savoury sundays: pesto chicken & vegetable skewers

Posted in savoury sundays by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

I love to cook. I also love fresh, healthy, and tasty food. On the weekends I don’t mind spending hours in the kitchen preparing good meals from scratch. I find it rather relaxing. But during the week I want to achieve the same results, but don’t have lots of time to sacrifice. So I am always trying out things that tastes amazing but can be made with minimum effort. I also look for things where I can skimp on the starch, but still have something that is filling.

So this dish ticks all my mid-week boxes: fresh, healthy, filling, fast and effortless. I’ve used chicken, but lamb or even fish will taste just as nice. I’ve made my own pesto for this, but a store bought tub will quicken the whole process up even more. I’ve given a list of vegies below that I used, but use whatever your preference just keep in mind that it should all be able to cook in roughly the same amount of time.

Pesto Chicken & Vegetable Skewers
makes 4 skewers (enough for two people)
500g chicken breast, cubed
1 courgette
1 red capsicum
8 button mushrooms
1 red onion
4 baby yellow squash
4 bamboo skewers
salad leaves

Pesto
1 cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs grated parmesan (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Cube the chicken breast into approximately 4cm pieces. I sealed the chicken first, for colour but also to ensure it is cooked through at the same time the vegies are cooked. To do this heat some olive oil in a pan over high heat and add the cubed chicken. Toss around for 2-3 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
To prepare the vegies, cut the courgette into 2cm slices. Cut the red onion in halve. Cut the red capsicum in halve and then in quarters.
To assemble: start with a button mushroom, then alternate a piece of each of the other vegetables and a cube of chicken, and finish with another button mushroom.
Place the finished skewers on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bake the skewers for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender (but still has a little bit of crunch) and the chicken is cooked through.
To make the pesto: toast the pine nuts over a medium heat until they start browning, approximately 5 minutes. Add the pine nuts and basil leaves to a food processor and blitz until chunky. Add the olive oil, parmesan if using and salt and pepper. Process until everything is combined, only a few seconds.
When the skewers are cooked, plate on a bed of salad leaves and pour over the pesto sauce. Serve immediately.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

16May2013

cinnamon pops and sticky toffee

Posted in good ideas, recipes by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

I have been taunted yet again by more cravings, this time it has been cinnamon. It feels like I am smelling it everywhere. I am starting to wonder whether the mind has the capability to crave something so strong that it can trick you into smelling something that’s not really real. All I know is that it has been on my mind all day and the smell is following me wherever I go.

This might be a long and convoluted thinking process, but I saw a recipe in the paper yesterday for a savoury pull apart with filo pastry (clever idea, will have to try it and let you know), but the pull apart concept made me think of pull apart bread, which in turn made me think of having something that can be torn apart and is loaded with cinnamon. But not something like my sticky cinnamon buns, something more fluffier and more cinnamony. So then I thought maybe cinnamon brioche…but I only want the fluffy cinnamon centre – not the whole brioche bun. And it might be a tad wasteful to bake a whole batch of brioche buns only to remove the fluffy centres and discard the rest. Weird perhaps, but that’s the thing about cravings I am realising, they’re meant to be weird. (Right?) So then I started thinking (or more day dreaming) about a whole pan full of fluffy brioche centres, perhaps even covered in some sort of caramel. Mmmmmm can such a thing be created? Surely. And so another pregnancy craved recipe is born, and I am calling it Cinnamon Pops with Sticky Toffee Sauce.

The recipe is a combination between a cinnamon bun and a brioche, the difference you ask? A brioche has about twice the amount of butter than a cinnamon bun and bordering more on a pastry. So I didn’t want the cinnamon pops to be quite so indulgent, but still needed maximum fluff factor which is caused by the butter to flour ratio. My search on the world wide web for something similar to my cinnamon pops got me stumbling across something called Monkey Bread. Apparently, if you are American you will know exactly what that is (if you’re not you need to google it!), whereas this amazing phenomena seems to have been kept a secret to the rest of us over on this side of the world. So I borrowed their idea of rolling each pop in butter and then cinnamon sugar before baking to ensure a sugary cinnamon hit with every bite.

