Pittwater Life April 2017 Issue

For more recipes go to www.janellebloom.com.au
Squeeze tightly to remove
all water. Chop spinach and
add to couscous. Add the,
cheeses, dill, green onions
and eggs. Season.
3. Place a flat baking tray into
the oven, preheat oven and
tray to 220°C, fan-forced.
Place 1 sheet filo onto work
bench, brush with ghee.
Top with a second sheet
and repeat twice so you
have a stack of four sheets.
Arrange in pan allowing
excess to overhang on both
sides. Repeat so you have
another stack 4 filo sheets,
turning the pan 180° so
pastry completely covers
side and base of the pan.
Repeat once more with final
4 sheets filo, set aside to
use for the top.
4. Spoon the filling into the
pan pressing down firmly
to compact filling. Place
the reserved filo stack
over the filling and roll the
edges together to seal.
Brush with melted ghee
and sprinkle with sesame
seeds. Place the pie onto
the hot oven tray and bake
20-30 minutes or until
pastry is golden and crisp.
Serve warm or at room
temperature with lemon.
Janelle’s Tip: Ghee is clarified
butter and available in jars
in the Asian section of most
supermarkets. Its low water
content means the filo will
stay nice and crisp.
Peri peri barbecue
chicken salad
Serve 6
4 tbs olive oil
1 lemon, rind finely grated,
juiced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tsp peri peri seasoning
8 chicken thigh fillets, halved
crossways
Warm Salad
1 cup long grain rice, rinsed
300g beans, trimmed
1 cup green olives, smashed,
pips removed
150g roasted red capsicum,
roughly chopped
150g char-grilled eggplant,
roughly chopped
1 tbs drained capers
Celebrating 25 Years
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup basil leaves
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
1. Combine half the oil, lemon
rind, garlic and seasoning
in a ceramic bowl. Season.
Whisk to combine. Add the
chicken and turn to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for 10
minutes if time allows.
2. Preheat a well-greased
barbecue grill on mediumhigh.
Barbecue chicken
for 5-6 minutes each side
or until cooked through.
Transfer to a tray, cover to
keep warm.
3. For the warm salad: put the
rice and 1½ cups water in
a saucepan. Bring to the
boil. Reduce heat to low,
cover and simmer for 12-15
minutes until small craters
in surface of the rice.
Remove from heat. Stand
covered for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Blanch the beans in a
saucepan of boiling salted
water for 2 minutes, drain.
Cut into 5cm lengths. Add
to the rice with olives,
capsicum, eggplant, capers,
green onions, basil and
pinenuts.
5. Spoon the rice salad onto
a large serving platter. Top
with the chicken. Combine
remaining 2 tbs olive oil
and lemon juice together
and spoon over the salad.
Serve.
Nutella lamingtons
Makes 36
½ cup self-raising flour
½ cup plain flour
½ cup cornflour
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
4 cups desiccated coconut
Edible flowers, to decorate
Chocolate Icing
6 cups icing sugar mixture
1 cup cocoa powder
1½ cups boiling water
Nutella frosting
250g cream cheese
½ cup icing sugar
½ cup Nutella
1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
Grease and line 4cm deep,
23 x 28cm (base) lamington
pan with baking paper,
allowing it to overhang
slightly.
2. Sift flours together three
times to aerate. Beat eggs
and sugar on high speed in
a mixer for 5-7 minutes, or
until thick and pale. Sift flour
mixture over egg mixture,
and gently fold until just
combined. Spread sponge
mixture into the pan and
bake, for 26-28 minutes or
until light golden and sponge
springs back when gently
touched in the centre. Set
aside to cool in the pan.
Cover with a clean tea towel;
set aside overnight (see tip).
3. Remove cake from the pan
and trim the edges. Cut
into 36 squares. Spread the
coconut over a tray.
4. For the chocolate icing, sift
the icing sugar and cocoa
powder into a medium bowl.
Add the water and stir until
smooth. Use 2 forks to dip
1 piece of cake at a time
into the warm icing to coat.
Allow excess to drip back
into the bowl. Roll the cake
in the coconut and place on
a wire rack to set. Repeat
with the remaining cake,
icing and coconut.
5. For the frosting; beat cream
cheese until smooth. Add
the sugar and beat until well
combined, then stir in the
Nutella. Pipe of spoon the
frosting onto the lamingtons
and decorate with edible
flowers or little Easter eggs
as an Easter treat.
Janelle’s Tip: Alternatively,
wrap the sponge in plastic
wrap and leave in freezer
for 4-5 hours until frozen.
Remove from the freezer, cut
into squares and allow to thaw
before dipping in icing.
APRIL 2017 65
Food Life