Freaky Fingers

Boo! I've been a ghost lately but since it's Halloween I figured I should stop by and scare up some fun with these creepy cookies. These delectable digits may look ghastly, but they really are freakishly good! Go ahead and give your guests the finger this Halloween! You won't regret it! ; )

Freaky Fingers
Makes 20-30 fingers

200g all purpose flour
100g caster sugar (superfine)
100g butter
1 egg yolk (maybe 2)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
20-30 blanched almonds
Red food colouring (paste is best)
Small clean paintbrush

A few notes: The fingers will spread in the oven so be sure to roll them quite thin.  Also, if a few of the almonds fall off after baking, try gluing them them back on with the red colouring paste. 

Place the first 5 ingredients in a food processor with a pinch of salt and whiz until a ball of dough forms.  If the dough isn't coming together, add another egg yolk. Tear off a piece of dough, slightly smaller than a golf ball, and roll into skinny cylinders.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper - not too close together as they will spread during baking. Place an almond on the end of each finger and trim away any excess dough to neaten.  Use a knife to make a few lines for the knuckles.  Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Heat oven to 180C/350F then bake until just firm, about 10-12 minutes, maybe less if you're fingers are thin.  Just be sure to keep a close eye.  Leave to cool a little, then paint each almond with red food colouring.

Recipe from BBC Good Food

March of the Goat's Cheese Penguins

Adorable, fun, and tasty is how I would describe this little army of penguins. Granted, they are time consuming to make but you have to agree that their cuteness is worth it! Make them at your next party and I assure you, they will not be forgotten!

Plus, if you ever want to see a child eat an olive...this is how!

These funny little fellows are made up of five simple ingredients. Cream cheese, goats cheese, carrot and black olives. I added goats cheese to the cream cheese for additional flavour, but if you prefer, you can use cream cheese alone. You could also add garlic or onion seasoning for a little extra zest.



If stored in an air tight container, penguins will live happily in your fridge for up to 24 hours.



Oh and did you know that Penguins mate for life!? So cute!



Makes approximately 2 dozen penguins
Inspired by All Recipes

1 can extra large black olives, drained
1 can small black olives, drained
1 small tub cream cheese ( I used low fat )
3-4 tbls goats cheese (optional)
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
Cocktail sticks

Mix the cream cheese and goats cheese together thoroughly. Make a slit down the side of each extra large olive. Carefully stuff each one with the cream cheese mixture. Cut a small triangle out of each carrot slice to resemble feet. Make penguin beaks out of each triangle and place into the little hole of each small olive. Place a penguin body onto each carrot slice followed by the head, secured with a cocktail stick. Penguins are best served at room temperature.

Baked Brie

Looking for the perfect appetizer? Look no further! And be ready, because this may be the tastiest thing you will ever eat!

A wheel of Brie, topped with a sweet caramelized onion jam, baked in a crisp puff pastry until wonderfully soft and gooey!

Simple? Yes! Calorific? Maybe. Worth it? Absolutely!








Make it...



Bake it....



Eat it...



Love it!



Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Serves about 8-10

450g thawed puff pastry, about two sheets
1 large wheel of Brie, about 1 lb in size (do not remove the rind)
Good quality caramelized onion jam (I recommend Stonewall Kitchen)
1 egg, beaten
Fruit and crackers to serve

Preheat oven to 375F
Unroll the pastry sheets and place the brie in the center of one piece. Cut a circle approximately 1 inch larger than the round of brie. Make another circle with the second piece of pastry, this time measuring 1 inch or so bigger than the last. Top the brie with about 4 tbls of caramelized onion jam and place the second circle on top, joining the edges of both pastry rounds together.
Decorate as you please with the remaining pastry and brush with the beaten egg. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Serve with apples, grapes and crackers.

Bloody Mary Shots with Avocado Toasts

The holiday season is creeping up on us. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, it's all just around the corner and I am ready! Well, ready in spirit at least.

For obvious reasons, I love this time of year. There is always so much going on and so much of it involves entertaining with good food. Dinner parties, work parties, family get togethers etc...

