Chocolatini - by Gynelle Alves

Mr. Martini and Ms. Chocolate’s crazy loved-up love affairs’ lovely love-child…

Ingredients:

1 part vanilla vodka

2 parts Amarula / Bailey’s Cream liqueur

Splash of crème de cocao (or chocolate sauce in a pinch)

Optional splash in any of the following if you want a little something extra… flavor-wise:

Orange – Cointreau, Hazelnut – Frangelico, Mint – Crème de Menthe or Peppermint Schnapps, Coffee- Kahlua or Tia Maria…

Ice

Method:

Put everything in your shaker, including your ice and shake it like Outkast’s said Polaroid picture… till the ice chills it through but does not melt. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with chocolate shavings, a chocolate dipped cherry… Enjoy responsibly.

P.S. Optional, but fun! Rub a little beaten egg white over the mouth of the glass, then dip it in brown sugar crystals with a pinch of salt… Or simply wet the rim and dip it into cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.

Pots De Crème Au Chocolat - By Gynelle Alves

Simple and simply everything you want from chocolate…This is a super easy, basic no bain-marie (a.k.a. pain-in-my-marie) version of the classic French dessert. 

 

Ingredients:

Since the ingredients used are fairly basic, the taste does depend largely on the quality of chocolate used…

2 cups good quality dark chocolate (or milk, if you like it sweet), chopped up

2 cups heavy cream

10 egg yolks

2 tbsp brown sugar

Good pinch of salt

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pot, mix in the cream and chocolate and on medium heat bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Take it off the heat, stirring to melt the chocolate through.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the salt and sugar till creamy and thick. Add a little of the cream to the egg, then a little more, whisking it in. Slowly add the egg to the chocolate-cream, whisking constantly. Return to a low flame and turn off at the first sign of a bubble. Let this cool slightly then ladle into ramekin dishes… or any small interesting pots… teacups, shot glasses, little earthen ware pots… Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, then cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Serve on its own dusted with a little cocoa… a dollop of whipped cream, some amaretti cookies, fresh berries… any way is the best way possible.

Monday Morning Muesli - By Gynelle Alves

If you’re one of those people who wake up in the middle of the night sometimes just craving a bowl of breakfast cereal, sometimes craving chocolate... then you’ll love this recipe I came up with… uhhh, at four o’clock one morning. Thinking about it now, if Mary Poppins made muesli, it might go something like this…

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup poppy seeds

1 cup chopped almonds + 1/2 cup ground almonds (skin on!)

6 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp butter

1 cup puffed rice

1 cup cornflakes

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)

Pinch of salt

Method:

Heat a frying pan and on a medium flame toast the oats, ground almonds and poppy seeds with a nice pinch of salt. Remove to a big mixing bowl to cool.

On low heat, add 1 tbsp butter, chopped almonds and 2 tbsp brown sugar. Put it back over a gentle flame and toast almonds till nicely browned and the sugar has melted over them.

Remove this to a plate to cool.

Again, on low heat, with a tbsp of butter toast your rice puffs with 2 tbsp brown sugar for a minute. Add the cocoa powder, toss around to coat the puffs and add to the oats to cool.

Next, toast the cornflakes with the remaining butter and sugar till lightly caramelized and very crisp. Add to the oats and puffs and mix well. Break up the crunchy almonds and mix it all in. Store it all in a clean, dry, air-tight jar. Add to cold soy or regular milk…or as a topping to chopped bananas and cream.

Black Cherry & Chocolate Spread - By Gynelle Alves

When in season, you can of course, make your favorite fruit jam from scratch, it’s pretty easy. Otherwise, for this recipe, a good quality low-sugar, high fruit content commercially available jam is the ticket on the fast train to yummy town. This can be made either in the microwave or on the hob.

Ingredients:

2 cups black cherry jam (or strawberries, raspberries, pear, peach…any fruit you fancy!)

