Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with Honey Roasted Pears

This one is for you Ella! This recipe is from Cuisine Magazine, September 2005 Issue 112 Page 90.

For the Pears
3 firm Beurre Bosc pears sliced lengthways to 1cm thickness and cores removed.
3 Tablespoons liquid honey
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
Seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Combine all ingredients in an ovenproof dish and mix well. Bake for 30-45 minutes until the pears are starting to caramelise. Allow to cool before using.

For the Pudding
3 tablespoons butter
4 croissants sliced into 2cm slices
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup of 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
2 tablespoons castor sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
cream or marscapone to serve

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Grease a 2 litre pudding dish or similar with the butter. Press down a layer of croissant, then a layer of pears, a sprinkling of cinnamon, followed by a layer of chocolate. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, ending with a croissant layer and sprinkling of chocolate. Whisk eggs, cream and sugar together and pour mixture over pudding and press down on croissants so that they absorb some of the liquid. Allow to sit for half and hour. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for 45-60minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Quick and Easy Dhal

I made this for a quick dinner on Sunday - we ate it like soup with bread. Should probably have got some Naan! I made this using patak's so its not that authentic.

1/4 jar Patak's Korma paste
1 Onion
1 400g tin of chopped tomatos
1 cup of Red Lentils
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
Water

Fry the onion and curry paste until onion is soft. Add lentils, chilli powder and tomatos and 1 1/2 tomato tins of water. Stir and simmer for half an hour until lentils soft. Put it through the blender and serve.

Pea and Ham Soup

Super easy and super yummy.

2 glugs of olive oil
1 onion - chopped
75 - 100g bacon rashers - chopped
1 1/2 cups of dried split peas
2 cups of water
2 cups of stock (I made mine with vegetable stock cubes)

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Fry the onion and bacon rashers in the oil until onion is starting to go golden. (Leave the fat on the bacon - your soup will be tastier). Add split peas, water and stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for an hour with the lid on, stirring occasionally - especially towards the end or your soup will stick to the bottom of the pot. Serve with bread and butter. Yum.

Chilli Beans

You can serve these beans with rice and grated cheese, or use them in burritos, tacos or nachos. This is a good standby for when you can't be bothered going to the supermarket.

2 glugs of olive or vegetable oil
1 onion - chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes (reasonably mild chilli - add more if you like)
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 tin of red kidney beans
1 tin of tomatoes
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and chilli flakes until the onion starts to go translucent. Add the ground cumin and stir so onion is coated in it. Drain the kidney beans and add to the frying pan and cook for 2 minutes, stir through the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Eggplant with Feta and Tomatoes

This is a take on a Ray McVinnie recipe - I have simplified it but it is still yummy, and a good way to eat eggplants which are cheap at the moment.

Serves 2

1 Eggplant
2 large tomatoes or 4 medium ones
200g Feta - I used Zany Zeus Chilli Feta for extra flavour
A handful of olives or 2 tablespoons of capers - whatever you have in the fridge!
1/2 clove of garlic, very finely chopped.
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 cup of Basmati Rice - makes 2 cups cooked.

Slice tomatoes and place in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of oil, garlic, the olives or capers, season with salt and pepper, mix and set aside. Put your rice on to cook. Cut the eggplant into 2cm thick slices and place on foil on a baking tray. Brush both sides of the eggplant with oil and bake in 200 degree oven, turning once until eggplant is golden and soft. Remove eggplant from oven and crumble or spread feta on each slice. Set aside. When rice is cooked, place on plates, layer with eggplant and tomato slices and pour the remaining liquid and capers/olives from the tomatoes over the top.

Corn, Pea and Feta Fritters

2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of frozen peas - thawed
1 cup of corn kernels
250g feta
Olive oil for frying

Beat the eggs and milk together. Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl, make a well in the centre and stir in the eggs and milk to form a smooth batter. Add peas, corn and feta and stir to combine. Heat oil in a frying pan (non-stick is easiest) and place tablespoonfuls of batter in the pan. When the fritters start to form bubbles, it is time to flip them. Cook until golden brown.

Serve with ketchup - and a salad if you are feeling healthy!

Puttanesca

We first had puttanesca at an Italian restaurant on the Greek island of Naxos. Apparently it translates to "whores pasta" - what the girls eat before they go out on the job! Our mate Yianni, who was with us, told me how to make it.

To serve 2

Pasta for 2
400g Tin of crushed tomatoes
1 clove of garlic - crushed
Olives
Capers
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan to serve (if you like it!)

Put a couple of glugs of oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic and chilli until the garlic is just turning brown. Add the tin of tomatoes, a handful of olives and about 2 teaspoons of capers. Bring to a low simmer and put your pasta on to cook. When your pasta is cooked, season your sauce with salt and pepper. Drain pasta and stir through sauce. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.