Veggie Lasagne

A great recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10603/roasted-vegetable-lasagne

Ingredients:

• 3 red peppers
• 2 aubergines
• 8 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for greasing
• ½ quantity tomato sauce (see below)
• 300g fresh pack lasagne sheets
• ½ quantity white sauce (see below)
• 125g ball mozzarella
• handful cherry tomatoes, halved

 

 Method:

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Deseed the peppers, halve, then cut into large chunks. Trim ends off aubergines, then cut into slices about ½cm thick. Lightly grease 2 large baking trays, then place peppers and aubergines on top. Toss with the olive oil, season well, then roast for 25 mins until lightly browned.
2. Reduce oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Lightly oil an ovenproof serving dish (30 x 20cm). Arrange a layer of the vegetables on the bottom, then pour over a third of the tomato sauce. Top with a layer of lasagne, then drizzle over a quarter of the white sauce. Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta.
3. To finish, spoon remaining white sauce over the pasta, making sure the whole surface is covered. Scatter mozzarella over the top with the tomatoes. Bake for 45 mins until bubbling and golden.

Tomato Sauce:

 

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan. Add 2 onions, finely chopped, 2 garlic cloves, sliced and 1 carrot, roughly chopped. Cook for 5-7 mins over a medium heat until softened. Turn up the heat a little and stir in 2 tbsp tomato purée. Cook for 1 min, pour in 200ml white wine, then cook for 5 mins until this has reduced by two-thirds. Pour over 3 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes and add 1 handful basil leaves. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 mins. Leave to cool, whizz in a food processor.

Some desserts I would like to try

Chocolate Fondant: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8168/chocolate-fondant

Caramelized Apple Cake with Streusel Topping: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12842/caramelised-apple-cake-with-streusel-topping

Chocolate Brownie Cake: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3431/chocolate-brownie-cake

Better than Sex Cake: http://baking.food.com/recipe/better-than-sex-cake-278873?ic1=obnetwork

Snickerdoodles (I loooove snickerdoodles): http://www.food.com/recipe/soft-snickerdoodle-cookies-97496 or http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/snickerdoodles/7ffc92a9-d847-4869-9ecb-99de3b751b14

Pan con Bistec

A really simple and delicious Cuban steak recipe: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Pan-con-Bistec-Sabrina-Soto

ingredients

• 6 1/2-pound Top Round Steaks
• 2 cloves Garlic (chopped)
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• juice of 2 Limes
• 1 medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 3 tablespoons Parsley (finely chopped)
• Salt and Pepper
• 6 small Cuban Loafs (sliced in half)

 Would also be great with swiss cheese and sliced tomatoes in the sandwich!

1. Pound steaks on both sides until super thin.  Place steaks in a shallow dish. Season with the salt, pepper, garlic, lime and marinate for about an hour. 

2. Remove steaks from marinade, reserving the marinade. In a skillet over high heat, add the oil and once hot, brown the steaks, about 2 minutes per side. Remove steaks and set aside. In the same pan, add the marinade, onion and pat of butter, and cook until the onions soften.

3. Trim the steak to the bread, if necessary. Place the steaks, marinade and parsley on a loaf of cuban bread

Tante Soheir's Baklava Recipe

Tante Soheir's Baklava Recipe

 

Sorry for the inexact measurements-I'm writing this from memory :s

 

First, make the syrup:

Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice until it's boiling and thick. Set aside to cool. You will not use all this syrup-you can store the extra and use it when you make katayef or kunafa, etc. Or just scale down the ingredients as needed.

 

Ingredients:

1 pack filo dough

3/4 lb walnuts-crushed in food processor

2 teaspoons vanilla

half a small stick of butter

A couple tablespoons oil

 

Method:

1. Cut the filo dough in half so it can fit the dish you're making it in. Set half of the dough aside

2. Melt the butter and the oil together in a sauce pan.

3. Grease the bottom of the dish with the oil/butter. Place the first sheet on the bottom of the dish and brush on some butter/oil. Place another sheet on top. Repeat until you're done with half of the sheets.

4. Mix the vanilla (I used powder) with the crushed walnuts and scatter it on the filo sheet (marking the mid-point of the baklava)

5. place a sheet on top of the walnuts and spread with butter. Repeat until all the sheets are finished.

6. Cut into squares or diamonds and place in a preheated oven (350 degrees) until it's brownish on top.

7. When the baklava comes out of the oven, pour some syrup on top (make sure the syrup is cool before pouring it on top).

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Note: They're best eaten fresh. Otherwise the texture isn't the same.

Cheese bread/rolls (Pao de Queijo)

500gr of *Sour* Tapioca *starch* (in portuguese we call it "polvilho azedo")

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of oil (sunflower)

150 to 200gr of cheese (cheddar - mature is better)

1 (coffee size) spoon of salt (if the cheese is salty, use just a pinch)

2 eggs


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees(Celsius).


In a little saucepan, combine the oil and milk to boil and bring to boil.

In a bowl, put the flour, greated cheese on top and the salt. Add the
"boiled" milk and oil. Mix with a spoon and when the mixture has cooled a
bit, add the eggs. Mix all together (spoon or you can use your hands if is
not too hot) until you have homogeneous dough.

Leave to rest a little bit (2-5 minutes). Is mix is still too sticky, add a
bit more flour.

Grease your hands with butter, then form the dough into balls. (use a spoon
to get dough from bowl). (or you can also use two spoons instead of making
ball with hands)

Arrange then on a baking tray. Put into the oven and immediately reduce the
temperature to 160 degrees (Celsius).

Leave for 30 minutes and then turn up to 180 degrees for 5 to minutes to
get brownish.

Bom apetite! (Buon appetitte!)


ps.:
1) you can also freeze the bread, make the dough into balls and put in a
plastic container until frozen than can keep in plastic bags to free some
freezer space.

2) 500 grams of flours makes around 25 to 30 little rolls.

Moussaka

A really good moussaka recipe. I use this recipe http://greek.food.com/recipe/kittencals-greek-moussaka-88804 to make the eggplants and this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moussaka_01004  for the rest of the dish.

The ultimate chocolate cake

Soo chocolatey and pretty easy to make (except the ganache)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake

Ultimate chocolate cake

Ingredients

• 200g good quality dark chocolate, about 60% cocoa solids
• 200g butter
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 85g self-raising flour
• 85g plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 25g cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• 75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)
• grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

For the ganache

• 200g good quality dark chocolate, as above
• 284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
• 2 tbsp golden caster sugar

Method

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted – don’t overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powderin a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes – if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don’t worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don’t worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.