oriental chicken sausage rolls

Just before rolling...

[Update! I've added this photo as someone emailed me to ask how i've rolled the sausage rolls and hopefully, this image would be self explanatory :-)]

Oriental Chicken Sausage Rolls

yields 25-30 bite-size pieces

250 gms minced chicken
150 gms pancetta [finely chopped]
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions
1 tsp red birds eye chillies [seeded and finely chopped]
1 tsp fish sauce
1 large egg [1/4 cup size]

1 box 375 gms ready rolled puff pastry [there's two rolled out per box]

1 egg yolk
sesame seeds

to serve

sweet chilli sauce
fresh coriander leaves

Prepare all ingredients. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180c fan assisted.

Wash and dry hands.

Put the chicken, pancetta, grated ginger, minced garlic, chopped coriander leaves, chopped springonions, birds eye chillies, fish sauce and egg in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands.

Wash and dry hands

Roll out pastry on a clean, dry surface. Cut each of the 2 rolled out pastry in 2 lengthways. Line each with the filling and carefully roll into a sausage brushing the edge with water, then fold over to seal. Place the sealed edge underneath, and using a sharp knife, cut the sausage rolls into 3-4 cm diagonally, discarding the end pieces. Repeat process.

Place in a baking tray, brush the tops with egg yolk and top with sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

Take out of the oven and let cool down a little on a rack before serving.

Serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves and sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

[These can be made a day ahead of the party. Just reheat in the oven at 180c fan assisted for 10 minutes or until warmed through.]

Don't forget to check out the entries on Kalyn's Kitchen this Sunday for the WHB roundup

"regressive" PB&J bars

Regressive Bars, adapted from a Nestle recipe:

Yields 16 bars

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Nestle milk chocolate and peanut butter swirled chips, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.
Melt butter in medium, microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute; stir. Add 1 cup morsels; let stand. Do not stir.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl until foamy. Add sugar; beat until pale, about 5 minutes. Stir in morsel-butter mixture. Add flour, salt and vanilla extract; mix at low speed until combined.
Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan. Heat jam in microwve for 30 seconds. Spread on top of the base. Cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle the reamining cup of morsels on top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

razz-ma-tazz cookie bars

Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars
Estimated Times:
Preparation - 20 min | Cooking - 1 hrs 10 min | Yields - 16 bars

A finalist in the 2001 Nestlé Toll House "Share the Very Best" recipe contest, this dessert was submitted by Juilee Decker of Cleveland, Ohio. A scrumptious blend of raspberry preserves, Nestlé Toll House Premier White Morsels and toasted almonds tops a rich, buttery cookie crust to create an irresistible cookie bar.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 325° F. Grease and sugar 9-inch-square baking pan.

MELT butter in medium, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; stir. Add 1 cup morsels; let stand. Do not stir.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl until foamy. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in morsel-butter mixture. Add flour, salt and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan.

BAKE for 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove from oven to wire rack.

HEAT jam in small, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 30 seconds; stir. Spread jam over warm crust. Stir remaining morsels into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam. Sprinkle with almonds.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

giada's chocolate-ricotta puddings

Giada's family dinners - chocolate ricotta pudding with strawberry sauce

This week I'm featuring food from Giada's Family Dinners

Initially, I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out. Chocolate, orange, almond and strawberries sounds like a good combination, but the reviews were pretty mixed on the Food Network website.

I used Callebaut (60% cacao) bittersweet chocolate and fresh ricotta cheese. I blended the ricotta mixture until I was certain that it was smooth. The pudding tasted great and had a mousse like texture.

Chocolate ricotta pudding with strawberry sauce

My one complaint about this recipe is that the puddings really don't unmold neatly. The texture is just too soft to hold the shape of the ramekin. I tried to invert puddings that had chilled for 3 hours per the recipe, and puddings that chilled overnight. None of them came out cleanly, and my ramekins were well greased.

devra's idea -- try this to go with the pizza rustica. is the ricotta cheese from the fridge still good or has it turned?

pesto and proscuitto pizza idea

Prosciutto and pesto pizza

I had a few small pieces of cheese in the fridge to use up, so I made a pizza. The pizza dough recipe I use is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. This recipe is very similar.

I spread 2 tablespoons of basil pesto onto the dough. I topped the layer of pesto with feta, asiago and fontina cheeses, as well as sliced prosciutto and roasted peppers.

