Tag Archives: party food

Veal Terrine with Cherry Sauce

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If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I get a lot out of a subscription to Delicious magazine which was given to me as a gift. I am usually inspired to make several dishes each month and have yet to be disappointed.

This recipe for veal terrine is quick and easy to make. Cherries are in season and we had some sitting in a dish in the kitchen as I read this recipe. Their fate was thus sealed. I didn’t have any pistachios so substituted macadamia nuts. Pistachios being green would have looked more attractive, but the crunch of the macadamias was great. It’s one of the nicest terrines I have ever eaten and the sauce really makes it. As you can see from the photo, I didn’t quite get the chicken layer in the middle!

Enough pancetta, streaky bacon or proscuitto to line terrine
1 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp thyme leaves
750g pork and veal mince (you could substitute chicken, pork or turkey mince)
1 egg
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup pistachio kernels
1 cup pitted cherries
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 chicken breast cut into slices

Cherry Sauce:
1 cup pitted cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
finely grated zest and juice 1 orange
⅓ cup sugar
1 cinnamon quill
¼ cup Marsala, port or other fortified wine

Preheat oven to 170°C. Line a 1.5L terrine or silicone loaf pan with pancetta or bacon, leaving enough overhang to fold over the top. The original recipe calls for 20 slices of pancetta. I used about 8 slices streaky bacon and didn’t bother with the overhang.

Heat oil in frying pan and cook onion, garlic and thyme for 3-4 mins, stirring, over medium-low heat until soft. Place mince, egg, pistachios and cherries in a bowl. Add onion, season well and mix thoroughly.

Press half the mixture into terrine and arrange chicken slices down the centre. Pack with remaining mixture and fold excess pancetta or bacon over the top. Cover with foil and place in a deep roasting pan. Add boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the terrine. Bake for our hour, cool to room temperature. Place terrine on a tray, cut a piece of cardboard to fit top, weigh down with cans and chill overnight.

Place all ingredients for sauce in a pan and simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened. Cool. Turn out terrine. Slice and serve with the cherry sauce.

Serves 8

Variation: when cherries are out of season use canned ones or leave them out, increase the veal mince to 850g and use 2 cups of dried cranberries in the sauce.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

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Whenever I make oven-roasted vegetables I always think there will be lots of leftovers. But they’re so delicious, not to mention healthy, so everyone comes back for seconds and there’s none left.

You can use any combination of vegetables and there are some important rules. Cook the vegetables in a hot oven i.e. 200C or 400F in a very shallow baking tray in one layer – otherwise they will stew in their own juices rather than roasting. Also it’s important to cut vegetables which cook quickly, such as zucchini, into larger pieces than the rest. When cooked the vegetables should be slightly charred on the edges, while still maintaining a bit of crunch. The first photo shows them just out of the oven. The second photo shows them served on a bed of rocket, garnished with some soft goat’s cheese and toasted pine nuts.

2-3 large carrots, peeled
2 red or yellow peppers (capsicum) or one of each, seeds and membranes removed
4-6 small yellow squash (if available)
3 onions – red or brown
4-6 zucchini (courgettes)
6-8 whole garlic cloves
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Balsamic glaze or vinegar
Chopped fresh parsley or coriander to serve
Optional additions:
1 eggplant (aubergine)
1 sweet potato
parsnips or pumpkin

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut vegetables into sticks or chunks, onions into quarters or eighths depending on size. Leave garlic cloves whole. Place all the vegetables in a shallow baking tray in a single layer. You don’t want them all on top of each other, so use two if necessary. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well with your hands. Roast vegetables for 30-40 mins, turning a couple of times during cooking time. Serve at room temperature, drizzled with balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Serves 6-8

Blanca’s Chilled Avocado Soup

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This recipe comes from my dear friend Blanca Bulnes who lives in Santiago but spent 4 years in Canberra when her husband was the Chilean Ambassador to Australia.  It’s quick and easy to make and perfect for a warm summer’s day.

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
4 large avocados
1 cup thick Greek yoghurt
½ cup cream
1 Tbs grated onion
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tsp ground cumin (not in original recipe but if you like cumin it makes a nice addition)
To serve:
chopped parsley, or toasted slivered almonds or red pepper puree (see below)

Home made chicken stock is best for this recipe.  Leave it in the fridge to chill, then remove any fat from the surface.  Otherwise make up a litre of stock using a cube. Vegetarians can use vegetable stock.

