Crab cakes

• 1 red bell pepper (4 tbsp. once diced)
• 4 tbsp fresh chives
• 10 oz fresh crab meat
• 2 inch stick celery finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt – can substitute with 1/8 tsp. table salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper

• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs (for coating)
• 3 tbsp clarified butter

To start the crab cakes, pre-heat the oven to 325° degrees Fahrenheit.

Next cut the ends off of the pepper and remove the insides. Now brunoise the peppers (which basically just means to cut them into small even size pieces). Then finely dice the chives.

Place the crab meat into a medium bowl and break it up checking for any pieces of shell. 
Then add the breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, chives, red pepper, salt, pepper and mix well.

Now divide the mixture up into equal portions, then form into little cakes. 
Make sure to squeeze them a bit so they don’t fall apart while cooking. You can make the cakes, up to this point, a few hours ahead of time and store in the refrigerator, until ready to cook.

When you are ready to cook the crab cakes, sprinkle the breadcrumbs onto a plate and roll each cake in the breadcrumbs to coat.

Heat a non-stick fry pan over high heat and add the clarified butter and heat until it just begins to smoke. 
Add the crab cakes and then turn the heat down to medium and let cook until golden brown on the one side. Meanwhile spray a baking tray with non-stick spray and set aside. 

Once the bottom of the crab cakes are golden, flip and transfer to the baking tray. Then place into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

These delicate crab cakes are fantastic and can be served either as a light lunch or an appetizer.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon buns

For the buns:

1/2 cup milk
1 egg beaten
35g butter
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (stronger the better)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 block yeast (I use cubes of yeast for 1kg of flour so it amounts to 1/4 of a cube so hope this makes sense?)

For the filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 tbsp cinnamon
35g butter
1/2 cup raisins

First I cream the yeast in a bowl with a little bit of the sugar and place it into the warmed milk and leave for ten minutes.

Whilst waiting for the yeast In a bowl I added the flour, sugar, salt. I cream the butter a little and then add it to the flour mixture along with the milk and beaten egg and bring together firstly with a knife and once starting to bind I get my hands in there and bring it together into a nice ball and onto the work surface to knead for a good 8 minutes until stretchy and the dough has a nice sheen to it. I then place the dough into a bowl covered with a tea towel. I then placed a bowl of hot water into the bottom of the oven and the put the dough on the top shelf and left to rise for an hour minimum or until doubled in size. I then knocked it back down on the work surface and rolled it out into a rectangle(not too sure on size but not too thick and not too thin) I then melted the butter and brushed the surface of the dough just leaving the far edge furthest away from you free of butter. Then I mixed the sugar, raisins and cinnamon together in a bowl and sprinkled this all over the dough right up to the edges but still leaving the furthest edge clean. Then starting from the closest edge to you roll up tightly working away from you. Once tightly rolled cut into 12 equal slices and place on a greased baking tray and cover and put back in the warm oven to rise. Once they have risen again take them out of the oven and preheat the oven to 180c and place in the oven for approx 15-20 minutes or until the tops just start to go golden. I then dusted the top of them with caster sugar and ate warm with a cold glass of milk….yummmmm 

Chicken and mushroom pasta bake

Ingredients and directions to follow.

Meat stuffed canneloni with cheese and tomato sauce

Ingredients and directions to follow

More tomato soup photos

This soup was so tasty last time I decided to try it again but with the addition of cream this time instead of sour cream. Still just as tasty and the cream did make it much richer. This is certainly a meal in itself as it was very filling.

Enjoy!

Self-frosting nutella cupcakes

Recipe courtesy of Bakingbites

Ingredients

10 tbsp(140 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Directions

First I sieved the flour baking powder and salt into a bowl and combined and set to one side. Then I placed the cubed softened butter into a mixing bowl and the caster sugar and using a fork I mashed the butter into the sugar until mixed well and then stirred quicker to make the mixture light and fluffy and pale in colour.  Then I cracked three eggs into a bowl and beated lightly and spooned this mixture bit by bit into the butter and sugar mixture beating thoroughly to incorporate well. Then I stirred in the flour mixture and vanilla using a knife to fold in carefully until fully mixed. I then greased twleve individual cup cake tins and spooned a heap of the mixture into the tins to approx 3/4 full. Then with a teaspoon I topped the cakes with a small dollop of nutella and using a toothpick I swirled the nutella around to make sure you have the cake mixture and nutella evenly spread on top. I pre-heated the oven to 180c and placed in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Spanish omelette

Ingredients

4 eggs

4 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

1/2 red pepper de-seeded and sliced

1tbsp oil

salt and pepper

1 tomato halved

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Chopped fresh parsley for decoration

Directions

Firstly I cut the red pepper in half and removed the seeds. Then I sliced into thin strips and set aside ready for frying. Then I cracked four eggs into a bowl and added the four tablespoons of cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and whisked thoroughly. Then I heated the frying pan until hot and added one tablespoon of oil and added the pepper and fried until soft for a couple of minutes. Next I added the egg mixture to the pan and cooked on medium heat making sure to push the egg mixture with a spatula to the middle so the liquid comes to the sides and cooks right through. This process ensures the top is cooked properly and no raw egg rermains. I cooked like this for approx five minutes or until the bottom of the omelette is golden and then I flipped to cook for just one minute on the other side. For serving I sliced a tomato in half using a zig zag line around the tomato. Then I sprinkled a little salt and balsamic vinegar onto the tomato. Finally I chopped some fresh parsley and sprinkled onto the omelette.

Enjoy.