Rosemary and Garlic Baked Camembert with Honey Glazed Pear and Almonds

This dish was inspired by a picnic lunch we enjoyed at the Bramon Wine Estate just outside Plettenberg Bay. Bramon Wine Estate is a boutique vineyard and it is the first and only Estate that far East of the Western Cape.

Their flagship Sauvignon Blanc wine is called The Crags which is the name of the “town” where the Wine Estate is situated. You couldn’t really call it a town though. It consists of a petrol station and a shop. Which is why it is such a pleasant surprise to find this beautiful place just off the main road. They also have two sparkling Sauvignon Blanc Cap Classiques. I went for the 2008 sparkling ” a  refreshingly clean palate with vibrant mousse and an exciting, limey, zesty lingering finish”. It was one of the best sparkling wines I have tried in a long time.

So I had another glass. As you do.

In the summer they offer a picnic lunch amongst the vines. It is a really special feeling to be drinking the wine that is growing all around you. It is a relaxed, informal dining experience (in a really good way). You order your drinks and then get a list of the foods available. You trick the boxes next to what you would like to order and then give it back to the very capable waiting staff. Sit back relax, enjoy your drink and the beautiful surroundings while your picnic is freshly prepared for you.

We chose the mini baked camembert with honey figs and nuts, a beautiful plaited bread with rosemary and sea salt, green fig preserve, avocado and parmesan crisp salad, fresh pesto with mixed herbs and almonds, sundried tomatoes and a creamy hummus.

There is a monkey park and a bird sanctuary very near to the Wine Estate, so in a very organised fashion we went to Bramon in the morning to book a nice table in the vines for lunch at 1pm and then went off to Monkeyland for the rest of the morning. You get a guided walking tour around the forest that is very informative for kids and adults. More than 450 primates live and free-roam around the forest. It is an amazing feeling to be that close to so many different types of monkeys and lemurs that are living in a natural habitat. 

After lunch we went to Birds of Eden which is the largest free flight bird aviary in the world. It is a great way to spend a a couple of hours, there are 3500 birds out in the open. You walk up wooden walkways that snake their way through ruins and waterfalls up into the canopy of the trees. It is a stunning place.

And again you get so close to them.

Monkeyland and Birds of Eden are next to each other so you can buy combination tickets for both, which is what we did. With an excellent lunch at Bramon in between of course. Which brings me back to the food.

I contacted Bramon to get the recipes for the baked camembert and the rosemary plaited bread. The gave me the camembert but then told me that the bread recipe was a secret! I can understand it of course, it was very good.

So I made my own version of the bread using spelt flour which I flavoured with roasted garlic and rosemary. It was lovely, especially dipped into the oozing  baked camembert.

I will give you the bread recipe in my next post but for now here’s the baked camembert. I used pears rather than figs because figs aren’t in season here yet and I had some in my fruit bowl.

 I also studded the cheese with sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs before baking it because we used to serve it like that when it was on the menu at the restaurant. It’s something I saw Jamie Oliver do somewhere that makes such a difference to the flavour.

Rosemary & Garlic Baked Camembert with Honey Glazed Pear & Almonds

serves 2, vegetarian, gluten-free

Prep time: 5 mins Cooking time: 30-35 mins

• 1 boxed camembert (250 gr) wooden box is best but card is fine
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• a few tops of fresh rosemary
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C, remove the paper wrapping from around the cheese and put it back in the box. Make little slits all over the top of the cheese with a sharp knife and push in the slices of garlic and rosemary tops.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 30-35 minutes until soft and melting inside. Meanwhile make the honeyed pear and almonds.

Honey Glazed Pear & Almonds

serves 2, vegetarian, gluten-free

• 1 pear, cored and sliced into 12 wedges
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• a drizzle of olive oil
• a handful of whole toasted almonds (I used salted)
• salt & black pepper
• about 1 tbsp honey (rosemary honey if possible)

Toss all the ingredients apart from the honey together in a small bowl until evenly coated. Heat up a small frying pan over a medium high heat and throw in the pear & almond mix. Brown/caramelise slightly on both sides before adding the honey and stir to coat the pears.

Cook until the pears are soft but not mushy and remove from the heat.

Serve the warm honey glazed pear and almonds with the baked camembert and a nice bread for dipping. Or wait for my Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Braided Spelt Loaf in my next post…

For more information about the Bramon Wine Estate visit their webste here.

Enjoy!!

