Tag Archives: summer

Jan22

Caramelised Peaches

Posted on January 22, 2013 by foodthatserves

These caramelised peaches are one of my favourite summer desserts. They’re so yummy as well as fast and easy to make – so much so that I simply make it in front of guests while they’re waiting for main course to settle a little. The end result is a healthier type of dessert and it works even without the brown sugar if you’re trying to avoid adding it. The cost of this dessert depends on the current price of peaches and your preference for ice-cream, but easily falls in the affordable category. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or thick Greek style yoghurt and a handful of fresh blueberries if they’re as well priced as they are right now – $2.75 a punnet at Woolworth’s.

1 peach per person, halved with stone removed
1/2 cup brown sugar
blueberries, ice-cream and yoghurt to serve

Preheat a frypan or grill to full whack
Press the wet half of each peach into the brown sugar and place sugar side down in the pan. Cook until sugar caramelises and peach starts to soften slightly
Turn peaches and cook the outside half briefly until starting to soften also
Place two peach halves, caramel side up in each person’s bowl. Add ice-cream, or yoghurt and berries. Enjoy!

Dec20

Balsamic Strawberries

Posted on December 20, 2012 by foodthatserves

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Sometime last year, my friend Soph updated her facebook status with something about having made an easy dessert of sliced strawberries, a splash of balsamic vinegar and spoonfuls of sugar, mixed up and served on icecream. The simplicity of it and the promise of yumminess grabbed my attention and so I had a go at doing it too. Soph was right – the process was instant and simple and the result was sweet strawberries amid a yummy self-made sauce created by the interaction of ingredients. At this time of year strawberries are much cheaper than usual and fruity desserts are perfect for the heat of summer. Use this mixture to make instant strawberry sundaes by spooning masses of it on top of a bowl of ice-cream, or do what our cousin Angela does, and turn it into a quick and easy parfait. I’m keen to use this to make a fast Eton Mess using store bought meringues, ice-cream and whipped cream, though am yet to do so. The cost of this dessert will depend on the price of strawberries and your preference for ice-cream and the quantity below serves 4. Enjoy!

1 punnet fresh strawberries, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
ice-cream enough for 4 people

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl place sliced strawberries, balsamic vinegar and caster sugar. Combine all ingredients and allow to rest at room temperature for half an hour.

2. Use as you like, but my favourite is this: spoon mixture across four bowls of ice-cream for grown-up style strawberry sundaes.

Nov9

Open Chicken Sandwich with Lemon and Almonds

Posted on November 9, 2012 by foodthatserves

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My friend Lisa made me something like this from a Donna Hay magazine for lunch last week and it was so yummy I had to make it again – only I could not find the recipe anywhere! So I had to make it up as I went and thankfully the chef type friend who helped eat my version said it worked! Pair this recipe with Lemon, Zucchini and Chicken Pasta in the same week, to use just one BBQ chicken to make two tasty and affordable meals. Apologies for the half-eaten sandwich in this photo – got a bit excited eating it before remembering to photograph it. Serves 6 people with 2 open sandwiches each and costs less than $12 to make.

1/2 BBQ chicken, shredded while warm (much easier than when cold from the fridge)
1 loaf of sourdough bread or similar
120g slivered almonds
a couple of lugs of olive oil
1/2 bag baby spinach or 1 cup basil leaves roughly torn
1/2 tub spreadable cream cheese
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of a whole lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Slice sourdough into at least 12 slices and spread cream cheese across one side of each, followed by a layer of baby spinach or basil. Divide shredded chicken evenly among each slice, placing it on top of cream cheese and greens.
In a frypan place slivered almonds, lemon zest and olive oil. Cook on low heat until almonds are brown, but not burnt. Remove from the heat and add lemon juice, stirring the mixture well.
Top open sandwiches with almond and lemon mixture. Season with slat and pepper. Serve 2 slices per person.