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Raspberry & Pistachio Semifreddo (refined sugar free, gluten free)

A semifreddo is a fancy word for a ‘semi frozen’ dessert. It almost always has a base of cream, eggs and sugar, but when it comes to flavour, anything goes.

My boys and I agree that eating this one tastes like eating a frozen Creme Brûlée.

Another simple recipe that’s perfect for summer time entertaining, it only has 3 main steps – whip, fold and freeze and can be made many days in advance.

You will need electric beaters for this recipe, hand whipping won’t get you the desired thickness you need when it comes to whipping the egg yolks and honey.

This has made it to the top of our dessert menu for my family Christmas gathering – alongside my Mum’s Pudding of course.

A shout out to one of my fave’s, Bill Granger, for this recipe. His simple approach to cooking is one I love. I come back to his recipes time and time again. This is my version of his recipe from ABC Delicious magazine, November 2006.

Raspberry & Pistachio Semifreddo (refined sugar free, gluten free)

Created by on December 6, 2015

  • Prep Time: 15m
  • Cook Time: 6h
  • Total Time: 6h 15m

Ingredients

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 250 milliliters thickened cream, whipped (1 cup)
  • 150 grams fresh raspberries, plus extra to decorate
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted, shelled pistachios, chopped, plus extra to decorate
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

Method

  1. Beat the egg yolks and honey together with an electric beater until very thick, pale and double in volume. This will take at least 5 minutes.
  2. Fold in the whipped cream and vanilla.
  3. Line a loaf tin with plastic wrap, leaving enough to hang over the sides of the tin. You will use this to wrap over the top of the semifreddo.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the tin, fold the wrap over the top and place in freezer for 2 hours, until semi-frozen.
  5. Remove from the freezer and carefully stir through the raspberries and pistachios.
  6. Cover with the wrap again and place in the freezer for another 4-6 hours, or overnight, until completely frozen.
  7. 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, invert the semifreddo onto a platter, remove the plastic wrap, decorate as you wish and leave to sit in the fridge to soften a little before cutting and eating.
Source: cook fast eat slow

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/ emma@cookfasteatslow.com 2 Comments

Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad

As I am chatting with friends and family about food, I am hearing loud and clear that people are really wanting ideas for Christmas and entertaining that require minimal effort.

‘Recipes’ that read more like a list of nice ingredients that when put together with minimal process, taste great.

This Christmas themed salad is just so pretty with it’s red, green and white colours, but more importantly, when you take a mouthful of the fresh greens, soft beetroot and cheese, crunchy pomegranate seeds and then get a burst of fresh mint, you will be reminded again that sometimes cooking is indeed pairing the right ingredients together, with minimal fuss. The ingredients themselves are the hero, and not the process.

For those who haven’t seen or eaten Labneh before, it’s a cheese made from strained yoghurt and is often used in Middle Eastern cooking. You can easily make your own, but for ease this time of year, you can buy it in the supermarket. It makes a beautiful dip with raw veggies and crackers too.

If you prefer, you can use a creamy goats cheese or Persian feta instead. I do think a creamy cheese and not hard one, is best in this recipe.

And lastly, one of the ways you can be kind to yourself in the kitchen this time of year is to stock up on some different and beautiful store-bought dressings. At the drop of a hat you can make any salad at the last minute and take it to ‘a whole other level’ when you dress it with something gorgeous.

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This Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar has been a favourite in our house for a few years now. I have to hide it at the back of the cupboard otherwise one of my sons, who has a sweet tooth, will drink it straight from the bottle! It’s generally found in Deli’s and Gourmet Food stores and can be pricey. For Christmas time, I think it’s worth spending a little extra for something special though.

Be warned – it’s quite sweet so you don’t need a lot, but it is the finishing touch a salad like this needs.