Fresh Cranberry and Chestnut Gingerbread Scones

These are gorgeous. I had to share them with you quickly before the festive season is over and they are kind of irrelevant.

I bought a punnet of fresh cranberries just before Christmas because I had never seen or tried fresh ones before. When I got them home I was sort of unsure about what to do with them. Cranberry sauce was too boring, I wanted something where you can taste the cranberry in its natural state and feel the texture.

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

As this is probably my last post before the big day I thought I would share something Christmassy with you. This fudge is really easy to make and makes great gifts. Just wrap it in cellophane and tie up with a ribbon.

It’s actually one of Nigella’s Christmas Recipes. I do love Nigella even though she does come out with the cheesiest waffle sometimes. I’m saving up for her hips, not long to go now, especially after picking at this fudge. You have to trim the edges to get them nice and straight you see. You can’t waste it.

Orange, Ginger and Cinnamon Vegan French Toast

It’s all about the oranges here at the moment. Christmas in Andalucia is punctuated with piles of them, in my house anyway. The smell of a freshly peeled mandarin is the scent of Christmas in my opinion, along with cinnamon it is better than any plug-in air freshener.

So, for me, any excuse for zesting an orange or mandarin and I’m there. Epecially since I have a new microplane zester which is my new favourite kitchen thing.

This is the perfect Christmas breakfast/brunch. Served with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (topped off with some champagne) and you’re ready for anything. This version is vegan but you can just as easily use eggs, I won’t be offended. It is Christmas after all. I used walnut bread for this, it’s a lovely combination with the orange and cinnamon.

Pink Hibiscus Flirtini

As it’s the weekend and it is officially holiday season I thought I would share a little cocktail with you. After the success of my Golden Jasmine Martini and seeing this double page article in The Independent (The Washer Up’s dad sends me all food & drink related articles, thanks Jim!), it had to be with tea. Apparently cocktails made with tea are the next big thing.

The English summer garden party was all about people drinking cocktails out of flowery teacups. The Royal Tea cocktail created for the Royal Wedding in April was with Beefeater gin, chilled Earl Grey tea, lemon, sugar & lime.

Being more of a vodka girl myself it was a toss-up between a Flirtini and a Cosmopolitan. I chose the Flirtini because of the use of cava/champagne. I do love bubbles and it is nearly Christmas.

Provencal Goat’s Cheese Brulee with Fresh Fig and Orange Compote

This is a dish we served at the restaurant. I came up with the idea and The Washer Up translated it into reality. That’s what he does, he makes what goes on in my head happen. I have no concept of how difficult things are, I just know what I want. Thankfully he is very practical (unlike me) and incredibly patient (ditto). We are the perfect team.

You can serve this with any seasonal compote/jam. Cranberries would be nice especially for a Christmas starter/appetizer or snack. I chose to make a Fig & Orange Compote because that is what I am seeing while walking the dog at the moment. The last of the late season figs…..

Orange Curd and Little Tarts

Living here at the moment is like living in an orange world. People keep giving me bags full. The trees seem to produce so much fruit with so little work. Everyone has orange trees and nobody knows what to do with them all, so they give them away.

Not that I mind it gives me a chance to get creative, there is only so much orange juice you can drink…..

I’ve made lemon curd before and it was really easy and had been thinking about making curd with the oranges that were threatening to go off  in carrier bags in my kitchen.I wasn’t sure it would work or about the sugar ratio. The deciding moment came when I saw a recipe for orange passionfruit curd tarts on 6 Bittersweets. They looked so beautiful, I didn’t need any more encouragement……….

I used the same recipe I used to make lemon curd but I just used a bit less sugar. It worked!  It really is lovely on toast and the smell of  the orange zest while you are making it is intoxicating……

It is really easy to make into a tart as well. You just pour/ dollop it into a baked sweet tart case and leave it in the fridge to set.

Orange Curd Recipe

makes 3 jars, vegetarian

• grated zest & juice of 4 oranges
• 4 eggs
• 300 gr caster sugar
• 230 gr room temperature unsalted butter
• 2 tsp cornflour

Lightly whisk the eggs in a medium saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and put on a medium high heat. Whisk continuously until thickened (about 5-8 minutes). Lower the to minimum and simmer, still whisking for another minute. Remove from the heat and pour into hot sterilized jars (Just put them through the dishwasher). Seal immediately, leave to cool then store in the fridge.

