Mini Ham & Rocket Omelettes served with Balsamic Fig Jam

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balsamic figs, Balsamic Vinegar, Blogs, Brunch, Cape Town, Chefs, Clifton Kitchen, Cooking thorugh the seasons, Cooks, dinner, Easy Entertaining, Easy Meals, figs, food, Food Writing, Gruyère, Ham, In Season, ingredients, Kate Abbott, Light Lunch, lunch, Omelettes, Photography, recipes, Rocket, salad leaves, Salads, Serrano Ham

The versatile egg once again becomes a platform for a delicious light lunch, brunch or dinner. In this recipe the omelette is used as a wrap, stuffed with beautiful Serrano Ham and peppery salad leaves. It works equally well using chopped cooked prawns in a mild curry dressing. The combinations are up to your imagination. 

 

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped (about 80g) or finely chopped spring onions white part only

Salt, a pinch

15ml olive oil

10g butter

2 extra-large eggs, gently beaten and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper

8 slices of Serrano Ham or the equivalent

A hand full of peppery salad leaves such as rocket or watercress gently tossed through a dressing of 15 ml of olive oil, a little lemon juice and a grinding of black pepper

4 thin slivers of gruyere cheese (optional)

Balsamic fig jam to serve (optional)

Method

Melt the olive oil and butter in a pan, add the chopped onion, season lightly with some salt and cook gently until softened and golden in colour. Set aside to cool slightly then add the softened onions to the beaten egg mixture.

Heat up the smallest frying pan you have, such as a one egg pan or a blini pan; add a drop or two of olive oil to the pan. Place a thin layer of the omelette mix in the pan and let cook over gentle heat until the egg mixture is almost set about 2 minutes, flip over and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. Remove and place the omelette on some grease proof paper while you continue to cook the rest.

To assemble

Place 2 slices of Serrano ham on one half side of the omelette cover with a thin slice of gruyere cheese and top with the salad leaves. Fold the other half of the omelette over the filling, giving a gentle squeeze to keep it together. Plate and serve with some balsamic fig jam.

An Elegant and Easy Tart or Dessert

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Almond, Apricot, baking, Book, Clifton Kitchen, Cook Books, Dartois, Entertainment, food, Food Blogs, Jam, Kate Abbott, Life, Lifestyle, News, Photography, Photos, recipes, Travel, travel Writing, Writing

Apricot and Almond Jam Dartois

This easy recipe is named after a well-known French vaudeville artist François-Victor-Armand Dartois de Bourneville who lived in the 1700s. It is made from 2 layers of puff pastry which have either a sweet or savoury filling. This jam and apricot Dartois is quick to make and ideal for unexpected guests.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 packet frozen puff pastry – defrosted

400g apricot jam

200g sliced almonds

Icing sugar

250 ml double Cream

Half a lemon

Method

Defrost the pastry

Preheat the oven to 200C degrees

Mix the sliced almonds into the jam. Open the pastry and gently roll on a floured surface to provide two equal portions of either round or rectangle shape pastry. Place one portion of pastry on a non-stick baking tray and spread the surface with the jam and almond mixture leaving a thumb’s width border all round.

Lightly wet the pastry border and place the other rectangle of pastry over the jam and almond mixture, seal the 2 portions of pastry carefully together.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Remove Dartois from oven and dust lightly with icing sugar put back in oven and cook a further 5 minutes until sugar has lightly caramelised. Serve with lemon cream.

Lemon cream

Squeeze the juice from half a lemon. Add the juice slowly to the cream and beat in well. Put in a serving bowl and place in fridge to chill until ready to serve.

Long Distance Tea for Two

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baking, Blog, Books, Cape Town, Clifton Kitchen, Devonshire Honey Cake, Entertainment, food, Hi tea, honey, Lifestyle, Photography, Photos, recipes, tea, Travel, travel Writing, Writing

My long distance correspondent Harold Boardman sent me this delicious recipe for an easy to make cake. It is wonderfully moist, fragrant with honey and just perfect for a chilly afternoon tea, or if you prefer, serve it warm with some custard and you have a lovely dessert.

