Tiny Little Apple Puddings

Hey Ho! Christmas will be upon us soon and I will be taking a couple of weeks off, so I am rushing to get my last two posts written before then.

Donna Hay made these beautiful little puddings and I really wanted to try them out. Gorgeous as they were, I found them a little too sweet for my taste. They were very quick and easy to make requiring just what you have in your fruit bowl and pantry. I found that this recipe made 8 puddings but if you use ramekins to make them instead of muffin tins you would probably only get 6.

I also found the cooking time to be less than quoted in the recipe, but again that will vary from oven to oven.

So if you are looking to impress a few of your friends without spending a lot of time in the kitchen, then try this. Served with ice cream or cream or Crème Fraîche, life couldn't be any sweeter

Little Tiny Apple Puddings

Please note the changes I made to the recipe are in italics.

Ingredients

1 very small  Pink Lady Apple
100 g caster sugar
110g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Golden Syrup
100g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g butter melted
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla


Grease 6 ramekins or 8 large muffin tins

• Take the apple and cut it into 1 cm rings, leave the peel on
• Add 1 teaspoon of Golden Syrup to the muffin pan then place a slice of apple on top of the Golden Syrup.
• Add batter mixture until it reaches the top of the muffin pan (they will rise a little higher than this)
•  

Leave in the tin for around 5 minutes, take out and invert on to a small serving plate to show the apple on the top and serve.

Kitchen Gadgets

My apologies for a slack posting month, but it has been a very busy time for some unknown reason. I am endeavouring to speed up posting this month because I hope to have a couple of weeks break over Christmas to play with ice cream recipes and enjoy the time with my family.

How many kitchen gadgets do you have that you simply can't live without? I find myself in love yet again with another little bit of plastic!

I am being deadly serious. Most times I get by with a cheese grater, a few sharp knives, a micro planer and an apple corer. Today, I was reading about this fantastic gadget - a Julienne Peeler and I knew I just had to have one. Ok, so I am fast becoming a kitchen gadget junkie! 

I headed down to my local kitchen shop to see if I could snaffle up one. My Kitchen is a great little shop in Main Street, Blackwood. They have the most amazing array of products that you would generally only find in a much larger store. It is a sheer delight to wander in and browse, but it isn't long before your eyes are drawn to something that you haven't seen before and you know that it is something you must have. 

My Kitchen has been in operation for close on 17 years and the current owner Karen, has been here for around 10 years. It just proves that this little shop has definitely provided the right service and products to it's local community over a long period of time.

Here is a peek into the world of My Kitchen.

So now back to my Julienne Peeler.

So why is this gadget so amazing. Well check these pictures out. I do own a Mandolin and it slices thing really finely and good sized julienne cuts for stir fries but this product is truly wonderful and completely different.

In celebration here is a quick salad, using my new peeler. And if this doesn't make you want to run to your handy kitchen supplier and buy one, then nothing will.

So humour me and  give it a try it!

Zucchini  and Cucumber Salad with *Herb Dressing

You will need:

2 - 3 zucchini

1 long continental cucumber

basil, chives, parsley - 2 tbls of each finely chopped

1 tbls capers finely chopped

3 tbls pine nuts, roasted in a dry pan

1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1 carrot

1 clove garlic minced

2 tbls lemon juice  

salt and pepper

2 tbls olive oil

1 tbls white wine vinegar

1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese 

Using your Julienne Peeler, process the continental cucumber , zucchini and carrot. Place in a colander and add a pinch salt. Leave to drain for 30 minutes. Wash off the salt and squeeze dry the vegetables.  Place these in a bowl with the chopped capers, pine nuts and shaved parmesan.

Using a stick blender, blend herbs, garlic, yoghurt, lemon juice, vinegar, oil.

There should be a nice bite to this dressing. Adjust seasoning to suit with lemon and salt and pepper.

*This dressing was inspired by my friend Terri. When we worked together, one of the dressings Terri loved to make was a green, herb mayonnaise. Well Terri, I have taken out the mayonnaise and replaced it with yoghurt. Let me know what you think.