|
|
Franco's Best Biscotti ¼ cup butter 1tbs vanilla essence 1 cup castor sugar 3 extra large eggs 2 cups flour 1.2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 cup pecan nuts 1 cup cake mix (assorted sultanas, raisins, ect) Castor sugar for sprinkling Beat the butter and sugar, adding one egg at a time, then the vanilla essence. Stir in the dry ingredients until a sticky dough forms. Place onto a baking tray in the shape of two logs. Sprinkle castor sugar over the logs. Bake at 180 for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, approximately two hours. Slice into fingers. Place on a clean tray and bake further until golden in colour. ENJOY! |
Franco's Delicious Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup A win, win quick and easy meal that will leave you and your family content, not only during the cold winter months, but also to store in portions in the freezer. 2lt water 1 large fresh piece of ginger… (Here I add lots and lots!) 4 large cloves of fresh garlic… (Again, lots!) 2 chicken stock cubes 1 roasted chicken… (Here I pick one up from my local supermarket, ready roasted) 1 pkt Chinese noodles Soya sauce to add as you like In a large pot, bring the water to a gentle boil, careful not to allow too much evaporation, otherwise top up with more water. Add the stock, the peeled and thinly sliced ginger and do the same with the garlic. Shred the chicken into pieces and add to the pot. Allow simmering for 15 minutes. Boil separately, in salted water as much noodles as you need and dinner is on the table…. We live on this healthy delicious soup! |
Linguini con Funghi 2/3 BIG brown mushrooms sliced. 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1 chilli deseeded A splash of white wine 1x 500g pack Italian linguini (Divella) Salt freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano In a medium saucepan put the butter, the oil, 2 cloves of garlic, chilli and the mushrooms; Note, don't over fry the mushrooms, they must remain firm and meaty. Sauté over medium heat stirring frequently until the garlic becomes a pale brown colour. At this point you can add the splash of white wine and salt to taste. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until "al dente", very firm, drain, and mix thoroughly with the sauce. Sprinkle with some fresh copped parsley and dd the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top. |
Trust the Italians to come up with the idea of what to do with day old bread… and what's more, make it taste great too! This is how the Bruschetta came to be, and today can be found on many menu's, not only Italian, but very popular in Cafés too. An excellent starter for dinner parties or snacks with drinks or even for a quick lunch; French loaf or chiabatta bread is best suited for this dish, but really, any bread will do. Toast fairly thick slices either in a toaster or under the oven grill. Rub with garlic, (optional) and drizzle with some good olive oil. Either premix your toppings and dress, or mix and match various combinations to your taste and dress once complete. One of my best toppings is cherry tomatoes chopped, fresh basil, a little pesto sauce, some olives, roasted papers and sun dried tomato's, garnished with fresh basil leaves. Salt and pepper, oil and balsamic… and serve! |
Bruschetta |
Bangers and Mash alla Franco |
I prepare this dish in two ways. Time on hand, I pan fry the bangers (sausages) together with sliced onion, a touch of oil, a splash of balsamic, salt pepper and sugar to taste. This combination creates a wonderfully sweet, sour sauce, which is a little sticky too…..If you find there is not much gravy, add a little water and if this thins out the sauce, you can thicken it with a little Maizena ( ½ teaspoon, diluted in some cold water). Separately, boil pealed, cut potatoes; drain them, adding salt, pepper, butter and a splash of milk, then mash and serve. Another quick way is to place the bangers in an oven proof dish, adding onion, a drop of oil, balsamic, salt, pepper and sugar. Sweet potato is my potato of choice, smallish preferably. Bang these in another oven proof dish, adding a splash of water, a drop of oil; salt, pepper and a sprinkle of sugar. Bake all at 200 degrees… remembering that the bangers will take less time, so remove and keep warm. The potatoes will caramelize, get soft, sticky and delicious…. all in plus minus, one hour. Mmmmm a great winter dish! I use lovely mutton bangers, which are so tasty and go down singing hymns….. Enjoy! |