I baked the pizza on a stone at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. After the pizza came out of the oven, I sprinkled it with a chiffonade of basil.



devra's thought -- try something like this with the mushroom pesto from 'everyday italian'

citrus soup

Sweet Soup

Filed under: Food, Recipe, Desserts, Sweet, Side

Right now I am up to my eyeballs in citrus… three varieties of mandarins, and a box full of gorgeous cocktail and Oroblanco grapefruit left over from a shoot. Don’t think I’m complaining… I have some inkling of how lucky I am. Seriously, I must have about 100 page mandarins, little bite-sized golden orbs that are incredibly juicy and sweet. I can’t stand to let a single piece go to waste, so my head starts dreaming up recipes.

Today, it was soup. Sweet soup. Sweet citrus soup. Sweet cream of citrus soup, to be exact. Like a creamsicle in a bowl. Or, really, more like a little tiny shot glass… a little goes a long way of this stuff, and I can’t imagine eating a whole bowl full. The soup itself is almost like making a citrus curd, but stopping just before the point of final thickening. A little saffron is tossed into the heating cream, just to give it a little something that you can’t quite put your finger on. The aroma of the steam coming off the citrus and cream concoction makes me think of peaches warm in the sunshine. Once chilled, it thickens ever so slightly for a smooth sip.

I still need to play around with how to present and serve the soup… it really needs a topping… maybe a drip or two of citrus oil or, better for color and a different flavor maybe a raspberry oil. An icewine foam would be fantastic as well. I decided to go with a variation on the foam idea, and came up with a balsamic and cranberry syrup Italian meringue, the lightness of the meringue kept the balsamic from overpowering the soup, but still gave it an interesting kick. My only regret was the color, which was not so surprisingly a dingy grey. A pure white meringue, or a meringue kissed with pink would be a better presentation. Maybe next time, I’ll use a raspberry syrup.

(I don’t want to sound like a commercial, but in case you are curious, all the fruit is from Rising C Ranches)

Cream of Citrus and Saffron Soup with Cranberry Balsamic Meringue
makes about 4 to 6 small servings

A note about the citrus. You can use just about any kind of citrus you want in this soup, but I really like it with sweeter varieties, like blood oranges or mandarins. I used a combination of Page and Shasta Mandarins, Seville Sour Oranges and Sweet Limes for mine.

For the soup
1/4 cup cream
3 to 4 strands of saffron
1 T sugar (optional)
2 cups citrus juice, strained

For the foam
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1 t sugar
2 T balsamic
1 egg white, at room temperature

Heat the cream, saffron and sugar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Slowly whisk in the citrus juice, and continue to stir. Let the mixture heat until it starts giving off a lot of steam, and remove from heat just before it comes to a boil. Continue to stir as it cools to room temperature. Then, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Combine the cranberry juice, sugar and balsamic in a heavy pot and heat on medium to medium-high until the sugar dissolves. Continue heating until the syrup mixture reaches 248F. While that is heating, start whisking your egg white. If you are doing this by hand, a copper pot helps. Once the whites are forming soft peaks, start pouring in the hot syrup and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Assembly is pretty straight forward. Just fill shot-sized glasses up with the soup, and dollop on the meringue. Or, you can put the meringue in a ziploc, cut off the corner and pipe it on to make a cool swirl.

pizza rustica

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

2 tablespoons olive oil 8 ounces hot Italian sausage, casings removed 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 (12-ounce) bunches fresh spinach, stemmed, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups), or 1 (10-ounce) package frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed and drained 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta 12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped 4 large egg yolks, beaten to blend Pastry Dough, recipe follows 1 large egg, beaten to blendPosition the rack on the bottom of the oven, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the sausages and saute until golden brown, breaking the sausage into pieces, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts and the juices evaporate, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Squeeze the spinach to drain as much liquid as possible. Into a large bowl, add egg yolks and beat lightly. Stir in the ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese. Add the sausage, the spinach and prosciutto to the mixture and stir to combine. Roll out larger piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 17-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch springform pan. Trim the dough overhang to 1 inch. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dough-lined pan. Roll out the remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round. Place the dough over the filling. Pinch the edges of the doughs together to seal, then crimp the dough edges decoratively. Brush the beaten 1 large egg over the entire pastry top. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan over the top. Bake on the bottom shelf until the crust is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes. Release the pan sides and transfer the pizza to a platter. Cut into wedges and serve. Pastry Dough: 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/4 cup cold solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces 1 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs, beaten to blend 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water Blend the flour, the butter, the shortening and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in the eggs. With the machine running, add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, with 1 piece twice as large as the second piece. Flatten the dough pieces into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes. Yield: 2 dough pieces (enough for 1 Pizza Rustica) Prep Time: 15 minutes Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes