Author: emma@cookfasteatslow.com

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No Bake Banoffee Tart (grain free, egg free)

A nutty, chocolatey base, some thick oozy caramel, all topped with a home-made banana ice-cream.

I don’t think much more needs to be said really….

I dedicate this recipe to my beautiful Banoffee Pie loving friend. You know the conversation is pretty good when you forget you made these especially for her and then found them in the freezer the next day.

I will make it up to you soon I promise….

Serves 2

Ingredients

Base
1/2 cup toasted pecans
3 fresh dates, pitted
50gm 70% dark chocolate, plus a little extra to grate on top

Filling
2-3 tablespoons of Dulce de Leche (or store-bought caramel)

Banana Ice-cream
2 frozen bananas (skin off)
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons creme fraiche (this is optional, but does make it a little more creamy and slightly tart tasting)
1 tablespoon maple syrup

*This recipe is best when you use ready-for-eating bananas, not over-ripe ones. Just peel 2 bananas and place them in a zip lock bag and pop them in the freezer.

Method

Place the Base ingredients in a food processor and blitz till a paste forms.

Press paste into 2 loose-bottomed tart tins. Place in the freezer till needed.

To make the Banana Ice-cream, rinse out the food processor and place all ingredients for the ice-cream in and blitz until smooth and creamy.

Spoon into a container and place into the freezer until needed.

To assemble the tart, place a few tablepsoons of Dulce de Leche into each tart case, use as much or as little as you like.

Top with Banana Ice-cream and grate some dark chocolate over the top.

Serve immediately.

 

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Dulce de Leche (Spanish Caramel)

I’ve been trying to work out when my obsession with all things caramel may have begun.

Back in my early school days it was a thrill to be able to walk into the milk bar across the road from the bus stop and for 10 cents, purchase a bag of Caramel Buds. I love the fact that my friends who were with me on these trips or helped in the eating of said Caramel Buds are probably reading this now and smiling at the memory. Those were the days……

Or was it my mum’s Caramel Dumplings? Coming home from school and finding out they were bubbling away on the stove for dessert that night just made everything okay with the world.

Fast forward to these days where I consciously eat a very balanced diet and try and keep sweet treats to a minimum and yet I still can’t quite say goodbye to caramel for good.

Put me in a gelato store and I will order the Salted Caramel gelato and maybe even more than 1 scoop. Hand around a plate of good old Chocolate Caramel Slice and I will find it hard to say no. When my local patisserie brought out a Salted Caramel croissant, I found myself with no resolve and just had to have it.

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A few weeks ago I was celebrating my birthday snowed in at the family farm. If I was going to have a cake I would have to make it.

I had my eye on an Upside Down Apple cake, made with Dulce de Leche, a thick caramel made from milk and sugar or condensed milk.

So, armed with condensed milk, some jars and a slow cooker, I very quickly discovered the ease at which this delicious caramel can be made.

On a quick side note – for those who are dairy free, you can now purchase condensed coconut milk in the supermarket. I haven’t used it myself yet, but apparently you can use it to make a Coconut Dulce de Leche by following the same steps.

Ingredients

2 x 395gm cans of condensed milk

3 small jars, measuring approx 200ml

Method

Pour the condensed milk into the clean jars, seal the lids tightly and place in a slow cooker. Fill the slow cooker with water to completely cover the jars.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Store in the refrigerator for up to a few months.

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Slow Cooker Honey Soy Chicken

I think I have said before how much I love any recipe that uses a whole chicken. They are inexpensive to buy and there is often more than one meal’s worth of meat, depending on the size of your family of course.

I almost always have a whole chicken in the freezer, and with a recipe like this, using staples found in most pantries, you have an easy and tasty family meal.

This is currently one of our favourite meals.  As the boys walk in the door from school they will smell it cooking and say ‘YES, we are having Honey Soy Chicken!’ It’s always a bonus when they look forward to dinner.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (remove some skin if you wish, rinse the inside cavity with water, drain and pat the outside dry)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

juice of 1/2 lemon

Basmati rice and green vegetables to serve (I use bok choy, broccolini, snow peas and beans)

Method

Place the chicken in the slow cooker.

Pour over all the other ingredients.

Cook for 3 hours on high or 6 on low.

Remove the chicken and pull apart into pieces.

Place on a platter and cover with sauce.

Serve with steamed basmati rice and asian greens.

 

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Raspberry & White Chocolate Scones

I know many people who find the thought of making their own scones a little scary.

Well if that’s you, this recipe is a great place to start.

You can’t really go wrong with these. They don’t need to be perfectly high, round or smooth on top like we often see with store-bought scones. In actual fact, these scones work best being a little thinner than usual and having a fairly rustic shape.

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The main thing to remember when making scones is to ‘be gentle’ when mixing all the ingredients together. Using a knife instead of a spoon to mix the dough, is the best way to incorporate everything without over working the dough.

This recipe works best when you gently pat the dough into a rectangle shape and then score the dough with a sharp knife into 9 equal portions, without cutting all the way through.

Once they are cooked and have cooled slightly, you finish cutting through each portion and gently pull them apart from each other.

These are just gorgeous eaten fresh out of the oven, but will last 2 days in an airtight container. You can reheat in the microwave if you want them warm again.

I read about the original idea for these scones on an American recipe website called www.rockrecipes.com

Ingredients

(makes 9 scones)

1 1/2 cups plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup castor sugar

75gm cold butter, cubed

100gm white choc, chopped

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125gm fresh or frozen raspberries
(frozen is actually best as they will hold their shape better)

Method

Rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients using your fingers until you have a ‘clumpy sand-like’ mixture. It’s okay if you still have small clumps of butter.

(If you have a food processor, you can use this for this stage instead, and then tip into a medium size bowl and finish the recipe.)

Add in the chopped white chocolate.

Add the wet ingredients, mix gently with a knife, using a ‘cutting’ motion and then finish bringing it all together with your hands till it’s just combined.

Gently mix through raspberries.

Press into a rectangle and place on tray lined with baking paper.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 25-30mins till golden.

Cool slightly before cutting.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

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Beef Pot Roast

Who doesn’t love a good roast dinner?

A real oven roast dinner is a weekend treat in our house. Crispy herb-scented vegetables, a beautiful piece of meat or whole chicken and a thick gravy to pour over it all. Out of all the things I cook, a classic roast is still one of my husband’s favourite meals.

A cheats way of enjoying a roast mid week however, is by using the slow cooker.

This recipe takes about 20 minutes to chop the veggies, brown the piece of beef and pour over the ingredients that will turn into the gravy. If you can find 20 minutes earlier on in the day, then dinner time is simply carving the meat, steaming some greens and serving!

Recently, we walked in the door to this slow cooker roast after a very busy day and a chilly evening at soccer training. I was exhausted and cold, and so were the kids. This being ready to eat was an absolute blessing.

This is my version of a recipe from Slow Cooking by the Australian Women’s Weekly.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

750-1kg piece of beef blade steak

1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard

1 spanish onion, peeled, chopped into wedges

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole

3 large carrots, peeled, cut into chunky long pieces

1/2 a large sweet potato, peeled and cut into thick rounds (or you could use wedges of pumpkin instead)

3-4 washed potatoes, skin on, cut into thick rounds

a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 cup beef stock (or 1 cup of water and 1 teaspoon vegemite)

1 tablespoon of cornflour

Method

Place all the vegetables, garlic and rosemary in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown the beef on all sides.

Remove from heat, rub the mustard all over the beef and place on top of the vegetables.

Combine the red wine, balsamic vinegar and stock and pour over the beef and vegetables.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for approx 4-5 hours (or low for 8, high for 4 if you have those settings)

Remove the beef and place on a board, cover with foil and let rest.

Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and place on a plate, cover with foil to keep warm.

Strain the gravy left in the bottom of the slow cooker into a small saucepan.

Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and pour into gravy while stirring.

Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes until thick.

Carve the meat and serve, covered in gravy, with vegetables and some steamed greens.

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