Amaretti Biscuits

I love anything with marzipan or almonds, for me it denotes Christmas whether on an English Christmas cake, in Stollen or just in bars covered in chocolate.

I have found a supply of German chocolate covered marzipan bars in New World, one of our local super markets, it’s the first time I have seen this product available and I’m not ashamed to admit I have purchased and consumed quite a few bars in the last few weeks. Each time I go to the supermarket the shelf containing them doesn’t seem to have diminished so I feel I should try and deplete their stock so they feel it is a popular product and buy it again next year ;o) All in the name of a good cause of course, someone might have to roll me into the New Year though!

Since I have the almond craving at the moment I decided to make Amaretti biscuits, I have always liked them and in the back of my mind I knew I had seen somewhere that there was a recipe for ‘chewy’ biscuits rather than the crunchy one I have bought in the past. I found this recipe from Smitten Kitten, who has such a beautiful website. I have modified my recipe since I was using ground almonds not paste and added the Amaretto liqueur to help create my own paste. It is an incredibly easy recipe.

• 200g ground almonds
• 2 tblsp amaretto liqueur
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large egg whites at room temperature for at least 30 minutes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150°C and place racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Line two large sheet pans with greaseproof paper.
2. Pulse ground almonds, sugar, salt and amaretto in a food processor until blended.
3. Add egg whites and pulse until smooth. Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch tip and pipe 3/4-inch rounds (1/3 inch high) about 1-inch apart in pans.
4. Dip a fingertip in water and gently tamp down any peaks.
5. Bake, rotating and switching position of pans halfway through, until golden and puffed, 15 to 18 minutes.
6. Mine didn’t puff up as much as Smitten Kittens did but maybe because I used egg left over whites which I had defrosted. Although they turned out the shape I would expect for amaretti biscuits. They were crisp on the outside and chewy in the centre.
7. Let me know how yours turn out if you make them.

Let cookies cool almost completely in their pans. Once cool, they’re much easier to cleanly remove from the parchment. You can make them into sandwich cookies but spreading some jam (I used raspberry) between them or ganache (3 ounces of semi-sweet chips melted with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream, then left to thicken a bit would be enough to sandwich the whole batch).

Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two or frozen up to one month.

Gingerbread Ice Cream

With a huge batch of gingerbread biscuits in a jar, including several on the Christmas tree, I thought I would turn some into a summer dessert of gingerbread ice cream, particulalry since our pre Christmas week promises to be a warm one. You never can tell at this time of the year in New Zealand, it could be glorious and warm or it could be wet and windy, sometimes we have spent it basking in the sun, other times huddled up in doors. Never as cold as my family back in the UK experience, particularly this year with the fresh snow that promises them a white Christmas. It is 10 years since I have experienced a white December and I would give anything to build a snowman in the garden around Christmas time, I’m sure the novelty would wear thin though as the snow turn to slush under foot. If we want to experience snow we have to drive four hours to the Volcano, Mt Rhupehu, in the middle of the North Island for our winter sports.

For P Christmas is his busiest time of the year so we have never travelled back to my home for Christmas with the family, although they have been here and love the fact that we have a BBQ on Christmas Day!

Ingredients for the Gingerbread is here on previous post. I only used a quarter of the biscuit dough for the ice cream but it is well worth making the full batch of biscuits as they last a couple of weeks.

Ingredients for the ice cream

• 200ml of cream
• 200ml of milk
• 100g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 drops of vanilla extract or beans from one pod
• 1/ tsp ground ginger

Method

1. Place milk & cream in a pan over a  very low heat and bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl till combined.
3. Whisk hot milk & cream into yolk mixture.
4. Return to a clean saucepan over a very low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent mixture from ‘catching’ on base of pan.
5. Cook gently until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.
6. Add the vanilla and ginger.
7. Transfer to a bowl and allow the custard to chill in fridge completely before putting into ice cream maker.
8. Put mixture into prepared ice cream maker as per instructions for that appliance.
9. Break up the ginger biscuits to crumbs and small pieces (like cookies & cream ice cream).
10. Once the ice cream if finished its process add the biscuits crumbs and mix by hand.
11. Freeze until ready to serve.