1 cup coarsely chopped bitter chocolate

Method:

Microwave-

Heat the jam on medium high for 1-2 minutes till it begins to bubble. Remove, whisk in the chocolate till all is well incorporated. 

Stove top-

Heat the jam in a double boiler till bubbling, reduce the heat, add your chocolate and stir in till melted.

Bottle it up in a sterilized jar and refrigerate. Eat on pancakes, toast, waffles… with toasted almonds and vanilla ice-cream on a split banana… or use instead of plain chocolate in your favorite chocolate mousse recipe.

Chili-Chocolate Mole with Pork Chops

We first thought we should make this when we read Like Water for Chocolate. Similar recipes also feature in every ‘aphrodisiac’ cookbook for lovers. Don’t let the idea of chocolate outside the dessert menu worry you. This recipe is warming, delicious and the chocolate provides a beautiful colour and depth. So good! First we will make the sauce…

Ingredients:

4 fat tomatoes (choose firm, fleshy ones)

2 red peppers

4-6 fresh green jalapeno chilies, 4-6 red (all de-seeded)

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup raisins

3 tbsp dry-toasted sesame/ pumpkin seeds

2 red onions, chopped

8 fat garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns

1 big stick cinnamon

2 cloves

1 star anise

1/2 tsp each of ground cumin, oregano, coriander

2 tsp sweet red paprika flakes

Olive oil

Salt to taste

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 cup very dark, bitter-sweet chocolate grated (milk chocolate will not do!)

OR 4 heaped tbsp good quality dark cocoa powder dissolved in some hot water/ stock

Method:

Wash and dry tomatoes and peppers and coat them with a little olive oil. Prick them and roast on a heavy iron griddle pan (or under a grill) till the skins blacken. Put them in a glass bowl and cover and let cool. When cool, rub off the blackened skin and de-seed, saving the juices. Chop them all up roughly and put them back in the juices till needed.

Puree chilies smooth in a little olive oil, with a pinch of salt and the brown sugar, sieving it if necessary.

In a heavy bottomed pan, add some olive oil and sauté the garlic and onions. When turning translucent, add in your spices, seeds, nuts and raisins. Let this go quite nicely golden. Throw in the chili puree and let it bubble around for half a minute more. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise and put it all, plus the roasted tomatoes, peppers and chocolate into a blender and puree till super smooth, adding just a little water/ stock if needed. The sauce should be of pouring consistency but not runny! Adjust your salt in.

N.B. Poblano chilies (dried, they’re ancho) are the authentic chili used for this mole, but they’ve sadly not made it to markets here yet. Fresh jalapenos are available and a good substitute. However, if you can’t get any, our desi-mirchi is fine. The quantities used will make this pretty hot, so you can adjust to suit your heat needs.

For the Pork Chops

We did this recipe with some tender, delicate, smoked pork chops but you can use duck, turkey, chicken (skin on, bone in) grilled sausages (try braai or go Goa for extra spicy heaven) or just fry it up with some kidney beans, hold the meat!

Ingredients:

4 meaty, pork chops prepared (or use chicken thighs with bone and skin)

2 red onions, fat sliced and ringed (optional)

4 bay leaves

1-2 sticks cinnamon

2 tbsp whole peppercorns

Salt

Splash of olive oil

2-3 cups good quality stock/water

2-3 cups Mole sauce

Couscous (or brown rice) as needed

Method:

Pat dry the pork (or meat) and rub in a little salt. Heat up a frying pan with a splash of olive oil, add in the bay leaves and spices and brown the chops nicely. Remove to a plate. Next brown the onions, remove and reserve. De-glaze your frying pan with the stock/ water, scraping all the delicious brown bits and bobs that will be invariably stuck a bit to the pan. Put your chops back in the pan and bring this to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and let simmer till cooked through. Gently does it - a longer, even cooking will yield meat that melts off the bone.  

Remove the pork to a lightly buttered casserole or baking dish (saving the pan-juices) add the onions and generously cover them up with the mole. In an oven pre-heated to 180-200 degrees C, bake this for about 30 minutes, turning the pieces over in the mole a couple of times in between. Serve piled onto a plate of warm couscous*, sprinkled with some toasted sesame. 

