Friday, September 12, 2014

Easy Apple Galette

I had a bunch of apples at home and running out of fridge space to keep them.  Ended up making this easy apple galette to get rid of some of them.   Other than the pastry that needs a recipe, the filling is simply by estimation.  



I used flan pastry for this galette because it is the easiest and less fragile.

What you need:

Flan Pastry (adapted from Michel Roux Pastry)
250g pastry flour (original using plain flour)
125g butter, diced and slightly soften
1 egg
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
40ml ice water

1. Pour flour into a big bowl and make a well
2. Put butter, egg, sugar and salt in the middle, mix and cream the ingredients with you finger tips till it become like breadcrumbs
3. Add cold water and mix it until dough begins to hold together
4. Using palm of your hand, push the dough away 4 or 5 times until it is smooth
5. Roll pastry into a ball, cling wrap it and refrigerate at least 30mins or until ready to use


Apple Filling
3 medium size apples, skin removed and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar (adjust accordingly to your liking)
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon (adjust accordingly)
some butter

1. Mix everything except butter and put it aside

What you do:

1. Roll the pastry to about 0.5cm or thinner
2. Pour the filling in the centre of the rolled pastry
3. Cut butter into small pieces and put on top of the filling
4. Fold the edges and brush it with egg whites if you want
5. Bake in the 180C preheated oven until the edges turn golden brown
6. Once slightly cool, sprinkle with confectionary sugar and serve warm on it's own or with ice-cream or cream





Thursday, September 11, 2014

Moroccan Egg Tagine

This dish is inspired by a dish a colleague had when we had lunch at a restaurant in Sydney.   So took the opportunity to test my new tagine, I just had to make it for dinner a few days ago.  We had it with rotis/chapatis instead of a crusty bread which is in fact a better choice.  This is an easy dish that can be prepared in 30mins.  



What you need:
1 large onion, sliced
3 small clove garlic, chopped
14oz diced tomato (canned)
2 tsp hawaij spice (optional)
1 Tbsp harissa (optional for extra spice)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp raw sugar/brown sugar
some sausages
2 eggs
Olive oil
chopped parsley for garnishing

What you do:
1. Heat the tagine/pot/pan and pour some oil
2. Throw in sliced onion, once the onions sweat, add chopped garlic and stir till lightly browned
3. Pour in diced tomato with the liquid
4. Add harissa, spice, stir the mixture
5. Add sugar and salt to taste and let the sauce simmer, add abit of water if it looks dry
6. Add the suasages, cover the tagine and continue simmer for about 5-10mins
7. Add a bit water if gets too dry, the pour the eggs, 1 at a time and cover the tagine again for about 5 mins or till the egg white turns opaque
8. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with EVOO and parsley and serve

Enjoy!