Recipes for the day

Red Velvet Brownies recipe

Treat yourself to this sweet treat recipe for Red Velvet Brownies

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
113g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food colouring
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 – 230g blocks cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to
Preheat oven to 180C.

Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

Melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and very smooth.

Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and food colouring.

Add chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

Add flour and salt and stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

To prepare cheesecake mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth.

Drop in dollops onto prepared brownie batter.

Gently swirl two batters with a butter knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set.

A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.

Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.

Recipe courtesy of Foodista. Available under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart recipe

Recipe for Dark Chocolate Tart with shortcrust pastry and decadent salted caramel

Ingredients

For the Pastry:
125g flour
65 g cold butter
2 Tbsp icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract / paste

For the Salted Caramel Layer:
100g caster sugar
1 Tbsp golden syrup or honey
1 tsp butter
100ml cream
1 tsp flaked sea salt (fleur de sel)

For the Dark Chocolate Filling:
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100ml cream

You will also need 1 x 20cm loose bottomed tart tin (or a rectangular one as shown in the picture)

How to
To make the pastry, add the flour, butter and icing sugar to a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add in the egg and mix until combined, then mix a little further until the mixture comes together in a loose ball. Remove, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your salted caramel by adding the sugar and golden syrup to a heavy-based pan on med-high heat. Swirl the pan from time to time for even distribution of the sugar, but avoid stirring. When the sugar crystals have melted, add in the butter and cream, whisking vigorously as you do. Add in salt, stir gently and simmer for another 2 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

For the chocolate filling, heat your cream in a small pot until just before boiling point. Add your chopped chocolate to a large heatproof mixing owl, pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to stand for a minute. Stir gently with a spatula until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is silky.

To bake the pastry – Pre-heat your oven to 180C and lightly grease your tart tin. Remove your pastry from the fridge, and roll out between two sheets of baking paper until it is about 1/2 a centimeter thick. Line your baking tin with the pastry, then prick the base a few times with a fork.

Line the pastry base with baking paper or tinfoil, fill with baking beans to weigh the pastry down (or lentils or rice), bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tart shell is lightly golden in colour. Remove the baking paper and baking beans for the last 5 minutes or until the base is lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

When the tart shell is cool, pour in the salted caramel and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon until you have a layer about 1/2cm thick. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes or until it sets softly, and then pour in the cooled dark chocolate. Leave to cool completely at room temperature. Top with raspberries before serving.

Notes:
You can double the pastry and freeze half for up to 2 months to use when you need it. For easy filling and baking, freeze the dough already in a tart tin if you have one spare.

A great one to make the day before.

For a faster version, you can leave out the salted caramel and double the chocolate ganache ingredients and just have a plain chocolate tart.

Recipe provided by Sarah Graham, author of three cookbooks and A Foodie Lives Here food blog. Catch Sarah Graham’s Food Safari on Mnet every Sunday night at 6pm.

Spanish Almond Cake with Orange Sherry Syrup recipe


Click image to enlarge...


A luxurious recipe for Spanish Almond Cake, served with a scoop of ice cream and a splash of orange sherry syrup.
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp NoMU Vanilla Extract
250g ground almonds
1 tbsp NoMU Sweet Rub
Zest of 2 oranges
150g plain flour
100g flaked almonds, toasted
1 tbsp icing sugar

Orange and Sherry Syrup:
250ml freshly squeezed orange juice(strained)
125g caster sugar
Zest of 2 oranges
125ml medium cream sherry

Directions
Preheat your oven to 180C and grease a 32cm rectangular baking dish.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks and NoMU Vanilla Extract and mix well. Stir in the ground almonds, NoMU Sweet Rub and orange zest.

Beat the egg whites to soft peak stage and gradually add to the mixture.

Sift in the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is just combined.

Pour the mixture into the buttered baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking prepare the orange and sherry syrup.

Place the orange juice, caster sugar, orange zest and sherry in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture becomes thick and syrupy.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and dust with icing sugar. Serve with whipped cream and a generous drizzle of orange and sherry syrup

Servings
Serves 12

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Risotto recipe

Hearty recipe for Risotto. Includes a recipe for home made chicken stock.
Ingredients
Chicken stock:
1 large chicken 2-3 pounds about 1 kg
chicken bones 2-3 pounds 1 kg
2 onions, roughly diced
1 medium leek - white part only, roughly diced
2 sticks celery, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. white peppercorns ( Any type of whole peppercorn will do)
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried, it doesn't matter.)
peel of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. allspice

Risotto:
olive oil 60 ml
1 small onion, quartered
rice 400g (Any type of risotto rice will do. I used Arborio.)
white wine 60 ml ( I used Pinot Grigio)
chicken or vegetable stock, simmering 1 L

Directions
Chicken stock:
Wash the chicken and bones and places in a 5 Litre pot, cover completely with water and bring to a boil

Skim away any scum as it comes to the surface

Add the vegetables and bring back to a boil

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer very gently, uncovered for 1.5 hours

Carefully lift out the chicken, set aside. The chicken meat can be removed from the chicken, shredded off and used for other things like soup!

