Meringue's

Ingredients in Order

2 egg whites at room temp

1.5 cups castor sugar

1 teaspoon corn flour

2 teaspoons white vinegar

4 tablespoons boiling water

Method

Pre-heat oven to 120 C.

1. Melt 150g dark chocolate carefully. Let it cool down a little. It should not be too hot when you fold it in.
2. Add ingredients to a mixing bowl - in the above order.
3.Mix on high speed for 5 - 8 mins until the mixture triples in size and becomes thick, glossy and white. It should have stiff peaks when you lift out the beaters.

4. Carefully fold in chocolate, be careful not to let the air out of the mixture.
5. Teaspoon onto a tray.
5.Bake in oven 120 C for 1.5 hrs

6. Turn oven off, leave in oven til cool.

Turkey Lasagna

This will be my last attempt at a lasagne this year!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one third of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

Recipe from http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_28198,00.html

Crab Ravioli Recipe

I tried this yesterday. Crab and Butter was lovely. I think my pasta was a little too eggy.

This recipe serves 6.

Ingredients

12 oz/375 g cooked white crab meat, fresh or canned, shredded
1 spring onion, finely chopped
3 oz/90 g ricotta or other mild, soft cream cheese
10 oz/300 g plain flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon/15 ml vegetable oil
1 teaspoon/5 ml salt
8 oz/250 g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 pinch saffron strands
3 tablespoons/45 ml boiling water
3 tablespoons/45 ml dry white wine
1 tablespoon/15 ml thick cream
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut the butter into cubes and chill in the refrigerator.

Prepare the crab filling: mix the crab, chopped spring onions and ricotta or other soft cheese together and season.

Make the pasta: put almost all the flour in a food processor (reserving a little), and whizz with the salt and the vegetable oil. Add the eggs one at a time, whizzing between each. Check the consistency of the mixture - while it will not have formed into a ball in the food processor, when touched, the mixture should be springy. Not sticky and not solid; if the mixture is sticky, add the rest of the flour, if it is solid, add a little water and a dribble more oil and whizz again.

Remove the mixture from the food processor and press into a ball. Cut the ball of dough into thirds and cover with a clean cloth to stop the dough drying out and cracking.

Knead the dough using the pasta machine, one third at a time, and roll to the narrowest setting.

If you do not have a pasta machine, knead the dough thoroughly by hand and roll out with a rolling pin.

Cut the pasta into even-sized strips, probably wide enough to create two ravioli and long enough for eight pairs of ravioli (how many ravioli you create depends on the size of ravioli you want to cut). Moisten one strip of dough with water and lay out the crab mixture in little piles. Cover with another strip of pasta and seal the pasta between the piles of filling. Be careful to eliminate air pockets within the ravioli as this will make them burst while cooking. Use a knife or pasta wheel to cut the ravioli.

Spead the ravioli out on clean cloths for one to two hours. Do not allow the ravioli to touch as they will stick together.

Next, prepare the butter sauce. Put the saffron in a small bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir.

Bring the wine to the boil in a small saucepan, add the chopped shallots and simmer until the wine has halved in quantity. Add the cream and bring to the boil again.

Gradually incorporate the chilled cubes of butter into the sauce, using a whisk and moving the saucepan on and off the heat to make certain it does not become too hot, which will cause the sauce to separate. Season to taste.

Boil the water for the pasta. Add the ravioli and bring the water back to the boil. Put on the lid, turn the heat right down (boiling vigorously would cause the delicate ravioli to break up) and simmer for about 4 minutes or until the pasta is cooked as you like it. Drain carefully to avoid damaging the ravioli.

Arrange on warm plates with the saffron butter drizzled over the ravioli.

Recipe from http://www.shellfish-lovers.com/crab-ravioli.html

Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken (approx. 2-2.25kg), cut into 10 pieces
1 head garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
2 unwaxed lemons, cut into chunky eighths
small handful fresh thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
150ml white wine
black pepper

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC/gas mark 3.

Put the chicken pieces into a roasting tin and add the garlic cloves, lemon chunks and the thyme; just roughly pull the leaves off the stalks, leaving some intact for strewing over later. Add the oil and using your hands mix everything together, then spread the mixture out, making sure all the chicken pieces are skin side up.

Sprinkle over the white wine and grind on some pepper, then cover tightly with foil and put in the oven to cook, at flavour-intensifyingly low heat, for 2 hours.

Remove the foil from the roasting tin, and turn up the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6. Cook the uncovered chicken for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelise at the edges.

I like to serve this as it is, straight from the roasting tin: so just strew with your remaining thyme and dole out.

Serves 4-6

Greek Easter Cookies

Ingredients
450 g (about 4 1/2 cups) flour
1/2 cup butter
250 ml (1 cup) sugar
3 eggs + 1 beaten egg
125 ml (1/2 cup) milk
1 tsp. baking powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon or 1 tsp. vanilla
Blanched flaked almonds


Method
1. Cream the butter together with the sugar; add the milk and flour alternately, followed by the remaining ingredients except the beaten egg and the almonds;
2. work the dough with your hands to obtain a soft smooth texture;
form the dough into thin strips about 40 cm long; fold each strip in half and twist to form a coil; seal the ends by moistening them with a drop of water and pressing together to form a ring;
3. place the cookies on a buttered baking sheet; brush with the beaten egg; sprinkle with almonds;
4. bake at 180° C (350° F) for about 16-18 minutes;
5. remove from the oven and let cool.

Kerasert

Ingredients
250g Light Philadelphia Cream Cheese
250g Unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Caraway seeds
2 tablespoons Chopped chives
2/3 teaspoon Paprika (add this till it is the right colour)

Method
Beat all ingredients together well. It is better the day after and you can use shallots – sprinkle.

Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup Rolled oats
1 cup Plain flour
1 cup Sugar
¾ cup Dessicated coconut
125g Butter
2 tbspn Golden syrup
½ tspn Bicarb soda
2 tspns Boiling water

Method:
Melt butter & syrup together. Mix bicarb & water, then stir into butter/syrup. Mix in dry ingredients. Cook in moderate (180°C-200°C) oven for approx 15 mins. Makes approx 1 doz biscuits.

Suggested Variations:
- Use half the sugar – I make a mixture doubling everything except the sugar
- It’s fine to use self-raising flour instead of the plain flour/bicarb combination
- Add water to the mixture if it looks dry – you should be able to squash a ball of mixture into a fairly thin biscuit without having it fall apart.

Tip:
If you roll the mixture into balls, they won’t fall to bits and as they cook they flatten out themselves.