Godsmark's choc truffle cookies

 

25 cookies:
170g dark chocolate
125g unsalted butter
2 eggs
55g brown sugar
100g castor sugar
¼ tsp vanilla essence
45g plain flour
30g cocoa
6g baking powder
pinch of salt
120g toasted hazelnuts, chopped
115g dark chocolate, chopped
115g milk chocolate, chopped
115g white chocolate, chopped

1. Boil a small amount of water in a pot. Meanwhile chop the dark chocolate into large pieces. Place in a bowl with the butter and fit the bowl in the pot. Turn the heat off and stir the chocolate until all the butter has melted. Remove the bowl from the pot.

2. Beat the eggs on a medium to high speed until fluffy. Add the sugars and vanilla. Continue beating until very light and creamy. Now add half of the melted chocolate and mix slowly to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then mix in the other half of melted chocolate.

3. Blend in the sifted dry ingredients and mix for one minute. Now add the chopped nuts and chocolates gently until combined.

4. Spoon cookies on to a nonstick mat (heaped Tbsps) keeping them compact as they will spread a lot. It is better to have a thick cookie so they become crisp on the outside and remain soft in the middle.

5. Bake at 150C for 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Chipotle butternut & silverbeet enchilada casserole

6 serves:

1 medium butternut pumpkin, 1 inch dice & roasted with oil & salt

5 large silverbeet leaves, sliced

1 can black beans

6 tortillas, halved

Block of cheddar

1 brown onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

2 tinned chipotles in adobo sauce

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp sugar

800g tin tomato

Oven to 220C fan.

Spread some sauce in lasagna dish & layer with 3 tortilla halves. Top with half the silverbeet, pumpkin, bean mixture. Sprinkle with cheese & spread with some sauce. Layer with 4 tortilla halves & then remaining silverbeet. Top with 5 tortilla halves, remaining sauce & cheese. Bake 20 minutes then turn off fan (use pizza setting) for another 10.

Spinach, white bean & taleggio pizza

Serves 2 or 4 as a starter

450g pizza dough (used 1/3 HFW's recipe)
2 to 4 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup cannellini beans
2 cloves garlic, minced
100g to 150g Taleggio cheese
Parmesan cheese
4 handfuls fresh spinach or baby spinach
 
Preheat the oven to 250°C. Place a baking sheet on the rack to heat with the oven. Heat the oven for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Roll out the dough and transfer it to baking paper. Spread a couple teaspoons of olive oil over the dough, then evenly scatter the white beans and garlic over top. Slice or pinch off pieces of the Taleggio and scatter them over the pizza, then grate a little Parmesan over the pizza.

Toss the spinach in a large bowl with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and set aside. Gently shuffle the pizza onto the baking sheet. Gently mound the spinach leaves in the centre of the pizza. Close the oven and cook for 10 or 15 minutes, until the crust is brown on the edges and the spinach is wilted.

Could try with cauliflower base?

Roast cinnamon pumpkin

4 serves:
1/2 jap pumpkin
100ml O oil
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup plain yoghurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1 red chili, sliced
Coriander leaves

Heat oven to 200C.

Cut pumpkin into moons & toss with oil, cinnamon & salt. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until soft.

Drizzle with yoghurt, sprinkle with pine nuts, chili, coriander and finish with lemon juice.

White beans with lemon, spinach & hazelnuts.

2 people:

2 tins cannelinni beans

Zest of 1 lemon, juice of half

2 big handfuls baby spinach

3 Tbsp sour cream

2 handfuls hazelnuts

Toast hazelnuts at 180 (about 10 minutes).

Put beans, lemon & spinach in saucepan over low heat. Stir to heat through & wilt spinach. Stir in sour cream, salt & lots of pepper. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.

Jeff's chicken shawarma

2 lemons, juiced
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
½ teaspoon turmeric
A pinch ground cinnamon
Red-pepper flakes, to taste
900g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Prepare a marinade for the chicken. Combine the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and red-pepper flakes in a large bowl, then whisk to combine. Add the chicken, and toss well to coat. Cover, and store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 220. Use the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to grease a rimmed sheet pan. Add the quartered onion to the chicken and marinade, and toss once to combine. Remove the chicken and onion from the marinade, and place on the pan, spreading everything evenly across it.

Put the chicken in the oven, and roast until it is browned, crisp at the edges and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to rest 2 minutes, then slice into bits. Scatter the parsley over the top and serve with tomatoes, cucumbers, pita, hot sauce, olives, fried eggplant, feta, rice, anything you desire.

BBQ carrot salad

ENOUGH FOR 4

1 bunch baby carrots

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (caramelised even better)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp EVO oil

4 handfuls mixed salad leaves

100g fresh goats cheese (or cottage)

1. Heat BBQ.

2. Meanwhile trim and discard carrot tops. Halve carrots lengthwise.

3. Rub with a little oil.

4. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes or until carrots are a little burned and charred in places.

5. Meanwhile, combine balsamic, soy and 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

6. Turn the carrots and cook for another minute or until cooked to your liking.

7. Scatter leaves over a serving platter. Top with hot carrots, drizzle with dressing and finish with little chunks of the cheese

Chipotle chicken

400g chicken breast, diced

1 red onion, diced

1/2 tsp cumin

400g tin tomato

Pinch brown sugar

1 Tbsp chipotle in adobe

Salt

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and quickly fry your chicken pieces until they turn golden. Set aside.

In the same pan, add another small splash of olive oil and fry your onion until it softens.

Add your tomatoes, cumin, sugar and chipotle and simmer for around 15 - 25 minutes until the tomato sauce starts to thicken around the edges of the pan.

Add the chicken back into the sauce and allow to cook for about 5 minutes.

Give the chicken a good spritz of lime juice. This freshens things up and amplifies the flavours.

Crunchy Thai chicken sausage rolls

Makes 24

3 tsp grated palm sugar or brown sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce (use to dissolve sugar first)
350g chicken mince
3/4 cup toasted peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 Tbsp chopped coriander
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg
sesame seeds

Oven at 180.
Combine sausage ingredients. Shape into 4 logs on the pastry. Roll, glue with egg wash, cut. Egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake 20 minutes or until crisp & golden.

Serve with extra sweet chili.

Eggplant & oregano pasta

2ppl:
1 large eggplant
1/2 tsp chili flakes
2 cloves garlic
2 anchovy fillet
Handful fresh oregano
15 ml capers
1/2 cup white wine
40ml balsamic vinegar
40g parmesan, grated
150g fresh ricotta (or cottage cheese)
250g dried pasta (like orecchiette)

1. Cook the eggplant in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Drain well, gently pressing out any excess moisture.

2. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until just al dente.

3. Meanwhile, in a wide-based pot over medium heat, heat 2 Tbsp O oil for two minutes. Add the garlic, chilli, capers, anchovies and oregano and cook for two minutes. Add the eggplant, stir through, add the wine and cook until almost dry. Drizzle over the balsamic and cook out for a couple of minutes.

4. Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, and add to the pot. Stir through the pasta, adding a little of the cooking water and/or oil if needed. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, and stir through half the parmesan.

5. Serve in shallow bowls with the ricotta crumbled over the pasta and the remaining parmesan on the side.

Served with green beans.