The cakes flavour can be mild or strong depending on the type of honey you use for the final glaze.

Hi Kate,

I may have mentioned I don’t do baking but this recipe is so simple I had a go earlier with average results!! In the hands of an expert like your good self it will probably taste excellent – hope you try it and mention it in your blog !!

Harold.

Thank you Harold, I love the cake and I am enjoying it with my tea.

Devonshire Honey Cake

Ingredients

250g clear honey, plus about 2 tbsp. extra to glaze

225g unsalted butter

100g dark muscovado sugar

3 large eggs beaten

300g self-raising flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas 3/or fan oven fan 140C.

Butter and line a 20cm round loose bottomed cake tin.

Cut the butter into pieces and drop into a medium pan with the honey and sugar. Melt slowly over a low heat. When the mixture looks quite liquid, increase the heat under the pan and boil for about one minute. Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes, to prevent the eggs cooking when they are mixed in.

Beat the eggs into the melted honey mixture using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour into a large bowl and pour in the egg and honey mixture, beating until you have a smooth, quite runny batter.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 minutes-1 hour until the cake is well-risen, golden brown and springs back when pressed. A skewer pushed into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Turn the cake out on a wire rack. Warm 2 tablespoons honey in a small pan and brush over the top of the cake to give a sticky glaze, then leave to cool. Keeps for 4-5 days wrapped, in an airtight tin.

Ancient & Noble Fruits are In Season

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Blogs, Books, Cape Town, Chefs, Cook Books, Cooks, figs, food, Food Writing, Fruit and vegetables, Grapes, Herbs, In Season, Life, Photography, Sardines, Spices, Travel, travel Writing, Veal

In Season for February

Delicate and sweetly sensual, the fig is now in season; its arrival is one of the great pleasures of the long hot summer. Figs and grapes are considered to be ancient noble fruits. Most of the varieties grown locally in most gardens including my own, are the common green skinned variety, but there are also purple skinned varieties.

Once ripened the fig is extremely perishable and best consumed straight away or stored at the most for two to three days in the fridge.

Figs make a great salad when teamed with rocket leaves, torn basil and buffalo mozzarella, drizzled with a little aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. They also make wonderful accompaniments to many cheeses, poultry, and cured pork. They are also beautiful served as a dessert.

But today I am using the noble fruit in a beautiful salad.

Salad of Fig, Manchego Cheese & Walnuts, served with a Grape Dressing

Serves 6

Ingredients

110 g walnuts lightly roasted

100 g rocket

6 figs torn into chunks

120 g Manchego cheese, shaved

Dressing

½ tablespoons honey

1½ tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar

2 shallots finely chopped

80 ml walnut or olive oil

200 g red or black grapes cut in half

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Method

For the dressing; whisk the honey, vinegar, chopped shallots and oil in a bowl to combine, then add the grapes and season to taste.

To assemble; toss the figs, rocket and walnuts together, then divide among the plates, and drizzle with the grape dressing, then scatter the Manchego cheese shavings over the top of each salad.

Also in season:

Fruits:

Avocado, bananas, Blackberries, figs, grapes, guavas, kiwifruit, lychees, mangoes, honeydew melons, rock melons, nectarines, oranges, passion fruit, peaches, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, watermelon

Vegetables:

Beans, Borlotti beans, butter beans, capsicum, celery, chillies, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, peas, radishes, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini

Herbs & Spices:

Basil, Chervil, Rocket,  Tarragon, Young ginger,

Fish & Meat:

Calamari, Sardines, Veal

My Favourite…. Confit of Summer fresh Sweet Peppers

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Cape Town, Cape Town Cooks, capsicum, Chefs, Confit, Cook Books, cooking, Cooks, food, Food Blogs, Life, Lifestyle, Olive oil, Photography, recipes, summer produce, Sweet peppers, Travel, travel Writing, Writing

Shelves are overflowing with wonderful summer produce and the array of capsicums at the moment is a cornucopia of delight. I love them raw in salads, grilled, baked with various fillings or as I am doing today, confit of sweet peppers. The peppers taste superb if they are grilled on a barbecue, but as I don’t have the barbecue fired up,  instead I am grilling them over the gas flame.