Christmas Gingerbread Hearts

Even if the weather is warm outside in New Zealand I still hanker for the winter comforts I associate with Christmas in England and Germany. I would rather have big slabs of chocolate covered marzipan, gingerbread and stollen than pavlova, cream and berries which is typical for a Christmas on this side of the world. Each year I also like to make gingerbread tree decorations which look fabulous for a day or two, then I can’t resist eating them and think what a shame it would be to let them go stale on the tree. So quick, out with the camera before they are all consumed!

This recipe produces a spicy and crisp gingerbread which is perfect for decorations and gingerbread houses. It is easy and quick to make and the baking time is very short. I hope you get a chance to make and enjoy them yourself.

Ingredients

• 450g self raising flour
• 110g butter
• 1 tblsp ground cinnamon
• 1tsp ground cardamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 200g honey
• 200g castor sugar
• 1 large egg (beaten)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Place flour and spice into a bowl.
3. Melt butter, sugar & honey in a pan over a how heat until sugar has dissolved.
4. Add the honey mixture to the flour and spices, combine and leave to cool. Dough should come away from sides of bowl and form a ball.
5. Allow mixture to cool for 10 minutes.
6. Add the egg and kneed into dough.
7. If the dough is too sticky then add some more flour.
8. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest in fridge for at least 20 minutes (you can leave it over night). If you use the dough immediately it will swell more when baking and loose it’s cookie shape.
9. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/2 cm thick and cut out with Christmas cookie cutter shapes.
10. Make a whole at the top of each cookie dough with a skewer or straw so you can thread ribbon once cooked.
11. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and place cookies with space around them as they will expand when cooking.
12. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
13. Remove from tray once cooled.
14. Decorate as desired with icing.

Pacific Coconut Fish Canapes

The party season has certainly started out at our beach town Muriwai, this Saturday alone there where three big parties happening which probably covered most of the residency in one night. We decided to have a joint Christmas Cheer party this year and all invite a group of friends each for our ‘Bling on Muriwai Christmas’, the idea behind the bling was to give us all the opportunity to dress up for the night, being at the beach we are more often than not in casual clothes. Everyone contributed a plate or two of canapes, one of mine being a Pacific fish or ceviche canape.

Raw fish marinated in lemon or lime and coconut is a popular dish made in the Pacific Islands, it is similar to Ceviche but has the addition of coconut milk. It is an uncooked dish, the acid from the lemon is what ‘cooks’ the meat. I couldn’t find what it was actually called, it just seems to be know as ‘raw fish’ so if anyone does know what this pacific dish is called drop me a line.

It makes a lovely refreshing canape for the summer or as and entree with salad.

Ingredients – makes about 30

• Fresh firm white fish
• 1 cup coconut milk
• Juice of 3 large lemons
• 2 cucumbers
• 10 cherry tomatoes, sliced small
• Handful of chopped parsley
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic

Method

1. Slice the raw fish into small pieces
2. Place fish, lemon juice and garlic cloves into a bowl and leave to marinate for several hours or overnight in the fridge.
3. Slice the cucumber into 1/2 inch rounds and scoop out half of the centre of each round to make a small cup.
4. Drain the lemon juice off the the fish.
5. Add coconut milk, spring onions, sliced tomatoes and parsley to the fish. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
6. Leave for an hour for the flavours to mature before filling the cucumber cups, remove the garlic from the mixture.
7. Enjoy!

Chocolate Christmas Mince Pies

Who put the chocolate in the mince pies?

Anyone who knows me well will not be surprised that I have added chocolate to my mince pies this year! If I can adjust a recipe to accommodate chocolate I will and these pies turned out ten times better than I expected! It’s certainly worth making your own fruit mince for your Christmas tarts, the commercially bought tubs just don’t cut it, I find them too sugary instead of fruity but I am sure there are plenty deluxe versions if you rome the delis which are worth trying but then you will certainly pay the price. And this recipe is so easy, you just throw all the ingredients together and soak over night. The good thing about making your own is you can add whatever ingredients you like, chocolate for example.

The mince filling recipe below makes about 48 pies but the pastry will make about 24. You can store the fruit filling for several weeks and just whip up a fresh batch when you know visitors are coming.

