Smoked Salmon and Ricotta Croustades

These little beauties are great for 3 reasons;
1. They look great
2. They taste even better
3. So quick to make

If you're going to a dinner party, have a busy day beforehand, Croustades are your godsend!
You can fill them with any tasty combination you'd like. Let your imagination run wild

Hors D'oeuvres Party

We had my parents and some family friends over for hors d'oeuvre and wine the other night. It turned out really well, obviously including some panic within the last hour before guests arriving (I think I just put my hair dryer down as they pulled up to the front of our place). What party is complete without a little last minute rush and panic eh?

Now on to the food.....

I don't mean to boast but these are the best Chicken Goujons (is that a posh name for chicken strips, chicken nugets or chicken fingers? hhhhmmm?) I have ever eaten! They came out so crunchy and flavourful. I didn't want them to be at all greasy so I baked them.

I made these, served with very good quality mayonnaise to dip (I meant to make a curry mango dip but totally forgot to buy the curry ingredients). The mayo we have is so nice it was just fine served plain as a dip (I just looked for the mayo on the shelf that didn't have anything in it that I didn't recognise, no funny stuff, no chemical mumbo jumbo). Scrumptious! Although I should try to make my own mayo next time. It's suppose to be super easy right?

Chicken Goujons recipe
(recipe adapted from All Recipes)
450g skinless, boneless chicken (I used thighs instead of breasts because I find them to be more tender)
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp milk
couple pinches of salt and pepper
150g fine bread crumbs
2 tsp dried thyme
1. Set oven to 240 C / 475 F / gas 9
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil
3. Cut chicken into strips
4. In a bowl mix together, egg, milk, olive oil and salt & pepper. Add the chicken strips, stir and coat them well with egg mixture
5. In a separate flat dish mix breadcrumbs and thyme
6. One at a time, place chicken strips into the breadcrumbs, turning them to coat evenly. Place chicken goujon onto the baking sheets
7. Bake chicken goujons in the oven for 15min or until golden (Mine stayed in closer to 20min)

I also made my vegetarian spring rolls. But this time I added egg to the filling. Yummy!

A couple weeks ago I instructed Marek how to make salsa. He's got it down pact now and I think his tastes better than when I make it! I made it for the first time a couple months ago and from then on we decided never to get store bought salsa again. It's so easy to make and tastes so much better fresh!

Salsa recipe

2 large tomatoes, chopped fine (make sure they're just ripe and firm)
1/2 a jalapeno pepper, chopped fine (less or more depending on how hot you like your salsa. Also the seeds are what make salsa hot, so keeping them or not is, again, personal preference)
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 shallots, chopped fine
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp olive
squirt of a wedge of lemon
1 tsp each of salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together well and serve!
You could even use the salsa for chicken goujons dipping!

I couldn't forget to tell you about the prosciutto and pear bites that Marek put together. So savoury and fresh. these lovelies gave a good balance to all the hors d'oeuvres we served

Pear, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Bites recipe
1 french baguette, sliced
1 pear, sliced into bite size pieces
12 slices of prosciutto, cut in halves
25g cream cheese
50g blue cheese
handful of crushed walnuts





1. Warm the baguette slices in the oven a bit
2. Blend together the cream cheese and blue cheese
3. Layer ingredients on top of the baguette slices in this order; cheese mixture, a few walnut bits, a piece or two of pear, a piece of prosciutto
Serve! Yum!

Last but by far not least are the Rich Chocolate Pots.
I posted a week ago about Chocolate and Love organic chocolate and said I would be making something with the chocolate. Well, here it is! Be warned though, this dessert is not for the faint hearted, IT IS RICH !

Rich Chocolate Pots recipe
(Direct from my favourite cookbook - Good Housekeeping Cookery Book)
300g good quality plain dark chocolate, in pieces (I'd say no more than 70% otherwise the dessert could be too bitter)
284ml double cream
250g mascarpone (I used half mascarpone, half cream cheese)
3 tbsp cognac
1 tbsp vanilla extract (I probably put double that amount because I LOVE Vanilla)

To decorate: Marek came up with the coconut topping, and I had some little chocolate coins to put in the middle. Another idea would be a dollop of whipped cream on top, sprinkled with crushed walnuts

1. Put chocolate into a heat proof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Leave until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Lower hear to it absolute lowest
2. Add cream and mascarpone, cognac and vanilla. Mixx well. (if you use cream cheese as I did it may take a bit longer to melt into the chocolate than the mascarpone)
3. Once all blended well and mascarpone (and cream cheese) have melted fully, divide mixture into glasses and chill in the refrigerator for atleast 20 min. Then you can top with you decoration of choice

The recipe in my book said this serves 6, but I have to say it was so rich I would say it serves 12. Next time I make these I will divide them into shot glasses. They are seriously rich, but irresistibly delicious! Dare I say it? they are orgasmically delicious!

It was a wonderful party and everyone was impressed with the food. Yay!!
One comment I won't forget, "When we were your age we weren't putting together something this nice". That comment pleased me to no end.

I love dinner parties!

Vietnamese fresh spring rolls

I've tried the fried spring rolls, now it's time for the healthier fresh ones! The fun thing about these is you don't necessarily have any cooking to do!