Making the dough can be a labour of love if you are kneading it by hand, but if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment it will be no effort at all. For this dough recipe all the ingredients except for the butter is kneaded together to form a soft dough (about 10 minutes if using the stand mixer). The butter is then added, small knob at a time, don’t be alarmed if it looks like the dough is getting too ‘wet’ from the butter being added. And although you may be super tempted to add more flour, resist the urge and keeping on kneading before adding the next knob of butter, the dough comes back together each time. As with any recipe using yeast, the only downside is the waiting time, and I’m afraid this one is no different. After the butter has been fully incorporated the dough needs to rest for about an hour in a warm place, or a few hours in a cooler place, until it has roughly doubled in size. I use my oven for this by heating it up at 180°C for only a few minutes then turning it off again before placing the bowl of dough (covered with a tea towel) inside.

I rolled out 20 little balls to fit a 24cm round tin and then I had some dough left over to make two normal sized brioche buns in a muffin tin. This was for my good husband, who didn’t quite get my crazed idea about fluffy centres and told me that he loves the whole brioche bun, not only the centres.

Cinnamon Pops with Sticky Toffee Sauce
makes 20 pops

Dough
250ml milk, lukewarm
1 tbs instant yeast
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
600g standard flour
½ tsp salt
100g brown sugar
125g butter, softened

Cinnamon Coating
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
50g butter, melted

Sticky Toffee
¼ cup dark brown sugar
40g butter
1 tbs thickened cream

Directions:

To make the dough: Stir the instant yeast into the cup of lukewarm milk and leave to stand until frothy, about 5 minutes.
In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the flour, salt and brown sugar and make a well in the centre.
When the yeast and milk mixture is ready, stir in the vanilla extract and pour into the flour mixture.
Add the egg yolks and start mixing together (with the dough hook attachment) on a low speed to incorporate all the ingredients.
Increase the speed slightly and start kneading the dough until soft and springy, about 10 minutes.
Start adding the butter, a small knob at a time, and knead until fully incorporated before adding the next knob of butter.
Once all the butter has been incorporated you will have a nice soft dough which is ready to be rested.
Cover the dough with cling wrap and a tea towel and place in a warm place for about an hour, or a few hours in a cooler place, until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°.
To make the cinnamon coating: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and have the melted butter ready in a separate bowl.
When the dough has doubled in size start rolling it into 20 small balls about 4cm in width to fit a 24cm round tin (the sugar coating gets a bit messy so I would recommend rolling out all the little balls first).
Start rolling each ball in the melted butter, then transfer to the cinnamon sugar and roll around until the whole ball is coated. Place in the centre of a greased round tin. Repeat with all the little balls packing them snuggly into the pan.
Cover loosely with tin foil and place in the preheated oven.
Bake for 25 minutes and remove from the oven to pour the sticky toffee all over.
To make the sticky toffee: Melt together the dark brown sugar and butter over a medium heat and bring to the boil for approximately two minutes.
Stir in the cream and cook for a further minute and remove from the heat.
When the cinnamon pops come out of the oven pour the sticky toffee all over and put back into the oven for a further 5 minutes.
The cinnamon pops should bake for thirty minutes in total, and a test skewer should come out clean at the end of this time. If it doesn’t put back into the oven for another 5 minutes and test it again.
Serve immediately. These little pops really are best eaten on the day they are made. If you are keeping them longer place in an airtight container and heat up in the microwave before serving.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

8May2013

cheesecake to go

Posted in good ideas, recipes, something sweet by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

Cheesecake is one of those versatile desserts that can taste amazing with just a few ingredients and be paired up with most sweet things. I have worked on a very simple no-bake cheesecake filling with only 4 ingredients, paired it with a basic raspberry coulis and layered with a sprinkling of shortcake crumble. It is seriously delicious with soft, creamy pillows of cheesecake filling perfectly balanced with layers of raspberry and crunchy crumble. And of course super quick and easy to make.

