Frangelico Chocolate Tart…AMC love!

December 18, 2014Uncategorizedamc cookware, belgian chocolate, chris koekemoer, frangelico tart, Hazelnut Chocolate, Holi Cow, kaye cox, My Spar Mascarpone, nariman arnold, shortcrust pastry, tamsyn stockenstroom, yudhika sujanani, yudhika yum yumyudhikayumyum One comment

For AMC, With love…Yudhika

Dear AMC Cookware,

This decadently delicious recipe is dedicated to the AMC Cookware team! It’s made just for you! Thanks to Chris Koekemoer, Deon van Staden, Kaye Cox, Tamsyn Stockenstroom and Nariman Arnold and to all the AMC fairies that have added a lots of sparkle to my projects!

What a year it’s been….we have worked on the Post recipe page, The Daily News/Star newspaper recipe columns with Angela Day, the Mela cooking show, cooking shows and demos, and the Holi Cow…..with the AMC team being the wind beneath my wings! The most amazing thing is that I have known the AMC brand my whole life….my mom got her set in 1970 and it’s still going strong and it’s going strong in Canada, nogal!!! The set of pots live with my elder brother!

As you know by now…I love shoes….and I love my cookware just as much….cooking with an AMC pot is like walking down a street in Louboutins! And my cookware works really hard…they are literally in the wash, out and back on the heat!

I have shared my favourite recipes through this blog and AMC have made so much of this possible! I have put together all my favourite favourites in this recipe….there’s a rich buttery pastry, Belgian dark chocolate, Frangelico and roasted hazelnuts. If you love whole nut chocolate, this recipe is for you! I simply love it! I garnish this with hazelnuts that are tossed in gold dust…this time I added a big gold heart for the AMC Cookware team!!!

Spar mascarpone….gets the thumbs up!

Thanks for the amazing year….thanks for the support and the awesome prizes! Thanks on behalf of our blog lovers too!

Much love and ‘moos’, always…

Yudhika xox

AMC cookware love….at Holi Cow!

Hazelnut Frangelico Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

Short crust pastry

200g cake flour

Pinch of salt

120g cold butter

30ml sugar

1 egg yolk

15ml – 30ml iced water

For the filling:

400g white chocolate – I used Belgian

150ml fresh cream

5ml vanilla paste

100g sugar

60ml Frangelico liqueur

50g cold butter

250g Spar mascarpone

75g roasted hazelnuts

Gold dust, to decorate

Whipped cream, to serve

Here’s how:

Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.

Slice the butter into little cubes.

Lightly rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar and mix lightly.

Lightly beat the egg and add to the crumbed mixture.

Use your fingertips to lightly work into soft dough.

Add the iced water and work lightly.

Take care not to overwork the dough as this could make the pastry heavy.

Refrigerate the dough for 5 – 10 minutes and then roll out into a round large enough to cover a greased 23cm loose bottom pie tin.

The pastry should go up 3cm up the sides of the tin.

Prick the pastry with a fork and leave to chill in a refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Cover the pastry with baking paper and fill with beans – this is called blind baking the pastry.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes.

Remove the beans and baking paper and bake for another five minutes.

Leave the pastry to cool.

For the filling:

Chop the chocolate into little pieces.

Heat the cream with the sugar and vanilla paste in an AMC Chef’s Pan until it starts to bubble around the edges –remove from the heat.

Add the chopped chocolate and mix gently.

Mix until the chocolate melts into a smooth sauce.

Add the Frangelico and leave aside to cool slightly.

Gently whisk the cold butter into the chocolate – and thicken.

Once the chocolate has cooled completely, add the mascarpone

(I suggest you use the Spar Mascarpone for this recipe….it does not split or make the mixture curdle…..this would be a costly error and one that I have made much to my horror! It’s heartbreaking but we live and learn!)

Use a spatula to stir the mixture and stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the baked pastry case.

Toss the hazelnuts in the gold dust and garnish with roasted hazelnuts.

Once the chocolate has set, slice and serve with whipped cream.

Parda Saffron Lamb Breyani

The second season of Sugar ‘n Spice kicks off tomorrow. This time its a little different with the recipes themed around Eid. ‘Time Travel’ is the best description for the weeks leading up to the shoot…at first, I was a little overwhelmed….wouldn’t you be? The Muslim ladies in our neighbourhood were more than good cooks…they were outstanding! A trip down memory lane was just the right place to start…and for me…all good things start in my hometown…a little town, just south of Durban called Isipingo!

Eid was a huge celebration – it did not matter if you were Muslim or not because our neighbours were just simply happy to share…it was not about religion…it was about sharing your traditions with the community.

Aunty Meymoona and Shayda would pop around and teach my very stressed mother how to make samoosa pur or a layered breyani. These ladies were not just good cooks…they were incredibly confident too and happy to share their knowledge!

Back to Sugar ‘n Spice…I was absolutely delighted to part of this project and once again, it’s the team that makes the show come alive. The Ochre production crew took over my home for two days and behind the scenes we were powered by Coca Cola (how do I love my Coke Light???), AMC cookware – (Chris Koekemoer, Nariman Parker and the lovely Kaye Cox) who put the fire into Sugar ‘n Spice and Chantelle I’Ons from Kenwood SA who kept the ‘wheels’ in my kitchen turning! Log onto the competitions link and find out how you can enter to win a cookware from AMC (a must have in my world) and also a Kenwood Kmix!