These Bloody Mary shots and accompanying toasts are perfect for the party season! They deliver the "wow" factor along with maximum taste, all with minimal effort. The avocado toasts are fabulous on their own. The two combined; however, compliment each other beautifully. The tangy tomato juice, with it's spicy zing, is cleverly balanced out by the rich and creamy avocado toasts.

Having said that; it is surprisingly easy to make a bad Bloody Mary, especially for beginners. So, until you're comfortable with your bartending abilities, here are a few tips:
Always use 100% Tomato juice. Do not use V-8.
Good quality vodka is a must!
Seasonings such as celery salt and black pepper are essential.
Experiment with other key ingredients such as Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to get an idea of your preferred ratio (see below). And finally, try to chill the mixture for as long as possible (preferably overnight) to allow all the flavours to mingle.

There is no rule as to how much Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice you should use, it all comes down to personal taste. I never skimp on the Tabasco though, as I like my Bloody Mary's with a kick! You could always make up a batch with all the ingredients minus the Tabasco. This way your guests can add as much or as little as they please? For this recipe I have stated the quantities that suit my taste. Feel free to adjust.

You can always make your Bloody Mary a Virgin Bloody Mary if you want to skip the alcohol. I'm sure it will taste just as good!

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Serves approximately 4-6 (depending on the size of your glasses)

Bloody Mary Mix:
500 ml 100% Tomato Juice
1 tsp horseradish
4 tbls vodka
1 tbls Tabasco ( This is more like a punch and a kick, so less if you're not up for it )
1 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls lemon juice
1/4 tsp celery salt
Finely ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Avocado Toasts:
1 large avocado
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 small English cucumber, finely diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 lemon
Olive oil
8-12 Slices of a long, skinny baguette

Mix all Bloody Mary ingredients together and chill until needed.
Half the avocado, carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon and finely dice. Mix the cucumber, tomato, red onion and avocado together with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt. Rub each toasted bread slice with a little olive oil. Spoon avocado mixture evenly onto the bread slices. Serve two toasts with each shot of Bloody Mary. Garnish with cucumber spears and enjoy!

Halloumi Parcels with Lemon, Chili & Thyme

Halloumi is a magic cheese with a stubborn streak. When exposed to extreme temperatures it simply refuses to melt!

Instead, it retains its firm shape and develops a beautiful crisp exterior with just the right amount of internal gooeyness. Originating from Cyprus, this squeaky, tangy, somewhat salty cheese is made from a combination of sheep and goat's milk.
It is wonderfully versatile and can be grilled or fried within minutes, making it the ideal choice for an appetizer or quick snack. It also works well as a meat alternative and is a great accompaniment to a couscous or lentil salad. Delicious!

For something simple serve halloumi sliced and grilled with nothing more than some freshly squeezed lemon juice. For something fancy try today's dish inspired by a recipe from BBC Good Food. I changed the ingredients and cooking method slightly and found that the new variation of flavours complimented each other beautifully.

Makes 4 Parcels

200g block Halloumi cut into 4 slices
4 coloured peppers
4 18" pieces of kitchen string that have been soaked in water for 20 minutes

Marinade:
1 tbls olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tbls) plus 1 tsp zest
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
1/4 tsp crushed chili flakes
Black pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients together thoroughly and pour over the halloumi slices. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 24 hours.
Place peppers (whole) in a 450F preheated oven. Roast until just soft enough to wrap around the cheese. About 25-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or so. When cool enough to handle, make a cut down the side of each pepper to open it out. The skin can easily be removed at this point, if preferred.
Remove seeds and trim into neat strips. Place a slice of halloumi in the center of each strip then carefully wrap the pepper around it.



Tie each one with the kitchen string.
The parcels can now be refrigerated for up to 2 hours. When ready to serve, place parcels under a preheated broiler or grill for about 3-4 minutes per side or until the cheese begins to soften and brown at the ends. Serve immediately. Garnish with pretty herbs like mint or thyme.

Note: If you're short on time, skip the peppers and just grill the cheese on it's own, basting frequently with the marinade. You could always top with some roasted red peppers from a jar mixed with a few olives or herbs!