I have made mine in small sealable jars, which makes them perfect individual travelling companions to a picnic, outdoorsy event or even a road trip. Simply tie a disposable spoon on top and you are set to enjoy them anywhere. If you are not going anywhere with them, still making them in jars would be a fun way of presenting it at the dinner table at the end of a meal. If you don’t have small jars, it will look equally beautiful layered in a martini glass or glass dessert bowl.

There is no gelatine in the recipe so the set texture is like a mouse and I wouldn’t recommend using this in a normal cheesecake that you would cut up. And instead of using the biscuit crumbs as a more traditional base, I crumbled it in between the layers. But it will be perfectly fine to use the biscuit crumbs to make a base in individual ramekins (just skip the step of baking the crumbs in the oven, and press into the ramekins straight after stirring in the butter) and then scooping in the cheesecake filling and topping off with the raspberry coulis. The recipe is enough for four 250ml glass jars, which is almost too much per person. Almost. (But I’m pregnant, and seem to have lost my sense of good portion control). So you will get 4 very large portions out of the recipe, or 6 smaller (normal sized) portions.

Ingredients:
Makes 4-6
1 cup cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup castor sugar
½ cup thickened cream

100g shortbread biscuits
50g butter, melted

1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tbs castor sugar

Directions:

To make the crumble: Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
In a foodprocessor (or by hand) blitz the shortbread biscuits into a fine crumb and stir in melted butter.
Spread the crumbs evenly on a baking tray and bake for only about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it cool, it will turn into a delicious crunchy and buttery crumble.
To make the raspberry coulis: Place the raspberries and castor sugar in a food processor and puree until smooth (or you could do this by mashing it very finely with a fork if you don’t have a food processor).
Strain the puree through a sieve to remove all the seeds and set aside.
To make the cheesecake filling: Beat together the cream cheese, vanilla extract and castor sugar until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream until it soft peaks form and fold this into the cream cheese mixture.
Mix it until it is smooth with no lumps and scoop into a piping bag (or ziplock bag).
To layer the cheesecake: Pipe a layer of cheesecake filling into the bottom of the jar (or glass bowl) and use the back of a spoon to smooth and even the layer.
Gently pour a tablespoon of raspberry coulis over the base layer and use the back of a different spoon to evenly spread it across.
Sprinkle an even layer of the crumble over the raspberry coulis.
Repeat with all three layers. Then repeat with remaining glass jars (or glass bowls).
Refrigerate for at least an hour for the cheesecake to set.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

5May2013

savoury sundays: yes, broccoli can be delicious

Posted in savoury sundays by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

Since my second trimester I have had very intense cravings for green vegetables, which is just as well because I need some healthy cravings to balance out the less-than healthy ones! I also gladly indulge myself in all manner of green vegetables, in particular, broccoli. I have never minded eating broccoli, but wouldn’t consider it one of my favourite vegetables (unless it is my mum’s broccoli and cauliflower drenched in a creamy, cheesy white sauce, which for obvious reasons I have steered well clear of).

But now I can’t get enough of it and I have luckily found a healthy way of preparing broccoli (while watching Jamie Oliver’s 15 minute meals), that honest to goodness I can eat as a snack all day long! It is fresh and crisp and seriously full of flavour and your family is going to love you for preparing broccoli in this less than traditional manner. The secret is in charring the broccoli. It might sound strange, but by slightly burning it, it brings out the most delicious smokey flavour in the broccoli. It is finished off with a squeeze of fresh lemon, which is an absolute must and it all just works together.

