DEEP-DISH SPINACH AND GOAT’S CHEESE OMELETTE RECIPE

This thick, eggy mixture is oven baked and makes a delicious supper served either hot or cold. Served cold it makes a great picnic treat too.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 50g (2 oz) butter, softened
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) spinach, trimmed and shredded
• 1 large leek, trimmed and shredded
• 1 tsp cumin seeds. lightly crushed
• 6 large free range eggs, beaten
• 225 g (8 oz) firm goat’s cheese, crumbled
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/350F.gas 4. Use about 2 teaspoons of butter to thickly grease a 23 cm(9 in) round pie dish, at least 5 cm (2in) deep, and place on a baking sheet.
2. Melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan and add the spinach, leek and cumin seeds. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables habe wilted and softened. Drain well, pressing against the side of the colander. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.
3. Mix the eggs into the cooled spinach mixture and carefully mix in the goat’s cheese. Season well and then trasnfer to the prepared dish. Level off the top and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes until just set. Stand for 10 minutes before slicing to serve hot. Alternatively, allow to cool before serving in wedges.

Freezing: not suitable 

BEJEWELLED SMOKED CHICKEN SUMMER SALAD RECIPE

You don’t just have to save your berry harvest for pudding, try adding them to a salad for an extra tart/sweet flavour. It’s up to personal taste which ones you use, but this is my favoruite combination.

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS: 

FOR THE DRESSING:

• 4 Tbsp raspberry or other berry vinegar
• 2  Tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 2 tsp clear honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SALAD:

• 350 g *12 oz) assorted berries and currants (Such as small strawberries, redcurrants and raspberries)
• 125g radishes, trimmed
• Large handful of salad leaves (Such as wild rocket, mizuna or corn salad)
• 450 g (1b) skinless, boned, smoked chicken sliced
• Few springs of fresh tarragon

Preparation:

1. First prepare the dressings. Put the vinegar, oil, mustard, honey and seasoing in small screw-top jar and shake well to mix. Set aside until ready to serve.

2. Carefully rinse and dry the berries and currants. Remove the tops of the strawberries and cut in halves or quarters depending on size. Strip the redcurrants from the stalks and place in a bowl. Mix in the raspberries. Set aside. Thinly slice the radish.

3. When ready to serve, put a few salad leaves on each serving plate and sprinkle with radish and the berries. Top with a few slices of smoked chicken and spoon over the berry dressing. Sprinkle with a few leaves of tarragon and serve at room temperature.

Cook’s note: The secret of this salad is to serve it unchilled. While you can prepare the various elements in advance, let them stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes to allow the flavours to develop before serving.

Freezing: Not suitable

Kathryn Hawkins

CHILLED BEETROOT AND SOUR CREAM SOUP RECIPE

WARNING!; This has to be one of the prettiest soups you will ever make. If you’re not into cold soups, try serving it over ice in a glass and drinking it as a savoury smoothie.

Serves : 6

Ingredients:

• 50 g (2 oz) butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
• 350 g (12 0z) carrots, peeled and copped
• 450 g (1 lb) 
• 1.5 L vegetable stock
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) sour cream
• Small beetroot leaves, to garnish

Preparation:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic and spices. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the carrots and remove from the heat. Set aside.

2. Wash the beetroot well, then carefully peel ( You may want to wear later gloves because the juice will stain your fingers) abd cut into small pieces. Stir into the saucepan and return to the heat. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute until well incorporated into the oniony butter..

3. Pour over the stock, bring to the boil, half-cover and simmer for about 1 hour until very tender. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Put the cooled soup mix in a blender or food processor with the sout cream and blend until smooth. Taste and season, then cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

5. Serve in small soup bowls and garnish with small beetroot leaves. Serve with griddled bread.

* Freezeing: Not suitable

Limoncello Recipe 1

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 lemons
• 1lt %90 pure alcohol;
• 1 lt water
• 800gr sugar

Preparation:

in a closed container mix the yellow of the lemon zest and alcohol and leave to ferment for five days. Mix sugar and cold water together making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the water/sugar mixture to the container with lemon and let ferment for another five days, after which filter well and serve cold.

