Esty's Salted Croissants (cheese rogelach)

This is so simple and delicious. Perfect for Shavuot.

Ingredients Croissants: >  1 packet (350 gm) s/r flour >  200 gm salted butter/marge >  350 gm grated Kashkeval >  1 Tub (250 gm) 9% white cheese Topping: >  1 egg white >  Sesame seeds

Steps 1. Put all the ingredients (except the egg white and the sesame seeds) in a bowl and make pastry. 2. Wrap in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour. 3. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. 4. Take the pastry out of the fridge and divide it into 4 quarters. 5. Roll each into a circle and divide into 8, like a pizza. 6. Roll each segment up from the wide to the narrow point. 7. Oil a baking tray and place the croissants on it, with enough room to expand. 8. Brush the croissants with the egg white.  9. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. 10. Bake until brown, about 10 minutes. 11. When cool, store in a container.

Franzi's Cheesecake

This is my mum's recipe. I remember that at one of my grammar school's PTA meeting, we raised quite a bit by selling the recipe.

Omri wants the recipe online :) The ingredients are for a 23cm springform

Ingredients Crust: >  200 gm (8 oz) petit beurre biscuits (Lotus are also good) >  100 gm (4 oz) butter/marge >  1/2 tsp cinnamon  (optional) >  1 Tbsp sugar (optional) Cake: >  500 gm 5% white cheese >  1/2 cup sugar >  1/2 tsp vanilla essence >  3 eggs Topping: >  2 cartons sour cream > Tbsp sugar  >  few drops vanilla essence >  zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)

Steps 1. First, make the base of the cake. Grind up the biscuits together with the cinnamon and sugar. 2. Melt the butter or marge, pour the crumbs into the pot, and mix well. 3. Press the mixture into the bottom of an oiled 23cm cake tin. Refrigerate while making the filling. 4. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C. 5. Combine the white cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat well.  6. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. 7. Pour the mixture onto the crumb base. 8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until set.  9. Allow the cake to cool in the oven with the door open. 10. Take the cake out of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 220°C. 11. Whisk together the topping ingredients and pour on top of the cake. 12. Return the cake to the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes. 13. Turn the oven off and leave the door partly open for a few minutes. Then remove the cake. 14. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight.

Vegan Spanish Paella

Taken from https://simpleveganblog.com/vegan-spanish-paella/. For a healthier version, this recipe uses basmati rather than the regular short-grain rice.

Ingredients §  2 Tbsp olive oil §  4 cloves of garlic §  1 medium onion, chopped §  1 red pepper, chopped §  2 tomatoes, chopped §  1 cup frozen artichoke hearts (120 grams) §  1/2 cup frozen green beans (75 grams) §  1/2 cup frozen peas (65 grams) §  1 1/4 cups Basmati rice (240 grams) §  4 cups vegetable stock (1 liter) §  2 tsp turmeric powder §  1 tsp sweet paprika §  Salt and black pepper to taste (optional)

Steps 1.    Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and when it’s hot, add the garlic, onion, and red pepper. Cook until golden brown. 2.    Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes. 3.    Add the frozen veggies and cook 5 minutes more. 4.    Add the rice and cook until it begins to be translucent. Pour the vegetable broth (hot), add the turmeric powder, the sweet paprika, and salt and black pepper to taste. 5.    Stir the paella until all the ingredients are mixed and cook over medium or medium high heat for 15 or 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Add more vegetable broth if the rice is hard and dry. 6.    Let the paella stand (covered) for at least 5 or 10 minutes.

Indian-spiced chicken and veg

This is an adaptation of Janie Oliver’s recipe to fit my taste. It’s a great recipe that’s easy and very tasty. All the vegetables come with it.

Ingredients All 5 veg to be diced into 1” cubes: §  800 gm unpeeled potatoes §  4 ripe tomatoes §  1 aubergine §  2 red peppers §  1 large onion §  1.5 Tbsp olive oil §  ½ bunch fresh coriander, separate stalks from leaves. §  5 cm piece ginger, sliced §  4 cloves of garlic §  Zest of 1 lime + 1 bay leaf (or 1 handful of curry leaves) §  3 Tbsp mustard seeds §  2 tsp turmeric §  Chicken pieces §  1-2 fresh chillis

Steps 1.  Heat oven to 180C 2.  Parboil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain and leave to steam-dry for 3 minutes. 3.  Fry the mustard seeds until they start popping and add the coriander stalks, garlic, turmeric, ginger, bay leaf and lime zest, and fry for 2 minutes on a gentle heat. 4.  Mix the cubed vegetables and potatoes together and then add the spice mixture and sliced chilli. Mix well. 5.  Place in a large roasting tray and arrange the chicken on top. 6.  Roast at the bottom of the oven for 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked. 7.  Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve. Goes well with a mint and chilli raita.