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Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad

Created by on November 30, 2015

  • Prep Time: 10m
  • Total Time: 10m

Ingredients

  • 450 grams tinned beetroot wedges, drained
  • 150 grams rocket and baby spinach salad mix
  • seeds of 1/2 a pomegranate
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh mint leaves
  • 125 grams Labneh, marinted in herbs and oil (or another soft creamy cheese)
  • Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar to dress

Method

  1. Wash and dry the salad leaves and lay in a shallow bowl or on a platter.
  2. Top with all the other ingredients. Use a teaspoon to dollop the labneh all over the salad.
  3. Drizzle with the Pomegranate Balsamic vinegar to serve.
  4. NOTE - do not toss this salad. As people take spoonfuls the ingredients and flavours will come together on their own.
Source: cook fast eat slow

 

 

 

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Avocado & Basil Pesto Potato Salad (dairy free)

Potato Salad. It appears at nearly every BBQ or Christmas gathering in some form or another.

I have had to think outside the square with creating a Potato Salad my boys would eat as they don’t like mayonnaise.

Thankfully, this one is loved by them all. The ‘creaminess’ that you want in a good potato salad is achieved by using one of my favourite foods – avocado. Add a few other ingredients to it and you have a healthy way of adding flavour to your potatoes without all the nasties that store-bought mayo can have in it.

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Crispy pancetta adds a crunchy saltiness that the dish needs, and then the tomatoes are just so yum and add colour too.

This is where you can play around. Use regular old bacon and fresh tomatoes if you prefer. Or leave out the pancetta altogether to make it a vegetarian meal. If you were to do that, I would add some toasted almonds to the top to add the crunch factor.

I think we have all eaten a BAD potato salad before. There are a few really simple rules to follow, no matter what type of potato salad you are making:

  1. Choose the right potato – look for a waxy potato like Desiree, Dutch Cream, Kipfler, Nadine or Nicola. They have less starch than other varieties and hold their shape nicely when they are boiled. There’s nothing worse than a mushy potato salad.
  2. Cook them in cold water that is brought to the boil, rather than adding them to boiling water. Also, be careful not to over cook them. You want them soft to eat but to still hold their shape.
  3. ‘Dress them’ with either a small amount of oil or vinegar when they are warm so they absorb some of that flavour.
  4. Potato Salad is almost always best eaten at room temperature. Cooked potatoes can go very hard once they have been in the fridge too long.

Happy Cooking!

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Avocado & Basil Pesto Potato Salad (dairy free)

Created by on November 26, 2015

  • Prep Time: 5m
  • Cook Time: 20m
  • Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, (plus 1 tablespoon extra for potatoes)
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 kilogram dutch cream potatoes, washed and halved (or left whole if they are baby sized)
  • 100 grams pancetta
  • 150 grams semi-dried tomatoes
  • chopped chives for garnish

Method

  1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Over a medium heat, bring to the boil with a lid on. Boil for 12-15 minutes until the potatoes are soft but not mushy. Drain in a colander, and then put the potatoes back in the saucepan. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil or basil-infused olive oil over them. Set aside to cool slightly.
  2. Place the avocado flesh, basil, almonds, garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lemon juice in the food processor and process till smooth. Set aside.
  3. Heat a non stick frying pan over medium and cook the pancetta until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towel and finally chop.
  4. When almost ready to serve, mix the pesto through the potatoes. I find this easiest to do in the large saucepan.
  5. Place the pesto potatoes in a serving bowl and add the tomatoes, crispy pancetta and chives.
Source: cook fast eat slow
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Panzanella Salad

This is the first of a few posts I am going to dedicate to the Christmas season. Whether you need inspiration for a relaxed summer BBQ with friends or a formal Christmas gathering, over the next few weeks I will post some simple and achievable recipes suitable for those occasions. I can’t wait to hear if any of them make it to your menu!

There are many reasons why this is one of my favourite salads.

Firstly, it’s from Tuscany, Italy. A place I dream of visiting one day.  I long to soak up the history, food and culture. I dream of spending a day in an Italian mumma’s kitchen, learning all that I can. I dream of olive groves, foraging for herbs and eating lots and lots of cheese!

The Italians are well known for being wise with their food and never wasting a thing. This salad was born as a way of using up stale bread. Pure genuis, to combine stale bread with some of summers best produce and finest herbs.