Ingredients:
head of broccoli
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
half a lemon
garlic salt
cracked pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive and sesame oil in a frying pan over a very high heat, and once searing hot add the broccoli. (The sesame oil is not compulsory, but adds to the delicious smokey flavour).
Leave it for a few minutes, no stirring and absolutely no water. Then toss the broccoli and leave it for another few minutes. The whole process takes about 6-8 minutes and is ready when the edges of the broccoli is charred.
Finish it off with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of garlic salt (or regular salt will do as well) and some cracked pepper.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

1May2013

cake pops!

Posted in good ideas, recipes, something sweet by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

Cake pops must be one of the best baking inventions ever. It is the perfect party food for young and old, and can easily be decorated for any occasion from a toddler’s birthday party to a wedding. A cake pop is made by crumbing any normal cake and stirring through frosting to create a moist and sticky consistency. You then roll it into little balls (or any shape depending on the decoration) and attach it to a stick. The whole thing is then dipped into melted chocolate and decorated and is ready to eat as soon as the chocolate has set.

A lovely friend of mine has a first birthday coming up for her cute-as-a-button little boy and we got talking about party food the other night. Naturally cake pops came up, and I promised to do a step-by-step post on how I make mine. This is how I make my cake pops, and I just do what works best for me and should by no means be taken as the perfect method. I first had a look at Bakerella on how to make them and would highly recommend checking out her site, if for nothing else but the amazing ideas. The one thing I would mention is that it is quite time-consuming, just because there are a few different processes, so make sure you start on them early. But you could save some time by buying a plain, unfrosted cake from a bakery or your local supermarket and a tub of frosting which you can find in the baking aisle in most large supermarkets. Or you could buy the box cake mix also available in the baking aisle. The cake pops I made was red velvet with a cream cheese frosting, dipped in white chocolate. You can use any flavour combination of cake and frosting, whether fruit/citrus or chocolate.

I normally decide on a colour scheme, then find some ribbon that will match and treat myself to a trip to the cake decorating shop for some specialty sprinkles. Although in saying that, most of the large supermarkets here in Australia has a growing collection of sprinkles and decorating supplies. Have a look at what they’ve got, otherwise I would recommend Cakes Around Town, which has a huge online shop. This is also where I buy the paper lollipop sticks that I normally use, but craft shops such as Spotlight will stock this too. If you can’t get hold of lollipop sticks, you can always make the cake pops without it by dipping each ball into the melted chocolate and just placing it on a plate to decorate and set (these are called cake balls). To hold the cake pops upright and slightly separated so that they don’t bump into each other, I use a glass jar filled with sugar. If you can get hold of a styrofoam block you can use this and cover with wrapping paper matching your colour scheme. You can also wrap them individually in cellophane candy bags and tie with the ribbon if you are transporting them elsewhere, or don’t want them standing out exposed.

What you need:

cake
frosting
paper lollipop sticks
ribbon
1 – 2 cups melted chocolate
sprinkles for decoration
glass jar filled with sugar

Bake (or buy) a cake. I used the red velvet recipe from Joy of Baking. This cake produces around 48 cake pops, depending on the size of your cake balls, if you don’t need this many you can cut the cake in half and freeze the half you’re not using for later (just remember to half the below frosting recipe as well).

Crumb the whole cake either in a food processor, or if doing by hand, rubbing big pieces of cake together causing it to crumb.

Make (or buy) the frosting. I made a simple cream cheese frosting by creaming 50g of butter, adding 1 tsp vanilla extract, whipping in 1 cup of icing sugar until light and fluffy, and mixing in one 250mg tub of cream cheese.

Stir the frosting through the cake crumbs to create a moist and sticky consistency.

Roll into small balls of about 3cm wide (I use my ice cream scoop to ensure all the balls are evenly sized).

Place the cake balls into the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up. They will be soft from rolling them between warm hands, and will be too hard to coat with chocolate unless they are a bit more firm.

In the meantime you can tie any ribbons or other decorations to the sticks, I find it easier at this stage rather than when the cake balls are already attached.

