Goat's cheese soufflé

Valentine's Day 2013. We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day in our house, although apparently the little people of the house seem to think we should. No flowers, chocolates or pressies here. But I do cook something a little special for our family to share.

This year, I decided on a Mediterranean-style menu with three courses taking inspiration from three different countries.

First course took inspiration from a little bistro in Provence France,  second course was from a tapas bar in Barcelona Spain, and dessert was from a trattoria in Tuscany Italy (or so we pretended!).

I hope your Valentine's day was a lovely one, whether you celebrate it on not. And I hope you enjoy this little tour around the Mediterranean.

These souffles were very light and tasty. Although it takes a little bit of effort, I like souffles. It is not something to eat every day, but something to save for a special occasion. Bonne Saint Valentin!

What you need

Made 6 small soufflés (made in half cup capacity ramekins)

1/2 cup packet breadcrumbs
40g butter
40g plain flour
250ml milk
50g grated cheddar cheese
50g crumbled goat's cheese
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Extra butter for greasing the ramekins

To serve

Fresh rocket
1/2 ripe avocado, sliced
4 small slices goat's cheese

What to do

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Boil a kettle full of water for later use.

Grease the ramekins well and place in the fridge or freezer to harden the butter.

While the ramekins are in the freezer, melt the 40g butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted and bubbling, add the flour and mix well until combined . Turn the heat to low. Slowly add the milk and stir continuously until the mixtures thickens. Add the cheese and thyme and mix until well combined.

Set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Season well with salt and pepper.

In a clean bowl, mix the egg whites with electric beaters until stiff peaks form.

Now, add half the egg whites back into the cheese mixture. Fold gently together with a metal spoon. Add the other half of the egg whites to the mixture until just combined.

Remove the ramekins from the freezer. Place a little breadcrumb in each ramekin and 'jiggle' the crumbs around the bottom and sides to ensure a coasting of crumbs all over the inside of the ramekin. Shake out any excess. (This helps to ensure that the egg mixture doesn't stick to the sides of the ramekin when it rises in the oven.)

Place the ramekins into an ovenproof dish, spaced evenly apart. Fill each ramekin to the brim with the egg mixture. Now pour the boiling water into the ovenproof dish, so that it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Carefully put the dish into the oven.

Cook for 25 minutes until golden and very 'puffed'. Serve immediately with a side salad.

Tips for soufflés

• Do not open the oven door while cooking. 
• Be ready to serve these immediately from the oven to the table so that you will get to see the lovely fluffy soufflés at their best. The soufflés will start to deflate as soon as you take them from the oven.
• I prepared the salad onto some large plates while the soufflés were cooking, so I could just place the little ramekins onto the plate and serve immediately.
• It's all about timing to have a successful soufflé.

Hazelnut, raspberry and dark chocolate muffins

Quick muffin recipe today, inspired by a bag of frozen raspberries in the freezer. 

I used some hazelnut meal in the mix, just for something different. I kept the sugar quite low in the recipe, as I wanted to squidge in some dark chocolate pieces after they were cooked for something a bit different. 

These muffins were lovely and tart from the raspberries, had  a great texture from the hazelnut meal and the melted dark chocolate was just a bit decadent. 

I also made these muffins using ripe banana, instead of the raspberries.  Just substitute the raspberries for one cup of mashed, ripe banana. You could also use blueberries to make another variety of this recipe.

What you'll need

Made 10 medium-sized muffins

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour (or use white flour if that is what you have)

1 cup hazelnut meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 cup of frozen or fresh raspberries

10 squares of dark chocolate

Butter for greasing the muffin tins.

What to do

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

Place the flour, meal, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Mix together well. Make a well in the middle.

Add the milk and eggs. Mix together until just combined. The mix should be wet and 'thickly drip' off the back of your mixing spoon. If not, add either more flour or more milk. 

Finally, add the raspberries and mix through.

Grease the muffin tin well with butter.

Spoon with muffin mixture evenly into each tin - you should end up with about 10 muffins.

Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes. 

Check with a wooden skewer placed into the middle of some muffins if they are cooked. If the skewer comes out clean, the muffins are cooked. If the skewer comes out with muffin mixture on it, cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Now, using a small knife, made a little cut in the top of each muffin. Then slide the chocolate piece into the muffin, leaving a little hanging out. The chocolate will melt inside the muffin. 

Serve the muffins while still warm. Yum!

Capsicum, chorizo and feta salad

We had this colourful, flavour-filled salad alongside a roast chicken. Lots of texture here with the squishy feta, salty sausage and the warm, soft capsicum. 

