Freshly Blogged: Challenge 11

I’ve been chopped from the Freshly Blogged competition, but I got to cook in all 11 challenges and made it to Top 9 (yay). What an amazing experience! It challenged me creatively and pushed my culinary abilities – I made custard, consommé and macaroons for the first time, so I learnt a lot!

All the best to the remaining 6 bloggers, we’ll see if my personal favourites make it to the final :)

For the final challenge we could use the following to create a Mexican inspired dish: Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad, sour cream, spring onion, avocado, cherry tomatoes, coriander and one added protein. This was my final entry:

Mexican food intrigues me. It ranges from simplistic flavoursome ingredients and preparation, to exotic components and time consuming cooking methods. I would LOVE to go on a culinary adventure to Mexico one day! I was inspired by the Mexican flag for this recipe, much like the ingredients, the colours are strong and punchy, but the design simplistic with surprise details.

Tricolour Mexican Dipper with Coriander Butter Tortillas

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 min

Cooking Time: 1 hour

You will need

For the tortillas:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

¾ cups hot water

For the Re-Fried beans:

Vegetable oil

¼ cup spring onion (white part only), sliced

1 box Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad

Salt

For the tomato salsa:

16 cherry tomatoes

Salt

Black pepper

For the crispy bacon:

4 rashers streaky bacon

For the spring onion sour cream:

250g sour cream

¼ cup spring onion (green part only), sliced

Salt

For the guacamole:

1 ripe avocado

¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped

Salt

Black pepper

For the coriander butter:

1 cup fresh coriander, chopped

½ cup butter

Salt

How to make it

For the tortillas:

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Add the oil. Work it into the flour with your hands.

Add the water bit by bit and mix well. (It should form a sticky ball.)

Wrap the dough in cling film and rest for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces.

On a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a flat round tortilla (about the size of a cd).

Heat a non stick pan to scorching hot, don’t add oil.

Dry grill each tortilla for 30 – 50 seconds on each side until dark spots appear.

Store tortillas in an airtight container.

For the Re-Fried beans:

Heat some olive oil in a heavy based pot.

Fry the spring onion until soft.

Add the Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is reduced and it’s slightly caramilised.

Using a potato crusher, crush the beans in the pot to form a paste.

Season to taste with salt.

For the tomato salsa:

Cut a cross into each tomato.

Blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.

Peel the tomatoes and remove the pips.

Cut into small cubes, season with salt and finely milled black pepper and set aside.

For the crispy bacon:

In a very hot pan or under a grill, cook the bacon until brown and crispy.

Drain on paper towels.

Once cool, cut into small pieces and set aside.

For the spring onion sour cream:

Mix the spring onions with the sour cream and season to taste with salt.

Cover and set aside.

For the guacamole:

Smash the avocado to a chuncky consistency and mix in the chopped coriander.

Season with salt and finely milled black pepper.

Cover and set aside.

For the coriander butter:

Just before serving, melt the butter and mix in the chopped coriander.

Season well with salt.

Serving:

*Everything should be served at room temperature, but the re-fried beans and tortillas can be re-heated if you’d like.

Scoop the salsa, then the sour cream, then the re-fried beans and then the guacamole into a glass in layers.

Top with crispy bacon and garnish with coriander.

Cut tortilla rounds into quarters.

Drizzle or paint each tortilla with the hot coriander butter and serve immediately.

TIP: Serve with a small spoon so that guests can scoop out all four layers and smear it onto their tortillas. 

Freshly Blogged: Challenge 10

Click HERE to vote for this recipe.

I just love burgers, but the problem is that I can never decide on the toppings – I always want more than one! That’s why I’ve made three mini burgers with different toppings so you can get a little bite of each. Using the Spur sauce in the patties makes them incredibly moist and tasty… I think this may become my secret ingredient J Served with shoestring fries, this is a great gourmet burger lunch! I always make extra beef patties – I prefer a meaty burger with more beef than bread (there is nothing wrong with using two patties), and they are also great in lunchboxes.

This week we had the following ingredients: Spur Grill Basting Sauce, beef chuck, burger buns, sweet & sour gherkins, onions, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, potatoes, one dairy product & 3 items from the aisles.  