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Limoncello Recipe 2

INGREDIENTS

• 2 oz lemon or Citrus Vodka
• 2 oz. Lemoncello
• 5 – 7 Leaves Lemon Basil
• Juice of one lemon
• candied lemon peel*
• 1/2 C. plus 1 Tbsp. Sugar

Preparation:

Dip the martini glass rim in some lemon juice and then into the sugar. Chill your martini glass in the freezer. Medium chop the basil and place it in your empty martini shaker, add the lemon juice, the tbsp. of sugar and muddle this together well. Add ice cubes half way in the shaker, then pour in the vodka & Lemoncello and shake until the shaker frosts over. Drape the candied lemon peel over the rim, float a nice leaf of basil on the top and serve . ( Candied lemon peel recipe on back )

Chocolate  Chip  Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/8 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ C unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Crack the egg into a small bowl, add the vanilla, mix with a fork and set aside. Cut 4 oz of room temperature butter into chunks and add it to a large bowl, then add the sugar and BEAT until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla combination. Gradually add the flour mixture. Stir in 6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Evenly spread dough on a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a t least one hour. Score in dough into 12 even cubes. Break off each cube and roll into a ball. Place on 14 x 16 cookie sheet. Bake for 17 – 19 minutes or until just turning golden brown. Let the cookies rest for 2 minutes before placing them on the cooling rack.

ENJOY!!

Baklava Recipe – Best Turkish Baklava Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 16 oz. Package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped walnuts
• 1 cup butter or margarine, MELTED
• 1 T. Ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 T. Vanilla extract
• ½ cup honey

Day 1 (2-3 people)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9 X 13 pan
3. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Unroll phyllo dough and cut whole stack in half to fit pan
5. KEEP PYHLLO DOUGH COVERED WITH A DAMPENED CLOTH TO KEEP MOIST
6. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter with a pastry brush thoroughly
7. Repeat until you have 8 layered sheets.
8. Sprinkle 2-3 T of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6-8 sheets deep.
9. Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. It may be helpful to cut into 4 long rows, then make diagonal cuts.
10. Bake for 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp
11. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sugar sauce over it
12. Let cool uncovered
13. Wrap lightly with plastic wrap to store overnight.

Day 1 (1 person does while others are doing the above)

1. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted
2. Add vanilla and honey
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes

ENJOY!!

Easy Flan Recipe [ Cuban Egg Custard] (Simple)

• ½ cup sugar
• 5 eggs [reduce fat/cholesterol by using only 2 yolks and 5 whites]
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Cup milk
• 1 T Vanilla
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

PREPARATION:

Make sure that the pot that you will be using is clean and free from any grease or other food debris as it will cause the sugar to crystallize and ruin the carmelization process. To avoid crystallization, place 1 T of corn syrup in with the sugar.

Caramelize the sugar turning your burner to high. You want to get a honey colored amber or slightly darker. Cover the pot and remove the lid after 2-4 minutes or alternatively brush down the sides with water to catch the few grains of sugar that could start the chain of crystallization.

As the sugar caramelizes it will go from a clear viscous liquid to a an amber then a light brown to a medium brown. You do NOT want to allow the sugar to boil or it will burn and ruin it. Once ruined, it cannot be saved. DO NOT touch the sugar or lick the spoon as severe burns will result keep in mind that the sugar will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat to prevent burning so continue stirring. If it’s gone too far (dark brown), you can shock the pan in a bowl of cold water.

Pour the carmelized sugar into a soufflé pan or round deep pyrex so that it coats the bottom and part of the sides. You can use any other round circular pyrex other than a pie pan as the sides need to be deeper than a pie pan provides.

Beat the eggs, adding regular milk and vanilla. Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk and continue to  beat or mix until well blended. Pour into the soufflé pan.

You will need a pan larger than the soufflé pan. Fill this second pan half way with water. Place the soufflé pan into it making sure that the water does not rise so much that it enters the soufflé pan then place it in the oven. Add water so that it rises to cover approx ¾ of the way up the exterior of the soufflé pan. As the water heats it will dissipate to create stem/ moisture and prevent the custard from drying out.

Bake for 1 hour. Use tester to ensure that it’s done before removing. Allow to cool then chill at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve use a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the flan from the mold. Get a plate which has a diameter that is larger than the soufflé pan. Flip upside down. The carmelized sugar will become a sweet syrup which drips down the top and over the sides. Spoon out any of the syrup left in the soufflé pan onto the top of the served flan

ENJOY!!

Garlic Ginger Chicken [ Medium ]

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 4 T garlic – crushed
• 4T ginger minced
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup of flavored vinegar or Mirin ( sweet rice vinegar)
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• Soy to taste [Go light! You can reduce saltiness by utilizing a low sodium soy]
• 2  stalks green onions
• Cilantro to taste (using only the leaves and none of the stems)

Mix the ground chicken with 2 Tb each of the garlic and ginger and the red pepper flakes (to taste – more if you like it hotter, less if you want flavor). Add oil to the skillet and brown the meat. When the meat is browned add the vinegars and the remaining ginger and garlic. Reduce the liquids by stirring while cooking over medium or low heat.