Simmer the stock gently for another hour. At the end you should have around 2 Liters

Carefully ladle the liquid into a fine sieve, the less the bones and vegetables are disturbed in this process the clearer the stock will be.

The stock is now ready for use. Freeze what you don't need for later use.

Risotto:
Heat oil in a pan and add onion. Fry for a few minutes to flavour the oil then discard. (We diced ours and left it in as we like onion).

Add the rice and stir for a few minutes to coat each grain of rice with oil and toast slightly. Add the wine and let it bubble away until evaporated.

Add enough stock to cover the rice by a finger's width (about an inch or two). Don't actually stick your finger in, it will be hot. Just eye it off.

Cook on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time, until most of the stock has been absorbed.

Repeat Step 5 making sure to leave aside approximately 100 ml. of stock for the final step.

Repeat, save 100ml for the final stage.

Once you are at this point, the base is made. You now get to add your own variations.

To make the Scallops Shiitake Mushroom version, I added 2 cups of bay scallops and 1 cup shiitake mushrooms.

Servings
Serves 4

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Vanilla Chai Tea recipe

A delightful, sugar-free recipe for Vanilla Chai Tea.
Ingredients
2 cardamon pods
2 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp tea leaves or 1 teabag
2 sachets Vanilla Canderel
60 ml milk

Directions
Crush the cardamon pods and put into a pan with the cloves and cinnamon stick, pour in 600ml water and bring to boiling point.

Remove from the heat and stand covered for 5 minutes. Add the tea leaves or tea bag and stand a further 5 minutes

Strain into 2 cups and then stir in the Canderel Vanilla. Add a little warmed milk as preferred.

Nutritional info
Per serving: 76 Kilojoules
Servings
Serves 2

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Lasagna For One recipe

Treat yourself with this delightful recipe for Lasagna for One.
Ingredients
4 lasagna sheets(pasta)-cooked
1 cup organic grounded chicken (beef, turkey or pork can be substitute)
1/4 onion, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
450 gr Smooth marinara sauce - reserve about 4-5 Tbs. for later
1-2 Tbs. of Parmigiana cheese
drizzle of olive oil
1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup Italian herb bread crumbs, toast them with a bit of butter or olive oil by preheating the oil and dropping in the pan, stir until just slightly golden.

Garnish:
Fresh Herbs-basil, parsley, or cilantro

Directions
In a saucepan add about 1 tsp. of olive oil and add minced garlic and onion, saute for minute or two until they get soft.

Add ground meat; mix and break the meat into small pieces, and season with just a bit of salt and pepper; let it cook for next 5-7 minutes or until the meat is completely done.

Pour over the smooth marinara sauce and stir; cook until it start to bubble up and then at this point take it off the burner.

Once the pasta is done, put it in the well oiled baking pan and make package. Put two lasagna sheets horizontally and two vertically - cross 2 sheets with the other 2 sheets.

Pour just enough of the meat sauce in the middle of the lasagna sheets to be able to close them. I connected both sides with 2-3 toothpicks by making a package and punching those toothpicks through on both ends.

Pour reserved marinara sauce on top, and sprinkle bit of mozzarella cheese, Parmigiana cheese, toasted Italian style bread crumbs and some more Mozzarella cheese.

Drizzle over Olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 375F/190C and bake until the cheese is completely melted.

Garnish it with fresh herbs such as basil, parsley or cilantro.

Comments
Any leftover meat sauce could be placed in airtight container and can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days-preheat and eat again over any pasta.
Servings
Serves 1

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Butter Chicken Recipe


A warming delicious recipe for Butter Chicken
Ingredients
5 Skinned and Boned Chicken Breasts
100 g Butter
Oil for frying onion
1 Large Onion, sliced and chopped
3/4 Cup of Tomato Puree
3/4 Cup of Cream
3/4 Cup of Plain Yoghurt
2 ml of Cayenne Pepper or Paprika (your choice)
Salt and Pepper
1 Handful of Roughly Chopped Fresh Coriander leaves
1 Squeeze of Fresh Lemon juice
Fresh tomato to garnish (optional)

Directions
Chop the chicken into 3cm cubes.

Heat a pot on the stove, and add the butter.

Fry the chicken in the butter until just turning golden.

Remove the butter and the chicken

Add enough oil to fry the onion until soft and starting to colour

Add the tomato puree, yogurt, cream, cayenne and season to taste.

Add back all the fired chicken and butter.

Stir and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

The sauce will thicken and reduce down by about half.

If you want to speed up the thickening sauce, remove the lid and increase the heat.

Occasionally stir until ready.

Just before you serve, add the coriander and squeeze of lemon juice.

Cook for 1 minute more and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with lots of basmati rice and fresh tomatoes.

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