Guest Blogger: Michael English: Lemon Grass Poached White Peaches

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Tandy

The original recipe called for nectarines, which are divine and come out as beautiful amber orbs, but as we had white peaches to hand, peaches it was. The original recipe also called for 8 lemon verbena leaves, which I could not track down. I instead substituted a stick of lemon grass.

This is adapted from The Sweet Life – Desserts from Chanterelle by Kate Zuckerman

ingredients:

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup of sugar

1 stick of lemon grass

6 White peaches

method:

In a medium pot combine the wine, sugar and bruised lemon grass with two cup of water and bring to the boil

Wash the peaches, and place whole into the pot

Simmer till a knife slides into the center easily, about 20 min

The syrup may seem sweet, Kate uses 11/2 cup of sugar, but I toned it down. Though once chilled you may find you need it

Transfer the peaches and fruit into a bowl, and chill in an ice bath

When cool, peel off the skin. This is nice if you are serving guests, but frankly if it just for you, I wouldn’t bother.

To serve, cut them in half and remove the stone to reveal the blushing pink center. Serve the halves with ice cream and a drizzle of the beautiful peach colored syrup

They will keep refrigerated for up to a week

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Peaches Poached in Sweet White Wine

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Tandy

We have the most amazing varietels of sweet white wines in South Africa, and even though I don’t drink them, I always buy a bottle if I find the estate impressive. This week’s challenge was to make something sweet using peaches. Woolworths have these lovely doughnut dessert peaches and I knew this would be the perfect time to try out the Peaches poached in Sauternes recipe I have from Le Creuset. I have adapted it slightly to suit my need for sugar free recipes.

ingredients:

5 peaches

300mls sweet white dessert wine

50g sugar I used fructose

1 vanilla pod, left whole

fresh mint for garnishing

for the honey cream:

150mls double cream

1 tablespoon honey

method:

plunge the peaches into boiling water for 1 minute

remove carefully and allow to cool

remove the skin with your fingers

heat the wine, sugar and vanilla pod in a 20cm casserole over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved

place the peaches gently into the casserole and cook over a low heat with the lid on for 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the size of the peaches

remove the peaches and set aside

remove the vanilla pod which you can now store with your sugar for use at a later stage

reduce the mixture by half

place the peaches back into the syrup and spoon some of the syrup over the peaches

keep covered until you serve them

for the honey cream:

whip the cream until thick

stir in the honey

place into a serving bowl and keep chilled until serving

serve the peaches with the whipped cream and a garnishing of fresh mint leaves

Tandy

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Turkish Figs with Honey and Camembert

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Tandy

It is not often that I can find some really plump Turkish figs, but when I do, I buy them. Figs can be paired with so many other flavours, but my best is certainly Camembert. This recipe is an extension of my previous one, adding some more sweetness with the honey.

ingredients:

1 Turkish fig per person

50g Camembert per fig

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar reduction – I used a fig flavoured one

1 teaspoon honey

method:

quarter the figs, without slicing through the bottom

place the Camembert into the fig

place under the grill and leave there until the Camembert is soft

put the balsamic vinegar reduction into a pan and add the honey

leave until the honey has melted into the reduction

drizzle the sauce over the fig

Tandy

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Cranberry and Cointreau Ice Cream

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Tandy

Today, being the last working day of the year for me I am concentrating on the joys I have found in blogging. This post is dedicated to Buttercup. Buttercup was introduced to my blog by my friend Cindy (check out my daily diary page to see the ‘gift’ I have left there for Cindy). When I posted my ice cream recipe, Buttercup said she would much prefer Rum and Raisin. I however, cannot drink Rum – too much sugar in that, and I am not partial to raisins unless they are in my granola. So, I thought about what would be festive for Christmas and decided that cranberries were just the thing. Then, as I would need an alcohol to replace the Rum, I thought that the nice orange flavour of Cointreau would work perfectly.

ingredients:

290mls milk

4 egg yolks

110g castor sugar I used fructose

30mls Cointreau

290mls cream

100g dried cranberries

method:

heat the milk in a sauce pan until it is nearly boiling

while you are doing this, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until they reach ribbon stage

add half of the milk to the eggs while whisking

pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and whisk in

cook over a moderate heat while stirring all the time with a wooden spoon

as soon as it has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon add the Cointreau and mix in well

when mixed take off the heat and whisk into the cream

place all the ingredients into your ice cream maker

churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions

pour into an ice cream container and stir in the cranberries

place into the freezer and after a couple of hours mix the ice cream to ensure an even distribution of the cranberries

Tandy

Take a look at the Come Dine with Me Challenge

You stand in line to win a piece of cake jewellery

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White Marshmallow and Cointreau Mousse

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Tandy

I just so loved my pink marshmallow mousse that I had to make another version of this awesome and easy dessert.

© white marshmallow and cointreau mousse

ingredients:

20 sugar free white marshmallows

¼ cup full cream milk

250mls Greek or Bulgarian yoghurt

1 teaspoon vanilla purée

4 tablespoons Cointreau

8 strawberries, cut into quarters

method:

place the marshmallows and the strawberries into a sauce pan and over a low heat stir until the marshmallows have melted

add the Cointreau and then remove from the heat

mix the vanilla purée into the yoghurt

add the marshmallow mixture and the half the strawberries and stir well

evenly distribute the mousse between your serving dishes

place in the fridge until just before serving

to serve:

garnish each glass with another strawberry

Tandy

Take a look at the Come Dine with Me Challenge – a super prize for the winner will be revealed soon!

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Strawberries with a Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Tandy

We have had the most amazing strawberry season this year and I have been buying punnets at a time. We have eaten them with double thick cream, with Angels Share and on their own. But this special dessert was a perfect use for some that had been left a day longer than planned.