Confit vegetables are so wonderfully versatile. You can serve them as tapas, or as a topping on toasted country bread, they are absolutely gorgeous in pasta dishes, or serve them in salads. Today I eat them warm, stuffed into pita bread and topped with feta cheese.

The confit of peppers can be kept in their preserving oil in the fridge for about two weeks, presuming they last that long. To serve them warm, simply heat them under a grill or in a saucepan with a splash of the preserving oil.

Confit of summer fresh sweet peppers

Ingredients

500 g red peppers (or mixed colours if you wish)

600 ml light olive oil

2-3 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1 sprig rosemary, about 6 cm in length

2 garlic cloves sliced

1 tsp. peppercorns, lightly crushed

Method

Rub the pepper all over with a light film of oil, and then grill them turning frequently until the skin is blackened and blistered all over. Then plunge them into a bowl of ice water. Remove and peel. Cut the peppers lengthways, remove the membrane and seeds and cut each half into two.

Heat the oil in a saucepan until very hot, but not smoking. Add the peppers, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, garlic and peppercorns. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the peppers to cool in the saucepan. Transfer the cooled peppers to a jar; pour in oil to cover, then seal. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

My Favourite Tea or Dessert Cake

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Allspice, apples, baking, Brandy, Cape Town, Cinnamon, Cook Books, cream, Dessert, food, Food Blogs, Food Writing, Hong Kong, ingredients, News, Photography, recipes, Sultanas, tea, travel Writing, Yoghurt

Arriving back from Hong Kong on the 17^th of December, although feeling jaded from my long haul flight, I hit the ground running.

Calls to the florist for table posies and flowers for the entrance and living room were arranged, then on to the butcher and fishmonger for my Christmas order, after that the bottle store for the drinks order.

Needless to say, after the culinary trip in Hong Kong my pallet was feeling rather jaded, not to mention my overloaded system. As a result enthusiasm for the Christmas preparations was a bit difficult to muster. The end result was thankfully well received.

Instead of the usual Christmas pudding I decided to make something a little different this year; one of my favourites – Apple, sultana and cinnamon cake, served with a vanilla and brandy cream. This cake is good to serve for either tea or as a dessert. It is also best when eaten the day after it being baked, which helps a lot when pushed for time.

Apple, Sultana & Cinnamon Cake served with vanilla brandy cream

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

120 g sultanas

150 ml olive oil

200 g sugar

2 free range eggs

350 g 00 flour or cake flour

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

1 ½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp. cream of tartar

½ tsp. sea salt

450 g dessert apples, peeled and cut into small cubes

Grated rind of 1 lemon

For the Vanilla Brandy Cream

300 ml thick yoghurt

100 ml fresh cream

10 ml vanilla extract

30 ml good brandy

15 ml icing sugar or honey

Method

Soak the sultanas in warm water for about 20 mutes

Heat the oven to 180C

Butter and flour a 20 cm spring-clip tin

Pour the oil in the bowl of the mixer and add the sugar. Beat until the oil and sugar become homogenised. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until the mixture increases in volume and resembles a thin mayonnaise.

Sieve together the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add the sieved flour gradually to the oil and sugar mixture. Mix thoroughly then add the apples, drained sultanas and lemon rind, mix thoroughly. The mixture will be stiff, and show pieces of apple and sultanas coated in cake mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for at least 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out dry.

Remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

Method-Vanilla brandy cream.

Mix all the ingredients together and chill until required.

Optional

The cake may also be spiked with some brandy after removing from the oven.