Then start melting your chocolate. I would recommend starting with a cup of melted chocolate and adding and melting more as you go along. It will help having it in a deep bowl, to easily dip in the cake ball without touching the bottom.

Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate (about 5mm deep) and insert into a cake ball. Be careful not to insert the stick all the way into the cake ball. Repeat this step for all the cake balls and let them rest for a few minutes for the chocolate to set. This step ensures the cake ball is attached strongly enough to the stick to be dipped into the chocolate without falling off.

Once the chocolate has set you are ready to dip each cake pop into the melted chocolate. For me, this is the most challenging bit but just keep at it, you will soon find the hang of it. Dip each cake pop all the way into the melted chocolate making sure it is covered with chocolate all over, remove from the chocolate and hold the cake pop at a 45° angle over the bowl and then very gently tap the base of the cake pop on the side of your bowl so that any excess chocolate can drip off.

Sprinkle any decorations over the cake pop, or pipe a pattern with a different colour chocolate then stick the cake pop upright into the jar of sugar (or into the styrofoam box) for the chocolate to set. Repeat with each cake pop.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

28Apr2013

savoury sundays: cheat’s pizza

Posted in Uncategorized by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

Friday nights are normally home-made pizza night in our house, and normally I would make my own dough (which I love to do). But some nights are just not meant for cooking, so I always try to have a stash of Lebanese breads in the freezer. I originally saw the idea for cheat’s pizza in a food magazine where they used pita pockets as the base, but I have since swapped over to Lebanese breads (which are like pita pockets just bigger). Using the Lebanese breads (or pita pockets) as a base, is fantastic and once you have tried it you will never go back to store bought pizza bases. It is a lot lighter and crispier and requires very little baking time (what can be better than a delicious dinner ready in 10 minutes!). And because of the lovely thin crust, you get a total flavour explosion with each bite instead of delicious toppings competing with a thick doughy crust.

Making your own pizza means that you can get some really good quality toppings. I normally head over to the deli section of the supermarket to see what catches my eye (which normally includes olives and sundried tomatoes). And of course fresh herbs is an absolute must. This week I made two flavours, one with roast butternut pumpkin, feta, caramelised onion, baby spinach and chorizo topped off with thyme. The other salami, semi-dried tomatoes, olives, capers and bocconcini topped off with fresh basil.

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Cover each base of Lebanese bread (or pita pocket) with a pizza sauce or tomato paste.
Sprinkle over a thin layer of cheese (I use a combination of mozzarella and cheddar).
Add your choice of toppings.
Bake for 10 minutes and serve immediately.

Note: to make the roast pumpkin, chop into small cubes place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt and a pinch of mixed spice and bake until the pumpkin is soft (about 20 minutes).

Note: to make the caramelised onion, add some olive oil to a hot pan and fry one sliced onion adding a tablespoon of brown sugar after about 2 minutes. Keep on frying until the onion is brown and caramelised.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

27Apr2013

dessert for two: pears and pastry

Posted in dessert for two, recipes, something sweet by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

My husband will eat any fruit as long as it is fresh, once it has been cooked whether in muffins, cake or pie, he won’t touch it. Something to do with the texture. However, the only exception to this is my mother’s pear tarte tatin. He absolutely loves it! And he would often ask me to make it, but my mum’s pear tarte tatin is a regular size that is meant to serve 8+ people which will obviously be way too much for us. Not that the two of us wouldn’t be able to polish off a whole one, just that I don’t think that would be too good for us.

So the other day I had a little lightbulb go up and thought why not try to make individual serves in ramekins. So I did, and they came out wonderfully. They also don’t take long to make so is the perfect mid-week dessert for two.

A tarte tatin is an upside down tart made with caramelised fruit and puff pastry. Traditionally it is made with apples, but you can use other fruit such as pears, peaches or pineapples (or for a savoury version, tomatoes or onion). And despite what you may think, it is actually quite easy to make (provided you use store bought pastry!)

