Zucchini & haloumi fritters with green goddess dressing

This is an adapted recipe from the very aptly named Delicious website.  These delicious fritters are a meal in themselves, and are so quick to prepare and cook they are perfect for a satisfying supper after a busy day.  Don’t leave out the green goddess dressing - besides having a wonderful name it compliments the fritters beautifully.  Use whichever fresh leafy herbs you have available, and experiment a bit to find the combination you like best.  I use basil, oregano and parsley as I always have them in my herb garden.

Zucchini & haloumi fritters

with green goddess dressing

3 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
100g proscuitto, torn into small pieces
150g haloumi, coarsely grated
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Pinch of dried chilli flakes, to taste
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

for the green goddess dressing :

2 handfuls fresh leafy herbs (eg basil, oregano, mint, tarragon, dill, parsley)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (140g) thick Greek yoghurt

Mix the grated zucchini, grated haloumi, proscuitto, flour, egg, chilli together well in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Using a large spoon, place about 1/4 cup of the zucchini mixture per fritter into pan.  Don’t crowd the pan - work in batches.  Flatten each fritter slightly with a spatula. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side until golden, then drain on a paper towel. Keep warm.


For the dressing, place all ingredients in a food processor, season, and whiz until smooth.

Serve with salad and the green goddess dressing on the side.

Hummingbird cake

This recipe is based on Jamie Oliver’s hummingbird cake (who could resist that name!), but I cut down on the amount of sugar and made my own icing, as I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese icing.  This is basically a posh banana bread in cake form, but the icing and decorating make it a special cake for eating with a cup of Earl Grey in a tropical Sri Lankan garden - or wherever you like!

Hummingbird cake

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
350 g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
200 g caster sugar
2 very ripe bananas
400 g tin of pineapple chunks (or you can use fresh pineapple)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g pecans

for the icing

1 tub mascarpone
2 tsp honey
juice of half an orange
zest of half an orange
1 cup fresh cream

for the pecan brittle

100 g caster sugar
50 g pecans

Preheat the oven to 175°C (fan forced).  Grease and line two 23cm round cake tins.

Sift the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt.  Mash the bananas with a fork in another bowl. Drain the pineapple well and finely chop it and then add to the bananas with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well, and then fold into the flour mixture until smooth.

Finely chop the pecans and fold them in, then divide the batter evenly between the two tins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until risen, golden and the cakes spring back when touched lightly in the centre.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the pecan brittle, place the caster sugar and a splash of water in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Shake flat and DON’T STIR IT, just swirl the pan occasionally until dissolved and lightly golden.  Add the pecans and a pinch of salt, stir very gently to coat them, and when nicely golden, pour onto a sheet of oiled greaseproof paper to set.

To make the icing, whisk together the mascarpone, honey, orange juice and zest.  Add the cream and whisk until stiff peaks form.  Watch it carefully as you don’t want it to turn grainy.

Place one cake on a cake stand and spread with half the icing. Top with the other cake, spread over the rest of the icing, then grate over some more orange zest (and some lime zest if you like).  Chop up the pecan brittle into small chunks and scatter over the top.  Decorate with a few edible flowers, if you have them.  Nasturtiums and marigolds look pretty.  If you don't eat it straight away, keep it in the fridge.

Orange mascarpone and pistachio tarts

The inspiration for these little tarts come from a German food blog called What should I eat for breakfast today?  The original recipe was for an indulgent Christmas breakfast and the tarts have a seedy pastry base with pumpkin and sunflower seeds and coconut and potato flour - which sounds delicious but as I’ve never used coconut or potato flour before and as this blog is supposed to have cheap(ish) and easy to find ingredients I’ve used a dark chocolate pastry instead - because chocolate and oranges were just made for each other.  It’s still quite a Christmassy recipe but maybe more suitable for lunch or dinner or tea than breakfast.

I used my favourite Careme dark chocolate shortcrust pastry for the bases, which has no preservatives or additives and uses real butter.  If you can’t find a similar one you can make your own, or use any good quality shortcrust pastry made with real butter.  I think they’d also be nice with a chocolate biscuit cheesecake type base (see the cheesecake recipes).

You could leave out the saffron (as it’s rather expensive) but it gives the tarts a lovely orange colour and gives a little edge to the favour, so put it in if you can.

Orange mascarpone and pistachio tarts

Butter some small tart tins and cut out the pastry to fit.  Bake in a medium (180C) oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked.  Leave to cool completely.

For the filling :

250g mascarpone
1 orange - juice and zest
a pinch of saffron
1 tsp honey

pistachios for serving
orange zest for serving
candied oranges for serving (optional)

Mix the mascarpone with the orange zest and juice, the saffron and the honey.  Fill the tarts with a tablespoon of the mascarpone mix and decorate with the pistachios, orange zest and a small wedge of candied orange.  Serve immediately.

Blueberry and almond galette

This is a rustic free-form tart - called a galette in France and a crostata in Italy - either way it’s delicious.  The recipe is from the South African blog The Pretty Blog by The Food Fox - one of my favourites.  Use seasonal fruit - I’ve used blueberries here but peaches are perfect with the almond paste or you can use nectarines or plums - pretty much whatever fruit is fresh and easily available except for strawberries or bananas.  It’s a real dinner party winner - buttery, flaky pastry enveloping an oozing almond paste centre along with slightly tart and soft fruit on top - the flavours are simple and intense and quite delicious.  

If are in a rush you can use a good quality shortcrust pastry (made with real butter) and some shop bought marzipan and you can have it in the oven in less than 10 minutes.  This recipe makes enough for two galettes.

