Blueberry Clafoutis

 If doubling the recipe, use 3 eggs not 4.

1 cup fresh blueberries 

2/3 cups milk 

1/3 cup sugar 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

2 eggs 

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1 pinch salt 

Preheat oven to 220 degree

Generously butter a small baking tray.

Pour blueberries into prepared baking tray. 

Blend milk, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt until batter is smooth. 

Pour batter over blueberries and gently shake to remove any air bubbles. 

Bake in the preheated oven until puffed and center is set, approx 25 minutes. 

Cool until clafoutis deflates and is just warm.

Chicken Breast Cacciatore with Potatoes and Green Beans

 

4 chicken breasts

1 yellow onion, sliced in half-moon slices 

200g mushrooms, sliced thin 

6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 

1/2 cup red wine 

1 can crushed tomatoes  

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

Salt and Pepper

Potatoes, chopped

Green beans

Pat the chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper. With a tablespoon of olive oil sear chicken on medium high heat 3 minutes each side, until a gold crust forms. Set chicken aside. 

In the same pan, sauté onions, mushrooms in olive oil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic,  saute for 1 minute more. 

Lower the heat and add wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Stir to fully combine. Add some hot water if needed to cover chicken and potatoes.

Place seared chicken and potatoes in the sauce. Simmer 35 minutes uncovered, adding green beans for the last 10 minutes.

Stir in fresh parsley. 

Chicken Pot Pie

 

1 onion, diced 

1 clove garlic, crushed

450g of boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes 

1 frozen package of classic mixed vegetables, thawed 

1 cup of chopped celery, (about 4 sticks) 

3 cups chicken broth 

1/3 cup flour 

Puff Pastry Sheets 

Take 1 sheet of puff pastry and press into bottom of baking dish, poke several holes in it and bake on 350′ for 15 – 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, saute onion, add garlic and chicken. Cook until no longer pink. 

Remove from heat and set aside. 

Then add veggie mix and celery to pan and saute for several minutes before adding the chicken back to the pan. 

Add broth and flour, and combine well. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place the chicken and veggie mix into baking dish, top with pastry dough and cook on 350 for 20 – 35 minutes until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

Easy Tiramisu

 

250g full-fat mascarpone cheese 

300ml double cream 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

4 tbsp icing sugar, sifted 

125ml strong coffee, cooled 

6 tbsp whiskey

12 sponge fingers 

2 x Chocolate Flake

Measure the mascarpone and about 50ml of the cream into a large bowl, whisking until smooth. Slowly add the remaining cream and whisk again into soft peaks, being careful not to over-mix or it will be too thick. Fold in the vanilla extract and icing sugar. 

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the coffee and whiskey.  Dip six of the sponge fingers into the coffee and whiskey mixture. Arrange the soaked sponge fingers in the base of the dish. 

Spoon half of the cream mixture on top and one crumbled chocolate flake.  Dip the remaining sponge fingers in the coffee and whiskey. Place on the cream layer, then spoon the remaining cream mixture on top, levelling neatly. Sprinkle with the remaining crumbled chocolate flake before serving at room temperature.

Potato Broccoli Frittata

 

olive oil 1 tablespoon 

potatoes - peeled and quartered 2 medium 

broccoli - 1 cup, washed and cut into small pieces 

eggs 8 large 

parsley - chopped coarsely 2 tablespoons 

salt 1 teaspoon 

black pepper - freshly crushed ⅛ teaspoon 

Preheat oven to 180℃ fan /350℉. 

Boil the potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes till fork tender, then drain and crush coarsely with a fork and set aside. 

Boil the broccoli in salted water for 2-3 minutes till tender, drain and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and mix in the salt and pepper, potato and broccoli.

Pour into oven dish.

Bake in oven until set.

One Bowl Banana Cake

 

4 medium ripe bananas

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups SR flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mash bananas, then add all ingredients to mixing bowl.  Beat with electric mixer.

Bake in 22cm cake tin or equivalent for 45 mins or until skewer comes out clean.

Parve Strawberry Ice Cream

 

2 punnets strawberries mashed 

1 cup castor sugar 

3 egg whites 

 Beat egg whites till stiff and slowly add 1 cup castor sugar , When stuff add mashed or blended strawberries -  this will double mixture.  Freeze in containers.

Hazelnut Bites & Coconut Cookies

 

200g ground hazelnuts 

200g caster sugar 

2 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a baking tray with baking parchment. 

In a bowl mix the sugar, and ground hazelnuts. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with electric beaters until very stiff. 