 *Make your couscous as per instructions (using the saved up pan-juices to add to total liquid quantities needed) and (optionally) tossed with a little butter and some fresh, chopped coriander, and toasted sesame seeds / slivered, toasted almonds.

Rosemary & Paprika Baby / Sweet Potatoes - by Gynelle Alves

Our family has been making these for years and years! Usually had as a side-show to a Sunday roast, maybe along with roasted onions, butter-nut squash and what-have-you… they hold their own beautifully, with maybe just some sour cream and chives on their side.

Ingredients:

As many baby or sweet potatoes as wanted, scrubbed clean

Rosemary, dried or fresh to taste

Paprika flakes to taste

Salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste

A little brown sugar (optional) mixed into,

1/4 cup butter melted with some olive oil or just olive oil

Method:

Par-boil your potatoes in plenty of salted water till just done. Rinse, drain and pat them dry. If using sweet potatoes, either slice them into 1/2 inch slices or chunks so that there is a bit of skin on. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C. In a bowl, toss your potatoes with the melted butter/olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and paprika. Spread them out evenly in baking trays and bake till lovely golden brown, with the skins just crispy here and there. Sprinkle on a little more salt if needed and dig in.

Bacon & Cheese Potato Shells - by Gynelle Alves

 A little bit of work but such a crowd pleaser. While cheese and bacon is a classic, once you have your basic roasted potato skins/shells you can literally stuff them to your hearts desire. Smoked salmon with sour cream and chives, onion & smoked mackerel/haddock, cheddar, with caramelized onion and apple, feta and spinach, avocado guacamole, pizza-styled toppings… As a certain little girl I know says, ‘just use your imaginary’.

Skins Ingredients:

8 medium-large baking potatoes 8 for 16 skins, roughly even sized (you don’t want fighting at the table for the big ones)

Olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Scrub potatoes clean. Pat dry and prick them over with a fork. Splash a little olive oil over to coat them. Bake for an hour and a half till the outsides are nice and crisp. Once they cool down, neatly cut them in halves longways and scoop out the insides (into a bowl for later) but leaving a nice rim of potato inside the skins so they hold shape. These can be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated till needed.

Stuff ‘em up! Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream

1 + 1/2 cups strong cheese grated (cheddar, parmesan etc)

2 spring onion greens only

Bacon, diced and pan fried or grilled in a little butter till nice and crispy (we use lean chicken bacon which is super!)

Mashed potato (saved from before)

Fresh, chopped parsley

Freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C. In a bowl using a fork, mix the mashed potato up with 1 cup of cheese, spring onion greens, cream, salt and pepper. Brush the insides of the potato shells with melted butter and spoon in your stuffing, placing them as you go onto an oiled baking tray. Top each potato skin with remaining cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes till lovely golden and the skins crisp. Top off with bacon and some parsley and you’re done.

Garlicky Potatoes Au Gratin - by Gynelle Alves

A couple steps longer than scalloped potatoes but a gorgeous side or with some extras like broccoli, mushroom, spinach, sausage… a comfort food spectacular. 

Ingredients:

6 big potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

2 cups grated cheese

2-3 cups milk (or half milk, half cream)

6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

4 tbsp refined flour

4-6 tbsp butter

1 tsp grated nutmeg / powdered

Freshly ground pepper

Salt to taste (keeping in mind saltiness of cheese)

1/4 cup dry toasted breadcrumbs + 1/4 cup grated parmesan

Method:

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan (non-stick if you have it). Turn the heat to low, add in the garlic, nutmeg… then flour whisking till it absorbs the butter. Take it off the heat and briskly whisk or blend in your milk salt and pepper. Put it back on the hob and add your potatoes.