Here are the playout times for the Sugar ‘n Spice on DSTV’s Channel 195!

Saturday 27th July –Eps 1 & 2 at 3pm….repeat at 8pm

Sunday 28th – Eps 3, 4 and 5 at 1pm …Eps 6 & 7 at 2pm – music break in between…repeats at 6pm and 6.30pm

Daily from Monday 29th at 7.30 pm…2 eps back to back…repeats daily at 8am, 12pm and 4pm.

In episode one, I prepare a Parda Lamb Breyani….Parda means a ‘veil’! I did a food tour around Mumbai a few years ago and this is when I first got a tantalising taste of this style of Breyani. A breyani pot arrived at the table with a knife…the waiter then ‘saws’ through the crispy ‘lid’ to release the aromatic steam! It was certainly quite theatrical and I quite enjoy that from time to time.

This breyani is highly aromatic and the secret is the steam that is trapped in my trusted AMC gourmet unit. The ‘parda’ or ‘veil’ is made from a simple dough and it works wonders…in short, it’s a show stopper….

AMC gourmet unit…sealed with parda dough

Here is the recipe:

Parda Saffron Lamb Breyani

Serves 10 – 12 people

Ingredients

2,5kg lamb knuckles
8 medium-sized Up to Date potatoes
2 onions, finely sliced
Spar sunflower oil, for frying
100ml sunflower oil
2 large cinnamon stick
4 bay leaves
6 cardamom pods
10ml cumin seeds
2 large onion, finely chopped
15ml coarse salt
30ml crushed garlic
30ml crushed ginger
45ml red chilli powder
20ml ground coriander
10ml ground cumin
15ml garam masala
5ml turmeric
400g chopped tomatoes
250ml fresh cream
3 x 400g Spar tinned lentils, drained
2500ml par cooked basmati rice
125ml extra virgin olive oil
Strands of saffron
500ml boiling water
Few drops of egg yellow food colouring
Fresh coriander and curry leaves, to garnish

For the ‘Parda’ dough:

400g cake flour
100g butter
5ml sugar
150ml cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten

Here’s how:
Peel the potatoes and slice them into thick rounds.
Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and fry the potatoes until tender.
Remove from the oil and leave to drain.
Gently dab the excess oil with absorbent paper towel.
Fry the onion slices until light golden brown.
Remove the onion from the oil and leave in a colander to drain.
Spread the onion slices over absorbent paper towel.

Heat 100ml sunflower oil in a large 30cm AMC gourmet unit (with metal handles).
Fry the cinnamon stick and bay leaves until fragrant.
Add the cardamom pods and cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds start to sizzle, add the onion and salt.
Saute until the onion is light golden brown.
Add crushed garlic and ginger.
Stir for a few seconds and then add the red chilli powder.
Stir well and add the lamb knuckles.
Mix the knuckles in the chilli paste and continue stirring until the meat begins to stick.
Lower the heat and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
Add the ground coriander, cumin, garam masala and turmeric.
When the spices on the bottom of the pot start to brown, add the tomatoes and pour in boiling water to cover the knuckles.
Simmer the knuckles on a low heat, adding more water if necessary.
When the knuckles are 90 % cooked and the sauce has reduced, layer the fried potatoes over the lamb.
Pour the fresh cream over and then layer half the lentils over the potatoes.
Layer the cooked basmati rice over the lentils and scatter the remaining lentils on top.
Drizzle olive oil over the rice.
Heat the saffron strands in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Leave to cool lightly and then lightly crush the strands with your fingertips.
Pour the boiling water over the crushed saffron strands and leave to infuse.
Pour the saffron infusion over the pot and pour a few drops of egg yellow food colouring over the rice.
Sprinkle the fried onion slices over the rice and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to prevent the rice from becoming sticky.
Make the parda dough by rubbing the butter into cake flour. Add the sugar and pour in the water.
Use the Kenwood dough hook attachment to work it into soft dough.
Roll the dough into a large round.
Make a thick paste with flour and cold water. This should resemble thick glue.
Spoon the paste over the edges of the round and use the back of a teaspoon to spread it evenly.
Drape the round over the pot, then press and pleat the dough to stick it down firmly under the lip of the gourmet unit.
Brush the dough with beaten egg.
Place the breyani in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 – 60 minutes or until the pastry cover is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
Use a sharp knife to cut through the crispy dough to let out the steam.
Gently toss the breyani and garnish with fresh coriander.

Yudhika’s tips:
Always use cold rice when making breyani as this prevents the rice from getting sticky.
The rice should be par boiled and seasoned for this recipe.
The potatoes can be par-cooked by boiling.
Chicken pieces can be used instead of lamb in this recipe.
I prefer using fresh cream but low-fat yoghurt can be used instead.
Adjust the red chilli powder if you would like to make this dish milder or hotter

A note about Spar branded tinned lentils – I have tried various brands and this one works for me…the lentils are not too small and mushy which I have found with some other brands….its also been a stone free experience for me so far! Please use the brands, you are most comfortable with!

yudhikayumyum

Food adventures of a troubled chef

kaye cox

Frangelico Chocolate Tart…AMC love!

Ready…Set…Spice – Feast of Eid