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    Friday, February 06, 2015

    Sweet Corn Maque Choux- A New Orleans Delicacy - Perfect for the Summer


    Last weekend, we had a major celebration in our house.
    The headline act on the Menu, was Gumbo
    If you want to make Gumbo, click here
    All the steps to make a perfect one, outlined for you
    You can either serve it like a stew, below
    Or more like a soup, a la the photo below
    With or without rice
    When I posted a photo of the Gumbo on Facebook, one of friends reminded me of other
    New Orleans Delights, for instance Corn Maque Choux
    So I had to make it
    Corn is abundant, so sweet, this is a delicious alternative, to "the just gnawing" at the cob.
    Serve with any protein and if by any chance, you have Leftovers
    Make a Frittata, just add some more sauteed onion and perhaps some extra sauteed capsicum

    Ingredients
    Servings: 4
    Recipe by Bruce Aidells from Epicurious Website

    125 gms butter
    1 cup finely chopped onion
    1/2 cup chopped yellow capsicum
    2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 3 medium ears of corn)
    3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
    1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
    1/2 teaspoon (or more) hot pepper sauce
    1 green onion, finely chopped
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
    Sea salt


    To remove the kernels without making a huge mess
    Strip back the husk and silk.
    Leave attached, it makes a great handle
    Also useful, for when you just want to eat a la naturale, dripping in butter

    Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat.
    Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
    Add capsicum; sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.
    Add corn; sauté 2 minutes.
    Add cream, thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce. 
    Simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
    Mix in green onion, parsley, and basil. 
    Season to taste with sea salt, pepper and more hot pepper sauce, if desired.
    Perfect

    Wednesday, February 04, 2015

    Perfect Raspberry Sorbet - So Simple

    Raspberry or Strawberry Sorbet

    I saw this simple Sorbet, on an Australian Cooking Programme, with Justine Schofield
    She was a MasterChef Finalist, in Series One
    She actually made this with frozen Raspberries, or you could use fresh in season

    So so simple
    I just had to make it
    After a wonderful celebration lunch, that we held at home last week.
    I found a couple of punnets of leftover Strawberries, in the bottom of my fridge.
    Just to the point of going off.
    Oops
    One bonus of that, is, they were really sweet
    What a great way to use them up, perfect for the kids dinner tonight.
    So I made Sorbet
    No need for ice cream machine
    Just a food processor or blender and a freezer

    100 gms caster sugar
    100 mls water
    2-3 drops lemon juice

    Dissolve over med heat
    Bring to slow simmer and
    Bubble away for about 5 minutes
    Just to reduce a little
    Cool

    600 gms raspberries/strawberries

    If using strawberries remove stalks

    Pop into food processor
    Blitz till fine purée
    Strain through a sieve into a bowl
    To get out the seeds
    Add sugar syrup
    Back into food processor
    Blitz again till smooth
    In to a tray and freeze

    Remove from freezer
    Break up and back into food processor

    Separate out 1 egg white
    Start processor and add egg white to raspberry ice
    straight away
    Blitz till smooth

    This took about 2-3 minutes
    Every so often scrape down the sides till homogenised

    Into plastic container with lid
    Refreeze then it’s ready to eat

    Going to serve it with Little tarts, filled with Chocolate Ganache