Ingredients – fruit mince

• 2 tbs brown sugar
• ¼ cup brandy
• 1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, coarsely grated
• 100g raisins, coarsely chopped
• 100g currants
• 100g sultanas
• zest & juice of one small orange
• (1/3 cup) breakfast marmalade
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 50g 70% choc, chopped

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Set aside, and soak over night, stir occasionally

Ingredients –  pastry

• 110g Butter
• 180g flour
• 60g icing sugar
• 1 egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Place the flour, butter & sugar in a bowl.
3. Work the ingredients together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
4. Add the egg and bring dough together.
5. Rest dough in fridge for an hour before rolling out.
6. Roll the dough out thinly and use a cookie cutter that will fit your cupcake tins, making sure it is large enough to cup the filling.
7. Add about one heaped teaspoon per case and then cut out star shape out of the pastry for the lids.
8. Egg wash the star shaped pastry.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

BBQ Stuffed Squid & BBQ Stuffed Chicken

Summertime is BBQ time! We decided this week that we would jazz up the BBQ food since summer is fast approaching and everyone wanted a few new ideas to cook on the Christmas BBQ. Although after making the decision the weather turn bandit and rained and rained and rained the whole week prior to our class. But in true Auckland style, the weather changed quickly overnight and the sun shone Saturday morning.

I always love squid on the BBQ so I decided to show the girls how to stuff squid and also how versatile the stuffing could be by just changing a few ingredients. The base stuffing for the squid we adding fennel and ricotta to compliment the squid, although we thought feta cheese would go really well too. For the stuffed chicken rolls we added roasted hazelnuts and parmesan cheese. We also grilled some asparagus to create a salad.

Stuffed BBQ Squid – makes 2

• 2 squid hoods/tubes
• 1 cup of cooked rice (brown or red has a better flavour)
• 1 dessertspoon dill or fennel
• 1 dessertspoon parsley, chopped
• ½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted & crushed
• 1 dessertspoon ricotta
• Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 spring onion
• pinch of salt & pepper
• 3 cloves roasted garlic

Method

1. Place rice, lemon juice & zest, herbs, seeds & salt & pepper in a bowl.
2. Mash the garlic gloves into the ricotta and add to the rice mix.
3. Finely slice spring onions and mix with other ingredients
4. Clean & dry squid hoods.
5. If narrow end of hood is open close with a tooth pick.
6. Stuff Squid hood with filling, but not too full or it might burst when cooking. Flatten them so the cook evenly.
7. Seal end with another tooth pick.
8. Rub olive oil over outside of squid.
9. Cook on a medium heat BBQ for 4-5 minutes on both sides, do not over cook otherwise it will become tough.

Herb Stuffed Chicken Schnitzel – makes 2

• 2 schnitzel (or slice a chicken breast down the centre and flatten each piece out with a pan to make your own)
• 1 cup of cooked rice (brown or red has a better flavour)
• 1 dessert spoon thyme
• 1 dessertspoon parsley
• 1 dessert spoon roasted, chopped hazelnuts
• 2 dessert spoon fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 spring onion
• 3 cloves roasted garlic
• salt & pepper

Method

Place rice, lemon juice & zest, herbs, hazelnuts, salt & pepper in a bowl

1. Finely slice spring onions and mix with other ingredients
2. Mash garlic cloves and add to the mix
3. Add parmesan cheese and combine.
4. Put aside.
5. Take a chicken breast and slice in half through the breast long ways.
6. Place a piece of chicken in between Gladwrap and beat gently with a rolling pin to form thin schnitzels.
7. Scoop half the filling onto one end of the schnitzel and roll up the schnitzel to enclose the filling. Secure with a toothpick.
8. Cook on a medium heat BBQ till golden on both sides, it will not take too long to cook since the chicken meat is thin.
9. Serve

Other options: Grated apple & chopped sage for pork schnitzel

Salmon Fennel Cakes

When I eat salmon it is usually in very small potions due to is very high oil content. Granted it is an oil that is good for you but I find I can only eat a little of it without feeling over indulged. Rather odd for someone who can eat a couple 100 grams of chocolate at a time and not feel a thing. By turning the salmon into potato cakes, not only does the potato absorb the oil and prevent a very oil rich tasting dish it is also a good way to stretch salmon a bit further!

