Crepes Suzette for a crowd

This recipe serves 4, but can very easily be multiplied to feed a crowd.

50g butter, melted

120mls orange juice

2 Tablespoons marmalade
8 crepes, folded into quarters

Pour a little of the sauce into the bottom of a baking pan

Place crepes in baking tin

Cover with more sauce, reserving 2 or 3 tablespoons.
Cover with alfoil or cling wrap, depending on how you are reheating it. 

Heat in microwave or slow oven

Place 2 crepes per person on individual plates

Reheat sauce and pour over crepes

Eggplant - fried with minimal oil

Dice or slice one eggplant.
Toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Place on kitchen paper on a plate and microwave, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Rearrange after 5 minutes.
Remove to a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil
Add another tablespoon olive oil to a non stick pan and heat over 3/4 heat.
Add eggplant and fry, stirring occasionally but not too much so it doesn't break up.
It should go brown and caramelised on the outside.

Chocolate Mousse

Place in processor
150g sugar
30g cocoa
100mls milk
Process to dissolve sugar
Add 500g ricotta
Process again
You may need to add a little more milk if it's too thick.

That's it. It's actually low fat, but you'd never know. Tastes creamy and rich.

Black Olive and Raisin Dip

4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted
½ cup raisins
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
Juice 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Process all ingredients together except the salt and pepper. Add S&P to taste.

Sicilian Style Stuffed Capsicums (Red Peppers)

6 yellow or red capsicums
150g fresh white breadcrumbs
1t honey
3 anchovies
2 cl garlic
1/4t cinnamon
2 tablespoons marsala
50g pitted black olives, rinsed and chopped
10g parsley
10g mint
50ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Instructions
Preheat oven to 150.
Soak 75g raisins in boiling water for 5-10 minutes, then drain.
Chop all ingredients finely and mix together
Taste before seasoning – even though the stuffing is still raw, you need to get an idea of how much salt to add (if any).
Halve 6 red peppers, spoon the stuffing into them and place in an ovenproof dish.
Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top and bake in the oven for ½ -3/4 hr.
Place under griller and grill until brown on top.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

Alternative use for seasonings - make into meat balls
Mix with seasoning with 200g pork or chicken mince.
Fry as meat balls.
Add 100mls marsala and/or cream to pan and heat.
Serve over pasta.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pavlova

I often take this to functions, and it's so delicious someone always asks me for the recipe.

Preheat oven to 180. Line baking pan with baking paper.

Beat 6 egg whites until stiff

Add 1 ½ c or 300g caster sugar
Beat on high 2 minutes

Sift in 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Add 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon cornflour
Beat on low speed to combine

With a spatula fold in
50g choc chips
1/2 cup toasted hazelnut meal

Place on baking paper and shape into a 20 cm circle
Place in oven, turn down to 150, and cook 1-1/4 hours.

Top with 300 mls whipped cream,
250g strawberries or frozen berries pureed to a coulis.
Grated chocolate
Serves 6 but you can easily halve or double the quantities.

Hazelnut meal is available in the supermarket. Place in a saucepan without oil on medium heat and cook until it is toasted.

Crispy Polenta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Boiled Polenta
Boil  7 ½ cups water
1½  t salt
Pinch bicarb soda
Stir in    1½ cups cornmeal (not instant or minute)
Bring back to boil stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to lowest possible setting and cover.
After 5 minutes, stir polenta to smooth out any lumps that may have formed, about 15 seconds. Cover and continue to cook, without stirring, until grains of polenta are tender but slightly al dente, about 25 minutes longer.
(Optional – stir in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and/or 125g grated Parmesan)
Serve immediately.

Fried Polenta with Creamy Tomato Sauce
Make boiled polenta and spread in a wide shallow baking dish to around 1cm thick. Chill.
When chilled, cut into rounds about 5cm in diameter.
Heat oil in non stick fry pan and fry 4 rounds until a crisp brown crust appears, about 10-15 mins. Don't try to turn before this crust is well developed because it will separate from the polenta. If this happens cook a little longer until it loosens from the bottom. You may need to scrape rather than lift it.
Remove to a plate.
In same frying pan fry
             1 clove garlic, finely minced
             2 anchovy fillets, finely minced.
Add       2 tablespoons passata (tomato puree available in bottles, or diced tomato)
Cook 2 mins.
Add       2 tablespoons cream
             Salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
Pour over polenta rounds.
Serves 1.

Crispy Oven Fried Chicken

80g (2 slices) white bread

1 clove garlic

½ bunch (30g) parsley

4-6 slices (120g) tough italian bread

1T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 chicken breasts (appx 400g)

80g (1/3 cup) Kewpie (Japanese mayonnaise)

Makes 10-14 strips

Preheat oven as hot as it will go.

Process until finely chopped, white bread, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

Add Italian bread and olive oil and process so small chunks of bread remain.

Remove tenderloin from 2 chicken breasts. 

Cut breasts into 4-6 pieces diagonally against the grain.

Place Kewpie in a bowl and toss chicken strips through. 

Roll chicken strips into breadcrumb mixture, pressing to ensure the coating sticks well. 
It is helpful, but not necessary, to refrigerate the chicken at this point because the coating will stick better.

Place chicken well spaced on baking dish lined with baking paper.

Cook 10 to 15 mins, until just cooked. If it’s not brown and crispy enough, place under a hot griller instead of leaving in the oven, because the chicken might dry out.

 I like to call this “Inside Out Stuffed Chicken”. My kids call it 'worms' because they're long and green. 

This recipe can be multiplied - doubled, tripled even quadrupled. But don't put more than a double quantity in the oven at once because it will create too much humidity and they won't go so brown and crisp.

See also Chicken in Honey Mustard Sauce adapted from Cook's Illustrated 

http://shannonfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/07/chicken-with-honey-mustard-sauce-based.html