Recipe of the week: Lemon roast chicken with herb mayonnaise

Why Roast Chicken?

Roast chicken is the easiest comfort food I know how to cook. I love the smell that wafts through the house as the chicken cooks, and even better, when it comes out of the oven and is ready to rip into and enjoy.

I love to eat a home roasted chicken in the purest form. Chicken, a little rocket (or any other peppery greens) and a gorgeous lemony, herby mayonnaise - perfection!


(This recipe is also great as it uses the preserved lemons that I posted a recipe for last week.)

Ingredients
1.6kg Organic chicken
2 preserved lemons, kept whole and quartered
6 cloves garlic, kept in their skins
3 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cracked pepper
Salt

Mayonnaise
4 tablespoons whole egg mayonnaise
1 preserved lemon, skin only and chopped finely
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
1 cup chives chopped finely
1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped
Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Wash the chicken, and pat dry. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the quartered lemons, garlic and rosemary. Place the chicken on a metal rack in a backing tray. Rub the chicken with olive oil, lemon juice, cracked pepper and salt.

Roast in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

While the chicken is roasting, make the mayonnaise. Simply mix the mayonnaise, lemon and herbs together and season with pepper.

Serve the chicken with rocket leaves and the mayonnaise.

Served 4- 6

Bon Appetite

Make your own…. Preserved Lemons

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe that I absolutely recommend! Preserved lemons are great to always have on hand. Unlike fresh lemons, preserved lemons offer a unique lemon flavour without a huge amount of acidity.

Typically preserved lemons take up to three weeks to ‘pickle’ in their own juices and salt. Nigella’s recipe - which requires you to blanch the lemons and cook them in a briney solution - is a fantastic alternative as you can prepare them a day before use rather than a month.

What I also find great about this recipe is the different flavours that come out of the lemons. Rather than traditional preserved lemons that heighten the ‘tang’ of a lemon, without the acidity; this recipe provides the fruitfulness that lemons can have.

When using preserved lemons in cooking make sure you only use the rind, as the inside will just taste salty and a little bitter.

Ingredients
8 unwaxed lemons
500g caster sugar
200g Maldon salt
1 litre water

Method

Cut each lemon into quartes, removing any pits and white pith. Cook in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. Place the lemon quartes in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 1 hour.

Meanwhile mix the sugar, salt and the measure water in a saucepan and put on the heat to dissolve. Drain the lemon quartes and add to the pan. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until the skins are tender.

Remove the lemons and place in a sterilised jam jar, or any well sealable jar. Reduce the syrup until for up to 5 minutes, or syrupy, and pour over the lemons in the jar.

The lemons will be ready to use the following day, but can be kept in the fridge ready at hand.

Bon Appetite

Recipe of the week: Apple and Walnut Strudel

This week’s recipe: Apple and Walnut Strudel

Why Apple and Walnut Strudel?

Originating in Austria or Germany, strudel is best described as a generous mound of succulent fruit fillings wrapped in delicious light and flaky pastry.

Strudels are very easy to make, and are delicious. The combination of the crisp, light savory pastry (filo pastry contains no sugar) with a filling of warm apples cooked with cinnamon, vanilla, spices and sugar is perfect, even better with vanilla ice cream!


Ingredients
6 apples, peeled and diced
1 cup walnuts
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 sheets filo pastry
2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs or ground almonds
2-3 tablespoons melted butter

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Place sugar, water, vanilla and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the apples and cook on a medium heat stirring occasionally. Add the walnuts and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, or until soft. Place the apple mixture in a shallow bowl and allow to cool slightly.

On a large clean surface, layer the filo sheets, brushing between each sheet and sprinkle with a few breadcrumbs. Form a large square by placing the second sheet halfway down the first sheet. Alternate layers by brushing with butter and sprinkling with breadcrumbs.