Simmer, stirring gently occasionally till the potatoes are just about done, adding more milk if needed. Turn off heat and add the cheese, letting it melt through. (Now you have scalloped potatoes!) Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C. Pour your potatoes into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle over with breadcrumbs and parmesan and bake for 20 minutes longer, till the top is crispy and the potatoes cheesy-creamy tender.

Leek & Potato Soup - by Gynelle Alves

This soup is very, very easy to make. You can use vegetable stock, but I actually prefer to build up the onion and leek quantities and use regular water to keep it subtle and focused on the earthy loveliness of the title ingredients.

Ingredients:

4-6 big potatoes, peeled

2 large red onions

4 fat leeks, washed and trimmed off any brown bits

Splash of Olive Oil

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried rosemary

6 cups water

1 generous knob of butter

1/2 cup cream (optional)

Fresh chives or parsley chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Finely slice your potatoes, onions and heads of the leeks (saving the greens). In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add a decent splash of olive oil. Add potatoes, leek heads and onions, lower the flame and stir about so they get nicely tossed up with the oil. Add dried herbs once the onions and leeks go all pinky-translucent. Add water. Bring this to a gentle boil then lower and let simmer till the potatoes are super tender. Add the leek greens and let simmer for a couple more minutes till they go really green. Once marginally cooled down, blend all this (an immersion hand held blender is perfect!) Adjust seasonings, mount with a little butter or cream if you want luxury, sprinkle freshly chopped herbs and eat up!

Brioche - by Gynelle Alves

Brioche tastes best fresh with their rich buttery-sweet crumb and flaky top. Stale, toast it up to eat with chai, rich meaty stews, as bruschetta or even (like with croissants) reinvented as a bread and butter pudding.
 

 

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup butter (softened)

3 eggs beaten + 1 for the wash

1/3 cup sugar + 2 tsp for the wash

Yeast 3 tbsp

1/3 warm milk

Salt, about 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

In a large bowl, mix yeast in with the warm milk and sugar and leave for 10 minutes. Add flour and then slowly, the butter, making sure each piece is fully incorporated before adding the next.  Slowly add your beaten egg in mixing well. Knead the dough till very elastic and leaving your hands and sides of the bowl easily. Don’t panic if it’s too sticky! Just keep kneading and it will be fine. Shape into a big ball, cover and leave to rise in a warm, dry place for 1-2 hours.

Oil your baking tin, and lightly dust with flour, shaking out the extra. Gently knock back the dough and divide it into four balls. Put these into your tin just touching, cover and let this rise for another hour. When your hour is nearly up, heat up the oven to 200 degrees C.

Make a wash with a beaten egg and 2 tsp of sugar and gently brush over your brioche, taking care not to deflate the balls. With a pair of scissors make a small cut on top of each ball. Bake your bread for 10 minutes at full 200 before reducing heat to 180 and bake for a further 25 minutes. Remove and cool on a rack. Slice up and serve.

Black Olive Foccacia - by Gynelle Alves

This is a very basic recipe. Eat it warm, dipped in some quality olive oil or lightly toasted with soup or topped or stuffed with sandwichy things.

Ingredients - Basic:

3 tsp active dry yeast / fresh bakers yeast

1 tsp sugar

5 cups all-purpose flour

11/2 tsp salt

2-3 tsp herbs (rosemary / sage / thyme – fresh or dried)

1/2 cup olive oil + a bit more for brushing

1 1/2 warm water

Toppings (Optional):

Olives / chopped garlic / sun-dried tomato / finely sliced onions / paprika flakes / parmesan / coarse sea or black salt / slivers of cured meats…

Method:

Mix the yeast, sugar and lukewarm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes. In a big mixing bowl add flour, salt and olive oil and mix. Add yeast mixture and knead into soft dough. If too sticky, knead in a little more flour. Form this into a ball. Oil your hands and gently rub them over the ball, oiling it entirely. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm, dry place for an hour, till your dough has nicely puffed up to twice its size.

