Crispy Baked Mussels #glutenfree

With seafood being one of the favourites for Christmas lunch.in Australia, I thought I would give you a quick and easy recipe for mussels  that can be served as a starter or simply added to a buffet of all the beautiful food you have prepared for this special occasion. 

Ingredients:

1 kg Mussels
1 cup Napoli sauce
1 cup fresh gluten-free Breadcrumb*
2 tablespoons Chopped Parsley
1 tablespoon Lemon Zest
1/4 cup melted Butter
Salt and Pepper

Method:

*Process gluten-free bread slices in food processor. For best result, use leftover bread or if you only have fresh bread place the breadcrumb on a tray overnight to dry out.
Add mussels to pot of boiling water. 

Cook about 8 minutes or the mussels open shells. 

Drain and soak in iced water. 

Remove the top shell and de-beard. Preheat oven to 180C
Combined breadcrumb, butter, parsley and lemon zest together. 
Add little salt and pepper if necessary.
Place mussels on a tray with alfoil/ baking paper. 
Place half tablespoon of napoli sauce on each mussel. 
Top with breadcrumb mix. 
Place into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until the crumb is golden. 
Plate up and serve with lemon quarters. 

Add Napoli sauce & breadcrumb  to the mussels

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmail.com

Mango Cheesecake #gluten-free #tropical

With the shops and roadside stalls full of mangoes at the moment, there cannot be a better time to make this beautiful tropical cheesecake. Packed with the wonderful sunshine of of golden mangoes, this cheesecake is a perfect dessert for your Christmas table.

 Base:

200g gluten free Ginger Nut Biscuits
30g Butter, melted
30g Strawberry/Apricot Jam


Method: 

Combine all ingredients in the food processor. 
Press into the base of a 22cm round springform tin with baking paper in the bottom. 
Refrigerate 1 hour.

Filling:

500g Cream Cheese
2/3 cup Caster Sugar*
1 cup Thickened Cream
1.5 cup Fresh Mango, diced
2.5 tablespoons Gelatin dissolved in 1/2  cup boiling water
 
Method:
 
Beat cream cheese, sugar, cream and half mango with an electric mixer until smooth. 
Add dissolved gelatin and beat another 3 minutes.
Add other half of diced mango into the mixture. 
Mix well using the plastic spatula. 
Pour into the tin and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.


Topping:

1 teaspoon Agar-Agar powder
1 cup Cold Water
1/3  cup Sugar
1-2 fresh Mango, sliced thinly. 

Method:
Add agar agar, sugar and water to a saucepan.
Stirring, bring to boil to dissolve. 
Remove from heat and allow to stand till temperature is warm. 
Decorate the cheesecake filling with mango slices 
Pour the agar agar liquid on the top to cover all the mango.
Refrigerate and serve after setting.

* Add extra sugar if the mango is not sweet enough.


Tips:

• Spread some whipped thickened cream around the cake and cover with roasted almond flakes.
• Normal ginger nut biscuits can be used in the base if you do not have the need to exclude gluten from your diet.

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmail.com

Italian Vegetable Pickles

Why not make some of these beautiful bottled vegetables as Christmas gifts for family and friends. Place on the table as antipasto with your other Christmas fare for this special occasion.
Any vegetables are suitable, but the harder vegetables such as cauliflower and carrot keep longer, and develop a richness of taste after several weeks giving you that full bodied, pickle flavour we know and love with antipasto. The pickles will keep up to 6 months in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Vegetables:
3-5 bottles/ jars with lids (screw top)
Cauliflower Florets
Carrot, sliced
Green/Red Capsicum, diced into large squares

Brown Onion, quartered
Beans, halved
1 Lemon, sliced
6-10 Garlic Cloves
6-10 Bay Leaves

Vinaigrette:

8 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup White Sugar
1.5 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Pickling Spice
2 tablespoons Pepper Mix

Method:
 
Place all vinaigrette ingredients together into a boiler and bring to the boil. Cool to the side.
Boil all bottles/jars and lids in a large boiler for 20 minutes, dry with a clean towel.
Place the raw vegetables into the jars with random selection.
Add 2 lemon slices, garlic and bay leaf to each bottle.
Press down with plastic or silicon spatula.
Pour the vinaigrette into the bottle and cover all vegetables with liquid.
Screw lids on tight - store in cool spot for at least 3 weeks for flavour of the vinaigrette to absorb into the vegetables. 
Refrigerate 

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmailcom

Fruit MInce Tarts #christmas #traditions

With Christmas only weeks away, it is time to begin our  preparation of the traditional Christmas fare. In my last blog post I gave you the recipe for the fruit mince, and now we will make the beautiful tarts that everyone knows and loves.