Secondly, it is colourful and so pretty on a big white platter. The red, green and white theme make it a perfect Aussie Christmas salad, especially when tomatoes are at their best and full of flavour.

Thirdly, it’s SIMPLE. A little chopping, a little toasting and a quick dressing, this salad is perfect to add to your Christmas menu, which like me, you are probably trying to keep as simple, yet as tasty, as possible.

My version of the Panzanella Salad is based on one I read about in the Quick Smart Cook recipe book, from the ABC delicious magazine.

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Panzanella Salad

Created by on November 22, 2015

  • Prep Time: 10m
  • Cook Time: 20m
  • Total Time: 28m

Ingredients

  • 1/2 loaf sourdough bread, torn into small chunks
  • 50 milliliters extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for the sourdough)
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped, to give 3/4 cup (plus extra whole leaves for garnish)
  • 600 grams cherry tomatoes, halved (look out for yellow, orange and green tomatoes to make the salad more colourful)
  • 1 large lebanese cucumber, cut into chunks
  • 1/2 cup pitted olives, halved (more if you like olives!)
  • 150 grams fresh buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini, torn into chunks

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Drizzle the torn bread chunks in some olive oil, season with salt and place in a single layer on a baking tray.
  3. Bake for 15-20 minutes till golden and crispy. Set aside.
  4. Combine 50ml olive oil, red wine vinegar and finely chopped basil leaves in a jar with a lid and shake to combine.
  5. Place cut tomatoes, olives, cucumber, toasted bread and mozzarella in a large bowl and pour the dressing over. Mix well with your hands.
  6. Place on a serving platter and garnish with whole fresh basil leaves.
Source: cook fast eat slow
/ emma@cookfasteatslow.com Leave a comment

Deconstructed Lime Tart with Raspberries

Does the thought of cooking with pastry scare you?

Or do you always avoid preparing a fancy dessert when entertaining, worried that it might not turn out?

This recipe is for you my friend.

We are about to embark on a season of entertaining, mostly outdoors, with kids swimming and playing and adults relaxing and catching up.

Even the crazy cooks, like myself, love to actually be chilling with our guests when they are over, and not spending all the time in the kitchen.

This dessert suits both the cooks and non-cooks alike.

Cooks, enjoy making your own curd and crumble from scratch, (both of which can be done in advance) and then simply layer in glasses when you are ready to serve.

Non-cooks, purchase a jar of yummy store-bought curd, and instead of following the crumble recipe, buy a packet of shortbread biscuits and blitz them in the food processor. Follow the rest of the recipe as normal.

The quantities of ingredients listed below can be easily doubled to serve a crowd of 10-12, or you may want to make larger servings than I did and serve 4 instead of 6, or stretch it to serve 8! Basically, you have a good quantity of each element, how many you want it to serve is entirely up to you.

This is an easy dessert for summer time entertaining. It looks beautiful and tastes great. It has crunch and creaminess and you do actually feel like you are eating a Citrus Tart.

Beware my family and friends, this will probably be on the menu a bit this Christmas season.

The link to my Lemon Curd can be found here.

Deconstructed Lime Tart with Raspberries

Created by on November 15, 2015

  • Prep Time: 15m
  • Cook Time: 10m
  • Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons plain flour
  • 3 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 3 tablespoons almond meal
  • 3 tablespoons cold butter
  • 2 cups lime or lemon curd (store bought or see my Lemon Curd recipe in Baking )
  • 300 milliliters double cream
  • 250 grams mascarpone
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 punnet fresh raspberries
  • mint leaves or edible flowers to serve

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsuis.
  2. Combine flour, sugar and almond meal in a bowl.
  3. Place those ingredients in a food processor and add the cold butter, processing in short bursts, till it forms a crumble like mix. You can also use your fingers for this part - just rub the butter in to the dry ingredients till sand like crumbs form.
  4. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put in the oven for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. You may need to keep an eye on it and give it a stir once in a while.
  5. Combine cream, mascarpone and vanilla in a bowl and give a good stir.
  6. Layer the curd, cream, crumble and raspberries into glasses.
  7. Garnish with mint leaves or edible flowers to serve.
Source: cook fast eat slow