Pear Tart Tatin
serves 2
1 pear
½ sheet puff pastry
40g butter
30g brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon
½ vanilla pod (or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Cut the pear in halve and core the middle with a melon ball cutter. Slice each half of the pear into 5mm thick slices.
Over medium heat melt the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla together in a saucepan. Once all the ingredients have melted together add the pear slices.
Let this all simmer together for about 5 minutes while the pears start to cook and the caramel starts to thicken slightly.
While this is going take one of the ramekins and place upside down onto the puff pastry sheet and cut out two circles (which will be the size of the ramekin).
Once the pear slices are ready divide equally between the two ramekins by placing the slices neatly over each other on the bottom of the ramekin. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the caramel over the pears.
Taking each circle of pastry, gently fold a little lip about 5mm from the edge of the pastry and place over the pears, tucking the lip down the sides.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
Slowly tip each ramekin onto a plate so that the pear side is showing up. Add a scoop of ice-cream or some crème fraiche and serve immediately.

Note: If you have more people to serve, just multiply the ingredients accordingly.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

21Apr2013

savoury sundays: chorizo & courgette risotto

Posted in savoury sundays by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

Risotto is something I have always stayed away from cooking, thinking that it is too hard and requires too much ‘chefy’ technical know-how. Truth is it is one of the easiest things there is to make, and one of the most delicious! This is just a simple recipe for a chorizo and courgette risotto, but you can swap this for so many other ingredients as long as you keep the rice and liquid ratio the same.

One thing that is an absolute must is using proper risotto rice. It is called Arborio rice which is a type of short-grain rice which gives risotto its characteristic creamy texture. You will be able to find it with all the other rice varieties in your local supermarket.

Chorizo & Courgette Risotto
2 tbs olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
5 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
2 courgettes
3 chorizo sausages
1⅓ cup Arborio rice
100ml white wine
3 cups of chicken stock
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Slice the courgettes and chorizo sausages on an angle and about 5mm thick.
Heat up the olive oil in a pan over medium to high heat and add the onion, garlic, rosemary and chorizo sausages. Cook until the onion is soft, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer this to a deep pot.
Fry the courgettes in the same pan until soft and keep to the side. (I keep the courgettes separate because if they go in the pot with all the other ingredients they become too mushy).
Place the pot on the stove over a low heat and add the rice, mix thoroughly with the other ingredients and add the wine.
Slowly pour in the chicken stock and stir well.
Leave the risotto on the stove, stirring occasionally. (Make sure that it doesn’t boil).
After half an hour all the liquid should have been soaked up by the rice and it is ready to come off the stove. (If there is still some liquid left in the pot, leave it for another five minutes and check it again). Stir in the courgettes just before you take it off the heat.
Take off the heat , stir in the parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

18Apr2013

whipped into a peanut butter frenzy

Posted in recipes, something sweet, Uncategorized by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

As some of you may know by now, I am with child. It is our first little baby so as expected, we are very excited. I have just this week crossed the halfway mark and in terms of food I have been pretty good. Eating plenty of fresh fruit and veges every day, more protein than I would normally put away and of course keeping up with my multi-vitamins, really trying to think about what is going in and how it is benefiting baby. I have deliberately avoided the sweets and crisp aisles in the supermarket, as my self discipline can only stretch so far and no further – if I can’t see it I won’t know that I feel like it is my reasoning. I also have not had any weird cravings as such, just more amplified cravings for the things I normally love. Although, in the last few days I have felt my resistance starting to crumble slightly, and all I seem to have on my mind is peanut butter. It all started with an advertisement I saw in a food magazine for new whipped peanut butter. Can you imagine? Smooth peanut butter that is whipped into light, fluffy clouds of decadence. Then came the unproductive search for Reece’s peanut butter cups that I cannot find in any stores and still this insatiable craving for peanut butter would not leave me.