Orange Curd Tart Recipe

• orange curd (see recipe above)
• baked sweet tart shell/cases see my recipe here or buy one/some
• icing sugar
• orange zest curls

Bake the tart shell/cases until golden, leave to cool slightly then pour/dollop in the orange curd. Spread it about evenly and chill in the fridge. Best eaten on the same day as filling the case. When ready to serve, dust with a little icing sugar and top with some orange zest curls.

It would be lovely topped with soft meringue and baked too. I will have to try that next time. I have a feeling there will be a next time, my friend Rhian has just invited our dog, Rufus, around to play. She said to bring a bag as she has loads of oranges………..

Panforte- Italian Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Cake

I know I’ve shown you pictures of the almond blossom before but I couldn’t resist showing you this one with the snow on the Sierra de las Nieves in the background. Sierra de las Nieves means  The Snowy Mountains…..

This picture was taken in Guaro while we were checking on a friend’s house there. This is the view from the end of the drive. Spectacular isn’t it. You can see why it’s called Cortijo de las Nieves with that view….

These beautiful almond trees are everywhere you look at the moment. They reminded me of a recipe I found at Corridor Kitchen that I have been meaning to make since Christmas. Panforte is an Italian chocolate, fruit & nut cake served in little squares with espresso coffee at breakfast, in the afternoon or after dinner. It’s kind of like a dense nutty brownie fruit cake combination. Rich, sticky, chewy and delicious- it’s a grown up thing and you need to try it…

Lauren’s recipe included crystallised pineapple as her Aussie twist on the classic. In the absence of pineapple I used crystallised ginger which goes really well with the chocolate and orange zest and gives it more of that grown up feeling. If you don’t like ginger leave it out. The dried cranberries were another addition of mine just because I had some in the cupboard and they work with the other flavours….

Panforte Recipe

makes about 12 -14 small squares/slices, vegetarian

• 125 gr almonds, roughly chopped
• 125 gr hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 60 gr stem ginger (crystallised or not) finely chopped
• 60 gr dried cranberries (soaked for 15 minutes in boiling water) roughly chopped
• 60 gr chopped mixed peel (I use the zest of 1 lemon & 1 orange)
• 100 gr plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder (good cocoa not hot chocolate powder)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or mixed spice)
• 60 gr dark chocolate, chopped
• 75 gr sugar
• 175 gr honey

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in a dry pan if they are not toasted and coarsely chop. Sieve the flour, cinnamon and cocoa in to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add in the nuts, fruit, zest and ginger and stir again.

Melt the honey and sugar over a medium low heat, when just about to boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy, Take it off the heat, leave for one minute then tip in the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Pour this over the dry ingredients and mix everything together very well. It is a very stiff, sticky mass and quite hard on the arms but keep going it comes together eventually!

Line a 20cm cake tin or small baking tray with parchment paper, and cut another circle of parchment the same size as the tin. Tip the mixture into the tin, put the extra piece of parchment on top and press it down and spread it out until it is flat and even. Leave the parchment on the top and bake for about 35 minutes or until it has just lost its sheen.

Leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices or squares with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container.

 Feel free to substitute the cranberries for sultanas or use glace cherries instead. She recommends glace apricot as well as the glace pineapple. I think glace mango would be amazing with the chocolate too maybe with some macadamia nuts as well……….

Enjoy!!

Christmas Carbicide and Boxing Day Bubble…

On Christmas Eve we walked up to these rocks….

Then the Washer Up made his amazing vegeatble sushi rolls stuffed with omelette, carrot, spring onion & spinach which we served with sushi ginger, wasabi paste & soy sauce… yum!

Followed by a spicy miso noodle broth with pak choi & shitake mushrooms..

And then we played cards..with the cat!

On Christmas morning we walked up to our favourite hilltop retreat and ate mince pies..

From there we could see this waterfall on the mountain over the other side of the valley and decided to walk there on Boxing day… more of that “adventure” later…!

Our Christmas Dinner was “Potatoes Four Ways” also known as “Christmas Carbicide!”..

This consisted of (clockwise from bottom right) Dauphinoise Potatoes, Potato Fondant, Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Mash & Polenta Encrusted Roast Potatoes. As you can imagine I have only just emerged from my carb induced coma.. The stuffing on top is Sage & Onion. I think my favourite was the Potato Fondant which is a disc of potato cooked slowly in butter & stock.  We served this with roasted shallots, peas & green beans with garlic & ground almonds..

