Pecan & Cinnamon Pastries

This recipe is a great Sunday morning treat. I love how the whole house smells of cinnamon and the warmth and comfort that creates. It's a great recipe to add to your brunch repertoire aswell!

 

 

 

I’m not sure where I got the recipe, but as far I remember it was from the Barefoot Contessa. So thank you Ina! And if I'm wrong then thank you to whoever created this wonderfully decadent sticky mess!

 

Ingredients:

6oz/60g/1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1oz/25g/ ½ cup pecans, chopped in medium pieces
2oz/50g/ 1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 packages (2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted if frozen

For the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4oz/100g/2/3 cup light brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5.5oz/150g/1 cup raisins

Method:

Preheat the oven to  200⁰C/400⁰F/Gas Mark 6.
Have a 12-cup muffin tin to hand. No need to use cases or extra butter.
Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, combine the 6oz butter and 2oz of light brown sugar.
Place 1 tablespoon of mixture into each cup of the muffin tin.
Distribute the pecans evenly on top of the mixture.
Lightly flour your work surface and unfold a sheet of puff pastry.
Have the folds going left to right.
Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter, leaving approximately 1-inch around the edges.
Sprinkle the sheet with half of the sugar, cinnamon and raisins.
Starting with the part closest to you, roll the pastry snugly around the filling and keep rolling until you finish with the seam side down.
Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard.
Slice the roll into 6 even pieces and place each piece, spiral side up on top of the mixture in the muffin tin.
Repeat the procedure with the 2^nd sheet of puff pastry.
Bake for approx 30 minutes, until  the buns are golden brown on top.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes only before inverting the buns onto greaseproof/parchment paper.
You may need to ease the topping of pecans out and place ontop.

Allow to cool and serve!

Enjoy!

No bake Lemon Cheesecake

This cheesecake takes about 10 mins to make, not including the time it needs to sit in the refrigerator.
I've kept the ingredients list to a minimum. It's inspired by a recipe Nigella has for a lemon cheesecake, I've just changed it up a bit.

As I mention in my facebook post https://www.facebook.com/Jillskitchen2012
I had a few disasters while making this. Not least of which was that my food processor broke! It goes to show just how important having the right tool for the job is!

I also was in such a hurry I didn't refrigerate the base and as you can see from the picture it's crumbling. But the taste is sensational so I'll let myself off this time!



Ingredients:
100g ginger nut biscuits
275g digestive biscuits
110g soft unsalted butter, melted
400g cream cheese or cream cheese light
300g lemon curd

Method:
Blitz the biscuits and butter together in a food processor until resembles a crumb mixture.
Turn out into a 10" deep sided flan tin.
Spread around tin with the back of a spoon, making sure to make nice and compact.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the lemon curd and cream cheese until smooth.
After the 30 minutes, pour the lemon mixture onto the biscuit base.
Refrigerate again for 1 hour.

Serve with fresh whipped cream and fresh berries.

Enjoy!

Brunch

For those of you that have liked my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Jillskitchen2012
I promised you some brunch recipes. So here they are, it's all about the flavour and simplicity.

To up the weekend feel you could serve some bubbles for the adults. Mimosa is my favourite, made with prosecco and fresh orange juice, but a classic brunch cocktail is Bloody Mary and can be made virgin for those that don't fancy the alcohol. Just don't add the vodka to the tomato juice, dash of tabasco, fresh lemon and lime juice and celery stalk to garnish.

Brunch Menu

Country French Omelette
Smoked Salmon Pate
Basil & Goats Cheese Dip

Brunch for me is good friends, simple, tasty food and great conversation. Also an essential element for it is eggs. They can be served in my forms but I find the recipe below for Country French Omelette covers a lot of ground for very little effort.

Country French Omelette

I came across this recipe courtesy of The Barefoot Contessa and it has been relished by young and old.

Ingredients:

Serves 2/4

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 bacon rashers – thick cut preferably – cut into 1 inch pieces
250g potato, diced into 1 inch pieces
5 extra large/6 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 180⁰/350⁰/Gas Mark 4.

Heat the olive oil in a 10” ovenproof pan over a medium heat.
Add the bacon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until bacon browned but not crisp.
Remove bacon and place on plate with kitchen paper to drain.
Place the potatoes in the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Cook over medium heat for approx. 8 minutes, tossing occasionally to brown evenly.
Remove with slotted spoon to same plate as bacon.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the eggs, milk, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together with a fork.
Pour the fat from the pan and discard.
Add the butter to the pan, lower the heat, and pour the egg mixture into the pan.
Sprinkle the bacon, potatoes and chives evenly over the top and place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes, just until the eggs are set.
Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Pate  - Takes 5 mins!

If you don’t believe me you have to try it. This is fantastic spread on warmed crusty baguette

Ingredients:

6oz smoked salmon
3oz unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons single cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
pepper

Method:

Put all the ingredients except the pepper into a food processor and blitz until smooth.
Season to taste with pepper.
Spoon into a dish and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Basil & Goats Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

75g walnuts
2 spring onions, roughly chopped
40g basil leaves
250g soft goats cheese
3 tablespoons garlic oil

Method:

Put walnuts, spring onions and basil leaves in a blender and blitz.
Add goats cheese and oil and blitz again.
Turn out to serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Great served over crackers or a French stick or tomato bread

Winter Veggie Power Soup

It's the time of year when coughs and splurts are heard all around. I find I need to make sure I have my manuka +15 in the fridge ready to ward off any sign of a cold and a few soups at hand to warm me up.
This soup, from Super Duper Soups, is jam packed with nutrients from the array of vegetables used. If you have little ones in the house you may like to puree it and use it as a smooth soup rather than a chunky one.
You can of course add any vegetable you litke to it but below is my favourite combination.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 tablespons olive oil

1 large, finely chopped spanish onion
2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced small

2 carrots, diced small

250g/9oz courgette, cubed
1 small leek, finely sliced

1 small parsnip, diced small

1.5 litres/51fl oz vegetable stock. Use a good stock cube if you dont have homemade stock. I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon (in fact I use it for most sauces I need stock for) it's vegan, gluten free and has amazing flavour.

