Dolma & Arancini Recipes

Dolmades
1 pack vine leaves (250g)

2 cups rice
pine nuts
currants
1 tsp allspice
1 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
1 lemon. juice & zest
1 onion, finely chopped

1. Boil the vine leaves in water to soften and remove excess salt (10 mins).
2. Saute the onion in a generous splash of olive oil until softened, add in the rest of the ingredients and stir over medium heat until the flavours are released.
3. Add water (as if cooking risotto) and stir until absorbed. Do this till the rice is half-cooked.
4. Roll 1-2 teaspoons of rice in the vine leaves to make the dolmas (practise makes perfect!)
5. Reserve the old and damaged leaves to line the bottom of the pan (3-4 layers). Lay the rolled dolmades on top of this all snug in the pan. Cover the dolmades with more vine leaves and weigh the lot down with a saucer.
6. Add water to cover nearly cover the dolmades and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes (check that water doesn't dry up- better too much than too little).
7. Drain and bathe in olive oil
(Tip: The rice filling is great to stuff vegetables...)

Arancini
Cooked Risotto *I used mushroom risotto with white wine & some truffle oil from 250 g rice
Mozarella cut into 1 cm cubes
egg
breadcrumbs
seasoned flour

1. Make (golf ball-sized) balls from the cooled risotto and push in the mozarella. Reform the balls and refrigerate until firm.
2. Roll the balls in the flour, egg then bread crumbs and deep-fry until golden. Serve HOT! Could dipped into a tomato based sauce.

Clare's Mediterranean Tapas Night

Oh what a night .... So many flavors, so many bites, like a carnival for your tongue. Please edit what the dishes as my memory fails Were Actually ....

Nicky's Parma Ham & Brie concoction. Loved the apple-mint that was fresh and Surprise.

Nicky's Avocado Cucumber Rolls

Colleen's now-famous calamari, as 'failed' it was still delicious, cold as it was still delicious! (Recipe here)

Colleen's diet I Prawns (Recipe here)

Clare's Chorizo in red wine

Kelly's arancini



Clare's Berenjena con Vinagreta / Grilled Eggplant in Tomato Vinaigrette


Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
* 2 eggplants, medium size or 1 large
* 1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin Spanish olive oil
* 3 roma or plum tomatoes (also good with cherry tomatoes)
* 3 Tbsp Spanish sherry vinegar(I used balsamic)
* 2 red onions, finely chopped
* 2 tsp capers, minced
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
* 2 basil sprigs for garnish
* 1 French-style baguette

Preparation: 6-8 servings as an appetizer.
Trim off any stems or blemishes on the skin of the eggplants. Cut eggplants crosswise into slices about 3/8 inch thick.Note: Slices 1/4 inch thick are a bit too thin. They will burn easily and fall apart after they are dressed with oil and vinegar. Slices 1/2 inch thick take too long to cook under the grill and the skin can be hard to cut or chew.Turn on grill to heat. Place slices on a baking sheet and spray or lightly brush each slice with olive oil. Place baking sheets under grill on second shelf from top, so that they are not too close, or they will burn. When one side is slightly browned and soft when you press lightly, turn slices over, apply olive oil and return to grill.Depending on your grill and the distance from the pan, it may take 15 - 20 minutes to cook.Remove slices individually as they are done cooking and place on a large platter or serving plate. Don’t be afraid to overlap slices on the serving plate. It works just fine for serving and will be more appetizing.While the eggplant is grilling, finely chop the tomatoes and place them into a medium size mixing bowl. Finely chop the onions and garlic and place in the bowl with tomatoes. Remove the capers from the jar with a slotted spoon, so that they drain. Chop the capers and mix into the bowl with other ingredients. Make sure that stems are removed from the basil leaves, then chop the basil and place in bowl.Pour Olive oil and vinegar into the bowl and mix with the other ingredients.Allow the eggplant to cool a few minutes. Then, spoon the tomato vinaigrette sauce over the eggplant. Serve immediately with sliced bread or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. If you refrigerate this dish, be sure to take it out of the fridge a few minutes before serving, so that it warms up. You will not taste the rich flavors of this dish if it is served ice cold.
Alison's? Fancy italian especially for mushrooms in cream

Clare's Patata Bravas

Bread and Olives Which we did not eat Actually ....