The frittata is an Italian dish, similar in composition to an omelette. Unlike an omelette, the egg mixture is not folded over and finished on the stove top. Most variants of the frittata start with a few moments on the stove top until the bottom layer of the egg mixture has solidified, and then are baked in the oven for half an hour to an hour depending upon the size and recipe. Recipes for the frittata can be quite simple and the result excellent for brunches or lunch, since it is often served at room temperature For this frittata which I prepared in a non-stick frying pan and flipped ¾ of the way through, to cook the rest, I used leftover pesto. To that I added, pre-fried onion, zucchini, mushrooms and peas. Lightly beat six eggs, add this to your mix together with some olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, salt pepper and herbs of choice. Preheat your pan (very hot) with some cooking oil (not too much). Pour in your mix and flatten with a spatula and reduce your heat to around mark 3. Cover with a saucepan lid and allow to slowly solidifying. Once the centre of the frittata is firm, using the lid, flip the frittata carefully and slowly brown the other side; all in all, approximately 45min to an hour, depending on thickness. |
Frittata |
Home Made Calzone Make a calzone in the comfort of your home. Like the frittata, this dish is versatile and you can use up almost anything. For the dough; 500g cake flour 300ml lukewarm water 1 sachet dry yeast 1tbsp olive oil ½ tsp sugar Pinch of salt (not too much, as salt will upset the yeast activity) Filling; Grated mozzarella, then almost anything your taste buds desire; Some suggestions are, spinach, sausage, parmesan, various cheeses, fried onion, olives, salami, garlic, chilli…. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, either use an electric mixer or by hand. Pour the lukewarm water and oil and mix till a soft wettish dough forms. Cover with a damp towel and allow the yeast to do its work, your dough should rise to approximately double its size; once raised, portion the dough off into balls, usually the size of tennis balls, but if you want to make smaller 'calzoncini', half that size. Cover again and allow rising once more. Flour a working surface and roll out the balls one at a time to almost fish plate size or side plate size (not too thin). Place about a heap full of mozzarella in the centre, and then top with other ingredients of your choice. Be careful not to over fill as you will still need to fold the calzone in half and it all needs to fit. Drizzle a little olive oil over the mix, salt, pepper and some herbs, usually oregano. Fold over the Calzone and pinch it closed. Make sure it is properly closed or else it will open and leak. Place the calzone onto an oiled baking tray and bake for approximately 20/30 minutes or until well browned. Take care to flour your working surface well, or else the calzone will stick. Once your calzone is baked, I like to drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Che Buono! |
Sweet Potato Wedges The other evening Jay's sisters asked me what can she do with sweet potatoes. This inspired me to post, what I make so often. Sweet potatoes are so much healthier than regular potatoes and are also tastier. Slice potatoes into wedges and place them onto a baking tray. Heat your oven at 180 and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until tender. Mix together ground paprika and salt flakes and sprinkle over. Mix together 50/50 sweet chili sauce and mayonnaise to make a great dip. Serve with a burger or even as a snack with drinks. |
Pizzette Small pizza's are great for a light lunch, finger food or just because you love pizza! Use the same dough mixture as you would for the calzone recipe. Roll smallish balls and allow rising, covered with a damp cloth. Flatten either with a rolling pin or by hand, yet keeping as much of the air in the dough as possible, (otherwise they will not rise). Heat your oven to 240 with a baking tray on the middle rack. Flour another tray and place your flatten pizza disks on this tray and dress to your desire. Remember that pizza need not always have cheese. I tomato and olive oil pizza with Parma ham & rocket (dressed once your basic tomato pizza is baked) is delicious!!! |