This was all covered with “purple” gravy (don’t ask- it was red onion gravy but I blitzed it so it was purple!) nice…
We had red wine with dinner which was probably not a good idea, the Washer Up is not good on red wine…

So it was with a hangover on Boxing Day morning that we embarked on our trip to the faraway waterfall…. We parked at Barranco Blanco and took some pictures of the lovely waterfall there….

We couldn’t get down to the bottom because of all the water but you can see some more pictures I took there earlier in the year here.

We set off on the path around the valley and looked back at our favourite hilltop, where we walked to on Christmas day..

We passed another small waterfall on the mountain path before we went “off road”….

So, The Washer Up said it would only take us about 20 minutes off the path to reach the waterfall. Needless to say we ended up on a steep incline head height in thorn bushes with no idea how to get out! It was impossible to reach the waterfall through all the spikey bush but we got near enough to take this photo. There were three levels of waterfall..

It was pretty scary trying to find our way back to the path, but we haven’t given up. Next time we are going to go along the river bed at the bottom and see if we can reach it from that direction….

By the time we arrived back at home we had been out for about 3 1/2 hours so we were starving. What was in the fridge? Leftover potatoes and veg from our Christmas dinner. So it had to be Bubble & Squeak with a Fried Egg…

Put all of your leftover potatoes (mash & roasts) in to a bowl with the leftover veg and stuffing and mash with a potato masher. Shape into a ball and place a slice/chunk of goat’s cheese in the middle roll it up again to seal it and shape into patties.
Sprinkle some flour/breadcrumbs/polenta on a plate and lightly coat the patties to give it a nice crust. Fry in hot butter & olive oil over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes on each side (turn them over when browned). When they are nearly cooked crack two egs into the same pan and cook until just set.
Serve the Bubble & Squeak straight away topped with the fried egg (and some HP sauce!). The addition of the goat’s cheese is a Nigel Slater idea. I’ve never tried it before. It’s lovely when you cut into the Bubble & Squeak and the cheese oozes out. With that and the soft egg yolk …..heaven!!
Hope you enjoyed your Christmas too xx

Christmas Gift Biscotti with Chocolate and Cranberries

 

We’ve just been loaned a Nespresso coffee machine which is very exciting! We only drink decaf as caffeine sends The Washer Up a bit loopy but the decaf options are great. We are trying the Intenso the Lungo and the normal decaffeinato. They are all good but the Intenso is a bit Intenso for me…

All this coffee drinking gives me a really good excuse to make some biscotti. You have to have a biscotti with a coffee and they also make fantastic Christmas gifts. I thought I’d “Christmas” up the original recipe by adding chocolate and cranberries but you can leave them out or add chestnuts or hazelnuts instead. Don’t be scared this is a really easy recipe that you can impress all your friends with when they pop round for coffee….

Christmas Biscotti Recipe

makes about 25- 30 biscotti vegetarian

• 25o gr plain flour
•  1/2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 250 gr caster sugar
•  2 eggs , beaten
• grated zest of 1 mandarin
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a few drops of almond extract
• 110 gr toasted almonds, chopped (you can toast them in a dry pan or in the oven)
• 65 gr dried cranberries
• 65 gr dark chocolate, chopped



Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and toast the almonds if necessary.  Leave to cool and chop roughly. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla & almond extracts, the nuts, cranberries & chocolate. Mix everything together well with a wooden spoon. Flour your hands and the worksurface well and divide the mixture into two. Roll the first half of the mixture into a long sausage/log with your hands. (Start with both hands together in the middle and work your way out rolling). Roll the sausage to the length of your baking sheet and transfer it over to the lined baking sheet, flattening it out slightly. Repeat with the other half of the mixture. Make sure you leave space in between the two logs for them to spread.

Cook in the preheated oven for 25 -30 minutes until firm. Remove the tray from the oven, lower the heat to 150 degrees and leave them to cool slightly.

Remove the biscotti loaves from the tray and cut them into diagonal fingers about 2cm wide, put them back on the tray, cut side up and back in the oven for about 15 minutes to dry out completely.

You can also serve these after dinner with coffee or a glass of dessert wine (classically vin santo) to dip them in…

A great way to wrap homemade gifts is in clear cellophane (sometimes printed with snowflakes etc) which you can buy in most “euro” shops here in Spain. I rolled up 6 biscotti in the cellophane then tied each end with raffia (to make a christmas cracker shape). I tucked a few sprigs of lavender in the rafia bow because we have some growing on our roof terrace that smells lovely…..

I also wrapped my Mandarin jam( See recipe here) gifts in cellophane with a pink gingham napkin tied around the lid!!

I love it!!!