Fruit and almond galette

Ingredients

For the almond paste (or substitute 1 cup marzipan)

100g ground almonds

250ml Icing sugar

¼ tsp almond essence

1 medium egg white, lightly whisked

For the pastry (or use a packet of good quality sweet shortcrust pastry)

2 cups plain flour

¼ cup caster sugar

½ tsp salt

250g cold butter, diced

1/4 cup Ice cold water

For the filling 

1 1/2 cup blueberries  (or other seasonal fruit)

To make the almond paste, put all the ingredients except the egg white in a food processor.  Add half the egg white and pulse until it comes together into a ball. Add a little more egg white if you need to.  Form the almond paste int a ball (or the marzipan if you are using it) with cling wrap and freeze for at least two to three hours. It won’t freeze solid because of the sugar content, but you need it to be hard enough to grate.

To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor.  Pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the icy water all at once while the motor is running.  As soon as the dough starts to come together, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and press into a disk shape, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

Pre-heat oven to 220C. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm. 

Transfer onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Coarsely grate the frozen almond paste/marzipan all over the brushed egg pastry surface, then cover with blueberries.  Fold the edges over carefully, keeping the look of the edges rustic. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

Cherry marzipan scones

These are rather posh scones and are a little more fiddly than usual but are ideal for a treat or of course for tea on the verandah with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth ….

This recipe is from a food blog called the Bonjon Gourmet and I’ve been waiting impatiently for cherry season to try it out.  I love the almondy flavour of the scone dough and the cherry sandwich layer becomes quite oozy and jammy.  You could probably use tinned cherries, but you’d need to squish quite a lot of the liquid out of them first.

Cherry Marzipan scones

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh marzipan, crumbled
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, in 1/2″ cubes
3/4 cup plain greek yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and quartered:
1-2 tablespoons milk
a small handful of sliced almonds (preferably unblanched)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Using a food processor, combine the marzipan, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine and break up the almond paste. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Add the yoghurt and the almond extract, and pulse just until the mixture begins to form a ball.

Put the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, dust the top lightly with flour, and roll into a 12 by 8″ rectangle, turning and flipping the dough, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Lay the prepared cherries over half the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the cherries, and press down gently but firmly (this will help the cherries stay in place when you slice and move the scones). Freeze the whole thing until fairly firm, but not frozen, 20 minutes.

Put a rack towards the top of the oven and preheat to 210ºC. Line a heavy baking tray with parchment paper, and stack it on top of a second heavy baking sheet (this helps to stop the scones from burning on the bottom).

Trim away the outer 1/4″ from each side of the scone, then cut into 12 squares. Brush the tops with milk, sprinkle with the almonds, pressing them lightly into the scones, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Transfer the scones to the baking tray, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the scones until they are golden brown on top, 18-20 minutes.  Serve warm with cream or creme fraiche.

Key lime pie

The name “Key Lime Pie’ has always made me think of Jamaica and the West Indies, of hot summer days and azure seas and the scent of lime blossom in the night air.  As we’ve had rather a cold spring here, I thought I’d give it a try, and it’s deliciously refreshing and very easy to make.

This is a combination of a couple of recipes I found.  You can use most types of sweet, crunchy biscuits for the base - I used Nutikrust caramel flavoured, but they are quite sweet so next time I’ll probably go back to good old digestives or ginger nuts.  I also used the ‘less sugar’ variety of Nestle condensed milk which had the perfect amount of sweetness to counteract the lime juice.

Key Lime Pie

300g digestive biscuits/ginger nuts etc
1/4 cup ground almonds
100g butter melted

1 x 397g tin condensed milk
3 medium egg yolks
finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes

double cream, whipped
extra lime zest, to decorate

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or use a pestle and mortar or put in a strong plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin). Mix in the almond meal and melted butter and press into the base and about 4 cm up the sides of a 22cm loose-based tart tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk for a minute with an electric beater. Add the condensed milk and whisk for another 3 minutes then add the lime zest and juice and whisk again for 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled base then put the pie back in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow the pie to cool, then chill for at least 3 hours or overnight if you like.

When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the pie from the tin and put on a serving plate. To decorate, dollop the cream onto the top of the pie and sprinkle with the extra lime zest.

Tomi's Mexican Cornbread

Cornbread is part of traditional American cuisine, and is particularly associated with the South and Southwest US. It is usually eaten with a barbeque or with chili con carne.

In the United States, northern and southern cornbread are different because they generally use different types of corn meal and varying degrees of sugar and eggs. Southern cornbread has traditionally been made with little or no sugar and smaller amounts flour or no flour, with northern cornbread being sweeter and more cakelike. Southern cornbread traditionally uses white cornmeal and buttermilk. In Texas, the Mexican influence has resulted cornbread made with fresh or creamed corn kernels and jalapeño peppers.

I hadn’t eaten ‘proper’ cornbread (I make an easy cheesy mealie bread which is similar but not as delicious), until Tomi (who’s from Kansas) made some for us and I realise how perfectly it goes with a braai or a chilli con carne.  This recipe is based on one from Paula Dean which I’ve adapted a bit by using self raising flour and an extra egg and cutting down the amount of baking powder.  I’ve also cut down on the amount of sugar, although the sweeter version is also very nice.  Try to use yellow cornmeal or mealiemeal as it gives the finished cornbread a lovely, golden colour.  

Mexican cornbread

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal (polenta) 1 cup self-raising flour, sifted 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 can creamed corn 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños, or to taste 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (grated) 1 small onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C (180 fan forced). Grease an 8-inch square pan well with butter and put in the oven until really hot.

In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the beaten eggs, buttermilk, creamed corn, oil, and onion and mix until smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the cheese and jalapenos. Top with the remaining batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm straight from the pan.