Sunblush Tomatoes

These Sunblush tomatoes also known as (semi dried tomatoes) are simply divine. What is the difference between 'semi dried' and 'sun dried' you ask? Well the answer is really very simple. Sun dried tomatoes are fresh ripe tomatoes that are placed in the sun to remove almost all of their water content. In Italy fresh tomatoes were placed on tile roof tops as a way to preserve them for the winter. This technique is still used today but mainly for commercial use. Unlike Sunblush tomatoes the sundried variety are somewhat unattractive. They tend to resemble little shriveled pieces of chewed red leather. They can, however be a joy to eat but they usually have to be soaked in water for a while or doused in large amounts of olive oil in order for them to soften somewhat.

Personally, I prefer Sunblush tomatoes. These babies are semi dried and removed from the heat at the half way stage resulting in a less chewy and instead a more plump and semi juicy tomato. They have an intense sweet summer flavour that will have you hooked from the minute you taste them. Try them with bread, cheese (especially goat's cheese), salads, pasta, sauces, or as part of an Antipasti.

Sunblush tomatoes are still largely undiscovered. However, they are available from good delicatessens at specialty supermarkets. Available for a small fortune that is! So skip the trip and make them yourself with these very cheap and very simple ingredients.

Although this recipe requires that you use a rather large amount of tomatoes, you will actually only end up with about 1 to 1- 1/2 cups of the finished product. However, because they posses so much flavour you won’t need to use as many at a time as you would regular tomatoes.

You will need:

2lbs of cherry tomatoes (about two punnets)
3 tbls olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
1/4 heaped tsp caster sugar (superfine)

Preheat oven to 225 F

Cut tomatoes in half and arrange cut side up on a large baking tray lined with a baking mat or parchment paper.

Drizzle over the olive oil and then sprinkle evenly with the salt, sugar and thyme.

Place in the preheated oven and leave for at least 4 hours. The finished tomatoes should be somewhat dry but still a little juicy. They should look like this when they are done.

When ready, spoon the tomatoes into a sealable container with any remaining oil. Top up with a little extra olive oil if desired. They will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, although being as delicious as they are it is impossible to keep them around for that long! Enjoy!

The Stinking Rose

It has to be said that Garlic is one of my most favorite ingredients. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I recently came across a restaurant in San Francisco called ' The Stinking Rose.'
The restaurant that, "seasons their garlic with food!" "We have to go in there", I said eagerly to my husband, who was equally enthused. So, in we went.
The waiter recommended their signature dish, an appetizer called 'Bagna Calda'. Lots of wonderfully caramelized garlic cloves roasted in olive oil, served in an iron skillet with freshly baked focaccia bread. The warm nutty cloves spread beautifully on the focaccia, like soft butter. My husband and I were in heaven! From that moment on I was intrigued as to what other uses I could put Roasted Garlic. Yesterday, I made a big batch to stick in the fridge which should last for up to two weeks! It is fantastically yummy in all sorts of things from hummus to mashed potatoes, pasta sauces to soups, on top of pizza or just on its own.

I found Roasted Garlic to compliment homemade hummus extremely well. So today I have added it to my recipe. Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Hummus



Roasted Garlic

I large head of garlic
1 Tbls of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F

Remove outer skin from the garlic bulb, break into cloves (leaving the skin on) and place in a small ovenproof dish with a lid. (I use my mini cocotte). Toss with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake until the skins are golden brown and the cloves are tender, about 50 minutes.

Hummus

Makes about 3 cups

2 -15oz cans chickpeas, drained, rinsed
50ml olive oil
50ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbls tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
all but 3 of the roasted garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves out of their skins and place into a food processor. Add the chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper and process until well combined. Add the vegetable/chicken stock and process again until nice and smooth.

Roughly chop two of the reserved garlic cloves and place in a small bowl. Add 1 tbls of olive oil and mix well. Drizzle mixture over the hummus. Garnish with thinly sliced red onion, corriander and the leftover garlic clove. Enjoy with toasted pita bread and crudites.