Leek, Mushroom and Spinach Pies

Following on from my post on the dinner for eight the other night, this is another of the appetisers that I served that night. After serving the Bacon wrapped apricots and the chicken version of Nachos, these mini pies came out.

When planning the menu, The Lovely Wife was concerned that we were only serving one dish for the main meal. And the salad of course. She felt the table would be a little bare and that somehow our guests would not have enough food or enough choices. We decided to overcome that with lots of appetisers and these pies were to be the substantial appetisers that would not only taste good, but help in filling up out guests as well!



I was a bit apprehensive about making these mini pies as I felt that they may be a little time consuming. The Lovely Wife had originally suggested my Vol au Vents but I knew that although those would be well received, it would definitely be time consuming in cutting out the rounds, baking them, filling them and then baking them again.



Lining muffin pans with pastry seemed to be a simple solution and it turned out to be far easier, far faster and no less delicious. This is what I did.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 medium onion - chopped
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
400g Button Mushrooms - sliced thinly
3 leeks - sliced thinly
200g spinach
3 eggs
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
Black Pepper
Puff Pastry Sheets
Method
Blanche the spinach and then chop roughly. Set aside. Sautee onion, garlic, oregano and basil together until onions are tender. Add in the mushrooms and leek and cook till tender. Add in the spinach and toss well. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Beat the eggs and pour into the mixing bowl together with the sour cream. Mix well. Season with salt and black pepper.

Line a muffin tray with the puff pastry and then spoon the mixture evenly into the pastry, about 2/3 full. Bake in a preheated 200C oven till pastry puffs up nicely and the mixture has set.

In retrospect, the could probably have been a little bit more filling for the pastry but it was very tasty as it was. The puff pastry lent a nice flakiness to the filling and the eggs were not too overpowering or even noticeable.



A very tasty and satisfying appetiser indeed and even something that could be used as an accompaniment for the main meal. My little princess really enjoyed the pies and both my son and her wolfed down a couple over breakfast the next morning.

I have to admit that in terms of presentation and appearance, Vol au Vents would have been the much better choice but in terms of speed and ease of execution, these just cant be beat! Call them mini pies or call them quiche, fill them with whatever you like. This is something I will file for frequent use as the possibilities for these mini pies/quiches are really quite endless!

Bacon Wrapped Brandied Apricots

This is the first appetiser that I made for the dinner for eight the other night. I had wanted to serve an appetiser with bacon and tossed up a variety of options. Searching the web yielded a few recipes with ham wrapped fruits as well as bacon wrapped fruits. I found a few websites that featured apricots wrapped in bacon and that idea stuck in my head!

The recipe is really easy and the result is quite spectacular both in presentation and in taste as well. The saltiness and meatiness of the bacon contrasted really well with the apricots.





This is what I did:

Ingredients
30 dried Apricots
2 Tbsp Orange Juice
1 Tbsp Brandy
10 rashers back bacon
Method
Soak the Apricots in the mix of orange juice and brandy for at least 2 hours to rehydrate the apricots. Trim the fat off the bacon and cut into three strips (lenghtwise). Wrap the apricots in the bacon strips and secure with a toothpick. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes till the bacon is cooked and the apricots are slightly tender.

Now how easy is that! My son sampled a few before he had to leave for his birthday party and declared it a success. The guests really enjoyed popping them into their mouths as appetisers with their drinks and it got polished off very, very quickly.

Dinner for Eight (plus one)

Last Saturday, we had a few friends over for dinner - 3 couples to be exact. 3 times two equals 6. Add in The Lovely Wife and myself and that makes Eight. The plus one is for my little princess. My son had a birthday party that night so he didn't partake of the food. He did help out with the tasting though and came back just in time for dessert!

So what did I make? As usual, The Lovely Wife and I tossed up the menu. She suggested going down the trail of tried and tested but as usual, I wanted to push myself. I also wanted to have something that I could update on this blog!

We decided we would make a few starters. That way, we could chat and munch and munch and chat and throw in a few drinks at the same time! The Lovely Wife decided she wanted to throw together a delightful Sangria and I must say that it was very well received.