Kelly's Dolmades

Monique's or Trinity: 1. Rosemary Cookies and Orange Scented Figs


2. Orange somthing yummy

3. The divine Creme Caramel

Saturday March 20th 7pm - Clare's Mediterranean Melange - "TAPAS" night

Hi Fellow foodies

Instead of a quote I give you a little history courtesy of Wikipedia, or how its believed Tapas evolved:

The word "tapas" is derived from the Spanish verb tapar, "to cover". According to legendthe tapas tradition began when King Alfonso X of Castile or Alfonso the Wise, recovered from an illness by drinking wine mixed with small dishes between meals. After Regaining his health, the king ordered taverns that were not allowed to serve wine to customers unless the beverage was Accompanied by a small snack or tapa. The word became a kind of loophole in the law to allow drinkers to consume alcohol.According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from Hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. The tapas eventually became as important as the Spanish sherry.Tapas has evolved through history by incorporating ingredients and influences from many different cultures and countries. Most of the Iberian Peninsula was Invaded by the Romans, who introduced the olive and irrigation methods. The invasion of the North African Moors in the 8th century brought almonds, citrus fruits and fragrant spices. The influence of their 700-year presence remains today, especially in Andalusia. The discovery of the New World brought the introduction of tomatoes, sweet and chili peppers, maize (corn), beans and potatoes. These were readily accepted and easily grown in Spain's microclimates.Tapa means "member" or "cover" in Spanish. There are several explanations for why it has come to denote a type of food: * A commonly cited explanation is that an item, be it bread or a flat card, etc., would often be placed on top of a drink to protect it from fruit flies, at some point it became a habit to top this "cover" with a snack. * It is also commonly said that since one would be standing while eating a tapa in traditional Spanish bars, they would need to place their plates on top of their drinks in order to eat, making it a top. * Some believe that the name originated sometime around the 16th century when tavern owners from Castilla-La Mancha found out that the strong taste and smell of mature cheese could help disguise that of bad wine, thus "covering" it, and started offering free cheese when serving cheap wine. * Another popular explanation says that the king Alfonso XII stopped by a famous venta (inn) in Cádiz (Andalusian city) where he ordered a cup of sherry. The waiter covered the glass with a slice of cured ham before offering it to the king, to protect the wine from the beach sand, as Cádiz is a windy place. The king, after drinking the wine and eating the tapa, ordered another sherry "with the cover."

After lots of mouthwatering research I am going to do Chorizo in Red Wine, and attempt some Banderillas - skewered type things with pickled bits on. Soft drink for Tapas apparently grape juice, otherwise some Rioja or Cerveza will be on offer or does anyone like sherry? I just can not do .... sherry!!

Lemon Meringue

Since my mom STILL won't share her recipe with me, here's one that I use in the meantime.

Ingredients

¾ packet digestives
75 mls melted butter
1 tin of condensed milk
100 ml lemon juice
4 egg yolks
2 egg whites
75 ml castor sugar

The process

Crush the biscuits, melt the butter in a mixing jug in the microwave.
Add the biscuit crumbs to the butter and mix well.

Line the bottom of the pie dish with the biscuit crumbs and chill in the fridge.

Mix the condensed milk, juice of lemon and egg yolks together and pour onto the pie shell.

Beat the egg whites until stiff add the castor sugar slowly and mix and when thick and full spread on top of the filling.
Bake for 20-30 mins at 160C until meringue is light brown.

Pap en sous

Pap:
Travel all the way to South Africa and buy a bag of mieliepap. Cook according to the instructions on the package.

Sous:
This time you only need to travel to Leiden to the international store and buy Mrs. Balls Chutney. Chop up onions, fry, add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are soft. Add a whole bunch of the very cherished Chutney as well as anything you feel like that particular day, or nothing else but salt. And there! You have a traditional South African dish!

lemons

Lemon Chicken Parcels

You need

• 4 chicken breast fillets
• 30g butter
• 1tbs oil
• 8 sheets fillo pastry
• 60g butter. melted, extra
• 1tbs seeded mustard
• 1tbs fresh chopped coriander

Sauce

• 1tbs lemon juice
• 1tbs chopped coriander
• 1tbs grated ginger
• half a cup of thickened cream

Method

1. Trim away any excess fat. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan and brown chicken. Remove chicken and drain on absorbant paper. Reserve the frying pan with juices.
2. place 1 sheet of f. pastry on bench, brush with extra melted butter. Top with another layer of f.pastry. Place fillet onto pastry and coat with s. mustard and coriander. Fold sides of pastry over chicken, roll up to form a parcel. Repeat with remaining pastry and chicken.
3. Place chicken parcels onto baking try and brush with melted butter. Bake in the oven until golden brown. Test if chicken in cooked by piercing with a skewer.Add lemon juice to reserved juices in the frying pan,stir in corinader , ginger and cream.Stir constantly over heat until reduced to half and the slightly thickened. Serve over chicken parcels.

Lemon Biscuit slice

You need:

• 125g buter
• pkt of marie biscuits ( also can use the sanfransico biscuits)
• grated rind from one lemon
• half a can of condensed milk
• 1 cup of coconut

Icing

• 185g icing sugar
• 2 tbs lemon juice

Method

1. Melt butter and add condensed milk. Stir until well blended. Crush biscuits and place in basin with coconut and lemon rind. Pour onto butter mixture and mix well.
2. Press into a slice tin and chill until set.
3. mix icing sugar and lemon juice stiring briefly over a low heat. Pour over slice and allow to cool. ( sprinkle with coconut). Slice must be refridgerated.

Enjoy!