Place the cooled apple mix along one edge of the filo pastry leaving 2 cms spare. Roll the pastry starting at the apple filling end. Continue to roll until you come towards the end of the filo pastry square. Brush the edge with melted butter and finish rolling. Roll the strudel until the seam is on the bottom and place on a buttered baking tray.

Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool and slice with a serrated knife. Serve with a sprinkle of icing sugar and vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6-8

Bon Appetite

Make your own… Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta is a beautiful cheese that celebrates in its own simplicity. This pure white cheese is light, yet creamy with a slightly sweet taste.

Traditionally ricotta is made from the left over whey from such Italian cheeses as mozzarella or provolone. You can always tell a good quality ricotta because it will smell and taste of the milk it is made of, hence mass manufactured ricotta will not taste of much – the perfect reason to make it yourself at home!

Ricotta cheese is simple to make and tastes so much better than store bought that you may find yourself eating it by the spoonful.

Ingredients
3.785 litres of organic full cream milk (remember that you need the best quality milk you can find)
945 millilitres of butter milk
cheese cloth or cotton muslin

Method
Line a sieve with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, or cotton gauze, and set aside.

Pour both milks into a non-reactive saucepan (stainless steel), and stir to combine. Turn the heat on high and allow the milks to warm, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Once the milk mixture is warm stop stirring, curds will start to rise to the surface. Occasionally scrap more of these curds from the bottom of the pan with your spoon.

When the milks reaches around 80 degrees Celsius the curds and whey will separate; meaning that you will see cloudy white water (whey) appear under curds (solids) floating on the surface.

Immediately take the mixture off the heat and spoon the solids into the prepared cheesecloth. Once the mixture has drained tie the loose sides of the cloth together and let the ricotta continue to drain, trying not to press, or put pressure on the curds.

Let the ricotta drain out of the refrigerator for another 15minutes, and then continue for up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

To serve transfer the ricotta from the cloth into a container. Refrigerate and use within 1 week.

Serving suggestions.

You will find that this ricotta is beautiful spread on rye, or fruit toast. Also try it in simple salads of baby spinach leaves, roasted cherry tomatoes and a good balsamic. Or use it to make ricotta gnocchi.

Bon Appetite

Recipe of the Week: Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Why Chocolate raspberry cupcakes?

Cupcakes are the new black! It appears that nothing can be trendier than being seen wearing a cute out fit while eating a decadent, yet adorably decorated cupcake, and with cupcake shops opening all throughout Sydney, it seems that this trend is here to stay for a little while longer.

For me, cupcakes were always the best part of childhood birthday parties, and the excitement of when the birthday cake would come out and we would be presented with a plate of generously iced pink and white mini pound cakes.

Although cupcakes may have a had a major make over in the last few years - with endless elaborate cake flavours and icing techniques – I think their popularity will always come down to that childhood excitement that we get when we know that this little cake is all ours, and that there is nothing wrong with eating the icing first!

So this weekend indulge your inner child, or just indulge your friends and family by baking some cupcakes.
Ingredients

90 g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
100g frozen raspberries

Frosting
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Pink food colouring

Decoration
Jellybeans,
Silver or gold candy balls
Mini marshmallows
Or any decoration of your choice

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a 12-hole cup cake tin with cases, or butter and flour.

Beat butter, vanilla, and sugar until light and creamy in a mixer, or in a small bowl with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and continue to beat. Slowly add the sifted flour, cocoa powder and milk. Lastly fold in the raspberries.

Divide the mixture among the cases and smooth the surface. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted into the cakes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.


In the meantime make the frosting. Whip the butter for 5 minutes, or until the butter has doubled in volume. Add the sifted icing sugar and continue to whip for another 5 to 10 minutes. While on a slow speed, add the milk and as much food colouring until desired colour.

Transfer frosting into a piping bag with a 1 cm round nozzle and pipe the icing in a spiral onto the cake (or other wise spoon the mixture on and spread out with a butter knife).

Decorate as you wish.

Makes 12 delicious and adorable cupcakes.

Bon appetite