Breakfast Tart for Easy Entertaining

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Breakfast, Easy Entertaining, eggs, food, Life, Lifestyle, News, Photography, Recipe Food Blog Cook books Travel Writing, Rocket, spinach

There are a lot of hungry mouths to feed for breakfast. In the fridge I have rocket, spinach and feta and in the pantry fresh farm eggs and in the deep freezer the ever handy puff pastry. All these ingredients will not only make a delicious breakfast, but will also solve the problem of feeding a crowd, and  what’s more it takes only about 20 minutes to prepare, then into the oven for about half an hour to bake.

Breakfast tart of Eggs, Spinach, Rocket & Feta Cheese

Serves 6

Ingredients

80 g butter coarsely chopped

1 leek, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

600 g spinach, trimmed and coarsely chopped

80 g rocket, coarsely chopped

150 g feta crumbled

150 g ricotta

30 ml each coarsely chopped thyme and oregano

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Puff pastry, ready made

100 ml buttermilk or cream

9 eggs

Olive oil, for drizzling 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a pan melt half the butter and sauté the leek and garlic until they start to caramelise; then add the spinach and rocket, cook until wilted, then transfer mixture to a colander and drain.

Place the wilted greens in a bowl; add feta, ricotta, herbs, and lemon zest. Season to taste, mix and set aside.

Roll out the pastry to fit a 20cm x 29cm baking tray or tart tin. Melt the remaining butter, brush the base and sides line with the pastry, allowing pastry to overhang. Spread filling mixture over pastry base, make 6 evenly spaced indentations in filling and set aside.

In a bowl or jug, whisk buttermilk and 3 eggs to combine, season, then pour over spinach mixture. Crack remaining eggs in to the indentations, season each egg lightly and drizzle with olive oil. Brush the pastry edges with a little melted butter or milk.

Place tart in oven, bake for about 25 minutes until the pastry is cooked and the eggs are set.

Serve with some bacon and or tomato relish, and as it is the festive season, perhaps a little Champaign too.

Food For a Crowd

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Appitizer, Books, Calzone, Cape Town, Cefs, Cooks, Entertaining, feta, food, Food Blogs, Life, News, Photography, Pizza, Proscuitto, recipes, spinach, Travel, Writing

Calzone can be filled with anything you have at hand making it perfect food for feeding a crowd, especially handy at this time of the year when we entertain a lot. It’s also easy to make but does require a little forward planning.

The flavourful marriage of spinach, rocket and prosciutto together with feta cheese is one of my favourite combinations.

Serves 8-10  as a starter or appetizer

or

Serves 6 as a main meal with salad

For the dough

500 g flour. I use 00 flour

200 g semolina, and a little extra for dusting

1 tablespoon activated instant dry yeast

10 ml sea salt

40 ml olive oil

400 ml water

For the filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves thinly sliced

300 g baby spinach

250 g rocket, small leaves are best

salt and pepper to taste

12-14 slices of prosciutto

Method

In a bowl combine the flour, semolina, yeast and 10 ml sea salt. Make a well in the centre, add olive oil and about 400ml water, stir to combine. Turn dough onto a clean work surface, knead until combined and smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with tea towel, and place in a warm place to prove until double in size. This will take about 45-50 minutes.

In the meantime sauté the garlic in olive oil in a pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes, add spinach and rocket and cook until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Prepare the base

You will need an oven tray measuring 40 x 25cm. Scatter a base of oven tray with semolina. Roll two thirds of the dough slightly larger than the baking tray (45 x 30 cm) and place the dough on the tray.

Arrange wilted greens over the dough, leaving a 3cm boarder. Scatter with basil, feta and prosciutto, fold in border, moisten the border with egg wash and set aside. Roll out remaining dough to 40cm x 25cm, place over prepared base and press edges together to seal. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until dough has risen slightly, about 25-30 minutes. Cut slits in top, place in oven and bake until golden brown (10-15) minutes.

Cut into serving portions and serve either with a salad or as an appetizer