Oil and lightly flour your baking tray. Punch your dough down gently with fists, and press into the tray. Add herbs and optional toppings and press these into the dough. Cover lightly and let sit for half to one hour. When the time is almost up, preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. With your fingertips, poke the dough to dimple it and generously brush with olive oil. Bake for 40-45 minutes till done and golden on top. 

Transfer to a rack and while still warm brush with a little more olive oil, sprinkle with salt, cut into squares and eat!

Croissants - By Gynelle Alves

Easier than you think!

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose refine flour

1/3 cup fine sugar

3-4 tbsp fresh yeast

2 eggs

1/2 cup warm milk

3/4 cup salted butter

1 tsp salt

1 egg + 2 tsp sugar to glaze

Method:

Mix sugar, yeast, eggs and little of the milk together to form a paste. Add flour and the rest of the milk in slowly and knead well to a soft dough. Take a tbsp of the butter and cream in the salt. Knead it into the dough. Cover the dough with a moistened cloth and set aside. Cream the rest of the butter till soft. 

Generously flour your work surface and then roll out your dough into a big circle. Spread the remaining softened butter over it entirely. Divide and cut the dough into three pieces – small, medium and large, lengthwise. Roll your small strip first. Then place it onto your medium strip and roll them up. Then roll up both into the largest piece.(Fig 1) 

Pat down slightly and seal the ends of your dough pillow. Cover this with your moist cloth and let it rest in your freezer for about 20 minutes till nice and cold.

On a floured surface roll this out into a wide rectangle about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. Divide the whole into half. Then divide each half into five triangles. Your triangles should look like party hats with two longer sides and one shorter base. (Fig 2)

Take a triangle, make a small slit in the base and roll it up base to narrow tip. Twist the ends inwards to form crescents and place on an oiled and floured baking sheet. When done, brush these with your egg and sugar wash ad leave to prove for 20-30 minutes. Bake at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes and they’re done!

Glazed Doughnuts - By Gynelle Alves

This recipe is for 2 dozen doughnuts. You can halve this but I warn you, you may regret it. 

Tip: If you don’t have a doughnut cutter, improvise… neatly cut out the bottom of a big plastic bottle – you get a big round cutter on one end and small one on the other! Simple.

Ingredients for Doughnuts:

1/2 oz instant yeast or 3-4 tbsp fresh yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cup warm milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter

5 cups all purpose refined flour

Oil for frying

Ingredients for Glaze:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 – 2 cups icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup hot water

This dough is supposed to be really fluffy light and is a bit delicate to handle being just sticky to touch. So, don’t add more flour! I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to flour everything used, so generously flour your hands, work area and tools.

Method:

Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Whisk in milk, sugar, eggs, butter and 2 cups of the flour, scraping down the sides as you go. Stir in the remaining flour and mix till smooth. Cover, and place the bowl in a warm, dry place for at least an hour and let this puff out double.

DoughnutsTip the dough out onto a very well floured surface. Flour your hands and pat down gently to about an inch thickness. Cut you doughnuts with your well floured cutter and with a sharp, wide floured spatula transfer the doughnuts to well floured trays, removing the centers (saving them as is for frying or re-incorporating them into the dough). Gather together the remaining dough, pat down and repeat till you have or have had enough.

Cover these lightly and leave to rise for 40 minutes to an hour. Heat oil up to very hot but not smoking. Test it with a centre ball. If it bobs up immediately, it’s perfect. With floured hands or spatula slide your doughnuts into the hot oil, about 3-4 at a time so the temperature of the oil doesn’t drop. Fry them for about a minute on each side, remove and drain on crushed paper towels. Eat as is, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon or cool slightly and glaze them.

To glaze, briskly whisk together the melted butter, extract and sugar, adding water spoon by spoon till the glaze leaves a trail. Gently dip the doughnuts one at a time into the glaze and let set on a rack. To make a chocolate glaze, add dark cocoa powder to the melted butter and proceed. If you have fried the centers, Genesia liked hers dusted with parmesan.

