Cream Horns

Found some Cream Horn forms at the Thrifty Store some time back. Finally got around to trying them out this Xmas. The results were very tasty, whipped cream with vanilla insides to compliment the flaky pastry outsides. Pretty good if I say so myself.

Sheets of puff pastry or flaky pastry (I used store bought puff pastry)
1 egg white – beaten
Butter – for greasing
4 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jams
125 ml whipped cream
Icing sugar – for dusting
Strawberries or raspberries for decoration - optional
Cream horn moulds

Method

Cut pastry into 1 inch wide strips. Brush lightly with egg white. Lightly grease cream horn moulds if using normal moulds. There is no need to grease the moulds if you are using non stick moulds.


With the damp side of the pastry facing the mould, turn strips around the greased mould, starting from the pointy tip of the mould. Make sure that the strips overlap when you twist this around to the top. Gently squeeze the tip of the pastry to seal in the bottom – You don’t want jam to run out of the bottom when you fill it.

Brush the outside now with egg white and place on a greased baking tray.

Bake in a preheated 220°C oven for 8 to 10 mins. Allow to cool on racks.

Place 1 tsp jam inside the cream horn and fill with the beaten cream. Dust with icing sugar and top with strawberries or raspberries if desired.

NB: I’d recommend you have at least one dozen of cream horn moulds on hand. It will make your preparation and cooking time so much quicker.

Watercress-Wisconsin Gorgonzola Salad With Spiced Walnuts

This is my new favourite salad, give it a try you will love it.
Tonight I am having it with pork cutlets and mashed pototoes.....

here is the recipe




Watercress-Wisconsin Gorgonzola Salad With Spiced Walnuts

Ingredients:
Spiced Walnuts
1/3 cup walnuts (halves and pieces)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Salad
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
1 bunch watercress, rinsed, dried and stems removed
1/2 head romaine lettuce, cleaned and cut into 1/2-inch strips
1/2 cup (3 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons julienned red onion
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
For the spiced walnuts, place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast lightly, about 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl and toss with the cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Return the coated nuts to the baking sheet. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the walnuts to oiled wax paper to cool.
For the salad, bring 1 cup of balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Simmer to reduce the liquid by two-thirds, and remove from the heat. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Divide the salad among six plates. Drizzle the reserved reduced balsamic vinegar around the plates.

Salmon for Dinner

I went down to the asian store ..... loads of fun things in there...... there is a large fresh fish counter and the salmon was looking really orangy fresh so the only decisioin was.... steaks of fillets..... the steaks won out......

Now I have to decide how to cook them.... pan seared in the griswold or baked in the oven.... either way I am sure it will be great.

I like to keep it simple with butter and a little oil so the butter wont burn... a few slices of onion and chopped garlic ... salt and pepper...... maybe even leave the garlic out if I am not in a garlicy mood...... in the pan or in the oven .. i like it cooked a little wet in the center not totally dried out.....

For a side dish I usually like rice... potatoes are too heavy for salmon.... plain rice with just a bit of seasoning.... and maybe some green stuff.... brocolli or asparagus.......

Lets not forget the wine........ white red whatever I do not stand on tradition.... the white fish red meat rule.....

The following link will take you to my Valentine's Day Grilled Salmon Dinner......... lots of pics there!!!!

Good Cheer Frypan

I am a sucker for vintage cast iron cookware...... I have a hard time passing up any pieces even though I have many many frypans... I love my griswolds and my wagners..... and the odd ones like mclary....


Just the other day I picked one up and on the bottom where I was hoping to see griswold was the best surprise...... it said.... good cheer..... I had to smile ... what a great message to get from a frypan.... wonder where that one came from.......

English Crumpets

Today I made some crumpets. English crumpets from scratch...... the recipe came from a small tea book my mom gave me. She got it from a friend, in a little gift basket.... its chock full of old time recipes..... things like banbury cakes and scones and so on.....


I had a taste for crumpets and could not find them at the grocery store so, after reading the little book I decided too try and make them for myself....

The result was less than perfect ....... but the taste was right on .......

The batter was way to thick and they did not cook through properly..... so i turned them over and turned them into english muffins...... when i cut them in half... presto they were crumpets again......

next time i would use....... twice the amount of liquid and make the batter much thiner.....


the recipe was basic

4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp yeast
2 cups milk and water
pinch of salt


its that easy
hot griddle and some egg rings..... proof the batter and let it splatter......

next time I would double up the liquid

I noticed that there were none left after the experiment...... butter and rose hip jam... then some as egg macmuffins.......... bacon and fried eggs... double duty on the egg rings and griddle....

The gooey crumpets posed a problem for the dog..... he must have got some jammed in his pallete ..... boo boo spent about ten minutes with his paw in his mouth trying to scrape it out..... he's okay now.... looking for more food..... *smile*

Well thats my first attempt at crumpets..... will definetly try again..... with thinner batter.....