Burger Bites

Serves 2

Prep time: ½ hour

Cooking Time: ½ hour

You will need

For the patties:

1 heaped Tbls finely chopped white onion

250g Chuck steak, minced (if you don’t have a mincer, ask your butcher to do it for you)

1 egg

½ Tbls coriander, ground

2 Tbls Spur basting sauce

1 tsp salt

Ground black pepper

1 Tbls corn flour

Vegetable oil

For the caramelised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

1 small white onion, sliced

Vegetable oil

1 Tbls brown sugar

Salt

2 mini sweet and sour gherkins

For the buns:

4 soft burger buns

1 Tbls butter

1 Tbls oil

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

1 thick slice pickled beetroot

1 slab soft goats cheese

Iceberg lettuce

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

1 ripe tomato

1 Tbls finely chopped white onion

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

For the shoestring chips:

2 large potatoes, peeled

Vegetable oil for deep frying (about 3 cups)

Salt

How to make it

For the patties:

Pour boiling water over the chopped onion – enough to cover the onion. Let it stand for 2 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water.

Mix all the ingredients together (including the chopped onion).

Wet your hands and scoop out heaped teaspoon fulls of mince, rolling each into a little ball and flattening it slightly to form a mini patty.

Brush each patty on both sides with vegetable oil.

When all the mince has been shaped into patties, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until needed.

Once ready to use, heat a griddle pan until it starts to smoke (very hot).

Grill each patty for about 2 minutes on each side until griddle marks appear (don’t overcook).

For the caramalised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

Fry the onion and sugar in the oil over a low heat for at least 10 minutes.

Once the onion becomes soft and transparent, turn up the heat and fry for a few minutes until golden brown.

Season with salt.

For the buns:

Using a sharp round cookie cutter, cut out a round from the center of each burger bun (use a round that’s the same size as the patties you’ve made).

On two of the bread rounds, cut off the brown crust of the bread and flatten the bread to compress the bread slightly.

With the remaining two, gently cut a circle in the center of the round, pressing it down to form a bread cup (like a mini bunny chow).

Heat some oil and butter in a frying pan, and gently fry the crouton and bunny chow bread until golden brown and slightly toasted on the outside.

Set aside.

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

Using a very small round cutter, press out two round disks from the beetroot.

Roll (about a teaspoon per serving, or more if you like) the soft goats cheese into two little balls.

Using the same cookie cutter you used for the bread rounds, cut out two rounds from the lettuce.

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

Combine all the ingredients and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.

For the shoestring chips:

Cut the peeled potato into very thin strips.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan.

Test one chip, and if it sizzles and floats to the top the oil is ready.

Fry the chips in batches, and drain on paper towels.

You can keep them warm in the oven.

Serving

For the caramalised onion & gherkin crouton burger:

Place a cooked patty on top of the bread crouton and top that with a small scoop of caramelised onion and a gherkin.

For the beetroot & goats cheese salad burger:

Stack two lettuce rounds on top of each other.

Top that with a cooked patty, then the goats cheese ball and then the beetroot round.

For the tomato, onion & chilli salsa bunny chow burger:

Scoop some of the salsa into the bread cup, top that with a cooked patty and garnish with some more salsa.

Serve immediately with a generous helping of shoestring fries. 

The ‘Homemade Dog Food’ Project

Since I can remember we’ve had dogs as pets. Wire-haired Terriers, Airdales, Rottweilers, Mini Doberman Pinchers and now the husband and I have a cheeky little Boston Terrier called Rocket.

Rocket will be three years old in December :)

With so many dodgy (and not to mention expensive!) dog foods out there, I’ve started considering home-made dog meals. Rocket has always loved apples and peppers, and also eats pilchards with vigor, so I think she’s the perfect guinea pig for my new project.

This poster is a great start as a guideline for snacking:

Via here

I’ll be doing some research and experimenting, so watch this space. For now, these sites look like fabulous resources for healthy dog food:

www.mydogsbreakfast.com

www.homemadedogfood.com

www.dogfood-recipes.com

www.barkbarkimhungry.com

Don’t you think your dog would love getting a meal like this?

Freshly Blogged: Challenge 9

Click HERE to vote for this recipe.

Grilled Salmon trout with soured beetroot cream cheese, 

roasted garlic lentil puree & pickled cucumber ribbons.

Beetroot & caramelised red onion tartlets.

I’ve made it to the top 12 :) Thanks for all the support & votes! This week we had to create two fine dining dishes using Sea Harvest Smoked Salmon Trout, cream cheese, beetroot, lentils, cucumber and puff pastry… Here is my entry:

Fine dining is such a treat! There is something special about sitting down for a multi course meal. The ingredients are unique, the portions are smaller and meticulous, the flavours are perfectly balanced and the textures play together perfectly. I would serve these two dishes as a part of a 4 or 6 course meal, the roasted beetroot tartlet as a canapé with welcome drinks, and the grilled salmon trout as a fish course after a light vegetarian soup.