So, for appetisers, I decided on Bacon Wrapped Apricots. This was followed by Nachos although I used chicken instead of beef. Leek, Spinach and Mushroom Quiche followed up before we moved to the Dining Table for the main meal.

For the Main, I whipped up my version of a Karniyarik - a Turkish based recipe with Eggplant and Minced Lamb. The Lovely Wife tossed together a lovely Greek Salad and we served the main with Rice as well as loads of bread.

Finally, the dessert. I made an original dessert that I'd like to call Le Snick Snack. Its basically a dessert based on a Snickers bar - chocolate, caramel and peanuts.

I'll post the recipes in due course together with the photos. It's always difficult to take photos while guests are around so I apologise in advance if the photos arent quite as detailed as I would like!

Stay tuned!

TLW gets her Birthday Dessert

The Lovely Wife celebrated her birthday on Wednesday, 10th August 2011. As usual, I was going to bake her a cake but this time, she asked if rather than making her a cake, if I could just make her my Tiramisu. She reckons that Tiramisu is her most favourite dessert and she wanted it for her birthday. Who am I to refuse a woman, a woman so gorgeous and especially when she is The Lovely Wife!!

So Tiramisu it was.


Actually, making a dessert was far easier than baking a cake and far quicker too. This time, I jazzed up my usual Tiramisu recipe by adding chopped chocolate in between the layers. A simply small bar of 45g of Dark Chocolate was enough.

For the topping, I made some caramel almonds and chopped them up before sprinkling it on top. Unlike last year where I was in such a rush that I messed up the caramel almonds, this time they turned out truly beautifully.

For her birthday, the kids and I woke her up early to give her her cards and presents. Then it was off to school and work. Later in the evening, we went out for dinner, where sadly the food was rather disappointing. No dessert was ordered of course as the Tiramisu was waiting in the fridge! We came home to 'cut the cake' and everyone had a huge serving. The kids enjoyed stuffing their faces with the Tiramisu and The Lovely Wife was very, very happy indeed.




As for me, as long as The Lovely wife is happy with her Birthday cake, or dessert as the case may be, I am a happy camper!

Happy, Happy Birthday to The Lovely Wife!

Fudge gone awry transforms to Truffles!

For the longest time, I've wanted to make fudge. Chocolate Fudge that is. My Aunt Julie makes a great toffee fudge and she tells me that the secret is in the quality of Condensed Milk. In looking for a recipe for Chocolate Fudge, most of them either required a sugar syrup boiled to soft ball stage or the use of Condensed Milk.

What I dont like about condensed milk is that in Malaysia, is is now almost impossible to find Condensed Milk. Real Condensed milk that is. What is sold here is sold as Sweetened Thickened Creamer. The Reason? Whereas Condensed Milk is sweetened milk where the water has been removed, the Sweetened Thickend Creamer is actually mixed with Palm Oil and other additives so it's not really 100% milk anymore.

So when I found a recipe that used Evaporated Milk instead of Condensed Milk, I was rather pleased. I modified the recipe a little and started to make the Fudge. First mistake though was that I cut down on the sugar. Not a very bright thing to do in retrospect as the sugar would be what thickens the milk. Next, I didn't watch the boiling mass and it overboiled and spilled all over my stove top. To cut a long story short, the mixture didn't set. It just refused to harden up sufficiently to fudge consistency even after I placed it in the freezer.

It tasted bloody good though! So, in order to salvage the 'disaster', I decided I'd roll up the mixture in cocoa and produce truffles. And what truffles they were! I still had to keep them in the freezer as they melted really quickly but that was part of the magic. The chocolate truffles were really rich and chocolatey and were what you would expect from an expensive store or hotel. Simply delicious.