This is a great vegetarian dish or with seafood or chicken.


If you want vegetarian you could use tofu or just a your favourite vegetables.

I've made with prawns and chicken, but in this photo I've used only chicken.

It's a great dish for leftover chicken. I happen to have some cooked chicken from the deli which worked great for a speedy light meal before we went to the cinema. We had 2 each and it actually filled us up quite well. Traditionally, however, this would be a starter.

I didn't measure my ingredients, I judged by eye, so the following measurements are just a guideline.

(Serves 2-4 people)

4 rice wrappers (about 8.5 inch diameter)

75-100g fresh rice vermicelli noodles

100g cooked chicken (torn strips)

12 cooked prawns (peeled, no tails) - I didn't include in the ones in the photo as I didn't have any left on hand

1/2 carrot (thinly sliced strips - I used a peeler)

2 spring onions (chopped)

1/2 a red chili (chopped - seeds removed if you don't want too hot)

2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts

Half handful of fresh cilantro

Half handful mix of fresh basil and mint

1 large lettuce leaf (chopped in large pieces)

Instructions:

- Have large diameter pie dish of warm-hot water ready for your rice wrappers

- Soak a rice wrapper in the warm-hot water for about 10-15 seconds, until it softens enough to work with, but do not over soften or it will rip too easily

- On a dry clean surface very gently place the softened rice wrapper flat in front of you

- Place bits of each ingredients an inch away from the edge (closest to you) of the wrapper. Leave about 2 inches of space from each side of the wrapper

(For nice looking wrap place filling ingredients in this order : lay lettuce first, then herbs, carrot, chili, spring onion, bean sprouts and rice noodles in a neat row over top of the lettuce, running lengthwise across the wrapper; place chicken on top or just in front of the vegetables; on the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper place 3 prawns in a horizontal row

- Start rolling from the side closest to you. Try to keep the rolling as tight as possible without tearing the wrapper. After rolling once pull in the 2 sides and continue rolling straight over the prawns. When finished you should be able to see the prawns nicely displayed through the wrapper

Cut each roll in half at an angle. Serve with peanut dipping sauce (I used satay sauce mixed with a bit of sesame oil and lime juice to loosen it up)

Enjoy the taste of health!

Vegetable Spring Rolls

I can't believe I've waited this long to try making spring rolls. It's so easy! :)
I had a little bbq last weekend but wanted to avoid the typical snacks such as crisps , breads and dips. At the same time I was craving an attempt at making an Asian dish I'd never made before. Not really a bbq type food but who doesn't love spring rolls?! There's no rules eh?! ;)


I live just a few minutes walk from an asian grocery store so why I don't cook asian cuisine more often, I don't know!
For the bbq I also made fresh vietnamese spring rolls. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos so I'll have to make them again soon to show you.
The chinese spring rolls were very popular. One friend even told me they tasted professional and so much better than ones from chinese take-away restaurants! Music to my ears!!


Here is what you'll need:

½ onion (sliced very thin)
½ cup sauerkraut
1 carrot (peeled strips)
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
½ tbsp crushed ginger (or ½ tsp ginger powder)
2 cloves crushed garlic (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
3 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp celery salt
2 tbsp sesame oil
Small size spring roll wrappers
1 tbsp flower + 2 tbsp water mixed for a sealing paste

Instrictions:
FILLING
- Heat sesame oil in a wok. Fry onions for just under a minute. The wok will be quite hot so onions will start cooking quite fast. Throw in garlic and ginger (if using powdered add later), sauerkraut. Cook for another minute or so then add carrot and bean sprouts. (Add more sesame oil if necessary at this point)
- Pour in the soy sauce and stir. Add celery salt and sugar. (at this point you will also add powdered ginger and garlic)
- Cook all ingredients through until at the softness of your preference (some people prefer softer inside the roll, and some prefer a bit crunchy. Who says there’s a right or wrong eh?)
- Once cooked through transfer filling to a bowl and allow to cool down
- Wipe the wok clean as you will use it to cook the spring rolls (that’s if you don’t have a dep fryer)

ROLLING
- You will need a flat dry surface to roll your spring rolls
- Place a sheet on the dry surface with a corner towards you (so looking down the sheet is a diamond). Place a tbsp amount of the filling at the corner of the sheet towards you. Wrap the corner of the sheet overtop of the filling and start rolling it quite tight. Once you’ve rolled about halfway pull in both side corners and continue rolling. Seal the closing corner with your paste
- Continue rolling until you’ve used up all your filling. As you’re rolling Make sure to keep your pile of spring roll pastry sheets covered with a slightly damp cloth to stop them from drying out
COOKING
- As I don’t have a deep fryer I used my wok. Heat about 1 inch deep of vegetable oil in the wok. Make sure it gets very hot so that the rolls fry immediately as it hits the pan
- You’ll probably be able to cook about 8 rolls at a time as you don’t want them overcrowding in the wok.
- Keep a close eye on them, they will only need frying for about a minute or two on each side. Since they are on direct contact with the wok they can burn quickly so make sure to turn them at the right time and remove as soon as they are done.
- As you remove them from the wok place them on a paper towelled plate

These really did turn out wonderful! So crispy and tasty. Quite proud of myself really :))

Serve with a sweet chilli sauce for dipping