Lemon Tiramisu

Ingredients:

300ml sugar

180ml lemon juice

125ml water

6 egg yolks

65ml flour

500ml milk

60g cubed butter

30g white chocolate chips

15ml lemon zest

325ml whipping cream

250ml mascarpone cheese

24x4inch ladyfinger biscuits

Method:

In a small saucepan, stir together 125ml each of sugar, lemon juice and water over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until dissolved. Set this syrup aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, flour and remaining sugar and set aside.

In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk over a medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Whisk half of the milk into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk this back into the pan of milk. Cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes until the custard boils and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Add butter and white chocolate and stir until both have melted. Strain this custard through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add lemon zest and remaining lemon juice and stir till smooth and well blended.

Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard and put in the fridge for 2 hours to cool.

In a bowl, whip the cream. Put mascarpone in a large bowl and whisk in the cooled custard. Fold in the whipped cream.

Arrange half of the ladyfinger biscuits on the bottom of a 13x9 inch glass baking dish. Brush generously with half of the prepared syrup mixture. Spread half of the mascarpone custard mixture over the biscuits. Repeat with a second layer of biscuits brushed with the rest of the syrup and covered with mascarpone custard. Cover and store in the fridge for 4 hours before serving.

Crispy Rack of Lamb with Mascarponi Sauce

One of the things I love about living in Wales is sheep in the fields.

In the Spring they are joined by frisky little lambs.

Some people see them as cute and cuddly,

but having come from farming stock,

I see them as food - delicious food!

Perhaps the queen of delicious is

"Rack of Lamb".

.

Many years ago in Durban, Natal,

there was a 'French' restaurant called,

"La Popote".

They made the most fantastic rack of lamb.

I have tried my best to emulate their dish,

but I saw the sauce on an Italian food program -

I thought it would go very well with succulent lamb.

Ingredients:
2 racks of lamb
Olive oil to drizzle over and rub
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
"French Herb Mix" - to be found in my e-book, "Herbs and Spices", coming soon.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Drizzle the racks with olive oil on both sides, rubbing the oil over the meat to ensure it is all covered. Season all over with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a good covering of "French Herb Mix".
Put the meat on a very hot grill, curved side down first and brown. Turn the meat over and brown on the underside as well.
Transfer to a baking tray with the curved side up and bake in a hot oven for about 25 minutes.

To Make the Sauce:
Ingredients:
125ml creme fraiche
handful of fresh mint, chopped
Sea salt to season
50ml honey
10ml ground cumin
125ml Mascarponi

Method:
In a glass bowl, whisk together the creme fraiche, mint, salt, and honey.
Add the cumin and mascarponi and mix well to a smooth paste.

Serve chops accompanied by the sauce, French fries and vegetables of choice.

Poached Pears with Blueberry Mascaponi

This is a simple desert that's quick and easy to prepare.

If preferred, it can be served with vanilla ice cream instead of mascarponi.

If serving with ice cream, serve the blueberries over the pears,

put ice cream on top and drizzle sauce over the ice cream.

This quantity serves two people.

Ingredients:
2 pears, pealed and halved
250ml white wine
10ml honey
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
5ml vanilla extract
1 inch piece of crystallised ginger
60ml granulated light brown sugar
60ml water
125ml blueberries
125g mascarponi

Method:
Remove the central seed portion of the pear with a teaspoon.
Put the wine, honey, cinnamon stick, vanilla, ginger, sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Turn down to simmer.
Place the pears in the poaching liquid and simmer for about 15-20 minutes till tender.
With a slotted spoon, remove the pears from the liquid and set aside.
Return the poaching liquid to the boil. Add the blueberries and continue to boil until the blueberries are soft, but not popping.
With a slotted spoon, remove the blueberries and add them to the mascarponi. Gently mix the fruit into the cheese.
Continue to boil the poaching liquid until it thickens into a sweet sauce.
Serve the pears covered with the mascarponi and blueberry mixture and top with the thickened sauce.

Brinjal and Sweet Pepper Double Cheese Terrine

This terrine needs to be made a day ahead of serving as it needs to be refrigerated overnight.

Great for picnics and braais or barbecues. Brinjal is also known as Aubergine. I like to use the Italian peppers as they are long and sweet, but you can use bell peppers; you'll just need more to coat the terrine pan.

Ingredients:
Coating for the Terrine:
2-3 large sweet Italian red peppers
2 large brinjals or aubergines
sea salt
80ml olive oil

Filling:
15ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
15ml ground cumin
10ml caraway seeds
2ml cayenne pepper
250ml stale breadcrumbs
200g Feta Cheese, crumbled
200g mascarponi cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.

Prepare the peppers and brinjal or aubergines:
Quarter the peppers, remove the seeds and membranes and grill with the skin-sides up until the skin blisters and blackens. Place in a bowl and cover with cling film for 5 minutes, then remove the skins. They should come away quite easily.
Cut the brinjals or aubergines into 1cm slices and place on a wire rack, sprinkle with salt and leave for half an hour. Rinse under cold water and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
Brush both sides of the brinjal slices with oil and fry until both sides are browned and the flesh is softened.

Make the filling:
Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and spices and cook, stirring, until fragrant; set aside to cool.
Combine the spice mixture with breadcrumbs and cheeses and mix to combine. I like to do this in a blender as it gives a nice smooth mixture.

To Build the Terrine:
Line the bottom of a buttered loaf pan with not quite half of the brinjal slices, overlapping them to cover the base with a complete layer. Line the sides of the pan with the peppers so they overlap the brinjal on the base and there is some overlap at the top.
Press the filling over the brinjal and peppers, folding the overlapping peppers over the mixture at the top.
Cover the top of the terrine with a layer of brinjal slices and press down firmly.
Cover the pan with foil, place terrine on an oven tray, top with another loaf pan half filled with water to press down on the mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes or until firm.

Refrigerate overnight, turn out on a plate and serve in slices.