Blondie's Recipes | Finding Feasts

Apple Galette aka The Easiest Apple Tart Ever

Apple Galette aka The Easiest Apple Tart Ever is a recipe that you will use continuously from this point on … I promise!

A lot of people feel there is too much time and effort needed in making their own pastry, let alone a flaky pastry, but, being a rather lazy cook myself I know that this one will turn you into a pastry maker forever.

The pastry is done in a food processor in under 1 minute. It is then pressed into a ball and placed into the fridge till you are ready to roll it out and add the filling… See! So incredibly easy. You really can’t mess this pastry recipe up.

Once you’ve got the pastry, the filling combinations are endless; peach, berries, rhubarb, whatever.

If you want to make a savoury filling, say a mushroom galette, then omit the sugar and use half a whole wheat flour for added savouriness. Cook down the filling so as to not make the pastry soggy, making sure the filling is completely cold before placing on the pastry and cook for the 40 minutes or so.

Tip: cover the base of the rolled out pastry with a thinnish layer of flour that will absorb any excess liquid from your filling.

This is an amazingly simple recipe for an end result that is an incredible centrepiece.

Happy pastry sculpting, Blondie 🙂

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Beef and Broccoli Cannelloni

Beef and Broccoli Cannelloni is classic Italian dish … tasty bolognese sauce wrapped in sheets of pasta under a blanket of golden cheese. This is a dinner that really does appeal to the whole family. Plus it’s loaded with a whole head of broccoli!

Serving it with a salad dressed in a zingy dressing will balance out the richness of the bolognese and cheese.

Enjoy – Blondie 🙂

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Spinach Saag with Handmade Paneer

Spinach Saag with Handmade Paneer, Who doesn’t love Indian, especially when it’s so easy to make a feast of food to satisfy anyone.

As my family chooses to have at least one meat free day a week (part time flexitarians if I choose to hop onto a bandwagon) coming up with tasty, satisfying meals is always fun and inspiring.

What I find though, when doing a cuisine like Indian or asian food, I need to have several dishes – at least two curries with samosas or dumplings and condiments. When I cook with meat I seem to be happy to plate up just one bowl. I don’t know why that is but no one’s complaining 🙂

This spinach saag is creamy, spinachy and full of delicious spices, including my absolute favourite herb, fenugreek aka methi. The aroma is just insane… it gets added to most of my Indian meals. Add the golden panfried, handmade paneer and you have meal that will sit pride of place at the dinner table.

Enjoy with family and friends… Blondie

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Brine For Christmas Turkey Cooked on the BBQ

It’s that time of year again, the feast of food that can either make you giddy with cooking excitement with planning, prepping and designing or leave you completely dreading all the planning, prepping and designing.

How to brine, air dry & BBQ a 4kg Christmas turkey is a fail safe way to have a beautifully tender, succulent turkey with crispy, browned skin at your Christmas table. As an added bonus, the oven is freed up to cook the veggies and ham, casseroles and whatever else is a family classic.

This is a two day process, which involves brining the turkey in a slightly sweetened and spice salt bath for 24 hours then air drying it in the fridge. The brine bath tenderises the meat and the air drying dries out the skin that then enables it to develop a rich brown and crispy skin when cooked.

Merry Christmas and happy BBQing… Blondie 🙂

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Scrumptious Prawn and Chicken Laksa

Scrumptious Prawn & Chicken Laksa, this dish is more than scrumptious, it’s actually mood altering.

Amazing flavours perfectly balanced in a soothing, creamy broth makes this soup a must for when you feel like something uplifting or comforting.

One tip I’m always banging on about is that if you are making a paste from scratch, double or triple the recipe and freeze it in portions. This basically means you have a meal from scratch ready to go when you want it next time. There is barely any extra time involved in making one or three portions but saves you a good amount of time when you have a craving but are completely unmotivated to do the prep work.

Another tip is to never leave your rice noodles to cook in boiling water. I have never been able to get a good result from this method. I prefer to place them in a bowl and pour the hot water over them to soak. They are less likely to go soggy and when they are at your preferred texture, drain them and rinse under cold water. They can sit like this for ages so do it early and they are ready to go when you are.

Slurping permitted! Blondie

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2 Cheese & Spinach Rolls

2 Cheese & Spinach Rolls, I love these sooo much that I make a big batch of them and freeze them for lunches. They work really well as a dinner also! Just leave them the full size rather than cutting them in half or thirds and serve with a crisp garden salad and a Balsamic Mustard Dressing.

Good eating… Blondie

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Sweet Dill Pickled Pine Mushrooms

Click image for this Sweet Dill Pickled Mushroom recipe

Sweet Dill Pickled Pine Mushrooms… What better way to store your freshly foraged wild mushrooms for a long time than pickling them?

I love a sweet pickle, always have, so I naturally gravitate to this pickling liquid but there are plenty of methods of pickling and flavour combinations that you will develop your very own favourite pickling brine in no time.

Enjoy! Blondie 🙂

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