Once you are done cooking tear the cilantro leaves and add with sliced green onions. Serve over rice

ENJOY!

Avocado and Banana Health Benefits

Fruits are generally fortified with lots of natural health benefits. We will speak about 2 which commence with A and B – Avocado Health Benefits and Banana Health Benefits.

Health Benefits of Avocados:

Anti-Cancer Qualities

Like olive, avocado is abundant with oleic acid. Studies have discovered that oleic acid works well in combating cancer of the breast. Research has also suggested that antioxidants compound in the fruit helps combat prostate cancer and also fight pre-cancerous along with malignant oral cells.

Boost Vision

Avocado is a wonderful origin of carotenoid lutein. Lutein is very effective at preventing cataracts and macular degeneration, which are age-related eye diseases.

Perfect for Your Heart

Avocado fruit has a huge amount of heart helping nutrients, such as the significant omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, oleic acid, folate along with glutathione. The fact is, a cup of avocado supplies a 23% of RDA of vitamin b folic acid. Reported by medical studies, diets rich in folate make contributions considerably to cardio health and give you better prevention against cardiovascular diseases.

Health Benefits of Bananas

Cutting in down Depressive Disorders

Bananas have got tryptophan, an amino acid which can be transformed to serotonin, giving you better feelings.

Enchancing Anemia

Bananas are fairly rich in iron typically assists your haemoglobin function.

Curing Diarrhea and Constipation

Due to their content of fiber, they may help gain back a regular bowel function. In addition, diarrhea commonly depletes one’s body of important electrolytes. Additionally, they contain pection, a kind of soluble fiber which will help stabilize motion through the intestinal tract.

Bananas are a good source of potassium– which is important for brain and nerve function as well as muscle function and blood pressure control. Bananas also contain fiber for heart health and vitamin C to help your body from getting sick.

With all these health benefits you can see why people eat so many bananas every year. Plus, it’s a delicious fruit so while you are eating you healthy snack you can also enjoy its sweet taste!

Don’t forget – it’s alright to try just one bite!

What are the Benefits of Juicing

If you’re interested in juicing you may be asking yourself  “What are the benefits of Juicing”?

What are the Benefits of Juicing?

1. Faster Nutrient Absorption, Nutrients in carotenoid vegetables such as carrots, spinach, tomatoes, melons, and peppers are better absorbed from juice. In general, the nutrients of fruits and vegetables are best absorbed by the body in liquid form as they can travel more rapidly to the small intestine, where they are distributed throughout the body.
2. Easier Intake of Healthy Nutrients, If you’re looking for a more efficient way of consuming fruits and vegetables but still want to absorb the nutrients they offer, then Juicing  them is your best option. Extracting Juices from fruits and vegetables makes their intake much casier. You can drink in a couple of minutes what it would take you much longer to eat. Also you can combine fruits and vegetables to find the right balance of nutrition and taste.
3. Increased Metabolic Rate. Raw  vegetables and fruits that are extracted into Juice form contain healthy enzymes that increase the body’s metabolic rate, which helps the body burn calories faster, and therefore contributes to weight loss. Stress is known to slow down metabolic rates and induce unwanted weight gain. With regular drinking of fruit and vegetable Juice, you can counter the weight gain induced by stress.
4. Prevention of Diseases. Fruits and vegetables are the number one natural sources of antioxidants, helpful substances which promote cardiac health. Juicing benefits you by helping to prevent heart disease and stroke from occurring. Fruit Juices like pomegranate help prevent malignant cells from forming into cancer. Urinary tract infection can also be prevented with regular drinking of cranberry juice. Arthritis, rheumatism, kidney stones… for almost every disease, Juicing can prevent its onset.
5. Stringer Immune System.  Juicing benefits you by promoting a stronger immune system, making it more effective in warding off illnesses ranging from common colds to cancer. A stronger immune function is especially important if you live a stressful lifestyle.
6. Healthier Alternatives to soft drinks and other artificially prepared products. We all enjoy a drink at meal time. Unfortunately, many of us drink sugary drinks like soda. Soda adds a lot of sugar to our diets and can inhibit weight loss.
7. Budget savings. A quality Juicer can cost approximately $300 or more and should last for several years. I would focus on the long term  Benefits of Juicing rather than the money you spend on the Juicer itself. Juicing Benefits such as weight loss, stronger immune system and increased energy levels will offset the purchase price of a quality Juicer. Lower cost Juicers are available as well.
8. Guaranteed Fresh. Preparing your own Juice will ensure you’re drinking the freshest and best quality Juice available.