In a food processor mix avocado flesh with yoghurt, cream and some of the stock.  Scrape into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.   Chill for several hours or overnight. Serve garnished with chopped parsley or toasted slivered almonds or a drizzle of red capsicum/pepper puree.

Red Pepper Puree: place 2 capsicums on an oven tray and spray with oil.  Place under a very hot grill until slightly blackened and blistered, then turn and grill the other side.  Cover loosely with foil and leave until cool enough to handle.  Remove skin, seeds and membranes then blitz in a food processor with enough olive oil to make a smooth red paste.  Store covered in the fridge.

Quick Raspberry Ice Cream with Raspberry Compote

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Everyone is short of time.  So while I love to cook, I’m always looking for ways to produce delicious food in record time.  This ice cream recipe, which can be adapted and varied with different berries, is a real winner.  Whip it up a couple of hours before dinner and by the time you reach dessert time it will have firmed up enough to scoop.  You can use fresh raspberries instead of frozen, but the advantage of frozen berries is that it turns the rest of the ingredients into instant ice cream.  I have put 500-600g of raspberries so you know that if your supermarket sells them in half kilo bags you don’t need to buy two!

Quick Raspberry Ice Cream with Raspberry Compote

Ice Cream:
500-600g frozen raspberries
600ml thick Greek-style yoghurt
300ml cream
1 cup icing sugar, or to taste
Raspberry Compote: 
2-3 cups frozen raspberries
¼ cup sugar, or to taste

Place all ingredients for ice cream in food processor and process until mixed. Leave it a bit chunky with some bits of raspberries still visible. Place in freezer for an hour or two or until firm enough to scoop into balls with an ice cream scoop dipped into hot water.  If left in the freezer for longer you will need to remove it about 10 mins before serving so it’s not rock hard.  For the compote, mix raspberries with sugar and leave to thaw, stirring from time to time.  Serve chunky or if preferred, push through a sieve and serve as coulis.

Makes about 1.5 litres of ice cream

Chilean Empanadas

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We lived in Santiago from 1992 to 1995 and our daughter has since married a Chilean doctor, so Chile is like a second home for us. Lots of fantastic amigos live there, as well as our “consuegros” – our daughter’s in-laws. Spanish has a name for that relationship which is lacking in English. We love the people and the country. The pisco sours and the empanadas. The wines and the seafood. And so much more…

They mostly eat two kinds of empanadas in Chile – cheese ones which are deep fried and meat ones which are baked. The baked ones are called empanadas de pino and are quite big – like a Cornish pasty or an Aussie meat pie. Most Chileans buy their empanadas because they sell them everywhere. Despite the fact that around 35,000 Chileans now live in Australia I’ve never seen them for sale here, so I make my own.

I like to make the pastry and the filling the day before. Assembling the empanadas takes a good hour and the filling is much easier to work with when it’s cold.

Traditional Chilean empanada pastry contains lard and hot water and you have to knead it like bread dough. It can be quite tough and I prefer something lighter. You can speed things up by using bought pastry – either shortcrust or puff pastry will do – and make them any size you like. I prefer what I would call large “finger food” size. The filling is like a spaghetti bolognese sauce without the tomatoes and with the addition of raisins, olives and hard boiled eggs – the three ingredients which give Chilean empanadas their distinctive flavour.

Pastry:
500g Plain flour
250g butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sour cream
4-5 Tbs cold water
1 tsp salt
Filling:
2 large or 3 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbs olive oil
500g good quality minced beef
2 Tbs tomato paste
4 tsp oregano leaves
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli powder – or more, to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt, or to taste and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup sherry or red wine
½ cup seedless raisins
1 cup water
About 36 black olives, stoned
5 hard boiled eggs, cut into 8
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbs water

Filling: heat oil in a large pan and cook the onions and garlic gently until soft. Add meat and cook, stirring, until browned all over. All remaining ingredients except for the olives and eggs and simmer for about 15-20 mins or until thick. Cool throughly, preferably overnight.