And yesterday it all came tumbling down. I knew I had to get my hands on some peanut butter, for the sake of everybody around me (as the rise in my irritability levels felt like a direct correlation to this all consuming peanut butter craving). So I did what any normal pregnant woman who loves to bake would do: a Google search with the keywords ‘peanut butter recipes’. A plethora of recipe ideas started to roll in and I decided on Martha Stewart’s No Bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Bars as the base and inspiration for this peanut butter dream that was to satisfy all my cravings. So off to the supermarket I went boldly approaching the cookie aisle to get everything else I have craved over the last few weeks that was to be included in my peanut butter dream. As I started to unload my basket at the checkout, I wanted to explain to the lovely young operator that I was pregnant and that was why a grown woman was unpacking biscuits, chocolates and three tubs of peanut butter (my new whipped peanut butter, smooth and extra crunchie). Although I suspected that she has probably seen worse. At least I was unpacking some vegetables too…Nonetheless, I was rather embarrassed over this sheer indulgence. That was until I got home and had my first spoonful of the whipped peanut butter…

So what I made can really only be summed up by calling it the personification of a pregnant woman’s cravings. It’s a layered slice with a base of melted peanut butter, chocolate wafers and white chocolate Tim Tams, a middle layer of whipped peanut butter topped with a layer of melted dark chocolate. Really easy to make, and no baking required. But be warned it is not for the faint-hearted!

Layered Crispy Peanut Butter Dream
125g butter
1 cup crunchie peanut butter
¾ cup smooth peanut butter
1 tbs cocoa powder
½ cup icing sugar
1½ cups chocolate wafers, roughly chopped
1½ cups white chocolate Tim-Tams, roughly chopped
¾ cup whipped peanut butter (or regular smooth peanut butter)
200g dark chocolate, melted
2 tbs smooth peanut butter, melted
20g milk chocolate, melted

Directions:

Combine the butter, peanut butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until all the ingredients have melted together (approximately 2 minutes).
Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the wafers and Tim-Tams.
Line a square or rectangular tin (I used 19 x 19cm) with baking paper and pour the melted mixture into it.
Place in the fridge for about half an hour or until the mixture has hardened.
Spread a generous layer of whipped (or smooth) peanut butter over the base layer, depending on your taste as much or as little as you want.
Slowly pour the melted dark chocolate over the peanut butter and spread over evenly.
Place back in the fridge to set for approximately half an hour.
Once the chocolate layer has set, drizzle over melted peanut butter and milk chocolate.

…be fearless, and have fun!

esté

14Apr2013

savoury sundays: strawberry, haloumi and bacon salad

Posted in Uncategorized by the_vanilla_bean_diaries

‘Savoury Sundays’ is a new idea I wanted to give a go after a friend of mine asked me for a recipe for a risotto I made for us the other day. As I was writing out the recipe, I thought hang on, this is exactly why I started my blog in the first place. So although my blog is predominantly for the sweeter things in life, this is really just to share a quick idea each week of something savoury I have made, because I do also love cooking savoury! By no means is it meant to be gourmet style food, simply to share some food ideas and hopefully provide some inspiration.

This recipe is one of my husband’s favourite salads, and mine also for that matter as the star of the show is fried haloumi, and one of my absolute favourite things. The balsamic vinegar reduction goes perfectly with the strawberry and one of my favourite salad dressings to make. It is quick and easy to make and can be used in most salads.

Strawberry, haloumi and bacon salad with balsamic vinegar reduction:
pack of haloumi
lemon juice
10 strawberries
4 rashers of bacon
salad leaves
1 cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup brown sugar

Directions:

Balsamic vinegar reduction: combine the vinegar and brown sugar in small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let the reduction simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until it has reduced down and thickened. (It should have the same consistency as maple syrup).
Cut the haloumi into 1cm thick slices and fry over medium heat until brown. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry.
Hull and slice the strawberries.
Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl and dress with the balsamic vinegar reduction right before serving.

…be fearless, and have fun!

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