Tag Archives: side

Sweet Palmiers

Today I’ve cooked up a batch of these for a BBQ were having tomorrow, the recipe is one I learned on my “Creative Canapes” class while on.honeymoon in Tideswell.

They’re delicious on their own, with a cup of tea or as a side to a creamy custard dessert.

Sweet Palmiers

200g Puff Pastry
60g sugar (it doesn’t matter if it’s granulated or caster, I used golden caster for these)
Half teaspoon cinnamon
One egg beaten
Water

Pre heat your oven to gas mark 6 abs then start by rolling your pastry on a lightly floured surface. You’re looking to roll a rectangle approximately 30cm x 15-20cm and 3mm thick (about as thick as a pound coin)

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl, make sure it’s well combined and there are no lumps of spice.

Brush your pastry with the egg abs then evenly sprinkle the sugar & cinnamon over the entire surface. Once covered use your rolling pin and lightly roll over the surface to help the sugar stick to the pastry and sprinkle with water.

With the pastry laid out landscape in front of you with a sharp knife gently score 6 even strips along the length….I find this easiest to approximate the centre of the pastry and start there, score a line and then you know you need two lines above and two below equal distances apart.

Now, take the top section of pastry and fold it down over the next section down, do the same with the bottom section, folding it up over the next part. Brush the freshly exposed pastry with water and then repeat the folding to get the pastry to meet in the middle. Brush this too with water and then fold it over itself one last time.

Chill for 10-15 minutes… this really helps with the next step as if it’s not chilled it’s too squishy.

Lightly grease and sprinkle with water a baking tray.

Lay out the freshly cooled roll on a lightly floured surface and slice into 5mm thick pieces.

Evenly space these out flat on the tray squashing them slightly with the palm of your hand as you go.

Bake for about 8 mins, or until golden. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

These store well in an air tight container 2-3 days….. but in our house they never last that long.

These could also be made by mixing powdered ginger into the sugar in place of the cinnamon. Or you could use chocolate paste in place of both…. Or make them savoury by using pesto or tomato sauce… the possibilities are endless!

Cheat Use store bought puff pastry because there’s not enough hours in the day to be making my own all the time.

Balsamic Roast Tomato and Red Onion

Knowing the boy was staying with his Nan Friday night I wanted to cook something up that wouldn’t be on our usual menu. Anything green or with any spice is a no go to his 13 year old palate, hell at times it seems anything that isn’t processed within an inch of it’s life is too much for him to handle, fish comes from a box in breadcrumbs or batter in his world so I tend to cook more than the standard pasta or meat and 2 veg when he’s not around.

So with that in mind while in Sainsbury’s in the week I bought 2 beautiful fresh Tuna steaks. I ummed and ahhed over how to serve them and finally decided to pan fry them in lime and black pepper and dish them up with Crunchy Chilli Potatoes, Mangetout and Balsamic Roast Tomatoes with Red Onion, as sides go it couldn’t be simpler.

It was essentially a posh fish n chips with tomato sauce 😉

Balsamic Roast Tomatoes and Red Onion

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I made this to serve 2 but again this can be scaled really easily to serve more (or less)

Cherry tomatoes.
Red onion
Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and at the same time heat a tablespoon of olive oil in heavy bottomed pan one the hob.

Throw in a hand full of cherry tomatoes (I used 4 per person).

Quarter a small red onion and add to the pan.

Cook until the tomatoes are going soft and the onion is starting to colour.

Put a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in an oven proof dish and add the veg toss to coat in the vinegar, added more if necessary, sprinkle with ground black pepper and put on the top shelf of the oven.

Cook for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are completely soft but still holding their shape.

Serve immediately.

Because this was going with Tuna flavored with lime I served on top of fresh coriander. Just yum!

Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms

I had some large flat mushroom in my fridge that needed using up so tonight I stuffed them with cheese. They tasted a whole lot better than the looked (promise) but I’m sure they could be better.

Do you have a stuffed mushroom recipe you could share with me that I could try out?

Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms
(Makes 4)

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4 large open mushrooms
3 tablespoons soft cheese
Grated cheddar
Rocket
Black pepper

Pre heat oven to gas mark 4.

Remove stalks from the mushrooms and place both on an oven tray.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Mix together cream cheese, rocket and some of the grated cheese. Fill the mushrooms and then top with more grated cheese and a sprinkle of blank pepper

Put the mushrooms back in the oven for a further 5 minutes and then finish under the grill to melt and slightly brown the cheese.

I served these with garlic chicken and a rocket salad.

(What about the stalks I hear you say….I chopped them up to add to the cheese mix and then forgot about them so they ended up in my tum!)