Homemade Mayonaisse

Since I was gifted my amaze balls blender by my amaze balls boyfriend for my birthday I have been making so many dips, sauces, pestos, pastes, everything!

I shared my Olive Tapenade recipe a while ago, and have since made it a few times, delish.

Here's my recipe for homemade mayo. But be careful, it has raw egg yolks in, which means the elderly, pregnant and children can't eat it. Also it should only be kept, refrigerated, for about three to four days.

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups of olive oil or canola oil (depending on what flavour you're looking for - olive oil for a more tangy, green kinda flavour, canola for a more smooth, commercial flavour, or blend the two for a mix)
1.5 tsps dijon mustard, or if you have powdered mustard that works too
pinch of salt
*tbsp lemon juice

Additions
*clove of garlic
*parsley
*paprika
*chilli (chopped super fine)

Method
Whisk the egg yolks and mustard till fluffy. Drop in a teeny bit of oil, and super whisk the mixture. Carry on adding your oil, in teeny tiny drops (it's so important that it's only a tiny bit at a time), until you have added about a quarter of the oil. By now you should have a mayo looking mixture. If not, you've probably added your oil too quickly, or in too big a portion.

From here you can add your oil in larger portions, whisking the entire time. At the end, add in your lemon juice finely chopped parsley/garlic/chilli etc.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Lemon Meringue

Editor's Postscript: Video is not working atm, will post later, for now find the full recipe here 

Recipe: Olive Tapenade

For my birthday I got the most amazing blender/food processor/ juicer.

I've been trying out a million recipes, and doing a bunch of experiments since then. I have just made an olive tapenade, and it was so, so simple I thought I'd share it quickly!

Ingredients: 
1 250g pouch of black olives
About 50ml olive oil
A few drops chili oil (I prefer this to chopped chilies, as it's not so great to bite into chunks of chili)
1 Red bell pepper, chargrilled and diced
1 bay leaf (chopped super, super fine)
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 tablespoons of chopped thyme
1/2 lemon juiced
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine

Method :
Put in amazing blender and zzzzt!

With this recipe I kinda just chop and change depending on how I feel. Also, I always start with the olives, red pepper and herbs, then add the liquids carefully, as too much liquid makes you an olive sauce, rather than a paste.

I use this to spread on chicken, fish or just plain with pestos, hummus and other dips to make a nice cracker board.

The great thing is, it literally takes five mins to make!

Indian Feast

While trying to find dinner inspiration, I found this awesome dood. Just his accent delights me. Check out his YouTube channel for other delicious Indian specialities. I caved tonight and got take away. Indian, of course!

Yummo!

Going through my iPhone pics (ya, I just had to say iPhone, couldn't have just said phone) I found some of the yummy dishes Markie and I made over the past few months. Will post recipes soon, promise!

Xoxo

Nom Nom. Beef and Mushroom Pie

Made a delicious beef and mushroom pie this weekend, it was so easy! 


Here's how:


Ingredients:


500g beef cubes
1 large onion, diced finely
2 large carrots, cut into small pieces
beef stock (or beef stock cubes)
bbq spice
rosemary, basil and your favourite herbs
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp ginger
4 large potatoes
500g puff pastry (you can make your own, but it takes forever!)
5 white mushrooms, chopped 
butter
flour
oil for frying 


Method:


Heat a bit of butter and olive oil in your pan


Coat beef cubes in flour, and fry til browned.

Par cook your carrots and potatoes until almost almost cooked 


In a separate pot, fry your garlic, onions, ginger, herbs til translucent. 


Add browned beef, stock and about a litre of water, and bring to the boil. Whilst this is boiling, knead your puff pastry out until it's nice and elastic and not too thick. Coat a pie dish with spray n cook, and layer the pastry over it to create a base.


By this time your water should be becoming a nice hearty stew. Add the potatoes and carrots at this stage and continue to cook down until you are happy with the flavour and consistency. 


Fill your base with the stew mixture, and cover with the remainder of the pastry. The idea is to use one piece of pastry to cover the mixture, so there are no gaps. Push together the edges of the pastry until there are no gaps. I usually fold them over to make a pretty, decorative crust. 


MOST IMPORTANT:  Ensure you poke two slits into the top of the pastry, to let the steam out. If you do  not do this the pastry will become soggy and not cook through properly. 


Brush the top with a milk mixture, this will create a lovely brown crust


Bake for approximately 40 mins, or until the crust is golden and crispy. 

Recipe Time!

Best Blue Cheese Sauce

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
3/4 wedge blue cheese, chopped into blocks (I used Fairview Blue Rock)
salt and black pepper to season


Melt the butter completely, mix in all of the flour with a whisk until there are no lumps, and a smooth paste is formed. Pour in the milk/cream combo, stirring slowly. It will start to thicken, continue to stir so it does not burn. Continue until you reach the consistency and thickness of your choice. Add the cheese and stir it in.
Once the cheese is melted and mixed in, transfer to a bowl/serving jug, or else it will burn.

You can substitute the blue cheese for any other to make a cheesy sauce to your liking. Or omit it completely for a lovely bechamel sauce.

I made this tonight to go into a chicken and mushroom pie. It was delicious!

NomnomNOMnom Nomnom nom