Guest Recipe: Raphael's Date & Pecan Muffins

Raph is back with Muffins, Rajesh reviews them...

RAPHAEL'S DATE AND PECAN MUFINS

100g Brown suger

300g brown flour

chopped up dates

pecans

100g butter

60ml milk

1 teespoon of baking powda

2 eggs

3 bnanas

1 teaspoon of vanilla essense

wizz up the butter and sugar until they are soft. then put in the mashed bananers, beaten up eggs and vanilla essense and mix that up. then put in the rest of the stuff. dollop the mixture into 12 muffin cases and bake for 25 minits at 190 C. then you have to cool them on a wire thing. they are very nise warm. actually scrumptious

love RAPHAELXXX

RAJESH'S REVIEW

Muffin was brilliant!

I think the hippy flour is the way to go, it worked well with the flavour combination and had that homely rustic vibe a walnut cake induces. I dig!

Rajesh

xx

Pickled Peppers

Decided to pickle some peppers today...

Roast, grill or griddle them till charred. Let them cool, place into a jar with large pinch of salt, garlic clove, some mustard seeds, oregano and vinegar.  I used regular white vinegar with a bit of White Wine Vinegar thrown in, also decided to add some parsley for no apparent reason.

I shall pickle for 2 weeks.

More belated posts coming soon...

X

Rajesh

Guest Recipe: Raphael's Beast Cakes

Raph Returns with a recipe of his, AND he reviews his own creation...

RECIPIE FOR RAPHAELS CHOCOLATE BEAST CAKES

• 150g Chocolate
• 4tbsp Golden syrup
• 50g Butter
• 80g Cornflakes
• jellee bean
  

Melt all the stuff ecep the corflakes and the jellee beans then stir the cornflakes in. put the stuff in paper cases and then put a jellee been on each one and then put them in the fridge for an hour. Abracadabra you have 14 beast cakes!

Review:

"I made these for my school mad hatters cake sale and i tried one and it was scrumptious . they were beutifull made with a few cracs but he cracs made it nicer.

XXXRAPHAEL"

Well done Raphael! They look...beastly.

-Rajesh x

Mr apple and Miss Orange are having a party with Sir Lemongrass and Dr Mint, when all of a sudden Lord Lemon juice stage dives all over them

 This is extremely tasty. 

. Chopped apple

. Chopped Orange

. Chopped lemongrass about half a stick

. Chopped mint three or four leaves

. Fresh Lemon

Take the lemon close your eyes, squeeze all over the apple and let the juice flow.

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Quick & Easy Recipe: Arabic Snacks

I've mentioned before that I still long for those Middle Eastern flavours while stranded here on Her Majesty's Rainy Shores. The ones below are extremely simple and tasty, either as a light snack on a Sunday, or to serve to guests before a meal. Serve these with real arabic bread, the big flat variety which you can find in most good Arabic/Ethnic Supermarkets, the 'pita' you get in chain supermarkets is rubbish compared to it.

Tahini Dip

• 1/2 Cup Tahini (Arabic Sesame Paste, available in Arabic Supermarkets)
• 4 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt
• 1 Garlic Clove
• Juice of one Whole Lemon
• Optional Fresh Parsley to Garnish
• Sea Salt to Taste
  

Chop Garlic Finely. Add to the Tahini. Plop in the Yoghurt, mix till combined, watch as it thickens up into a nice paste. Incorporate the lemon, (add more depending on your your palette), season with the salt. If the dip is too thick for your tastes, thin it down with a little water till it reaches your desired consistency. This dip also goes well with fish!

Arnabeet Meklah (Fried Cauliflower)

• One Head of Cauliflower
• Sea Salt
• Oil for Frying
• Optional Fresh Lemon Juice

You won't believe how special this is until you try it, and it's so darn simple. The frying unlocks the beautiful flavours in the cauliflower that usually languish in boiling water and dodgy cheese sauces. This nice rustic treat is really addictive.

Slice up the cauliflower into florets. Shallow fry in hot oil, cook till nicely browned and a little crispy in places. Pat down and dry off oil. Sprinkle with Sea Salt (and optional lemon). Serve with Tahini Dip and warmed Arabic Bread. It's cheap too!

Enjoy!
xx

-R

Tip for the Lazy: Most UK Chain Supermarkets sell a Tahini brand called 'Cypressa' if you can't make it to an Arabic shop.

Quick & Easy Recipe: Home Made Pesto.

Pesto is so damn simple and gratifying.  Follow the easy recipe below.

Homemade Pesto in a Pestle & Mortar

• Half a Clove of Garlic
  
• Handful of Pine Nuts
  
• Handful of Parmesan, finely grated.
  
• Big bunch of Basil, 400g should do
  
• Salt & Pepper
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• Lemon Juice (optional)
  

(Invest in a good Pestle & Mortar, one made of stone or even those fancy ones made of hardened lava, I bought a cheap wood one that has a smell of its own and likes to sprinkle splinters around, it's horrible.)

Lightly toast the pinenuts, but don't brown them or the flavour will overpower, this way you get a slight nutty sweetness out of them.

Mince the Garlic with a little salt and the basil in a pestle and mortar, add olive oil as an when you need it for texture.  Add the nuts and keep working it, add the parmesan and oil.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Spoon into freshly made spaghetti.  Enjoy.

TIP: To make your meal a little more lush, crumble some ricotta on top of the pesto-incorporated spaghetti before serving.  You'll thank me later.

Quick & Easy Recipe: Muttabal aka Baba Ganoush

Having spent a large part of my life in the Middle East I occasionally  get flashes of flavours that I can't shake off, one of these being Muttabal which is a smoked aubergine dip.  It's really simple to make, cheap and tasty!  It's one of those simple dishes that always surprises you and your guests with it's distinct bold flavour.

Muttabal

Ingredients:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/2 Cup of Tahina (A sesame paste available in all Arabic Supermarkets)
• 1 T/S Salt
• 1 Large Aubergine
• Lemon 
• Parsely to Garnish
• Paprika powder to Garnish

Directions:

The best way to smoke the Aubergine is to literally roast it on the hob, this sounds dangerous but works great.  Turn the flame up up high, slap the Aubergine down onto it and roast, turning occasionally till you can feel it has softened inside and the skin is burnt.

Put aubergine aside to cool, and peel off and discard skin.  At this point, chop it up into four or five pieces and put into a large mixing bowl.

Chop garlic cloves till fine and throw them onto the aubergine.  Add the teaspoon of salt, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the tahina.  Mix thoroughly and set aside to cool.

Spread the Muttabal on a plate and garnish with small sprinklings of Paprika Powder, a bit of Parsley and Olive oil if you like. 

Serve with warm Pitta bread and enjoy the garlicky smokey goodness!