Ingredients:

1kg Fruit Mince Filling, cold- check the recipe from our foods blog
350g Butter - diced into cubes and chilled
400g Plain Flour
120g Self Raising Flour
80g Ground Almond Meal (If allergic to nuts, you can replace with plain flour)
90g icing sugar
1 Egg Yolk + 1 Whole Egg
1/3 cup Iced Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Extra flour and icing sugar for rolling and dusting

Method:
 
Blend all flours, ground almond meal, salt, icing sugar in the food processor or rub through your fingers until mixtures resembles breadcrumbs.
Add both eggs and iced water, combine well till the mixture starts to come together.
Knead dough and wrap in plastic film. 
Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Spray a 6/12 hole muffin tin, mini foil baking pans, or any large pie tins you like to use with oil.
Roll out a portion of the pastry till 2mm thick between two sheets of baking paper with some flour. 
Cut out shapes to fit the tins you choose. (I use a mini muffin pan but slightly deeper than normal) 
Fill each tart shell with 1-2 teaspoons of mince but do not overfill.
Cover the top of each tart with another circle of pastry or use cookie cutters to cut different shapes to decorate the top. If you cover tart completely with  pastry, pierce the pastry with a fork to let the steam out.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Extra time may be needed depending upon the size of the tin.

Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then remove and place on rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and keep into a plastic container. (Can keep up to 2 weeks or refrigerate for 1month.)
Makes 30 mini tarts depending on the baking trays/tins used.

 

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmail.com

Fruit Mince #Christmas #fruitmincetarts

Christmas is synonymous with fruit mince tarts which are very popular for this joyous celebration. Today, you can purchase this product easily, but most of them are too sweet and jam like. Why not try to cook these delightful little parcels at home.  Make them to your own taste and wants by using any type of fruit, add/reduce the  sweetness, spices, etc.... Good fruit mince filling can keep up to 2 -3 months. In preserving bottles, it can be kept for over a year without opening. 
Fruit mince filling can be used for a variety of uses, not only for making Christmas fruit mince tarts

, but used to bake cookies, slices ...or simply serve with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

Part A:
 
1 kg Dried Mixed Fruit
1 kg Sultanas
1 kg Pitted Dried Dates
1/2  kg Dried Apricot
1/2  kg Dried Cranberries
250g Crystallised Ginger, chopped
Rind and juice from 2 oranges
3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Honey
1 cup Brandy/ Whiskey*
1 cup Cointreau, orange liqueur*
1/2 cup sweet Sherry/ Port*
1/3 cup Mixed Ground  Spice
2 tablespoons Ground Ginger

Part B:

600g Red Apples
600g Green Apple
600g Pears
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1.5-2 cups Apple/ Pear Juice, no sugar added

3cm Cinnamon Stick
2 Star Anise

Method:

Chop dates, apricots and mixed fruit in food processor. Do not process until fruit is too small as the cooking process will break the it down.  If you do not have a food processor, chop the fruit with a knife.
Place all the chopped, dried fruit and remaining Ingredients A in a large bowl/pot, mix well , cover with a clean towel for 24 hours.
Peel apples and pears, dice into small pieces.

Cook with other Ingredients B in a large boiler on high heat for 30 minutes until soft.

Remove cinnamon stick and anise star.
Pour all ingredients A  into B, cook for another 20-30 minutes on low- medium heat.

Stir well several times to avoid burning the mixture onto the bottom of the boiler.

Cool and then place  into clean bottles or plastic containers. For best results, make the fruit mince filling one week early. Refrigerate, and use as required.

Hints:

• If you have preserving bottles, boil them for 10 minutes, dry with clean towel.

• Fill with hot fruit mince, fill to 95% full immediately.

• Screw lids on tightly and place  back into boiling water to cook for another 20-30 minutes (depending on the bottle size). The water must cover all the bottles when boiling them.

• Cool at room temperature and keep in a cool dark spot. The fruit mince will keep up to one year. 

Please keep check for our fruit mince productions in coming weeks.

• You can use any kind of wine/ liqueur. It not only adds a delightful flavour to the fruit mince, but also lengthens the storage time.

Crispy Almond Tuile Biscuits #nutty #foodporn

These Crispy Almond Tuile Biscuits are the perfect accompaniment for a cup of tea or coffee. Their light nutty texture makes it impossible to stop at one. This recipe makes a huge batch, buy if placed in an airtight container they will stay fresh and crispy for weeks. 