P.S. Extra dough can also be kneaded into a ball, left to rise, glazed and baked for 20-30 minutes to yield a soft, sweet bun.

Onion Jam

 

Pictured: Bacon, onion jam, gouda, romaine lettuce on multi-grain ciabatta (from Theobroma)

As with all super simple recipes, time is the secret ingredient to making an onion jam sublime. And again, as with all basics, the sky’s the limit as far as tweaking, twisting or evolving the recipe is concerned to suit your specific purpose. Simply used, for a salty, roast meat sandwich, you can elevate it by adding strong, fragrant herbs like rosemary or thyme. Add more vinegar, slap some mustard on and it brings authenticity to hot-dogs. Switch sugar for bitter-orange marmalade and its something else entirely. Or you can use it as a base for soup. Either ways, contrast its soft texture with something with bite and its sweetness with something salty or smoky. 

Ingredients:

6 large onions finely chopped

1 tablespoon of good quality balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

2 – 3 teaspoons of cane sugar (less is more)

A small pinch of salt

Method: Heat olive oil in a wide saucepan (preferably with a lid), stir in the chopped onions until they are evenly coated in the olive oil and on a low heat, cover for about 5 – 8 minutes until the onions start to sweat. Now uncover slightly and stirring every 6 – 8 minutes to avoid burning, let the onions begin to caramelize. This should take about 20 – 40 minutes. When the onions begin to colour deeply and are soft and yielding when tasted, stir in your salt, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Keep stirring until you get a deep, shiny brown mass.  

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

6 tablespoons onion jam

2 bay leaves

2 tsp of butter or 1 tablespoon olive oil

¾ cup of white wine

3 cups of strong stock

2 cups water

2 tsp flour

2 tsp cognac (optional)

Croutons:

Thick slices of bread brushed with olive oil and toasted

Grated cheese

Parsley (optional)

Method:

Sautee the onion jam in the olive oil and warm through. Stir in the flour and when evenly mixed, pour in the wine and stock. Drop your bay leaves in. Leave to simmer gently for upto 40 minutes.  Check for salt.  When the soup has reduced to a nice, hearty consistency, turn off heat and put in a ramekin or oven proof bowl. (You can make this more ‘wintry’ by adding some cognac at this stage.) Break up the toasted bread, cover generously with grated cheese and put in a pre-heated oven or under a hot grill until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Spaghetti with Lemon – Two Ways - by Gynelle Alves

The beauty about both these recipes is that they are on table in minutes. Made with the most basic of ingredients, a good quality olive oil goes a long way in heartening the flavors. If you want a bit more of something to effortlessly gild your reputation as unruffled, domestic goddess, slivers of fire-roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, toasted pine-nuts, pan-seared mushroom, zucchini, shrimp all work well.

This Way:

Ingredients:

400 gms dried spaghetti

1/5^th cup extra virgin olive oil (plus a splash more)

Juice of 2 very juicy large lemons

Finely grated lemon zest of that lemon

4 fat garlic cloves, finely slivered

2 little red chilies finely slivered (optional)

Bit of freshly chopped parsley (optional)

salt and freshly milled black pepper

Parmesan shavings

Method:

Cook pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water as per instructions. Drain very well. In the now emptied saucepan, add olive oil, garlic, chili, lemon zest. Stir around on low heat for half a minute or so. Immediately add the drained pasta and toss on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and lemon juice and toss some more.

Serve warm with shavings of parmesan.

---------------------------- 

That Way:

Ingredients:

400 gms dried spaghetti

Juice of 2-3 large lemons + finely grated zest

¼ cup real butter

1 cup double cream

1 cup grated parmesan (plus a little more)

Generous pinch of good quality saffron strands soaked in 2 tbsp hot water

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method:

Cook pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water as per instructions. While the pasta is cooking, in another smaller pan, pour the lemon juice. Add the butter, cream, salt and pepper to taste. Let this just come to a bubble then lower the heat, add saffron and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes till the sauce reduces a bit. Drain the pasta well and return to the pan. Add parmesan and lemon rind then add the lemon sauce and toss well. Serve warm with a bit more parmesan on top.

