Recipe Archive

Girly Punch

Girly Punch

Orange juice
berries
45 ml pure Vodka
15 ml passion fruit 42 Below Vodka
Ice, mint top with lemonade

Pour into tall glass over ice, top with OJ. I like to use a very tall glass, and put an 'over the top' garnish. This cocktail is a tribute to the 80's!

Baked Ricotta

500g fresh Italian style Ricotta
4 twigs of Rosemary
3 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt, pepper
Olive oil

Buy the freshest ricotta you can. You want the sort that comes in a tub and has a small liquid content. Place the ricotta into a colander, rest over another container and keep in the fridge or a cool place for at least four hours. Press out any remaining liquid, and place ricotta onto grease proof paper, on a tray, and press into a round shape around 4 cm high in the middle, 1cm at the edge. Press firmly, to remove any gaps from the cheese. Scatter herbs over the cheese, use your hands to pat seeds and herbs into the cheese, drizzle with olive oil, bake at 180-200 C till lightly coloured. Serve warm, or chill. Will last for around 10 days. Serve with bread, other cheese, or use in sandwiches and salads. You can experiment with your own flavourings.

A fantastic Cocktail

Forbidden Fortune

15 Ml Vanilla Vodka
45 Ml Pure Vodka
125ml Cloudy Apple Juice
Pinch of Cinnamon

Poor over ice, shake, strain and serve. Garnish with a Fortune Cookie on the Side of the Glass.

I like to use 42 Below Vodka when ever a drink calls for vodka. I make my own vanilla vodka, by placing 2 Vanilla beans (buy the best you can) Into a bottle of the pure vodka, with in 24 hours It will have a great aroma, and a result far superior to any commercial product. You can even top it up with more pure vodka, if you want to add more flavour after several top ups, just add another bean. Check out the 42 Below site, its great.

     Click here to see the 42 below site

Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Blood orange and Cumin Macadamia Nuts

Serves 8
A special request from my friend Dale, here is a great recipe for using fresh beetroot, a totally different experience to eating the ones from a can! This salad is great for and entrée, or is a great accompaniment to grilled seafood.

Ingredients
8 beetroot, trimmed, leaving 1cm of the stem
24 Asparagus spears
1 red witlof
1 white witlof
2 bunch curly endive
8 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into rings
100g macadamia nuts
20g butter
1 teaspoon cumin

Salad Dressing

50ml white wine vinegar
50ml walnut oil
150ml extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together, season to taste

Saffron Orange Syrup
1 litre orange juice (strain)
100ml lemon juice (strain)
pinch saffron

Reduce juice and saffron until it reaches a syrup like consistency, cool to room temperature and whisk in and equal quantity or grapeseed oil. Grape seed oil has a mild flavour, and is not fatty in the mouth, it is important not to substitute other types of oil.

Method

Wash and dry the beetroot, wrap in foil and bake in a tray for 1 hour in a preheated oven at 180C. Remove from oven, set aside and allow to cool. Peel and cut into 1cm wedges.

In a heavy based frypan melt butter add macadamia nuts and cumin, stir continuously until the butter has browned. Remove from pan wrap in glad wrap and crush lightly.

Blanch the asparagus in salty water for 1 minute, plunge into iced water, remove and set aside.

Combine red and white witlof, endive and toss with the salad dressing and place on serving plates, top with beetroot, asparagus, orange slices and macadamia nuts. Drizzle with saffron orange syrup.

Sweet Pastry

A versatile sweet pastry, it can be used for baked tarts or filled with custard or patisserie crème for fruit tarts. This quantity will make enough for two cases. Once made this pastry can be frozen uncooked in the tin. Ready for use the next time you are making a tart. When making pastry it is important that your hands are not too warm, as this will melt the butter. A good trick is to re arrange the freezer just prior to making your pastry.
Ingredients
600gm flour
200gm soft butter
4dessert spoons milk
200gm castor sugar
4 egg yolk
salt
Method
On a clean bench mix flour, butter and sugar together by rubbing it gently between cool hands the result should look like bread crumbs. Add a pinch of salt, milk and yolks, kneed till it has formed a smooth consistency. Refrigerate for 30 mins, then roll our into desired shape. Blind bake pastry tart in a pre heated oven at 160°C until light brown (around 15 mins) Use a rectangle loose bottom tin 45cm x 8cm or 20cm round tin.