That looks Very Rich... but interesting.. maybe next big family function... :)

here's my recipe for the Baked Camembert and Bluberry chutney.

BAKED CAMEMBERT AND BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY

COMBINE IN A SMALL SAUCEPAN:


1 CUP BLUEBERRIES

1/4 CUP BROWN SUGAR-PACKED FIRM

2 TABLESPOONS CHOPPED ONIONS

1 1/2 TABLESPOONS FRESH GRATED GINGER

2 TABLESPOONS CIDER VINEGAR

1 1/2 TABLESPOONS CORNSTARCH (cornflour)

1 STICK CINNAMON

PINCH SALT

BRING TO BOIL OVER MEDIUM HEAT. BOIL FOR 1 MINUTE.
REMOVE CINNAMON STICK - AND REFRIGERATE FOR 30-40 MINUTES.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES( 170 DEGREES CELCIUS)

PLACE CHEESE ON FOIL ON BAKING TRAY. BAKE FOR 10-12 MINUTES.

SERVE ON BED OF RADICCHIO LEAVES DRIZZLED WITH OIL AND LEMON JUICE.

SERVE CHUTNEY ON THE SIDE, OR OVER THE CHEESE.

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I finally have a free minute, so here are the recipes for David's dinner

Starter

CRAB PUFFS

1/4 lb lump crabmeat
1 lime - zested & juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot - peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp chopped jalapenos
Frozen Phyllo dough

Mix all the ingredients and twist them into a phyllo wrapper. Bake at 350 for about 8-10 mins on a metal tray till brown

You can also serve these cold in phyllo shells and garnish them with red pepper strips.


The light mango sorbet, I confess, I don't make. Haagen Daaz makes an awesome one (sorry!)

GRILLED KYOTO SALMON

1/3 c low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c orange juice concentrate
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp green onion (scallion) minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, minced
2 salmon steaks (wild ones are best ) 4 to 5 oz each

Mix all ingredients (except salmon) and transfer to a large zip loc bag. Add salmon and coat well. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Grill salmon over high heat for 4 - 6 minuts per side until opaque throughout.


ROSEMARY AND FIG FOCCACIO (Sorry, I can't find the rosemary, sun dried tomato recipe, but I have made this and it is wonderful)

I do cheat a little and use a breadmaker.

3/4 c water
1/4 cup olive oil
3 c bread flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active yeast
1/3 c coarsely chopped almonds
1/4 c coarsely chopped figs
2 tsp snipped fresh rosemary (straight from my garden)
melted butter (optional)

Add all of the ingredients to your breadmaker , except the melted butter, according to the mfg directions. I always make a well with the dry stuff and put the yeast in last. Select the dough cycle.
When the cycle finishes, take the dough out and punch it down. Cover and let it rest 10 mins.

Grease an 12 inch pizza pan. Place dough on pan and pat it into an even round, just slightly smaller than the pan. Using your fingertips, poke the dough all over to dimple the surface. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Brush with the melted butter and serve warm, cut into wedges (or just tear it apart and feed it to each other)

WHITE CHOCOLATE BLONDIES WITH CARAMEL GLAZE

1/2 c unsalted butter - room temp
1 1/4 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 c all purpose flour
3/4 c coarsely chopped macadamias
3 -4 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped ( i use lindt's or ghiardelli)

Preheat oven to 350. butter and flour 8 inch square baking pan.
comb the butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. beat until light and fluffy. beat the eggs in one a a time, then beat at high speed til very fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low , add the flour a little at a time. Continue to mix on low and add the nuts and the chocolate just until blended.
Spread batter in pan and bake about 40 minutes, use the toothpick test to make sure it is done in the center.
let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Drizzle with the caramel glaze.

CARAMEL GLAZE

8 oz wrapped caramels
1/4 c water.

Comb the caramels and water in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the caramels melt and mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and drizzle the glaze over while it is still hot. Let stand till cool, about 30 minutes.

Serve this with a really good vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

Hope you enjoy them. I am going to make the blondies for a picnic next week. I made them for my birthday last year and the techs devoured them. Very rich and as David said, wicked! :twisted: (only the calorie count).

I have to find the book with the salad recipe in it. I will post it as soon as i can.

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Julie

I will carry you, be your strength, pull you through.

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I could only find two recipes for now - will post the others after October. Ok then, first up Mussel Soup. A good one as can be prepared way in advance.

MUSSEL SOUP (Zuppa di Cozze)
Serves 6.

24 mussels500g fish fillets
1 stick celery
1 onion
1 carrot
1 1/2 litres water
30g butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 chicken stock cubes
2 tomatoes
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Clean mussels by scrubbing them with a brush under running water.
Remove beard by pulling (if it hurts then you're removing the wrong beard! :twisted: )

Skin and bone fish. Cut into large portions. Chop onion, carrot and celery. Put fish and vegetables into pot with water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes covered.

