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Raspberry-Tea Mold
 Ingredients
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
2 Earl Grey tea bags
1 cup boiling water
1/2 pint raspberries
1 cup diced (1/4-inch) cantaloupe
Mint leaves, raspberries, and diced cantaloupe for garnish
Directions
1. In 1-quart saucepan, mix gelatin and sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup
cranberry juice; let stand 3 minutes to soften gelatin. Stir over low
heat until gelatin completely dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from
heat.
2. Meanwhile, in 2-cup glass measuring cup, combine tea bags with
boiling water; let steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and discard.
3. In medium bowl, stir together dissolved gelatin, tea, and remaining
1 1/2 cups juice. Refrigerate juice mixture about 1 3/4 hours or until
it has the consistency of unbeaten egg whites, stirring occasionally.
(To quick-chill gelatin, set bowl in larger bowl of ice water and stir
frequently with rubber spatula just until mixture begins to thicken.)
4. Stir raspberries and cantaloupe into thickened gelatin; pour into
5-cup mold. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until firm.
5. To unmold gelatin, place mold up to rim in bowl of warm, not hot,
water for a few seconds. Be careful not to melt gelatin. Remove mold
from water. Insert small metal spatula around edge of mold to release
gelatin. Dry outside of mold. Invert platter on top of mold, then
quickly invert mold and platter together. Lift off mold. Garnish with
mint, raspberries, and cantaloupe.
Zabaglione
 Zabaglione
is a simple Italian dessert made of egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine.
It is usually served warm, though it can be served cold, or as a sauce,
or even frozen. The Gourmet Sleuth writes,"Zabaglione is said to have
been invented in the 16th Century in Florence, Italy in the court of
the Medici. This dessert is classified as a "caudle" rather than a
custard. A "caudle" is a sauce used as a custard to fill pies or tarts.
The original pre-sixteenth century version was a drink made or wine or
ale thickened with egg yolks."
Ingredients
Serves 6.
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
ground cinnamon
vanilla extract
Directions
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped
strawberries, raspberries, or biscotti
1 Place egg yolks, and sugar in a large, round-bottomed stainless steel
bowl. Add grated lemon peel and a pinch of cinnamon and a drop of
vanilla extract to the yolk mixture. Pour in the Marsala wine. You can
use sweet Vermouth as a substitute for the Marsala.
2 Half-fill a pot with water, bring the water to a simmer and reduce
the heat to low. Set the pan or bowl containing the custard mixture
over the water; the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
Whisk the custard mixture, making sure that the water does not boil.
This ensures that a gentle, even heat thickens the mixture without
curdling it. Whisking traps air in the yolks for a light, fluffy
mixture.
3 Continue whisking for about 10 minutes, until the mixture triples in
volume, froths up and becomes pale. When it reaches the desired
consistency, take the container of custard out of the pot. Slightly
thickened, the custard can be used as a sauce. Longer cooking will
thicken the custard further, giving it the texture of mousse. Continue
whisking for a minute or two to prevent the custard from sticking to
its container.
4 Serve the custard while still warm, or, if you want to serve it cool,
set it aside for about 15 minutes. Whisk heavy cream until it forms
soft peaks; add the whipped cream to the cooled custard and use a whisk
to gently fold them together. Reserve some of the whipped cream to
serve on top.
Ladle the zabaglione into individual dishes. Serve with whipped cream,
berries, and/or cookies such as biscotti.
Blackberry Muffins Recipe
 Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon milk
2/3 cup sugar
8 Tbsp warm melted butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
11 oz of fresh blackberries, cut in half (often available at Trader
Joe's)
(You can use frozen blackberries if fresh are not available.)
Directions
1 Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a
standard 12 muffin pan or line with paper muffin cups. (Actually, with
the berries you'll have more batter than just for 12 muffins. This
batch made 18 muffins.)
2 Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, milk, sugar,
butter and vanilla.
4 Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix together with a few
light strokes, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the
berries. (If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, then
drain the excess liquid, then coat them lightly in flour.) Do not
overmix! Overmixing will cause the muffins to be dense, not fluffy. The
batter should not be smooth.