Lemon Sangria - by Gynelle Alves

Who doesn’t love going to a party and seeing a big bowl of sangria, surrounded by laughing (a bit too loudly now) friends. But, don’t get hung-up on red wine ones alone. This is a basic lemon sangria recipe. Add peaches, pears, strawberries, tangerines, pomegranate seeds, muddled mint… anything you want and make it your very own.

Ingredients:

1750 ml bottle of sparkling white wine

1/3 cup limoncello liquer

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup sugar if you like it sweeter.

Slices of lemons

Fizzy lemonade as per desired strength

Method:

Except for the fizzy lemonade, mix everything together well (plus your fun additions) and let chill nicely (at least 20 minutes) till serving time which is when you pour in your fizzy lemonade.

Lemon Butter

Stolen from Genesia (Yes, she did steal this from me - :-P Genesia), this recipe for a compound lemon butter is super easy to make and is a lively, tangy-fresh alternative to regular butter when added to soups, mashed potatoes, hot corn-niblets, in a salami sandwich or even to sauté all sorts of things in. You can add freshly chopped herbs like parsley, dill and chives. The olive oil keeps it at a very spread-able consistency and doesn’t let the butter burn when used to cook with.

Ingredients:

400 gms good quality salted butter (at table temperature)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice (more/less according to your lemony preferences)

Pinch of salt and a really big fat pinch of coarsely ground black pepper

Method:

Take all the ingredients and vigorously whisk them together well any way you can… balloon-whisk, hand-held immersion blender, with a fork… till everything is well amalgamated. Taste for salt, lemon and pepper.

Spoon the mixture into containers with air-tight lids and use or refrigerate as you would butter.

Lemon Curd - by Gynelle Alves

Traditionally eaten in a tart, or on hot scones lemon curd is just as marvelous on toast, cream cracker and khari biscuits, in a citrusy trifle in place of custard, whipped with a little cream to fill a pavlova, on crepes, waffles, doughnuts, beaten into a little pot of yoghurt, in spoons, on fingers... Lemon curd is a delight - cheap and eager to please and when put in a jar with a home-made label of love, is a great ‘I thought of you on the weekend’ present to give someone on a bleary Monday morning.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 ½ cup fine granulated sugar

6 large eggs

Juice and finely grated rind of 4-6 lemons

Method:

Melt butter in a double-saucepan over low heat.. (If you don’t have one, a thick bottomed saucepan on an iron girdle works fine) Gradually add sugar and stir until well blended. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then very slowly pour them into the butter and sugar. With a whisk, gently beat till light, pale and creamy looking, keeping the heat at a steady low. Add your lemon zest now and then very slowly, the lemon juice, whisking all the time. Up the heat a little to a low-medium and whisk while letting it gently cook till thick, coating the back of a spoon or leaving a trail. About twenty minutes. Pour into sterilized air-tight glass jars and cool. Lasts refrigerated for 10 days (If well hidden)

Cheater’s tip: I seriously heart lemon curd with its velvety texture, it’s buttery-sweet-lemony goodness - but sometimes, it just won’t creamy up quick enough for a certain skinny five year old standing there with her empty bowl and spoon and a growing look of dessert desperation in her eyes. That’s when I cheat. Adding about 2-3 tablespoons of flour (corn or super-refined) and then proceeding with a saintly expression. It barely alters the taste though the texture does lose something. If it goes lumpy, don’t despair, a vigorous whisking or quick blend sorts it all out.

Lovely Lemons - by Gynelle Alves

 

When I think of lemons and life giving you lemons as I sometimes do, I think of a certain grey miserable rainy day outside Lower Parel station when the weight of the world rested unevenly on my shoulders making my neck hurt. The day was grey, the mood was grey, the milling, oppressive crowd was grey… And then, cutting through the heavy drone of the faceless masses came a tinkling, that unmistakable scraping of metal on corrugated glass and I looked up and there, in the murky, morning on the nimboo-pani wala’s cart, were a pile of tenacious balls of brilliant yellow, like sunshine, looking my way like secret agent smiley faces. Did someone say ‘make lemonade’?

