I wanna Jam with you

 I can see the grey clouds rolling in. Monsoon in the city is my favourite. I think this city was made for it. Here is a wonderful recipe, come rain or shine, quick, light and delicious at tea time, instead of that steaming hot pakoda! Adapted from Donna Hay’s Jam Tarts, my version uses puff pastry instead of wonton wrappers, simply because I haven’t been able to find some yet. Any advice on where I can find wonton/gow gee wrappers anyone?

Jam Tarts

Ingredients:

                   1.            12 puff pastry rounds, sized to fit the back of a muffin tray

                   2.            50 g unsalted butter , melted

                   3.            75 g caster sugar

                   4.            160 g strawberry jam/mixed berry jam

                   5.            125 ml double cream, whipped

                   6.            raspberries, to serve (I used canned)

 

Method:

                   1.            Preheat oven to 180*C.

                   2.            Brush the puff pastry with butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Place on the back side of a muffin tin, so that the pastry gets shaped into a cup as it bakes, buttered-side up, and bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool.

                   3.            Fill the tart shells with jam and whipped cream and top with raspberries or sliced strawberries to serve. Dust with icing sugar for added prettiness. Et Voila!

Feedback:

                   1.            Once you master this basic preparation, the fillings and combinations are endless.

                   2.            The puff pastry’s saltiness was perfectly offset by the richness of the whipped cream and the tartness of the berries. Absolute explosion on your palate.

                   3.            Since the puff pastry is savoury by nature, this works wonderfully as an afternoon snack or event as an appetizer with some fresh asparagus or mushrooms sautéed with herbs.

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Po-Tay-Toe / Po-Tah-Toe

Once you saw see an episode of Donna Hay’s Fast, Fresh & Simple, it’s very hard to get that out of your head. There’s something about the pastels and whites that are predominantly peeking out at you which give such a wonderfully clean look, emphasising the dish itself, not the dish you place it in. After impulsively purchasing the namesake book, I have to admit that her recipes are definitely tried and tested, and they’re VERY hard to get wrong. I saw her make this speedy roast chicken with chips, and have been dreaming of emulating those chips ever since, in my not-so-pastel-and-white kitchen! I was concerned that the juices of the bird would help in cooking the chips, and without the bird, well, maybe they wouldn’t cook. But alas! They cooked, and that too, perfectly! Smash hit munch, starter, game night food- whatever the occasion, don’t miss out on these ridiculously amazing non fried yummy potato wedges, baked with all the goodness of simple ingredients, already awaiting you in your pantry! I served these with an amazingly simple beautiful Aioli, which I made from Phaidon’s The Book of Tapas, courtesy AJ &SK.

 

Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

1.       5 potatoes cut into half and each half into 3-4 wedges

2.       2 tbs vegetable oil

3.       1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)

4.       ½ tsp crushed black pepper

5.       2 tsp dry thyme leaves

6.       2 tsp chilli powder/paprika

Method:

1.       Preheat the oven to 200-220*c and line a baking tray with foil.

2.       Toss all the ingredients in a bowl and coat the potatoes well. Spread out onto the baking tray and bake for about 40 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes. Serve with Aioli (recipe follows).

Aioli

Ingredients:

1.       2 tbs low fat/regular mayonnaise

2.       1 small clove garlic, peeled

3.       Pinch of sea salt/fleur de sel

4.       Juice of ½ a lime

Method:

1.       In a small mortar, crush the garlic with the salt to bring out the intense flavour of the garlic.

2.  Mix with the mayonnaise and add the lime juice, and taste to check. The garlic should not be overpowering, and the lime should add a bit of zest, leaving the end result far from a simple mayonnaise.

Feedback:

1.    I made these 2 different ways, the first is the one described here, and the other was with pre-boiled baby potatoes. Always do it this way--- using the raw potatoes and baking them with the spice mix adds a world of flavour, depth and taste to this humble chip dish.

2.       You can prep the mix and cover and store till you pop them into the oven.

3.    These are great snacks for parties with a range of nibbles/tapas as they’re quite filling (ahem, they are potatoes!) and immensely satisfying.

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Just Peachy!

PS: There are no post-torched pictures, because, well quite frankly, we ate them all up before getting a shot!

I got a torch. Not a maglite or a blackberry. A blow torch, to brûlée and make everything pretty. I found it in this little store with kitchen aids of every kind, with bread machines, bread starters, fresh yeast and even the most beautiful designer juicers (so sleek and gorgeous, I’d never use them for juice!). So now what I have my torch, the next logical step is to make a brûlée of some kind. I had been eyeing this recipe in my ever faithful book, and with all the ingredients patiently collected over time, i.e. the canned peaches came in a few months ago as a part of a food hamper, courtesy Mum, followed by the ramekins on an impulse purchase at the Deli and some luscious jams from across the street at LPQ. Thus weaves together my masterpiece brûlée, with peaches, berries and all the goodness of the world, in a bite. Since every ingredient is so closely available, there’s no reason NOT to give it a shot. You won’t regret it!

 

Peach Melba Brûlée

 Ingredients (Makes 6-8)

 1.       ½ cup raspberry/mixed berries jam

2.       100gm icing sugar

3.       330ml plain yoghurt

4.       227gm cream cheese

5.       Zest of 1 lemon

6.       2 peaches, cut into bite sized chunks

7.       100gm Demerara sugar

 Method

 1.       Place the icing sugar, yoghurt, cream cheese and lemon zest in a bowl and beat well together.

2.       Preheat the grill to high. Divide the jam/compote and the peach slices between 6-8 ramekins. Top with the yoghurt mixture and sprinkle over the brown sugar. Grill till the sugar is caramelised. Cool completely before serving.

 

Feedback:

 

1.       I found it much better to grill and then add on the sugar so that right before serving, it can be caramelised by torch!

2.       You can use fresh raspberries instead of the jam, or can make your own compote with the berries and some icing sugar.

3.       These are extremely good looking and rich tasting desert, without actually being too heavy.

 

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