Jacqui’s hot-pot

This is a great recipe for using up leftovers. You can also use jacket potatoes that have been cooked in the oven rather than fresh potatoes. You can also add sliced and cooked carrots.

This is not my version as it has added vegetables, but it shows how the potatoes are laid.

The original version came from www.bbcgoodfood.com

Ingredients §  3 Tbsp olive oil §  1 large onion, chopped §  400-500 gm button mushrooms, sliced §  80 gm flour §  1 litre chicken soup or stock from powder (use 2-3 Tbsp soup powder) §  ¼ tsp nutmeg §  ¼ tsp mustard powder §  500 gm cooked chicken, chopped §  Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili pepper, salt and pepper to taste Topping §  2-3 large unpeeled potatoes, sliced into rounds §  50 gm olive oil

Steps 1.       Prepare all the ingredients as noted. 2.       Heat the oven to 180 (if you have a fan) or 200C. 3.       In a large saucepan, heat the oil and then add the chopped onion. Leave it to cook for about 5 mins on a medium flame, stirring occasionally, until softened. 4.       Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté until almost cooked. 5.       Add the flour, and if used the soup powder, and stir well. Cook over a low heat and stir continuously for 2 mins, so that there is no floury taste later. 6.       Take off the heat and slowly add the soup/water, again stirring the whole time. 7.       Once all the stock has been added, season well. 8.       Put the pan back on a medium heat and slowly bring back to the boil, stirring all the time. 9.       Once the sauce has thickened, turn the heat down as far as possible and add the cooked chicken. 10.   Taste and see if it needs more seasoning. 11.   Pour the chicken and mushrooms into a large greased pan. 12.   Lay the potatoes on top so that each row overlaps, and sprinkle olive all over them. 13.   Put into the oven for about 35 mins, or when the potatoes are cooked and golden. Serve with green salad and maybe glazed carrots.

Pan-fried Red Mullet

This is a simple dish from the great Gordon Ramsey. Cook at the last minute - it only takes 5 minutes.

Ingredients >  4 filleted red mullet with the skin on (~400gm) >  2 Tbsp plain flour >  1/2 tsp ground cumin >   1/2 tsp ground ginger >  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon >  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper >  2-3 Tbsp olive oil

Steps 1.    Mix together the dry ingredients in a shallow dish. 2.    Coat the fillets in this seasoned flour. 3.    Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan until hot. 4.    Fry the fillets 11/2-2 minutes each side until golden brown and just cooked through. GR suggests serving it with saffron pilaf and tarator sauce. I served it with shakshuka veg without the eggs. Serves 4

Vegan chocolate cake with icing

Made for my vegan granddaughter's birthday. I made this as a larger rectangle cake so it was shallower and needed a bit less time in the oven.

Ingredients - cake >  1 1/2 cups white flour >  1 cup white sugar >  1/4 cup cocoa powder >  1 tsp baking soda >  1/2 tsp salt >  1/3 cup vegetable oil >  1 tsp vanilla extract >  1 tsp balsamic vinegar >  1/2 cup water >  1/2 cup soy milk Ingredients - icing >  1 cup sugar >  6 Tbsp cornflour >  4 Tbsp cocoa >  1/2 tsp salt >  1 cup water (or mix with vegan cream or milk) >  2 Tbsp oil >  1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Steps 1.Heat oven to 170 deg. C and lightly grease a 9"x5" loaf pan 2. Put a sieve over a large bowl and put in all the dry ingredients. 3. Shake the sieve until all the ingredients are in the bowl. 4. Add the wet ingredients and mix together until smooth 5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for ~40-45 minutes. 6. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool. Icing 7. In a medium size saucepan, mix together the sugar, cornflour, salt and cocoa 8. Whisk in the water.  9. Heat over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until it is thick and starts to boil. Boil for one minute only. 10. Remove from heat and stir in the oil and vanilla. 11. Cool and only then spread it on the cooled cake. 12.Decorate with hundreds and thousands, etc.