Roasted Peppers with Anchovies and Cherry Tomatoes Heat oven to 160c…. Slice open the peppers, deseed and place into a roasting dish. Drizzle and coat with some of the anchovy oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the peppers for approximately 40 minutes, not allowing them to collapse. Remove from the oven and fill with sliced cherry tomatoes, anchovy fillets, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle some olive oil over the peppers. Place the dish back in the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes. These peppers can be served hot as a side dish or cold with a braai. |
When it comes to braai-time, I say keep it simple. Salt & pepper is all you need… The art is placing the meat on the grid only once the coals have turned white. Nothing beats a good braai! |
Braai |
Fruit-Bread Delicious, simple and healthy! 250ml cold black tea (I use Rooibos, but any will do.) 500g mixed dry fruit 250ml brown sugar (I use treacle) Soak overnight 500ml Self-raising flour 1egg 3ml Vanilla extract Mix well together and bake in a greased loaf tin or silicone. Bake for 1½ hours at 160c or gas mark 3 Serve sliced and with butter if desired. |
A dear friend suggested that featuring a braai on this page was an easy cop… We both laughed. But then I explained how few people successfullymanage a braai. The secret being, as I said, simplicity… So there you go Russ ....;-) |
Wendy's Cheese Biscuits 100g flour 100g cheddar cheese 60g butter @ room temperature 1 egg separated ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp cayenne pepper Separate the egg, using only the yolk for the biscuit mixture. Mix all the above together and kneed until it comes together. Roll out and cut into fingers. Wisk the egg white and brush over the biscuits. Bake for approximately 13 minutes @ 220 degrees. These are delicious and savoury. Thanks Wendy…. |
Summer is here and its apricot time! Apricot Jam 1.25kg firm apricots Juice of 1 lemon 1kg sugar 300ml water Halve the apricots. Place them in a glass bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over the apricots. Split open 12 kernels and blanch the almonds for a few minutes in boiling water. Place the sugar and water onto the heat and gently dissolve the sugar. Toss in the apricots. Bring slowly to the boil for approximately 25 minutes or until you have a good setting point. Slice the almonds in half and stir them into the jam. Skim away the scum. This quantity should yield you four honey jars of jam. |
Poepies Delicious Crunches 1 ¼ Cup Flour 1 ¼ Cup Breakfast Oats 1 ¼ Cup Coconut ¾ Cup Sugar 1 Heaped Tbsp Syrup ¼ Cup Butter 1 tsp Bicarbonate Soda 3 to 4 Tbls Boiling Water Mix all the dry ingredients. Melt the syrup and butter together. Combine the soda and the water and add the butter and the syrup. Mix together with the dry ingredients. Press the mixture into a Swiss-roll tin and bake for 20 minutes at 150 degree C. When light brown in colour, remove from the oven and cut up in squares. Return to the turned off oven for 10 minutes. |
Franco's Salad Dressing I'm often asked why I don't bottle my salad dressing commercially. Perhaps one day I will. But in the meantime, here is the basic recipe. 1/5 measure of mayonnaise 1/5 measure white of vinegar 3/5 measure of olive oil The yolk of 1 boiled egg 1-tablespoon English mustard powder Herbs of your choice, e.g. dried oregano, dried basil, or even rosemary Salt and pepper Crush the boiled egg yolk together with the mustard and blend into all the rest of the other ingredients. Store in the fridge. |
Biscuit Fudge 250g Butter 500g Icing Sugar, sifted. 5Tbls Cocoa Powder 1 pkt Marie Biscuits 1 Egg There delicious teatime, or fete specials are made in a jiffy for the busy mom or dad for that matter. I make these in the microwave which is even quicker and my family love them! Melt the butter in a glass bowl in the microwave. Add the sifted icing sugar and cocoa powder and fold in. If need be, put the mixture back in the microwave. Break up the biscuits, not crushed. Whisk the egg and vigorously fold into the mixture till silky soft. Pour into an appropriate mould which has been creased. Cut up into smallish cubes as these are very rich, but yummy! |
75 g Margarine 340 ml (1 ? cups) Huletts White Sugar 125 ml ( ½ cup) Huletts Golden Syrup 250 ml (1 cup) Boiling Water 325 ml (1 ½ cups) Salted Peanuts |
1. Over a gentle heat, stir the margarine, sugar, syrup and water together in a pot until the sugar is dissolved. 2. Turn up the heat and, without stirring, boil the mixture for half an hour. To test if ready, drop a little of the mixture in cold water. If it is ready it will set hard and crack when broken. 3. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the nuts. Pour into a greased tin to set. 4. Break into pieces when hard. |
Peanut Brittle |