Ingredients:
 
180g Butter, melted and cooled
280g Caster Sugar
8 Egg Whites
200g Plain Flour
80g Ground Almond Meal
400-500g Flaked Almonds
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Method: 

In a clean bowl, beat egg whites on high spreed for 5 minutes. 
Add sugar, salt and vanilla, beat until peaks form.
Pour melt butter into egg white, mix well.
Sift flour, ground almond meal and almond flakes into the mixture.

Fold ingredients together gently with a spatula

Mix gently with spatula. 
Place into the fridge for 1-2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 150C
Place the baking paper on cookie trays.  
Spoon with 2 spoons onto baking sheets allowing room for the biscuits to spread.
Flatten out with spoon and with wet finges spread evenly.
Bake at 150C for 20 minutes or until golden brown. The longer the baking time the more crispy the biscuits. I baked about 25 minutes as I put 2 trays together.
Cool biscuits on a rack and place into the tin/container. Can keep up to 1 month.
Makes about 40 depending upon the size.




Tips:

Spread thinly on baking paper

 

• To save time, pour the mixture into the trays, spread thinly with spatula, bake a little longer until golden brown. Break into bite size pieces after cooling down.

• Immediately after removing from oven, roll the biscuits over the rolling pin or a bottle to make different shapes. These can be filled and decorated to serve as a dessert and serve with ice cream.

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmail.com

 

Paella #Spanishcooking #rice

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish which is easy to make. Simply use any type of rice, seafood or meat in combination to prepare a delicious meal. I love seafood and I have used some local fresh seafood to cook this dish. The end result is a stunning combination of flavours, textures, and aromas.

Ingredients:


2 cups  Arborio rice
4.5 cups Fish/Chicken Stock
2 cloves Garlic, chopped finely
1 Onion, diced
2 large Tomato, diced
1/2 Red Capsicum, diced
2/3 cup Green Peas
1/2 kg large Prawns
1/2 kg Shrimp
1 cup Calamari Rings
1 cup Mussels, cleaned and beard off
2/3 cup Clams
1/2 cup White Wine
1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
Pinch of Saffron Threads
1/4 cup Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

1/3 cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C.
Add saffron threads to 1/2 cup of fish/chicken stock in microwave for 3 minutes.
Heat the paella pan with olive oil on medium-high heat.
Stir fry onion and garlic until little brown. Add tomato, capsicum cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Add the rice, paprika into the pan and cook for several minutes.
Add white wine and cook 2 minutes. 
Add all the stock and bring it to boil.
Add prawn, shrimp, calamari salt and pepper, stir well and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat. 
****You cannot stir the Paella anymore after this step.
When the stock has reduced sufficiently, place mussels, clams, peas on the top. 
Cover with aluminium foil and put into the oven for 10 minutes.

Add chopped parsley and lemon wedges to serve.
Serves 4-6 people







Tips:

• Add some ground turmeric to make the rice rich and colourful

• If you do not have a paella pan, use any normal pan that can be places into the oven, or simply pour into a baking dish for the last 10 minutes.   
  

Lavender Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

These beautifully light biscuits with a hint of lavender are perfect as both a sweet treat or as a savory morsel with a topping of minced chicken, beef, or cream cheese of your choice.

Biscuit Dough

Ingredients:

280g Butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Castor Sugar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
2.5 cups gluten-free Plain Flour
1 cup Corn Flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped Lavender Leaf and Flowers
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Method:


Preheat oven to 180C
Beat butter, salt and sugar until soft and smooth. 
Add egg and lavender.  
Combine in the flour.
Dust some flour onto the bench. 
Roll 1/3 mixture until 7mm thick. 
Use the cookie cutter cut the dough into small sizes. If you do not have the cookie cutters, roll the dough into small balls with your hand, then use folk to press flat.
Place in the oven and bake for about 16 minutes. 
Cool on the rack

Lemon Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

50g Butter
50g Cream Cheese
Lemon Zest of 1 Lemon
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
2.5-3 cups Icing Sugar

Method:

Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
Add lemon juice and zest. 
Combine well with icing sugar.
Pipe the lemon cheese icing between 2 cookies. Continue till all the cookies are used up!
Place in airtight container and keep in a cooler place or fridge. 
Can keep up to 2 weeks.

Tip: 

Extra cooking time may be required if the cookies are larger in size. 
Brush with some egg water ( 1 egg yolk + 2 tablespoons cold water ) before baking. 
Add extra sugar and make plain lavender cookies without icing filling.
Bake extra plain cookies, keep in airtight container to make savoury snacks by adding cheeses, smoke salmon, roast vegetables etc....on the cookies,

Bon appetite!!

Contact: lee.leehocklai@gmail.com