Drain. Reserve stock and fish but discard the vegetables. Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and curry powder, stir until smooth. Add tomato paste, add fish stock gradually. Stir until smooth and keep stirring until soup boils and thickens. Add crunbled stock cubes and the peeled and chopped tomatoes. Simmer 1 minute.

Add mussels and flaked fish, cook further 5 minutes or until mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels after this. Season as required and stir in the chopped parsley.

I usually serve this ladled over a slice of toasted Italian pasta dura bread or ciabatta.

And a warning - all you who regularly visit the diet thread do not pass this point!!!

RUM AND RAISIN CHOCOLATE SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

Serves 6

I cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup raisins
100g dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup milk1/4 cup rum
extra 100g dark chocolate, melted
60g vutter, melted
1 egg. lightly beaten
3/4 cup firmly packed soft brown suger
extra 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I warned you!!! :roll: )
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to moderate 180 degrees and brush a 6 cup capacity ovenproof dish with melted butter or oil

Sift the flour and cocoa into a mixing bowl. Stir in the raisins, chopped chocolate, sugar, milk, rum, melted chocolate, melted butter and egg. Mix until just combined.

Spoon mixture into the dish. Combine brown sugar and extra cocoa in a bow. Sprinkle over mixture.

Carefully pour the boiling water over the mix. Bake for 45 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean when inserted in centre of the pudding.

Serve spoonfuls of warm pudding with softly whipped cream, or vanilla icecream.

Managed to find almost all the recipes - ofcourse, the missing one is dessert :? Can never find a good chocolate cake recipe when I need it ... I will add it when I find the right one. In the meantime, here are the first courses.

Pommes-Frites
2 potatoes – peeled and grated roughly
vegetable oil, for frying
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
pinch cayenne pepper

Soak potato shreds in large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes to avoid discolouration and remove starch. Drain; pat dry with absorbent paper.

Meanwhile, mix pepper, salt and cayenne pepper.

Heat oil in a pan; fry the potatoes in batches, turning occasionally until browned lightly. Drain potatoes, on absorbent paper; sprinkle with seasoning to taste.

Seared Scallops with garlic lemon and thyme oil½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 scallops – removed from shell
Extra olive oil for searing scallops

To mix garlic, lemon and thyme oil, combine first four ingredients thoroughly and set aside.

Lightly oil a large frying pan or char grill. Cook the scallops for 30 seconds - 1 minute each side or until cooked to your liking.

Drizzle hot scallops with oil and serve immediately.

Watercress, Capsicum & Baby Spinach Salad
1 cup watercress sprigs
1 cup baby spinach leaves
6 green shallots, chopped
1 medium (about 200g) red capsicum, sliced

Dressing:
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sesame seeds to garnish

Combine watercress, baby spinach and capsicum in a bowl. Add all dressing ingredients in jar and shake well. Drizzle dressing over salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds to finish.

Coconut lime sorbet - Sorbet can be made a few days ahead
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
¼ cup castor sugar
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
30ml lime juice
1 egg white

Combine coconut and water in saucepan, slowly bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add sugar, stir constantly over very low heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool mixture, add lime rind and juice.
Pour mixture into container, cover. Freeze for about 1 hour or until partly set. Beat coconut mixture and egg whites in small bowl or in a food processor until combined. Return to container and cover. Freeze until set.


Wasabi Mashed Potato
2 Potatoes
Milk (or cream)
Salt and pepper
Wasabi to taste – approx. 1 teaspoon.

Boil potatoes until soft, then peel. Mash potatoes – adding just enough milk to get a smooth creamy result. Add in salt, pepper and wasabi. Adjust to taste.

Pan fried Barramundi in a pepper and coconut coating with a ginger, soy and balsamic vinagrette
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 x 250g Barramundi fillets
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground salt
1 egg, beaten

Vinaigrette
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon finely julienned ginger

Mix first three vinaigrette ingredients and set aside.

Mix desiccated coconut with freshly ground pepper and salt in a shallow dish.

Dip Barramundi fillet in egg then coat well with coconut mixture. Repeat with other fillet.

Heat olive oil in a pan and fry ginger until golden. Remove ginger from the pan and add to the vinaigrette mix. Lay Barramundi fillets in the centre of the pan over the heat – cooking fillets with ginger oil. Fry until coconut is golden and Barramundi is cooked through – turning occasionally.

I must try the Mussel Soup, Paola.

We have a thriving mussel farming industry down here in Portarlington! :)

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Its good because you can premake the fish stock and freeze it. That's the most time-consuming part. Especially cleaning the fish-heads!!
And it's a meal in itself if you want it to be. Then one can get down to business sooner I suppose!! :wink:

Fish heads! There's no mention there of fish heads!

I can't be dealing with fish heads! :shock:

You said fish fillets..... those non descript things that bear no resemblance to where they came from.