Ingredients – makes 6 large or 10 small canape size

• 300g boiled, diced potatoes
• 300g skinned, diced salmon (use a salmon fillet)
• 1/2 bulb of fresh fennel, finely sliced
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, ground to small but not powder
• salt & pepper
• zest & juice of one lemon
• 1 egg, whisked
• Flour to coat before frying

Method

1. Prepared all the above ingredients.
2. Allow the potatoes to cool before dicing and mixing with the salmon. You want them cooked put still firm.
3. Place diced potatoes into a bowl.
4. Add the salmon and all the other ingredients apart from the flour to the potatoes.
5. combine the ingredients together, pressing them slightly to crush a few of the potatoes.
6. To mould the cakes, press a handful of mixture into a large cookie cutter mould positioned on a tray that you will chill the cakes in the fridge on.
7. Remove the mould gently and repeat method to make the rest of the cakes. Ideally if you have small pie rings or fried egg rings use these and leave the mould in place when in fridge to help them hold their shape.
8. Allow to chill in the fridge for several hours, this helps them set and keep their shape when frying.
9. Put some flour onto a plate and dip each cake into the flour as well as sprinkling some flour on the top side.
10. Heat a non stick frying pan and gently fry both side until golden brown and cooked through.
11. Serve with summer salads or asparagus.

Easy Lemon Tart

The lemon tart was the second part of Saturday’s cooking group, or should I say the first part that we made and I am only just getting round to posting it. All six tarts that were made by the group came out perfect even though everyone had a different experience with the short crust pastry. I am blessed with cold hands, I say that because as a pastry chef it is a plus and it is amazing to see a group of people make the same pastry recipe and turn out different results. Even working at the same speed and monitoring each step of each individual bowl the results were quite different but this allowed me to offer tips to suit the person which you wouldn’t normally get following a recipe. One particular lady had really warm hands and the pastry went really soft when mixing it so I suggested that when she makes pastry in the future she should hold the mixing bowl over another bowl full of ice to keep the temperature down.

This is an easy recipe since you do not have to make a curd, just whisk all the ingredients together and our into the flan dish to bake.

Ingredients –  pastry

• 110g Butter
• 180g flour
• 60g icing sugar
• 1 egg
• zest & juice of 4 lemons
• 200g castor sugar
• 250ml cream
• 4 eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Grease and flour a loose bottom, 22-24cm, flan tin.
3. Place the flour, butter & sugar in a bowl.
4. Work the ingredients together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
5. Add the egg and bring dough together.
6. Rest dough in fridge for an hour before rolling out.
7. Roll out pastry to fit bottom & sides of tin, prick bottom of pastry case.
8. Place a piece of greaseproof paper over the bottom and sides of the pastry shell and fill the case with dry beans, rice or lentils.
9. Place the tart shell in the oven with the dried beans and bake ‘blind the shell for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and remove the greaseproof paper and beans and return the pastry to the oven.
11. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
12. The first baking with the beans is to prevent the pastry side slipping down with no filling in the case. The second baking is to crisp the shell.
13. Whisk the eggs & sugar until combined.
14. Add the cream and lemon juice and whisk again.
15. Strain the mixture through as sieve and then add the zest of lemon to the mixture and stir.
16. Pull the tart out of the oven slightly and pour the mixture into the tart case till it reaches the top.
17. Push the tart back in gentle and bake for a further 30-35 minutes or until set but still wobbly.
18. Allow to cool and serve with cream and berries or by it self.

Savoury Canapes – Tomato Tart Tatin & Asparagus Rolls

Saturdays Cooking Class.

The class grew a little larger this week and we were certainly at maximum capacity in my kitchen space, the word is spreading and P is suggesting to converting our now vacant granny flat into a dedicated cooking space for me! I’ll keep you posted.

This week the girls wanted to learn how to make a really good short pastry since most of then end up buying it ready made, not having success with homemade. The class was split into two parts, everyone making a sweet short pastry which would become a lemon tart they could take home with them. Then while that was baking we prepared a few savoury canapes; tomato tart tatin and a modern twist on the Kiwi asparagus rolls.

I have posted the canapes first and will post the lemon tart as soon as I get a chance. The pastry recipe I use came from a French head chef I worked with and has a higher quantity of fat to flour than regular pastry, this I find guarantees a short crust pastry but you have to rest it for at least an hour in the fridge otherwise it is too difficult to roll.

Ingredients – Savoury Herbed Shortcrust Pastry

• 110g Butter
• 180g flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tblsp fresh thyme
• salt & pepper

1. Place the flour, butter and a pinch of salt & pepper into a bowl.
2. Work the ingredients together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg and bring dough together.
4. Rest dough in fridge for an hour before rolling out.