Pastry: if your food processor is not very big you may need to make this in two batches. Place flour, salt and butter in food processor and process until fine crumbs. Add sour cream and with the motor running add water through the feed chute. As soon as mixture forms into a ball stop the motor and tip it out. Pat into a neat ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 170°C. On a floured surface roll out half the pastry quite thinly, as you would for a quiche. Cut as many circles 10 cm (4″) in diameter as you can, then repeat with the other half of the pastry. Gather the trimmings into a ball, roll out and cut more circles. You should get 35-40 if you have rolled the pastry thinly enough. If filling seems very thick add a tablespoon or so of water. Place about a tablespoon of filling on each pastry circle, plus one olive and an eighth of a hard boiled egg. If you make larger empanadas, use a quarter of an egg for each and maybe 2 olives. You may have some meat filling leftover. It’s nice for lunch on toast.

Dampen pastry edges very slightly on one side with the beaten egg mixture, fold over, seal with fingers then crimp with a fork. Make sure you seal them well so they don’t burst open in the oven. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper, brush with beaten egg mixture and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Can be made ahead and kept in the fridge or freezer then briefly reheated to serve. If doing that then don’t brown them too much in the first cooking.

Makes 35-40

A Birthday Dinner

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A family birthday is a good excuse to cook up a storm and open a few bottles of good wine. Last weekend was one such occasion, so I worked out a menu which included some of the birthday boy’s favourite foods.

Instead of a starter I made 4 different finger foods from Drinks and Nibbles, a Marie Claire book by Michele Cranston, served with Chile’s delicious national cocktail Pisco Sour, which we’re all rather partial to after a four year posting to Santiago.  The grilled prawns were definitely the hot favourite, followed by the seared tuna, then the ceviche and lastly the watermelon and feta squares. But they were all good.

For the main we had rack of lamb with herb and caper crust, served with thyme infused carrots and minted peas – all recipes from this month’s Delicious magazine.  Individual potato soufflés, inspired by a meal we enjoyed at the Artisan restaurant recently, completed the plate.  I had to invent the recipe, but they turned out well.  As you can see in the photo, the plating of the main course left something to be desired – a result of too many cooks in the kitchen, all trying to get the various ingredients onto the plates and onto the table before they went cold!  D’Argenberg’s Footbolt Shiraz was a good choice to go with the lamb.

For dessert we had a tasting plate of three small desserts –  all faves of the birthday boy – chocolate ganache with pink peppercorns, white chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis and a salted caramel tartlet.

Here are the recipes, tweaked and adjusted a bit as usual.  I have changed the cooking method for the carrots, because they ended up more or less steamed rather than glazed as I would have liked them.  This method will achieve that.

Prawns with Coriander and Lime

2 Tbs coriander stalks
2 Tbs chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 lemongrass stem, white part only, roughly chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp ground coriander
20 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined (or 40 smaller ones)
½ cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp sugar
A pinch of salt
20 small wooden skewers, soaked in hot water for 20 mins

Thread prawns onto skewers – using one prawn per skewer if large and two if smaller, then place in one layer in a shallow dish. Place coriander root, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, vegetable oil and ground coriander in food processor and blend to a paste, then pour over the prawns, turning them to coat.  Leave to marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Place chopped coriander leaves, lime juice, olive oil, sugar and salt in a jar with a lid.  Shake to combine then put aside. Grill prawns on a moderately hot BBQ or grill for 2-3 minutes each side.  Place on serving dish and drizzle with the coriander dressing.

Makes 20

Seared Tuna with Lime Leaf and Peanuts

2 Tbs tamarind water
1 Tbs palm sugar, chopped small or substitute brown sugar
⅓ cup lime juice
1 Tbs grated ginger
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbs finely chopped kaffir lime leaves
1 Tbs chopped lemongrass, white part only
300g tuna fillet, cut into logs about 2cm thick and wide
3 Lebanese cucumbers
½ cup coriander leaves
½ cup toasted and chopped peanuts

Place tamarind water, palm sugar, lime juice, ginger, fish sauce, sesame oil, chilli, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass in a jar with a lid.  Shake then put aside.  Peel and slice cucumbers and cut into 1cm rounds.

Heat a lightly greased frying pan over high heat and sear the tuna fillets for 1 minute each side.  Remove from  heat, season with a little salt, then cut into pieces about the same size as the cucumber rounds.  Add coriander and peanuts to the dressing in the jar, shake then spoon some onto each square of tuna, then place onto a cucumber round and arrange on serving tray.  If you put the tuna on the cucumber first, then the dressing, it tends to go everywhere.