5 Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until a
toothpick inserted into the middle of 1 or 2 of the muffins comes out
clean, 17-20 minutes (or longer). Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before
removing from the pan. If not serving hot, let cool on a rack.
Serve as soon as possible, preferably within a few hours of baking.
Ginger Almond Biscotti
Recipe
 Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
3 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and all spice
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
1 cup blanched almonds (okay to use just raw almonds)
Directions
1 Bake almonds 10 minutes at 350°F, let cool, then roughly chop.
2 Cream sugar, molasses and butter. Add eggs, mix in one at a time. Add
minced ginger.
3 Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and all
spice. Add flour mix into butter and eggs mix, one third at a time. Add
Almonds. (At this point sometimes it is helpful to refrigerate dough
for several hours to make it more easy to form into logs.)
4 Turn out onto a well-floured board, and divide into two portions.
With floured hands, shape into logs about 9-11 inches long, 2 inches
wide and 1/2 inch high, and transfer to a greased and floured baking
sheet. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch in the center, 25
to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand until cool enough to
handle.
5 On cutting board, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
Return pieces cut side down to baking sheet. Re-bake 15-18 minutes.
Cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container.
Dip in wine after dinner (classical Italian fashion) or coffee, tea, or
hot cocoa.
Best Brownies
 Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 1/4
sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or
Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup pecan pieces
Directions
1 Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven
to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with
parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
2 Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl
and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from
time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and
hot enough that you want to remove your finger quickly after dipping it
in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly
until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
3 Stir in the almond extract with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a
time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick,
shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it
any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon
or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
4 Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist
with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. Lift up
the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a
cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.
TA-KO SA-KHU (sweet
Tapioca with Coconut Cream)
 Ingredients
2 1/2 cups small tapioca
pearls
3 1/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
Topping
2 cups coconut cream
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tsp. salt
Directions
1. Wash and drain the
tapioca pearls; transfer to a pot, add the sugar and water; boil about
20 minutes until done.
2. Spoon the tapioca into
individual the banana leaf cups or small bowls and top with a few
spoonfuls of the coconut cream mixture.
3. Topping: mix together
the coconut cream, salt, sugar and rice flour in another pot, place
over medium-low heat and cook until the mixture thickens.
4. Serving.
Chocolate Mousse
 Ingredients
Serves 5-8, depending on the size of the servings.
4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons espresso or very strong coffee (I used decaf espresso
from a local Starbucks)
1 cup cold heavy cream
3 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon sugar
(Optional) Raspberries and extra whipped cream
Directions
1 Whip the cream to soft peaks, then refrigerate.
2 Combine the chocolate, butter, and espresso in the top of a double
boiler over hot, but not simmering, water, stirring frequently until
smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool until the chocolate is just
slightly warmer than body temperature. To test, dab some chocolate on
your bottom lip. It should feel warm. If it is too cool, the mixture
will seize when the other ingredients are added.
3 Once the melted chocolate has cooled slightly, whip the egg whites in
a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape.
Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
4 When the chocolate has reached the proper temperature, stir in the
yolks. Gently stir in about one-third of the whipped cream. Fold in
half the whites just until incorporated, then fold in the remaining
whites, and finally the remaining whipped cream.
5 Spoon or pipe the mousse into a serving bowl or individual dishes. If
you wish, layer in fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Refrigerate for
at least 8 hours. (The mousse can be refrigerated for up to a day.)
Sweet coconut rice with
stewed mango, mandarins & ginger
 Ingredients
1 vanilla pod
400ml coconut milk
1.2 litres each:
semi-skimmed milk and double cream
80g caster sugar
2 whole dried star anise
4 tablespoons toasted
desiccated coconut (toast on a balking sheet under a hot grill
200g short grain pudding
rice
a little melted butter
Garnish: 1 ripe mango
2 mandarins (or small
oranges)
1 stem pickled red ginger
1 quantity of spiced syrup
4 small sprigs of mint,
freshly picked (if possible)
Directions
1.To make the coconut
rice, preheat oven to 160˚. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthwise.
Place in a large heavy-based casserole. Scrape out the seeds and then
add to the casserole with the pods. Add the coconut and semi-skimmed
milk, double cream, sugar, star anis and coconut. Bring to the boil.
Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2.Use a slotted spoon to
remove the vanilla pod and star anis.
3.Quickly wash the rice
(do not soak) and add to the simmering milk. Leave to simmer far a
further 5 minutes. Cover the casserole with tin foil (this prevents a
skin from forming) and bake the rice in the oven for about 20 minutes
until set. Leave to cool until the rice is warm, not hot.
4.Meanwhile, to make the
garnish, peel and dice the mango. Peel, segment and remove all pith
from the mandarins. Peel and finely dice the ginger and combine all
three in a large bowl.
5.In a large heavy-based
saucepan, warm through the syrup. Add the fruit and ginger, then remove
from the heat and cave to marinate for about 1 hour, covered in the
refrigerator.
6.To serve, line 4 small
ring moulds (about 5cm diameter) with melted butter and toasted
desiccated coconut. Fill the rings with the warm rice and turn out onto
a serving dish. Place marinated fruit around the dish and drizzle
lightly with syrup. Garnish with small sprigs of mint.
Peach Blueberry Cake Recipe
 Ingredients
Serves 8.
For the pastry crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca
2 lb firm-ripe large peaches (about 4), halved lengthwise, pitted, and
each half cut lengthwise into fourths
1 cup blueberries (1/2 pint)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Special equipment needed:
A 9 to 9 1/2-inch (24-cm) spring-form pan
An electric spice grinder or blender with a 8oz mason jar
Food processor
Directions
1 Pulse together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food
processor until combined. Add butter and pulse just until mixture
resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Add egg and vanilla and pulse just until dough clumps and begins to
form a ball, about 15 pulses.
2 Butter and dust with flour the inside of your spring-form pan. Press
dough onto bottom and evenly (about 1/4 inch thick) about two inches up
side of spring-form pan with floured fingertips. Chill pastry in pan
until firm, about 10 minutes.
3 Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
4 Make the filling while the pastry chills. Grind 2 tablespoons sugar
with flour and tapioca in grinder until tapioca is powdery. Tip: f you
don't have a spice or coffee grinder, and you have a blender, you can
use a 8 oz mason jar with the blender to grind the tapioca. Just put
the tapioca, flour and sugar in the mason jar, unscrew the bottom
(including blade) of your blender container from the container and
screw it on to the top of the mason jar, with the blade pointing inside
the jar. Then just invert the mason jar on to the blender base and use
the blender to grind the contents. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in
remaining 6 tablespoons sugar. Add peaches, blueberries, and lemon
juice and gently toss to coat.
5 Spoon filling into pastry and bake, loosely covered with a sheet of
foil, until filling is bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1
3/4 hours.
6 Transfer cake in pan to a rack and cool, uncovered, 20 minutes, then
carefully remove side of pan. Cool cake to barely warm or room
temperature, then cut into thick wedges with a sharp knife before
serving.
Note that although the cake will come out of the oven somewhat liquidly.
The liquid should gel nicely as the cake cools.
Summer Fruit in Spiced Syrup
 Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
1 star anise
1 strip (3" by 3/4") fresh lemon peel
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 cups fresh fruit, such as sliced nectarines, plums, and strawberries,
and blueberries and raspberries
Directions
1. In 1-quart saucepan, combine water, sugar, spices, and lemon peel;
heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat
to medium-low; simmer 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in
lemon juice. Cool syrup to room temperature.
2. In large bowl, combine fruits and syrup. Cover and refrigerate 2
hours, stirring occasionally.
Fresh Fig Clafouti
 Use
a variety of fresh figs for this pudding-like dessert. The mixture of
flavors, sizes and colors is pleasing to the palate and to the eye.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup
sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound fresh figs (various sizes and colors), stems trimmed and each
fig cut lengthwise in half or into quarters if large
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 10-inch pie plate or shallow 1
1/2-quart glass baking dish; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
2. In large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar. In
medium bowl, with wire whisk, beat milk, cream, eggs, and vanilla until
well blended. Slowly pour milk mixture into flour mixture, whisking
constantly until combined. Pour batter through sieve into prepared pie
plate, pressing out any lumps.