Lemons may not be glamorous fruit, their season yearned and waited for, special rituals and recipes collected in anticipation of their harvest. Nope, they are always there, just hanging about – tied up with a couple of chilies to thwart the evil eye, occasionally used instead of change for a fiver with the ginger and chilies. But these little yellow buggers can brighten up just about any dang thing.

Over the years they’ve changed in size, shape and texture. The tart, thin-skinned green limes of old have given way to larger, yellow fruit that are not quite as big and subtle as the lemons you can buy abroad but have a pleasing zest and reliably juicy. Always around, homely and lovely-lemony as they are, these recipes can also be all dollied up for company quite easily.

Rocket Basil Salad

 

Ingredients:

2 cups basil leaves

3 cups rocket leaves
 

1 cup baby spinach leaves
 

½ cup good quality olives
 

Parmesan shavings
 

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
 

2 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
 

A pinch of salt

Method:  

Combine all the ingredients making sure leaves are covered with vinegar and oil. Chill for 5 minutes in the fridge before serving. This salad is a standard basic that works beautifully on its own and takes suggestion kindly – throw in tomatoes, replace parmesan with fresh mozzarella or dot with curls of crisp bacon and chunks of avocado or stir in tinned tuna, parsley and lemon juice or prawns sautéed in nothing more complicated than butter, chili and garlic. It works, its delicious and on its own contains enough flavour to not need a complicated dressing.

Chicken or Veggies in Orange Saffron Sauce

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 pinch of good quality saffron strands
½ cup of orange juice (not the sweetened kind)
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tablespoons double cream or 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
Pinch of salt

Method:

Let the saffron stand in hot water for upto 10 minutes. Now combine the saffron liquid, juice, zest, salt, oil and cream or mayo. Whisk. Check for seasoning and leave to ‘settle’ in the fridge for a couple
of hours (or the previous day!)

Chicken or Veggies:Score the boneless chicken breasts so that they’re ‘sliced’ but not all the way through. Rub with olive oil, salt, ½ a clove of garlic per breast, thyme and a little lemon juice. Leave for about 20 mins, then sear on a hot pan, lower heat and cook till done, spooning a little of the sauce over.  For veggies, asparagus or zucchini work well. Blanch in boiling water for 5 mins, then sear on a hot pan with garlic and fresh herbs.

Dress either or both with sauce and serve. 

(*Note: check out the comments page on the harissa sauce entry for 'eclat's interesting experimentation with this recipe)

Almond Gazpacho

Ever since I saw Padma Lakshmi do the sexy-foodie ‘ummmm’ cliché after eating almond gazpacho on her show, I’ve wanted to make it. For the record, I don’t trust skinny female foodies, especially not supermodel ones, but even her lack of originality and expression (compounded no doubt by a lifestyle of inadequate nutrition) did not manage to affect
how deliciously good this soup looks. And it’s all whizzed together raw, can be made the previous day and served out of the fridge when you need it – a truly super soup.

Ingredients:
½ cup whole blanched and peeled almonds
1 cup stale white bread, no crust
2 or 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 cups cold water
2 big garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Garnish with:
•       A few slivers of toasted walnuts
•       Big grapes

• Parsley or chives

Method:Soak the bread for 5 minutes. Now, grind the almonds, salt and garlic
until it’s pasty and smooth. Squeeze the bread and add to the
processing. Put the entire mass into a larger bowl and with the hand
blender on, add the olive oil in a thin stream so that it all
emulsifies nicely. Add vinegar or wine next and then water. Check for
salt. Serve in individual bowls or glasses and garnish with slivered
walnuts or almonds toasted and a couple of grapes. A dash of green
Tabasco or gin will also not go amiss.