Makes 30

Ceviche with Coconut Dressing

500g firm white fish fillets (e.g. Hoki, Barramundi)
juice of 3 limes
100ml coconut cream
2 tsp grated ginger
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbs finely chopped coriander root/stalk
½ tsp salt
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal

Cut fish into bite-sized cubes and place in a glass or ceramic dish.  Cover with lime juice and refrigerate 2 hours.  Mix coconut cream, ginger, turmeric, sugar, coriander root and salt.  Drain fish, discarding lime juice and mix into coconut dressing.  To serve, place a cube of fish onto each Chinese spoon and garnish with the spring onion.

Makes about 40

Watermelon and Feta Squares

½ large seedless watermelon
100g creamy feta cheese
1 tsp sumac
6 pitted black olives, finely sliced
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs very finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp finely chopped thyme leaves

Cut watermelon into 2cmx2cm, bite-sized cubes. Cut feta into 1cm cubes. Mix sumac, olives, olive oil, parsley and thyme.  Place a small amount on a feta cube, then place the feta cube on a watermelon cube and arrange on serving plate.  Repeat with the rest of the cubes and serve immediately.

Variations: use green olives instead of black; use basil or mint instead of thyme

Makes about 25

Roxana’s Pisco Sour

½ bottle Pisco (about 375ml)
6 ice cubes
2 Tbs icing sugar, or to taste
½ cup lemon or lime juice, or a mixture
½ an egg white

Place pisco, ice and sugar in blender and blend for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, mix for 2 minutes, then add egg white and continue to mix until sugar has completely dissolved. Pour into 6-8 cocktail or champagne glasses and if liked place a few drops of Angostura bitters on top of each.  Serve immediately.

Serves 6-8

Lamb Rack with Caper and Herb Crust and Rhubarb Compote

Olive oil
2 French-trimmed 8-cutlet lamb racks (see note below)
8-12 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise
Rhubarb compote (see below)
Caper & Herb crust:
2 Tbs salted capers, rinsed and drained
4 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
½ cup flat leaf parsley leaves
½ cup mint leaves
8 cloves garlic
2 Tbs olive oil
finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
2/3 cup (100g) peanuts

For the crust place all ingredients in food processor except the peanuts and process until finely chopped.  Add peanuts and process briefly leaving it quite chunky.  Set aside.  Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Season lamb racks with S and P and cook in two batches, for about a minute each side, or until nicely browned.  Rest for 15 mins then press the crust onto the fatty side of each lamb rack.   Place shallots in a baking tray, drizzle with some olive oil, then place the lamb racks on top, propping the bony sides up against each other.  (I prepared the dish to this point in the morning)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Roast lamb for 35 minutes for medium-rare (see note below) or until cooked to liking.  Rest for 10 mins then carve into individual cutlets and serve with the roasted shallots and rhubarb compote.

Note: the Delicious magazine recipe calls for spring lamb.  The lamb racks I used were larger and had 9 cutlets each.  I had also done the browning earlier in the day, so they had got cold.  So I roasted them for 45 mins, plus resting time and they were perfectly cooked, medium-rare. If the crust starts to get too brown during cooking time, cover loosely with a piece of foil.

Serves 8, two cutlets each

Rhubarb Compote
2 bunches rhubarb, washed and trimmed
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 Tbs pomegranate molasses (from delis and specialist cookshops)

Cut rhubarb into 1-2cm pieces. Place in a saucepan over medium heat with sugar and water.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10-12 mins or until thick.  Add pomegranate molasses, place in serving dish and put aside to cool.  Serve with lamb.  It would also be nice with chicken, pork or ham. (Note: the recipe in the magazine used 2 cups of water which was far too much!)

Thyme Infused Carrots
2-3 bunches baby carrots
40g butter
2 tsp thyme leaves
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
Juice 1 orange

Scrub carrots and trim, leaving a short bit of green at the ends, then halve lengthwise.  Cook in boiling salted water until just slightly under-cooked.  Refresh under cold water, drain then put in a frying pan which is wide enough to fit the carrots.  Add remaining ingredients then put the pan aside until close to serving time.  Bring to the boil then simmer, turning the carrots until they’re nicely glazed and the liquid has evaporated.  Serve immediately.

Serves 8

Minted Baby Peas
4 cups frozen baby peas
1 tsp sugar
30g butter
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
S and P to taste

Cook peas in boiling salted water for 2-3 mins.  Refresh under cold water, then drain.  Place in a saucepan with remaining ingredients.  Can be prepared ahead to this stage.  At serving time reheat over medium heat, stirring.  Season to taste and serve immediately.

