Recent Posts

Thursday, January 28, 2010

#8 Lemon Souffle Cakes


I finally got to do a new breakfast recipe! We had Pete's parents stay overnight this week, so it was a good opportunity to make a fun breakfast. I picked another one of Bill's recipes...although as per usual had to make a slight modification, it's funny how hard I struggle to follow a recipe exactly...the only thing I changed was the type of fruit, so no big deal right? I can still count it as following a new recipe!

So, basically these were just really nice pancakes...the fresh lemon juice and lemon zest gave them a nice zing. They were not too hard to make and cooked up really nice. I think the trick must have been folding in the egg whites. I served them with a raspberries & nectarines (Bill suggests strawberries), but any type of fruit would be nice.
I also made a fresh 'mango sunrise breakfast drink' to go along. Basically a refreshing smoothie with mango, banana, orange juice and a drop of yogurt...very nice.

I would totally make these again, but probably needed to double the recipe if you are serving 4 or more!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Friday Night, Dinner for Six

Dinner for Six

Back at it again. We had friends for dinner on Friday, so of course a great opportunity to try a few more recipes.

Menu:

Pre-dinner cocktail: Pina Coloda
Appetizer: Brie w/fig jam
Main:
Grilled coriander, lime & chilli chicken breasts, Grilled corn on the cob, cherry tomato salad and sweet corn muffins.
Dessert: Berry Semi-freddo w/dark chocolate sauce and a lace cookie

This is how it went...

Well, I must say I thought my pina coloda was pretty darn good...(hmmm maybe that is why I had the headache the next day or was it the wine?)
I tossed the chicken in coriander(cilantro), crushed garlic, red chilli and lime juice and let marinate for a fwe hours. I topped it with a bit of this same mixture as well as some spring onions once served.

The corn, not only looked good it was also pretty tasty, I brushed it with butter and lime zest before grilling, only thing missing was a bit of sea salt.

I tossed the cherry tomatoes with sea salt, good olive oil and a dash of vinegar and let them sit for about an hour. Then served them with some baby spinach.
I thought my sweet corn muffin was a good touch, but a little dry (oops).

As for dessert....this is where the new recipe comes in. I used Donna Hay for some of the dinner, but mostly for the Berry Semi-freddo! I am sold...this stuff is delicious! I made it the night before, because you have to let it freeze for at least 6 hours. I just used her basic semi-freddo recipe, which is basically eggs, sugar, cream and vanilla. You cook it on the stove top and the fold in the whipped cream. Then just add whatever you like for flavoring. I chose mixed berries, that I mixed with some raspberry jam and then folded into the semi-freddo and popped it in the freezer. I served it with a dark chocolate sauce and a lace cookie. Yum.


So, now after a big week of make a lot of sweet things, I have decided Pete and I are on a detox week and I will be cooking from the ultra-healthy cookbooks my mother has given me (I am sure she will be quite pleased).




What I (Leila) have made so far...


The journey began Monday, Jan. 12...

1. The first new recipe was by Bill and was roasted chicken with a yogurt garlic sauce. The chicken was really nice, I used chicken breast instead of a full chicken and it still worked pretty well. It was marinated with lemon and onions and then roasted on a high temperature. I served it with a tomato and baby spinach salad and the garlic yogurt sauce. The sauce worked really well with the lemons. A pretty simple recipe and pretty good. Na and Frag were our lucky dinner guests :)

2. For dessert I made baked peaches with caramel sauce. The tricky part was the caramel sauce...this is where I had my first accident (burned my thumb..ouch). You have to boil the sugar with the water for about 15min until it starts to turn a goldish color, then you let cool for a minute...if you leave it too long it will just harden and you will have to reheat, I found this out the hard way :). So you pour in the cream and then add some lemon juice. It was delicious sauce, I used it again the following night and we just poured it over icecream, yummy.

3. Tomato Ricotta Tart - this was okay, also a Bill's recipe. It probably needed to bake a little longer and it is definitely a lunch or brunch item, not enough for dinner (which is what I made it for).

4. Berry Tart - this was delicious, I was supposed to top it with mango, but I did not have any so I used berries instead. I think anything would have been good - the filling was basically homemade custard mixed with whipped cream (I could have eaten the whole bowl). The tart shell was also really good, I made it in the food processor, so easy.

5. Nectarine Tart - I made this for our Bible Study last Wednesday, it was a hit. I used the same pastry as the other recipe, but for this tart you had to bake it. I had to bake it longer than the recipe called for in order to get it to set. It was a perfect summer dessert, we served it warm with icecream.