© strawberries with a raspberry balsamic vinegar reduction

ingredients:

strawberries, quartered

a sprinkling of sugar

a good glug of raspberry balsamic vinegar reduction

sorry Juno, if you are reading this, but the recipe is a feel your way one

method:

place the strawberries into a dry frying pan and sprinkle with sugar – not too much to make them sickly sweet

add a good glug of the vinegar – enough to make a nice sticky sauce

keep on the heat until the vinegar has reduced to a wonderful texture

serve immediately

Tandy

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Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Tandy

After having perfected the art of ice cream here and a competition being set here I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my next ice cream flavour. I am a chocoholic and my favourite ice cream is triple chocolate ice cream – chocolate flavour, with chocolate chips, and a chocolate sauce running through it. So, what better thing to do at home than make it myself?

I started by making the chocolate sauce and then went on to making the ice cream:

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

ingredients:

290mls milk

4 egg yolks

110g castor sugar I used fructose

30mls NoMU cocoa

290mls cream

100g NoMU hot chocolate pieces for a sugar free version use dark chocolate and use a Mezzaluna to chunk the chocolate into small bits

method:

heat the milk in a sauce pan until it is nearly boiling

while you are doing this, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until they reach ribbon stage

add half of the milk to the eggs while whisking

pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and whisk in

cook over a moderate heat while stirring all the time with a wooden spoon

as soon as it has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon add 1 tablespoon of the cocoa and mix in well

when mixed, add the second tablespoon of cocoa and mix in well

when mixed take off the heat and whisk into the cream

place all the ingredients into your ice cream maker

churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions

pour into an ice cream container and stir in the chocolate chunks

place into the freezer and after a couple of hours mix the ice cream to ensure an even distribution of the chocolate chunks

to serve:

you will need to warm the chocolate sauce before adding to the ice cream – add as much as your heart desires

Tandy

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Community Cookathon: Jool’s Pregnant Pasta

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Tandy

Cindy told me about this cookathon and I knew that I had to take part! I am a Jamie Oliver fan as you can see:

I have one recipe in all of these books I love to use – and the rest is just good reading. If you are starting a recipe book collection then I would recommend you buy two books: Cook with Jamie and Larousse. Those two will provide you with all the basics you need. After that, buy a recipe book because you want to make one thing out of it if you need to!

I was not one of the lucky bloggers to review Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals but I was determined to do this challenge as if there was a time limit. Dave was banned from the kitchen and I started the timer as soon as I was ready to cook – here are all the ingredients for Jool’s Pregnant Pasta.

During my shopping spree yesterday there was no red chicory or premade tartlets. I substituted gem lettuce for chicory for the salad:

I also made the tartlets myself. I do not have mini tartlet tins, so used a muffin tin instead. The recipe called for 6 but I made 7 as that is how much dough I took out.

If I had not been following the recipe exactly, I would have mixed the frangipane base in the food processor – I have two mixing containers on mine, and I used the smaller of the two to ground my almonds for the recipe, and I could have added the rest of the ingredients and let the machine do the hard work instead of me. Mixing this by hand, with my shoulder problems was not very easy – and the end result that from ingredient to table, my meal took 32 minutes. Still a good achievement in my opinion. Here are the finished tartlets – and do not forego the crème fraîche, as you need something to cut through the sweetness of the jam.

The pasta was really good, with our guests going back for their third helpings. I loved the way the food processor turned my Spanish style sausages into a rough minced texture. The fennel seeds added a fantastic dimension to the flavour. I did not have any fresh red chillies, and as I know my home grown chillies are really hot, I did not blitz them into the ingredients, but left them whole to impart some heat, without overpowering the dish. I will use this technique again for our weekly Tandy Tuesday pasta meal.

The only thing about doing it Jamie’s way, is that there is no crew to clean up after me. I work tidier than this normally, and would rather spend an extra 10 minutes on my meal and have a clean kitchen before we sit down to eat. However, this concept is great, and the next time we have meat for dinner I am going to challenge myself to Rib Eye Stir Fry. To see all the photographs from this even please click here.

Tandy

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Rosewater and Pistachio Ice Cream

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Tandy

For no known reason my ice creams have stopped tasting good. At first I thought it was the recipe, but after watching Masterchef Australia I have learnt differently. Contrary to the instructions that came with my ice cream maker, do not slowly chill the custard base. This causes it to curdle and will make your ice cream have the most awful aftertaste and texture. I tried this recipe and I am going to use it again as a base for other flavours.

ROSEWATER AND PISTACHIO NUT ICE CREAM

taken from Clicks Magazine issue 1 2010

ingredients

290mls milk

4 egg yolks

110g castor sugar I used fructose

30mls rosewater make sure you buy one for cooking / baking

290mls cream

200g pistachios, shelled and lightly crushed I did not crush them, but think they need to be toasted a bit and then crushed

method:

heat the milk in a sauce pan until it is nearly boiling

while you are doing this, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until they reach ribbon stage

add half of the milk to the eggs while whisking

pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and whisk in

cook over a moderate heat while stirring all the time with a wooden spoon

take off the heat as soon as it has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon

remove from the heat and stir in the rosewater and cream

stir in the pistachios and place all the ingredients into your ice cream maker

churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions

mine did not freeze but as soon as it was chilled I put the ice cream into a container and put the container into the freezer and it worked perfectly

Tandy

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My Luxury Dinner Party – Dessert – Marshmallow Mousse

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Tandy

I always start the days preparation with dessert. More often than not, dessert needs to set or cool or settle and so if this is done first thing in the morning, it has the longest time to be ready.