Serves 8

Potato Soufflés
80g butter
1/2 cup plain flour
450ml (just under 2 cups) milk
shake of ground nutmeg
2 cups mashed potatoes (mashed with some cream and a large knob of butter)
S and P to taste
4 eggs
1 beaten egg for painting the soufflés prior to baking

Set oven to 180°C and oil about 10 half cup soufflé dishes and place them on a baking tray.  Preheat oven to 200°C.  In a non-stick saucepan heat butter and when melted add flour.  Stir for 2-3 minutes until the flour is cooked but not coloured, then gradually add the milk, mixing to incorporate before you add more.  When sauce is thick and smooth add nutmeg, mashed potato and season to taste.

Remove pan from heat and add the egg yolks one by one, placing the whites in a large mixing bowl.  Beat the whites until soft peaks form, using electric beaters.  Add some of the sauce to the whites and mix well, then add the rest and mix thoroughly using a plastic spatula.  Divide mixture between the soufflé dishes, filling them almost to the top. Bake for about 15 minutes or until risen and golden brown.  If liked you can serve them now, leaving them in the dishes and just sitting them on the side of the dinner plates.  Or you can use the following twice-baked method which takes a bit of the stress out of the last-minute nature of soufflés.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.   Line a baking tin with baking paper and spray it with oil, run a knife around each soufflé and tip onto the paper, leaving a space of 2-3cm between each one. Recipe can be made ahead to this point and kept refrigerated and covered, for up to 24 hours.

To serve set oven to 200°C.  Using a pastry brush, paint the top of each soufflé with a little beaten egg, then bake for 10-15 minutes, or until puffed and golden.  If serving with the rack of lamb, place in the oven during the last 10 mins of the lamb’s cooking time, then they can continue to cook when lamb is removed to rest for 10 mins.  Soufflés will take slightly longer if they’ve been in the fridge. Remove with a fish slice to serving plates.

Makes 10

Tasting Plate of Favourite Desserts

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

200ml cream
150g dark/bitter chocolate
pink peppercorns (from specialty shops – dry, slightly perfumed not the ones in brine)

White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis

Mousse:
150g white chocolate
2 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp gelatine
200ml cream
2 eggs
Coulis:
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup caster sugar

Salted Caramel Tartlets

8 small tartlet shells made with sweet shortcrust pastry, baked and cooled
1 can Nestlé Top ‘n Fill Caramel
250ml cream
Maldon or Murray River salt flakes

Chocolate Ganache: heat cream to boiling point.  Add chocolate broken into squares and stir until melted.  Divide between about 8 shot glasses (will depend on size) then chill or you may prefer them at room temp.  Serve sprinkled with a few pink peppercorns.

White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis: place chocolate, milk and vanilla in a bowl over simmering water until chocolate has melted, stir well and remove from heat. Dissolve gelatine in a Tbs of water, zap in the microwave then mix into the chocolate. Cool a bit then mix in the egg yolks. Whip the egg whites first then using the same beaters whip the cream (not the other way round as the whites won’t whip with greasy beaters!). Fold the cream into the chocolate, then lastly the egg whites. Pour into about 8 shot glasses (will depend on size) leaving a small space at the top for the coulis. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Coulis: defrost the raspberries and mix with the sugar. Leave for a while so the sugar dissolves, whiz in a blender, then push through a sieve, discarding the seeds. To serve, pour a layer of coulis on top of each chocolate moussse.

Salted Caramel Tartlets: in a small saucepan heat cream and caramel Top ‘n Fill gently until thoroughly incorporated.  Cool slightly then use to fill tart shells.  Store at room temperature for up to several hours.  Serve sprinkled with a few salt flakes.  This is enough filling for about 20 tartlets.

Arrange the three desserts on a small plate or individual serving tray (as shown in photo).

Serves 8

Baked Cheesecake with Sour Cherry Topping

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Nigella Lawson has a recipe for an unbaked cheesecake with a cherry topping and another recipe for a baked cheesecake with no topping.  I decided to combine the two for this recipe and use less sugar and a thinner biscuit crust.

Nigella’s system of baking the cheesecake in a water bath, using a piece of foil to stop the water from getting into the spring form pan, gives a very creamy result.  It’s not at all dry and cloying like some baked cheesecakes.  Nigella adds extra egg yolks to the filling, but I found that it set perfectly using 3 whole eggs.  I put a thicker sour cream layer on mine because I wanted the cheesecake to be nice and deep and come almost to the top of the pan when finished.

