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Feta and Coriander Samosas

August 20th, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Condiments | Lunch | Snacks | Starters - (Comments Off on Feta and Coriander Samosas)

Feta and Coriander Samosas

It has been a few years since I last had these tasty morsels.  In fact the last time was in Kenya.  I spent about a year living in Karen, Nairobi and one of the regular haunts for expats was the Talisman Restaurant and this was definitely one of there most popular starters (there’s is served with a tomato chilli sauce which is equally yummy).

Sitting in front of the roaring fire having pre-dinner drinks I could never resist ordering a few portions.  This is my take on an old favourite.

Recipe for Feta and coriander samosas

Ingredients (makes 12)

1 small bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped

200 grams feta cheese

4 sheets of phyllo pastry (sheets usually about 40cm x 30cm)

melted butter

 

Method

  1. Crumble feta with back of fork in a bowl
  2. Add chopped coriander
  3. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on flat surface and brush with butter
  4. Lay 2nd sheet on top smoothing over buttered surface
  5. Cut this double sheet layer into 8cm lengths along the shorter dimension (see photo below)
  6. Place 1 heaped teaspoon on feta mixture in top most corner of strip and start folding tightly as shown
  7. Brush final edge with butter to seal
  8. Repeat until all pastry strips are used then repeat from point 3 with remaining pastry sheets
  9. Place samosas on greased baking tray and brush tops with butter
  10. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden

 

Recipe for Sweet chilli dip

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

1 red chilli finely sliced

½ carrot finely grated along length of carrot

 

Method

  1. Place water and sugar in saucepan and bring to boil
  2. Boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced by 1/3
  3. Add chilli and carrot to liquid and allow to cool

Dip can be stored in airtight jar in fridge for 2-3 weeks

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Lunchtime Lemonade

August 8th, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Drinks | Lunch | Summer - (Comments Off on Lunchtime Lemonade)

Cool, refreshing Lemonade

When summer finally arrived in London it was time for a refreshing home-made lemonade.  Lemonade always reminds me of the Organic market in Bryanston (Johannesburg) located at the Michael Mount Waldorf School.  This Saturday morning market served the most sublime freshly made Lemonade. (also moonlight markets on Tuesday evenings)

Recipe

You’ll need:

½ cup castor sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon juice (squeezed from 3-4  large lemons)

plus 1½ cups ice water

ice cubes

mint leaves

1 lemon sliced

 

To prepare:

  1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil – boil for about 5 minutes until you have a thin syrup – remove from heat and allow to cool
  2.  Pour the syrup into a 1 litre serving jug and add all the remaining ingredients

 

Note: you can use cold sparkling mineral water instead of the ice water to produce a sparkling lemonade (both are equally refreshing).

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Potted Shrimp

July 21st, 2012 | Posted by Ruby in Snacks | Starters - (Comments Off on Potted Shrimp)

Potted Shrimp served with a few salad leaves and some crusty bread.

I’m sure I’m not alone in my occasional habit of wandering around the butcher, fishmonger, green grocers looking for inspiration for the next meal. So unsurprisingly, I once again found myself browsing the local fishmonger’s fridges, looking for Saturday lunch, nothing difficult, nothing dramatic but definitely tasty.  And then I spotted them – packets of little brown shrimps.  I immediately got to thinking of potted shrimp and although I’ve eaten potted shrimp as a starter in restaurants on a few occasions I have never made it myself.

Well there’s a first time for everything so here’s my attempt.

Actually they were rather good and so easy to prepare that I’ll definitely repeat this recipe.

 

Recipe for Potted Shrimp serves 2-4 depending on size of dish/servings

You’ll need:

125 grams butter

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon lemon zest

125 gram packet of brown shrimp

1 Tablespoon chopped chives

further 2 Tablespoons clarified butter
To make:

1.  Melt the butter and briefly fry the spices, then add the shrimps and lemon zest, cook for a further 5 minutes then add the chives.

2.  Pour into small ramekins and cover with clarified butter leave to cool then store in fridge until ready to serve

3.  Serve with a green salad or pickled cucumbers – an acidic dressing works well to cut though the butter in the shrimp.

 

 

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