3. Arrange figs, cut sides up, in batter; dot with butter. Bake 50 to
55 minutes or until edge of custard is puffed and golden and knife
inserted 1 inch from edge comes out almost clean (center will still
jiggle).
4. Transfer pie plate to wire rack; sprinkle clafouti with remaining 1
tablespoon sugar. Let stand 15 minutes to serve warm or cool completely
to serve later.
Strawberries marinated in
balsamic vinegar
 Ingredients
Serves 4.
2-3 big punnets of
strawberries
approx. 5
tablespoons sugar, to taste
10 tablespoons
balsamic vinegar
1 vanilla pod,
scored lengthwise and seeds removed
400g mascarpone
cheese
4 or 5 leaves of
fresh mint or basil finely sliced
Directions:
When the
strawberries are juicy like they should be, pinch off the stalks, place
in a bowl and scatter generously with the sugar followed by the
balsamic vinegar. Stir around and allow to marinate far up to 2 hours.
Mix the vanilla seeds with the mascarpone cheese and sweeten to taste
with a little sugar. Don’t forget you can use the vanilla pod to flavor
a small jar of sugar. Place a big lob of mascarpone on a plate covered
with a generous heap of strawberries and the tasty balsamic juice. A
fine scattering of mint or basil will freshen it slightly,
PS If you find you
have any leftover strawberries and marinade, squash it all up, freeze
for 21/2 hours and you've got a lovely frappe.
Chocolate & lemongrass
mousse
 Ingredients
3 sticks of
lemongrass
200ml milk
140g milk chocolate
2 leaves of gelatine
2 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
150ml pint double
cream
Garnish: 2 lemons
caster sugar and cornflour, to taste
handful crystallized
lemond rinds
Directions
1.Finely chop the
lemongrass into small pieces or finely grind in a food processor or
pestle and mortar.
2.Pour the milk into
a large heavy-based saucepan, add the lemongrass and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 1 hour.
3.Break the
chocolate into cubes and melt in a baiomarie or a microwave. Soften the
gelatine in a small bowl filled with cold water and stir it into the
chocolate until dissolved.
4.In a medium bowl,
whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Semiwhip the double cream in a
separate bowl.
5.Whisk the
egg-sugar mixture into the milk. Return to low heat, stirring
continuously to slowly cook the egg until the mixture has slightly
thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the melted chocolate. Leave
to cool slightly.
6.Pass the mixture
through a sieve to remove the lemongrass. Allow to cool completely.
7.Slowly fold in the
double cream (do not overwhip the cream or it will separate). Pour the
mousse into moulds and leave to set in the refrigerator, about 2 hours.
8.Just prior to
serving, make the sauce, juicing the lemons into a small heavy-based
saucepan. Reduce by two-thirds over a low heat. Add a little sugar lo
taste. Thicken with cornflour as desired.
9.To serve, turn
each mousse out onto a plate. Garnish with caramelized lemon rind and
drizzle with sauce.
Spiced fruit salad
 Ingredients
Selection of enough
fresh fruit for 4 people (choose any of the following): pineapples,
papayas, star fruits, melons, pink grapefruits, Leeches, oranges (blood
oranges if in season), mangoes, plums, pears or pomegranates
Spiced Syrup:
750ml water
6 whole dried star
anise
4 vanilla pods
rind of 1 lemon and
1 lime
2 cinnamon sticks
8 cloves
500g caster sugar
Directions
1.To make the syrup,
place all the ingredients together in a large heavy-based saucepan.
Gently simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2.Allow the syrup to
cool, then pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Set aside.
3.Prepare your
chosen fruits as desired.
4.To serve, arrange
the fruits around a serving platter or on individual plates. Try to mix
the flavors and acidities, then drizzle syrup over the top.
Go Up
(source of the article are several websites, the
books 'The best of Thai dishes', Sisamon Kongpan, Sangdad Books;
'Lemongrass and Lime – New Vietnamese Cooking', Mark Read, Simon &
Schuster; 'Step by step Sushi', Katsuji, Yamamoto/Roger W. Hicks,
Quantum Books;
'The return of the naked
Chef', Jamie Oliver, Penguin Books) |
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