This is a great salad, as you can make it while you have the rest of the meal in the oven. This salad would be a great one for a BBQ or dinner party. You could even cook the capsicum on the BBQ if you liked. Less washing up!

What you'll need

Serves 4 - 6 people as a side dish.

3 capsicums, core and seeds removed and sliced in large slices. I used red and yellow capsicums.

2 chorizo sausages, cut into rough chunks

1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed

1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

What to do

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Add the capsicums and cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add the sausage. Continue to cook, stirring frequently for another 10 minutes until the capsicum and sausage starts to colour and the capsicum softens. Season with salt and pepper, remembering that the chorizo and feta cheese will add some salt already.

Once cooked, remove from the heat. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle over the feta and basil and serve immediately.

I really enjoyed the lovely, fresh flavours and textures in this salad. I hope you do to. Serve this dish by itself for lunch, or with some roasted chicken or seafood and some crusty bread for something more substantial.

Cheese, bacon and tomato tart

Quick lunch for the kiddies here. The young lady asked if we could have pasty for lunch. I thought this was a fairly strange request. 'What kind of pasty?' I said. 'Just pastry,' she said.

This took about 30 minutes to make, including baking time, so it is a quick one. But I don't think the short preparation time lessens the taste of this little tart.

What you'll need

Served two for lunch

1 piece of short crust pastry, approx 40cm x 30cm

4 cherry tomatoes, thickly sliced

4 rashers of bacon, torn into medium-sized pieces

2 tablespoons cream cheese

4 slices fresh mozzarella (or 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella)

Handful fresh basil, torn

Salt and pepper

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

Roll out the pastry. Hand shape the sides. I basically folded the sides over and pinch the pasty together to make sure it stays put.

Place the pastry into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until it is golden brown. 

Remove the pastry from the oven. Smooth the cream cheese over the base of the pastry. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the base, then the bacon, then the tomato. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bacon is crisped. 

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with some fresh basil and serve immediately. 

Serve with a side salad if you like or just by itself. Quick and tasty and it fixed the 'pastry' craving of the young lady apparently.

Pear crumble

On a cold winter's evening, I need crumble. It soothes something in me and warms my toes! Here's my recipe for a pear crumble. A little different from the usual apple, but it was lovely, especially with lashings of cream.

What you'll need

Makes four servings.

2 pears, sliced in half lengthways, seeds removed. I used Bosc variety, as they keep there shape better once baked.

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup raw rolled oats (porridge oats)
150g butter, cubed and at room temperature
100g caster sugar
pinch of salt

Cream to serve

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

I used individual baking dishes, but you could bake these pears in one large baking tray.

Make the crumble mix. Place the flour, oats, sugar and salt in a bowl. Throw in the cubed butter. With your fingers, rub the butter into the other ingredients until it resembles course breadcrumbs.

Take a handful of the crumble mixture and squish it onto the pears, moulding it a little with your hand. Distribute the crumble mixture evenly between the other pears.

Bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until the crumble is browned and the pears are soft.

Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Spoon on some cream and serve.

Note - I like a lot of crumble, but if you don't want so much, reserve any leftover mixture and use it with apples or any other fruit you need to use.

Mango, lime and coconut cheesecake

 

Cheesecake recipe time. Here's a summery-flavoured mango cheesecake with a double lot of crumbs - one on the bottom and one on the top. What could be better right! Lovely, summery flavours of mango, coconut and lime in a delicious cheesecake. Very, very good.

What you'll need

Makes six individual cheesecakes. I used glass containers with a 1.5 cup capacity.

For the base

125g butter

150g plain sweet biscuits

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

For the filling

Juice and zest of 3 limes

350g cream cheese

340g tin of condensed milk

Flesh of one ripe mango, finely chopped

For the topping

Fresh mango flesh

Lime zest

Dollop of thickened cream

What to do

Make the base. Using a food processor, finely process with biscuits. Or if you don't have a food processor, place the biscuits into a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a bowl and mix in the coconut. Melt the butter and pour into the biscuit mix. Stir well with a spoon.

Grease your individual containers with a little melted butter. Using half the biscuit mixture, divide evenly between the six containers. Reserve the other half of the mixture for afterwards, but don't put it in the fridge. Press down the crumbs with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to set for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk. Mix well to remove any lumps. Once smooth, add the lime juice and zest. The mixture will thicken. Add the mango and fold through. Divide the mixture evenly between between the six containers. Place in the fridge to set for about half and hour.

Divide the remaining crumb mixture into each container, sprinkling it evenly to make the top crust.

Place in the fridge to set for approximately 4 hours.

To serve, dollop a spoon of cream on top of the crumbs, sprinkle some fresh, chopped mango flesh and a little lime zest. Eat in moderation, this is a little addictive.