Haute gastronomy, colour me chic

Serves 4

Prep time: 1 hour

Cooking Time: 1/2 hour

You will need

Beetroot & caramelised red onion tartlets:

For the beetroot:

4 – 6 whole baby beetroot

2 Tbls Olive oil

1 ½ Tbls Treacle or brown sugar

Salt & pepper

For the red onion.

1 red onion, sliced thinly

½ Tbls olive oil

½ Tbls garlic, chopped

½ Tbls brown sugar

Salt & pepper

For the pastry:

½ Roll puff pastry, defrosted in the fridge overnight

1 Egg

Plain flour

For the garnish:

Micro herbs

Grilled Salmon trout with soured beetroot cream cheese, roasted garlic lentil puree & pickled cucumber ribbons:

For the roasted garlic lentil puree:

1 Cup red lentils

3 – 4 garlic cloves

Salt

For the pickled cucumber ribbons:

1 large or 4 Israeli cucumber

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 Tbls castor sugar

For the soured beetroot cream cheese:

175g cream cheese

¼ cup cooked beetroot (use some that you cooked for the tartlets)

3 Tbls fresh lemon juice

For the grilled salmon trout:

4 Sea Harvest Lightly Smoked Salmon Trout fillets, defrosted in the fridge overnight

Olive oil

Salt

For the garnish:

Pomegranate rubies

Shelled peas or asparagus spears, steamed

Micro herbs

How to make it

Beetroot & caramelised red onion tartlets:

For the beetroot:

Cook the beetroot whole until soft (use a pressure cooker if you have one). This can take up to 30 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Drain and allow to cool.

Pre heat the oven to 200°C

Once cool, peel the beetroot and cut into 8ths.

Arrange on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and sugar.

Season with salt and black pepper.

Roast for 10 – 15 minutes until the edges of the beetroot start to caramelise.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the red onion.

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan.

Add the onions and fry on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

Turn up the heat and add the garlic and sugar, fry for another 2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Allow to cool.

For the pastry:

Roll out the defrosted pastry on a floured surface.

With a round 8cm diameter cookie cutter, press out 8 circles.

Place the rounds on a silicone baking sheet on a baking tray.

Brush each pastry round with an egg wash.

For the tartlets:

Pre heat the oven to 200°C

Top the rounds with the caramelised red onion (leaving about 1cm around the edges.)

Cut the roasted beetroot into even smaller cubes.

Top the onion with the roasted beetroot (about a tablespoon full.)

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and the edges are golden.

For the garnish:

Garnish with fresh micro herbs and serve immediately.

*TIP Serve topped with crumbled goats cheese, it plays beautifully with beetroot.

Grilled Salmon trout with soured beetroot cream cheese, roasted garlic lentil puree & pickled cucumber ribbons:

For the roasted garlic puree:

Boil the lentils according to the packet instructions until cooked.

Roast the garlic cloves (with their skins still on) drizzled with some olive oil in a hot oven until they become soft and fragrant (10 – 15 minute).

Using a stick blender, puree the lentils and peeled garlic together until it forms a smooth paste.

Season to taste with salt.

For the pickled cucumber ribbons:

Using a vegetable peeler, slice the cucumber skin into thin ribbons.

Add cucumber, vinegar and sugar to a bowl, and allow to marinade for at least 20 minutes.

Drain before serving.

For the soured beetroot cream cheese:

Combine beetroot, cream cheese and lemon juice in a bowl.

Using a stick blender, puree the mix until smooth.

Add a splash of water if it’s too thick.

For the grilled salmon trout:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan.

Add the Salmon Trout skin-side down to the pan, season with a pinch of salt and fry for 2 minutes.

Turn the grill on the other side of another 2 minutes.

Flip again and grill for one more minute.

Remove from the pan and rest for 3 minutes before serving.

*TIP: Don’t overcook the salmon trout fillets; they should still be pink on the inside.

Serving:

Swirl a heaped tablespoon full of the beetroot cream cheese on the center of the plate.

Gently place the cooked salmon trout fillet on the cream cheese.

Top the salmon trout with drained cucumber ribbons.

Using a piping bag, pipe little mounds of lentil puree around the plate.

Serve everything at room temperature.

For the garnish:

Gently place pomegranate rubies, shelled peas or asparagus spears and micro herbs on the plate to make it look beautiful.