Ingredients – Tomato Tart Tatin Canapes

• 18 Cherry tomatoes
• Bunch basil leaves
• 100g Parmesan Cheese, shaved or grated

Assembly Tart Tatin

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Roll out pastry and cut out shapes with 4-6cm cookie cutter which will fit your cupcake/muffin tray base.
3. Dock/prick the pastry shells.
4. You don’t need to grease the tins (although I do use non-stick) since the tomatoes give off a lot of juice.
5. Slice tomatoes in half and place 2-3 halves in base of each cupcake section of tin.
6. Place once basil leave on top of tomatoes.
7. Sprinkle approx 1 tsp of cheese on top of the basil leaf and then cover with pastry circle, push pastry down the sides gently to form an upside down case.
8. Bake  mini tarts for 20 mins or until golden brown.
9. Allow to rest and partially cool before turning out of tray. The best way is to place a baking sheet on top of the muffin tray and then flip the whole tray over. Some of the tomatoes may stick but you can lift them out gentle and place back into the shell.
10. Finely slice some more basil and sprinkle over the top of each tart and serve warm.

Ingredients – Asparagus Rolls

To make these you will use half a sheet of filo and 1 tsp of cheese per asparagus spear  so your quantities will depend on how many you wish to make.

• Filo pastry
• Asparagus
• Your favourite cheese
• Salt & Pepper
• Sesame seeds to garnish
• Egg wash
• Olive oil

Assembly of Asparagus Rolls

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Trim ‘woody’ ends off asparagus.
3. Take one sheet of filo pastry and brush half with olive oil.
4. Fold sheet in half and brush with olive oil again and fold again.
5. Cut filo in half and lay one asparagus spear at one end of filo, sprinkle cheese over asparagus and roll up. Repeat.
6. Egg wash the outside and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
8. Serve warm.

Salome’s Wedding Cake

Salome & David’s wedding was last weekend but the cake has been many weeks in the making! Thankfully Salome wanted a traditional fruit cake which meant it could be made weeks in advance and there would be no last minute rush with a chocolate cake which has become popular for weddings lately. We added a twist to the cake by adding 70% chocolate pieces to the fruit mixture that gave it a real decadent taste which is of course imperative for a wedding.

The recipe below was tripled and made enough to fit a 4 inch, 7 inch and 10 inch cake tin (sorry it was an old fashioned cake tin hire shop who only had inches printed on the bottom of these well used and loved tins).

The theme for their wedding was black and red and the request was for a simple decoration of red roses and black ribbon. I didn’t realise at first how long it would actually take to make the sugar roses and I am thankful I started the week before! think I can make sugar roses in my sleep now! We found a really cute embossing tool (for scrap booking) which we decided would offer a romantic touch to the middle layer of the cake.

Ingredients

• 2 cup dried sultanas
• 1 cup dried raisins
• 1 cup dried currants
• 1 cup chopped dried figs
• 1 cup chopped prunes
• 100g 70% chocolate, chopped small
• 1 cup almonds, chopped
• 1 cup of Brandy
• zest & juice of one orange
• 300g butter, softened
• 1.25 cups brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2. 25 cups of SR Flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger

Method

1. Place all the fruit and nuts in a bowl and pour over the brandy, orange juice and zest  and allow to soak over night.
2. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees centigrade.
3. Grease and line the cake tin with greaseproof paper, allowing the greaseproof paper to come up the sides 4 centimetres higher than the cake tin.
4. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
5. Add one egg at a time and beat the mixture in between each addition.
6. Add the flour, chocolate and spices to the fruit and mix together, ensuring all the fruit is evenly coated.
7. Add the butter mixture to the fruit and flour and mix together till well combined.
8. Spoon mixture into cake tin then cover with a circle of greaseproof paper to protect the top from going too brown.
9. Bake for 2 hours, 15 minutes and then check the cake with a skewer. If the skewer does not come out clean bake for a further 10 minutes and test again. repeat process until baked through.
10. Allow to cool in the tin to retain the moisture.
11. Wrap in tin foil, glad wrap or a cake tin until ready to ice or serve.

Salome’s mum did a beautiful job of the table decorations, the red look very romantic and stunning.