400g/1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato puree

 

Method:

 

Heat the oil in a large pan and gently saute the onion.

After a couple of minutes, add the garlic and saute until soft.
Add the vegetables, stock, tomatoes and tomato puree.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

 

If you are pureeing it you can do it now with a handhelp soup blender.

 

Serve with nice chunky bread warmed through in the oven and real Irish butter! Yum!

 

Enjoy!



A quick side dish for this evening anyone? Green beans, lemon vinaigrette and goats cheese

It's been far too long since I posted. So I apologise to those of you waiting for more delicious (even if I do say so myself!) recipes.
Things have been kinda crazy in my house and very busy. But all in a good way.
My son turned 7 which meant a soccer party and naturally a soccer cake. As you can see from the smiling face he was happy which meant so was I and add to that it only took me about 15 minutes to make, our home was a stress-free zone!
Under that green ready roll fondant is a cake of chocolate krispies and marshmallows which was devoured by kids and adults alike! I simply melted a few bars of milk chocolate and mixed in the rice krispies and some mini marshmallows. I filled a buttered rectangular 12" baking tray with the mixture and let it set. Voila! Cake turned out onto board, green fondant rolled and placed over cake. Shop bought cake decorations to top and we have a cake that all the 7 year old boys gasped at and thought was fabulous! Go Me!

I've also been busy getting myself set up to host my first 'official' kids cooking lessons. After having lots of practice with the local kids being my helpers, with making everything from my lamb rissoles to chocolate lollipops, I feel the time is right to set up my cooking school.
So the first one starts in the mid-term break, and hopefully I'll have lots of great photos to share with you aswell as the recipes we will be cooking.


Now back to the recipe!

I wanted to share a nice side dish with you that could go particularly well with fish or chicken this week for one of your dinners.
It's a simple dish that punches above it's weight in terms of flavour and will only take a few minutes to prepare.

Green Beans with Lemon Vinaigrette and Goats Cheese





Ingredients:

1lb green beans, trimmed
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Approx 30g goats cheese, crumbled (use according to taste, I love lots of goats cheese!)

·       Method:

In a large pot, bring the salted water to the boil.
Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes, drain well.
Set the beans aside in a colander, do not rinse as they will continue to cook.
In a large bowl, whisk together lemon zest, juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Add the beans and toss.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with crumbled goats cheese.

Enjoy!

 

Tzatziti

I first tasted this dip when I spent a few wild weeks on Ios, a greek Island, in my late teens. (Yes, some may ask how can I remember this far back?!) Myself and my friends probably ate the local giros every night before heading out, and possibly a few more on the way home!
These giros are flatbreads filled with succulent aromatic lamb smothered in a wonderful fresh tzatziki, when you throw in a handful of fresh cut french fires and roll it up, you have a little pocket of heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Cool and creamy, you can use this tangy cucumber dip flavored with garlic to make your own giros and it is also the perfect accompaniment to meat and vegetables. My Lamb Rissoles (the recipe for which you will find in my posts) taste delicious when this dip is served on the side.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
240ml/1 cup greek yogurt
240ml/1 cup of sour cream
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon fresh chopped dill

METHOD:

Combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Mix until well combined. Using a whisk, blend the yogurt with the sour cream.
Add the olive oil mixture to the yogurt mixture and mix well.
Finally, add the cucumber and chopped fresh dill.
Chill for at least two hours before serving.

 

Lamb Rissoles

This dish is a great one to make with kids and a great way to disguise a few vegetables if
you have a fussy eater or two in the family.
I have found that kids are more adventurous with their food if they have had a hand in helping to
prepare it. And who doesn’t love to get their hands into a squishy mesh?!
The simplicity of this recipe also means that if you need something nutritious and fast after a long
day but still want to get in some bonding time you can get it all in one foul swoop.

I like to serve these with homemade sweet potato wedges (peel and cut the sweet potatoes into
wedges and place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and cook alongside the rissoles), but you can
make regular potato wedges/chips using the same method of peeling, slicing and then drizzling the
potatoes with olive oil. If you put these in while preparing the rissoles you can place on the lower shelf once the rissoles go in the oven.

INGREDIENTS:

Before preparing any of the meal soak 8 wooden skewers in water (it helps to stop them from
burning). If you are using metal skewers you do not need to soak them.

Serves 4

1lb Lamb Mince
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon tomato puree
½ red onion
½ large carrot
½ pepper – red or yellow
dash of Worcestershire sauce
dash tobacco sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon maple syrup (honey will work either but the sweetness of the maple really works its magic here)

METHOD:
Place all the ingredients (except the mince) into a food processor and pulse until everything is finely diced.
Place minced lamb in a bowl and add the ingredients from the food processor.
Using your hands (or little helper hands) mix the ingredients together.
Mould a handful of the mixture onto each skewer into a sausage shape.
Place on baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 180⁰C/Gas Mark 4 for approx 30/40 minutes. (depending on whether it is fan assisted or not).
That’s it. You now have a fabulous, quick, nutritious meal.