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All of this stuff sounds lovely. I am always looking for some new fish recipes, as Craig will only eat salmon and shellfish (the expensive stufff!) Evan discovered last night that fried shrimp is really good. He is at that age where he is starting to try new things beside pasta and burgers. Thanks heaven for that.

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Julie

I will carry you, be your strength, pull you through.

[img]

Sorry to freak you out Bev! :lol: You're right - if you make the recipe as is then you don't have to deal with the beady little eyes.
But if you make fish stock from scratch when you have a big supply of them, then fish-heads are the way to go. :twisted:

OK .. but they'd have to be blindfolded.. so they couldn't look at me!:D

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Finally found the dessert recipes... here they are:

Coeur de Noir
125g unsalted butter
100g dark cooking chocolate, roughly broken up
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self-raising flour
¼ cup almond meal
1 cup (300mls) sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 bag of assorted Lindt Lindor balls – unwrapped and frozen

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line muffin tray with foil cupcake cases.

Place butter, chocolate and sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Cook over low heat, until butter melts and sugar has dissolved.

Sift the plain flour, self raising flour and bicarb into the saucepan. Add almond meal, sour cream, eggs and vanilla essence. Mix well. Pour into prepared cases and bake for 5 minutes.

Remove tray from oven and carefully push a Lindt ball into the centre of each cupcake.

Return to oven and continue to bake for a further 15 – 20 minutes.

Remove cakes from the tray and cool for a few minutes before peeling off the cases.

Serve immediately with Vanilla bean icecream.

Vanilla Bean Icecream
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
1½ cups milk
600ml pouring cream
7 egg yolks
130g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD
Scrape vanilla-bean seeds into milk. Combine milk, vanilla beans and cream in a saucepan and bring just to the boil.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale, then whisk in milk mixture. Return mixture to a clean saucepan and stir constantly with a wooden spoon over low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat, cover closely with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Remove vanilla beans and stir in vanilla extract.

Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, then store in an airtight container (10cm x 21cm) lined with plastic wrap in the freezer.

All of the holiday baking made me think of this post. I am making this pastry dish for Christmas brunch. They are called Grecian Party Squares, but I think they will do well as something out of the ordinary. Eggs and bacon are great, but I have some special diets I am working with here. This is not completely vegan, but my sil and neice do eat dairy, so it will work.

Line a 9x12 casserole with either phyllo dough or cresent rolls (lay them out flat). Bake at 375 til golden brown and set aside (make sure you spray the pan with cooking spray)

Add 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry to 1/2 c mayonaise an 1/2 c sour cream. Add a 1/2 of an envelope of vegetable soup mix (I use Knorrs). Add 1 14 oz can of drained and chopped water chestnuts, 1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts (again, drained and chopped) and 4 oz of crumbled feta cheese. Last ingredient is 1 clove of garlic, pressed. Spread this mix over the pastry and grated fresh parmesan cheese over the top (about 1/4 cup). Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 til it is heated through.

Hope you enjoy it. I still have to make chocolate truffles today and bake my thumbprints with the jelly in them (evan's favorite). I made almond bark the other day and it turned out great. I used smoked almonds and sprinkled coarse sea salt over the top. Sounds a little strange, but it has a different flavor that just works (perfect for PMS time -salt and chocolate :wink: ) And I have been using the new Hershey Chocalatier baking chocs for everything. I don't know if you have them in the UK or OZ, but they are so much richer than the standard stuff I have always used. Very rich and dark, dark chocolate -yummy.

Oh my, 7am and I am talking about food!!!!

You all have a good day and I am off to decorate the church.

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Julie

I will carry you, be your strength, pull you through.

[img]

Hi Julie

Your recipe made me want to go out and get the ingredients for my spinakopeta. That sounds yum. Mine has the bacon- and eggs-

if I cooked a batch- it would last me all week.

The almond bark sounds interesting. Can you post that recipe?
I never use salt for cooking-(except in my pasta)- but now and then I really crave salted nuts.

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It is a very simple recipe

Ingredients

Nestle Chocolatier 53% Cacao Dark Choc Baking Bar, broken into sections
1/2 C smoke flavored almonds, coarsely chopped and divided
1/8 tsp sea salt (large crystal)

Line an 8 inch baking pan w/ wax paper. Microcwave the baking bar on high in a small, uncovered bowl for 1 minute. Stir. If necessary, keep microwaving -on high for 10 to 15 SECONDS and then stirring till the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of the almonds.

Pour the mix into the pan and sprinkle on the remaining almonds. Tap pan several times to spread the chocolate and settled the nuts. Sprinkle with the sea salt and refrigerat for about an hour til firm. Break into pieces and store in airtight container at room temp.

I have made the bark with all different kinds of chocolate. I make a version w/ white and dark choc swirled and rum flavoring added. I also make it with just peanuts for Evan. Nice thing to put in a jar and give out. Chopped up pretzels, raisins, dried fruit, whatever you want.

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Julie

I will carry you, be your strength, pull you through.

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