Mel is one of my co workers in my current workplace at Opal aged care and works as a helper/assistant in one of our dining rooms. Sometimes if ive been nice to her she gets me one of these Cookies, which are amazing. She also says her Nonna makes the best foccacia in the world, and on that point we agree to disagree.
These are like an anzac biscuit on steriods, lots of dry fruit and nut and very very yum..
Dry ingredients
Oats 300 g
plain flour 300g
dessicated coconut- 250 g
white sugar- 175 g
dried apricots chopped-125 g
raisins-125 g
macadamia or almonds- 1/2 cup
Wet ingredients
butter chopped -150 g
golden syrup or honey- 40 g
baking soda/ bicarb- 8 g
boiling water- 40 g
line three trays with baking paper and preheat your oven to 160 C.
combine all the dry ingredients.
melt butter and syrup together.Add baking soda to the boiling water and mix with butter.
addthe wet to the dry (as easy as that).
roll into small balls and keep apart on the baking tray.
Bake for about 20 minutes till the edges are browned and cool down on the tray .
Drizzle with extra dark bitter chocolate if you want to be extra wicked !!
the first time I ate a real brioche I thought I died and went to heaven ..well I didn’t but I wanted to learn how to make the melt in the mouth artery hardener like no other
Off to the gym now to shed some weight so can make one tomorrow and eat it guilt free .
We used to make this dark chocolate souffle in my hotel in Dubai and serve it in our Latin American restaurant Pachanga, and 5 years and several menu changes later this was one item which had stood the test f time. Never fails to please or your money back!!
Method.
Pre-heat oven to 200 C.
Grease ramekins with some melted butter and line with sugar, just enough to coat the bottom and sides of the ramekins.
Separate egg yolks and whites.
Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler
Whisk egg yolks and sugar till well combined and fluffly.
Sieve cornflour and cocoa powder together
Add cornflour and cocoa mix to chocolate mix.
Whisk egg whites with 30 gm sugar till stiff .
Mix egg yolk mix and chocolate mix.
Fold in egg whites, a little at a time, to ensure we do not lose too much volume.
Fill into the ramekins approximately ¾ th full.
Bake at 200 C for 8-10 minutes, for soufflé with a soft centre. For a fully cooked and drier product can be cooked for upto 12 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Note- these soufflés can be kept in the refrigerator and cooked to order and will stay without losing significant volume for upto 1 day.
Sausage roll are the quintessential foods in Nz and down under, and most of the offerings in the shops just don’t cut it. .they are full of fillers and rubbish and have as much flavour as a discarded pizza box.With my classical training at The Oberoi Delicatessen ,where we would make all manner of charcuterie inhouse with no breadcrumbs in sight..Here we go .
Minced meat – 500 g( yes it’s a lot but you can make and freeze them., Chicken or pork is good
Salt 3 g
Chicken stock powder-2 g ( get a digital scale )
Garlic 10g
Fennel seeds-1 g
Cumin ground -1 g
Mixed herbs( thyme, oregano)-1 g
Nutmeg- pinch
paprika – 5 g or chipotle 1 g
pepper – pinch
Milk powder- 25 g
Eggs-1 – (1/2 in the mix and half for eggwashing.)
Puff pastry – 400 g approximately
fennel seeds or cumin seeds to go on top.
Mix the minced meat with all the dry ingredients an add in the egg in the end. Commercially we also add in about 100 g of ice in a big sort of a blender , which makes the whole mix a whole lot more moist when cooked.
To assemble these you need a largeish strip of puff pastry(try to get the butter version, its a lot better). Approximatley 10 cm s wide by 20 cms long.
make a sausage sort of shape with the meat and put in the middle of the pastry. egg wash the edges and seal the pastry forming a round sort of a shape. Eggwash the top as well and sprinkle with some fennel or cumin seeds.
Rest in the fridge for 15-20 mins and then bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 18-20 mins…drool over it and say Thank you lord for this amazing sausage roll , its like manna from heaven
I made a version of this during the disastrous cricket world cup in the Caribbean, while working for the Hilton Trinidad and conference center.That was the then Pakistan cricket team captain Inzamam Ul haqs birthday. That was a disastrous world cup for both Pakistan and India.
Pakistans coach Bob Woolmer died under mysterious circumstances after their first rund loss , fortunately for us, not in Trinidad but in Jamaica. India lost their game against Bangladesh and were knocked out of the world cup.
Today’s recipe Is similar to what i made then..but I’ve always tweaked my recipes to make them work better.
these quantities will make about 16-20 small kebabs
lamb mince- 500 g
Onion chopped fine 1 medium one ..75 g
oil- 10 g-
Green chilli -1-2 chopped fine
Coriander sprigs 1 chopped
Mint fresh 1 sprig chopped
Garam masala powder- 1/4 t or large pinch
Salt- 3 g/ 1/2 t
Chicken stock powder- 2 g
turmeric – pinch
Ground ginger and Garlic- 20 g.
lemon juice- 1/2 lemon
Heat oil and saute onion till translucent. When Cool add all the other ingredients. At times ive even added a bit of cream cheese to make the kebabs stay moister.
Cook on a griddle or a frying pan till just done…do not overcook and make them dry!!
stories of foods from the world over, laced with a hint of sarcasm and some black humour, its not for everyone, but then never was meant to be..