Gently fold the nut and sugar mixture into the egg whites until you have a smooth sticky paste. 

Use a teaspoon to place spoonfuls of mixture in circles on the baking tray approximately 2.5 cm apart. 

If you want to decorate and add extra flavor, place a flaked almond on top of each biscuit. 

Bake for 18- 20 minutes until light brown. 

Store in an air tight container in a cool room.

Coconut Cookies

4 egg whites 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup sugar 

1 and 1/2 cups shredded coconut 

Preheat oven to 120C. Line and grease a baking sheet. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar and salt. 

Fold in the coconut. 

Drop tablespoon-size amount onto prepared baking sheets. 

Place baking sheet on top rack in oven and bake for one hour.

Israeli Matza Balls and Vegetable Soup

by David Guedj

Recipe for Kneidelach with an eastern touch. 

For the Kneidelach mix: 

A cup and a quarter of matza meal - 130gm

A teaspoon of salt. 

A spoonful of oil 

A spoonful of baking powder 

A glass and a half of boiling water (360 mm) 

2 eggs 

For the soup: 

2 potatoes, cubed

2 carrots, sliced

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

One peeled sweet potato cubed

Two stalks of celery thickly sliced

Pumpkin cubes 

1 sliced leek

1 onion in large cubes

5 whole dill stalks

7 whole parsley stalks

Half a teaspoon of black pepper. 

Two tablespoons of salt. 

Half a teaspoon of turmeric. 

Boiling water 

The preparation method: 

1. We will prepare the mixture of Kneidlach: Put in a bowl the matza meal salt, oil, baking powder and the boiling water - mix and put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. 

During this time we will whisk two eggs for an  airy texture. About 10 minutes after the mixture has cooled down a little we will take it out of the refrigerator and combine between the eggs to the folded mixture until we get a uniform mixture.

Put back into the fridge for an hour to stabilize. 

2. We'll prepare the soup: In a large pot we will put all the soup ingredients listed above, including the spices. We will add water to the end of the pot, cover with the lid half open half closed and cook on a high flame for about 45 minutes. 

3. After 45 minutes, we will boil a pot of water next to the soup pot, and when the water has boiled, we will remove the kneidelach mixture from the refrigerator, and with wet hands we will make meatballs the size of a ping-pong ball and put them one by one in the pot. We will cook until the meatballs are floating and with a net spoon we will transfer them to the soup pot. 

4. We'll cook the soup with the kneidlach together for 15 minutes.

Plum Cake

 

This makes a small cake, double the measurements for a regular sized larger cake.

3/4 cup (150 grams) plus 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 

1/2 cup (115 grams or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 

2 large eggs (room temperature) 

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

1 cup (130 grams) SR flour 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

6-7 smallish purple or red plums, halved and pitted 

Heat oven to 350°F/180°C. 

Coat a 9-inch springform pan with butter. For even easier removal, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat butter and 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy and lighter in colour. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, and scraping down the bowl. add flour and salt over batter, and mix until just combined. 

Spoon batter into prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Arrange the plums tightly in the pan, skin side up, all over the batter, covering it. 

Sprinkle the top with remaining 1-2 tablespoons sugar. 

Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out free of batter about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool before releasing the cake from the springform pan or turning out onto a cake dish.

Poppy Seed Cake

 

1/3 cup (50g) poppy seeds 

1 cup milk 

180 gram butter, softened 

2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 cup (220g) caster sugar 

3 eggs

2 cup (300g) self-raising flour 

Mix all ingredients in electric mixer.

Pour mixture into prepared pan; bake 45 mins. 

Salmon and Mushroom Pie

 

220gm skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill 

1 small onion, thinly sliced 

120gm white mushrooms, sliced 

1 1/2 tablespoons butter 

1/8 cup flour 

3/4 cup milk 

Salt and pepper 

Puff Pastry

Salmon and mushroom filling 

In a bowl, combine the salmon, lemon juice and dill. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, brown the onion and mushrooms in the butter. 

Season with salt and pepper. 

Sprinkle the flour on the vegetables and stir to combine. 

Slowly stir in the milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. 

Lower the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Adjust the seasoning. 

Add the salmon to the mushroom sauce. 

Pour into a mini sized foil tray - [double this mixture makes for a 9" pie]. 

Cover with the pastry dough and crimp or press the dough to the edge of the plate. 

Make a hole in the centre to allow steam to escape. 

Bake until the crust is lightly browned and filling is hot, about 20 minutes.