This is the recipe for really simple but stunning Chocolate Truffles.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
400g tin evaporated milk
4oz butter
300g good quality chocolate
2Tbsp Cocoa
100g roasted almonds
1 Tbsp vanilla
Method
Combine sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and then cook for 12 minutes, stirring to make sure mixture doesn't boil over. Allow to cool slightly and then add in butter, chocolate and vanilla. Mix well till nicely combined then beat until mixture starts to lose its gloss. Add in nuts and chill for a while. Roll into balls with cocoa dusted hands.

I doubt I would make these again as I'm sure there are easier ways to make truffles which would probably taste just as good if not better. I really have to try and make a fudge again some day but what I am most happy about this attempt is that nothing went to waste and quick thinking saved the day for all that chocolate that went into this. Most importantly, the kids really enjoyed this although they both looked at me and asked:

"But Dads, I thought you were making Fudge?"

Pear and Chocolate Mousse Cake

Not too long ago, actually it could be sometime in May, so that makes it quite some time ago, I made this dessert for a couple of friends that came over for tea and good conversation. Lynn brought along a lovely salad while the delectable Ms Kong Piang brought along a team smoked trout that was rather delicious. She also mentioned that she hadn't had a nice dessert in a while and that all the stuff she had been 'forced' to eat was really not worth her time. Ms Kong Piang often repeats that same story to me just to get me to make her desserts. *Yawn*

So anyway, not wanting to disappoint neither Ms Kong Piang nor Lynn, I decided I was going to make something different. Something chocolatey yet fruity. The Lovely Wife kept bugging me as to what I was going to make but I hushed her up. Very politely too!

In my mind, I wanted a chocolate cake with a pear mousse on top. I surfed the web for a Pear Mousse recipe and found this recipe from cdkitchen.com reproduced below.

For the cake, I decided on using my Baked Chocolate Mousse as I wanted a nicer soft texture.

While I was baking the mousse, I decided to make a cinnamon sauce to complement the pear mousse.

Ingredients
PEAR MOUSSE
3 large pears
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup Whipping cream


Method
Peel and core pears and chop coarsely. Place pears in pot with sugar and butter and lemon juice and cook and stir over low heat 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly and place in blender and puree smooth. Add the brandy and mix well. Cool completely.

Whip heavy cream and blend into cooled pear mixture. Chill well for several hours.


BAKED CHOC MOUSSE CAKE
200g Good Quality Dark Chocolate
4 eggs
200g Caster Sugar
300 ml Thickenend Cream
3 Tbsps Corn Flour

Method
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and let cool. Meanwhile, beat eggs with sugar till nice and foamy. Add in the melted chocolate and continue beating till nicely incorporated. In a separate bowl, whip cream to soft peaks. Fold into the chocolate mixture and then add in sifted corn flour. Mix well to incorporate. Pour into a 9" round pan and place in a water bath. Bake in 180C oven for about 30 minutes.

Caramel Cinnamon Sauce
5 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbs Water
1 Tbsp Butter
about 1/2 cup cream or milk
2 - 3 tsps Cinnamon powder (to your taste)

Method
Melting the sugar and water and allow to cook without stirring till the sugar turns amber. Turn add in the butter and stir quickly. Mixture may sputter. Reduce heat and allow to cool slightly before adding in the milk/cream. Return to heat and whisk until everything combines and mixture is nice and thick. Add in the cinnamon powder to taste.

Before serving, I dusted the top of the pear mousse with some cinnamon powder for those that didnt want to eat it with the caramel cinnamon sauce. The cinnamon really did make a difference and seemed to bring out the flavour of the pears.




The pear mousse turned out really nicely although if I make this again, I would let the pears mixture thicken some more as the mousse took a long, long time to set. In fact, even after being in the freezer overnight, the mousse melted very quickly. However the next day, the mousse had set up very, very nicely as you can see above.



The mousse was great as a dessert on its own too - especially with the caramel cinnamon sauce! Ms Kong Piang remarked that it would make a very good ice cream.




The combination of the pear mousse and the baked choc mousse was rather sublime and very interesting. The fruitiness of the pears combined really well with the chocolate and one slice was definitely not enough. This is the kind of dessert that you can just eat and eat... and that's exactly what we did!