Baked Cheesecake with Sour Cherry Topping

Biscuit base:
100g digestive biscuits (or other plain sweet biscuits which need using up)
50g butter at room temperature
Cream Cheese filling:
500g cream cheese at room temperature
125g caster sugar
1½ Tbs vanilla essence
2 Tbs lemon juice
3 large eggs
Sour cream layer:
500-600g sour cream (two tubs/cartons)
1 Tbs vanilla essence
3 Tbs caster sugar
Sour cherry topping:
1 can or jar of sour cherries in juice (I used a 680g jar from Aldi)
1 Tbs sugar (optional)
4 Tbs arrowroot + 2-3 Tbs water

Turn the oven to 170°C and line the bottom of a 20cm spring form pan with baking paper.  In a food processor blitz the biscuits until they form crumbs, then add the butter and process until the mixture sticks together. Tip into the pan and press down over the bottom using your hand or the bottom of a glass.  Place in fridge while you make filling.

Wipe out the food processor to remove any crumbs, then process cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar, then lastly the vanilla, lemon juice and eggs.  When smooth pour into the pan.  Place the pan on a large piece of tough aluminium foil and bring it up the outsides of the pan, crunching it down around the outside edges.  Place pan in a deep baking tin or dish and pour boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cheesecake.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until cheesecake is firm in the middle – test with the palm of your hand.

Meanwhile in a small bowl mix sour cream with sugar and vanilla.  When cheesecake is set in the middle, spread sour cream mixture evenly over the top and return to the oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, lift out of the water bath and allow to cool, then refrigerate.

Tip cherries and their juice into a sauce pan and bring to the boil.  Add sugar if you think they need it.  Mix arrowroot with cold water till smooth then add to the pan and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens.  You can use cornflour instead of arrowroot, but arrowroot is better as it doesn’t make the mixture turn opaque.  Allow to cool for a while so it’s not too hot, then spoon onto cheesecake and spread evenly.

Chill cheesecake for several hours or overnight.  To serve, run a knife dipped in boiling water around the outside to loosen it from the pan, then carefully undo the spring and remove the sides.  Cut slices using a knife dipped in hot water.

Serves 12

Variations:

  1. Use fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries to cover top of cheesecake instead of the cherry topping.
  2. Passionfruit topping: mix half a cup of fresh passionfruit pulp with a cup of boiling water.  Mix well then tip through a sieve.  Return 2-3 tablespoons of the passionfruit seeds to the juice and discard the rest.  Add 1-2 tablespoons sugar, to taste and stir to dissolve.  Place 4 teaspoons powdered gelatine in a small dish with 2 tablespoons water.  Zap in microwave to dissolve, then add to the passionfruit juice and stir well.  Tip onto the cold cheesecake and refrigerate until jelly has set.

Sausage Rolls

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When I was growing up in England we always made sausage rolls for Christmas and other celebrations.  With bought puff pastry, they’re quick to make and everyone likes them.  If you want to freeze and store them, cook them for less time, then reheat either thawed, or straight from the freezer, when you need them. Great to have in the freezer when unexpected guests pop in for a drink over Christmas.

Sausage Rolls

3-4 sheets of bought puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten
sesame seeds (optional)
Filling:
750g pork mince
2 cups breadcrumbs, made in the food processor using day old bread
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped in the food processor
3 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
plain flour for rolling

Preheat oven to 180°C.  Mix all ingredients for filling.  Cut pastry down the middle into two long rectangles.  Form filling into sausages by taking a handful and rolling on a floured surface.  Each sausage should be about 2cm in diameter and the length of a piece of pastry.  Place a sausage on each piece of pastry, dampen the long edge with water, seal with a fork, then cut into desired length – if you make them about 4cm long you will get 6 from each rectangle.  Place on trays lined with baking paper.  Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle if liked with sesame seeds, then bake for 25 minutes or until nicely browned.  Cool a bit on a cake rack, then serve while still warm with tomato sauce (ketchup) for dipping.  If liked you can bake them ahead until they are almost ready, then cool and keep in the fridge (for up to 2 days) or freezer (for up to 2 months) until needed.  They will only need to be heated up for a few minutes in a hot oven to serve.

Makes about 36 or so, depending on size

Note: puff pastry sheets in Australia are 25cm square.  If preferred you can buy puff pastry in a block and roll it out yourself.