
100 grams feta, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Whisk the olives, oil, vinegar, garlic and sugar in a jug. Season with salt and pepper. Combine tomato, capsicum and cucumber in a shallow serving bowl. Top with feta. Drizzle dressing over salad. Sprinkle with oregano.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from recipes+, March 2014

FEIJOA CAKE

Freshly peeled and sliced feijoas

Freshly peeled and sliced feijoas

feijoa cake125 grams butter

3/4 cup sugar

125 grams butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond essence

1 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

225 grams sour cream

3 tablespoons ground almonds

4 to 5 feijoas

1 tablespoon demerara sugar

pinch of ground ginger

Heat oven to 200C.
Line the base of a 23 cm cake tin with baking paper. Grease baking paper and sides with baking spray.
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined, then add essence.
Sift dry ingredients into mixture. Add sour cream and ground almonds. Fold in carefully until well combined. Mixture should be quite thick. Carefully scoop feijoa pulp out of skins and cut into thin slices.
Spoon mixture into cake tin and very lightly press in cut fruit. Sprinkle demerara sugar and ginger evenly over fruit.
Place cake in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 180C. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, turn oven off and leave cake in oven for 1 hour or overnight.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the Hamilton News, September 2012
www.nzherald.co.nz/hamilton-news/news/headli..

VANILLA BUTTERMILK TARTS and VANILLA RASPBERRY PANNA COTTA

22 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by in Dessert, Recipes

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An uncomplicated, humble sweet is the perfect conclusion to a charming and  enchanted evening.

Plain vanilla shines through in these simple, divinely delicious desserts, as oppositely unembellished as the celebrated, glitter and glow of the star-studded Oscars evening.

VANILLA BUTTERMILK TARTS

2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste
1 package of frozen tart shells

Whisk together sugar and flour in a 3 quart heavy saucepan, add buttermilk and eggs and whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly 7 to 8 minutes or until a pudding like thickness. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla bean paste. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours.
Bake tart shells if needed, according to package directions, and cool compleately.
Spoon custard into tart shells, and top with desired toppings just before serving.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Southern Living, March 2012
www.southernliving.com/food/‎

VANILLA RASPBERRY PANNA COTTA

vanilla panna cotta

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

2/3 cup cream

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

1 1/3 cups fresh raspberries

fresh mint sprigs

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water, set aside to soften gelatin.

In a 2 quart saucepan, heat whipping cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and raspberry jam over medium heat to simmering, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. With whisk, stir in softened gelatin until completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Divide cream mixture evenly among glasses. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Just before serving, top each panna cotta with fresh raspberries and garnish with mint.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-raspberry-panna-cotta/7618d640-74fa-4706-83e4-fee6a9248711 

PASSIONFRUIT SLICE and BAKED PASSIONFRUIT TART and PASSIONFRUIT COCONUT CREAM TART

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Dessert, Recipes

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Passionate desserts – Happy Valentines Day!

PASSIONFRUIT SLICE

passionfruit slice

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup desiccated coconut

125 grams butter, melted

395 gram can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup strained fresh passionfruit pulp, plus extra to serve

1/3 cup lemon juice

Heat oven to 180C. Line a 20 by 30 cm baking pan with baking paper, extending paper 2 cm above edge on two sides.

Sift flour and icing sugar together into a bowl. Stir in coconut and butter. Press mixture firmly into base of pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly risen and edges are lightly browned.

In a bowl or jug, mix condensed milk, passionfruit and lemon juice together. Pour mixture over base. Return to oven for a further 10 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Cover and chill until cold. Cut into slices and drizzle with extra passionfruit pulp to serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Woman’s Day

www.womansday.co.nz/

BAKED PASSIONFRUIT TART

baked passionfruit tart 1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
125 grams chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons chilled water
1 cup cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup passionfruit pulp

Process the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water. Process until the dough just starts to come together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a 4mm thick disc. Line a 22cm fluted tart tin with removable base, with the pastry and trim any excess. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Heat oven to 200C. Place tin on a baking tray. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and weights. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until light golden.
Meanwhile, whisk the cream, caster sugar and eggs in a bowl. Stir in the passionfruit pulp.
Reduce oven to 160C. Pour egg mixture into the pastry case. Bake for 35 minutes or until set. Place in fridge overnight to chill.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Countdown Magazine, Christmas 2011
shop.countdown.co.nz › Recipes‎

PASSIONFRUIT COCONUT CREAM TART

short pastry
1 cup passionfruit pulp
5 ounces sugar
300ml cream
200g mascarpone
1 2/3 ounce demerara sugar
1 2/3 ounces desiccated coconut, oven toasted until golden
1 capful vanilla essence

Place the pastry in a loose bottomed tart pan. Press down to fill in any gaps and to make the shell as even as possible. Prick the center several times with a fork. Place back in fridge to chill for 30 minutes and turn the oven to 350F.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven until fully cooked and golden. Remove and let cool.
Meanwhile place passionfruit pulp and sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes until thickish and syrupy. Leave to cool completely.
Just before serving, place cream, mascarpone and demerara sugar in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Add coconut and vanilla and mix until firm. Spoon cream into the cold tart shell and even it out, then spoon the cold passionfruit mixture on top.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Peter Gordon, A World in My Kitchen, 2003

RASPBERRY AND MACADAMIA BLONDIES

09 Monday Feb 2015

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While visiting with family in New Zealand, we had a really lovely dinner at my younger brothers home. He and his beautiful family had recently moved to a lifestyle block, right outside of town, complete with cows and chickens and a pig on the way.

It was so wonderful to be with our family, have fabulous conversation in comfortable, gorgeous surrounds, and an incredible array of delectable dinner dishes – which these Raspberry and Macadamia Blondies followed.

cutlery at Debras

Charming display of plates and cutlery

dinner at warren and debras

Delectable dinner dishes

RASPBERRY AND MACADAMIA BLONDIES

raspberry macadamia blondies

125 grams butter, chopped
2 x 180 gram blocks of white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and chopped
125 gram punnet of raspberries
icing sugar for dusting, optional

Heat oven to moderate, 180C. Lightly grease a 20 centimeter square cake pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2 centimeters above the edge of the pan.
Place butter and half the chocolate in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted. Cool for 10 minutes.
Stir in flour, sugar, eggs, macadamias and remaining chocolate until combined. Fold raspberries through. Spread into pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pan before cutting into squares.
Serve dusted with icing sugar, if desired
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Woman’s Day
recipefinder.msn.co.nz/womans-day-recipes/‎ MSN