The Corkless Mind

Author: Dominique Solomon

  • Light and fluffy Cheese muffins with a sweet marmite glaze

    Light and fluffy Cheese muffins with a sweet marmite glaze

    Returning to our holiday retreat this year was another soul cleansing experience. The West Coast of South Africa offers tranquility and beauty in abundance, one of many reasons we keep going back to the very same place. The guesthouse we stayed at Absolute Beach, is situated on the shore of Stompneusbaai just past St Helena Bay off the West Coast. The co-owners of the guesthouse Marina and Duncan are incredibly hospitable and generously share their wealth of knowledge of where to go and what to do in the surrounding areas. The area is as rural as can get and lucky for us they had a local supermarket further out of town.
     Having only left almost three weeks ago, I’m dreaming of going back soon! What makes this decision that much more easier are the amazing cheese muffins with a sweet marmite glaze that Marina effortlessly whipped up for us at brekkie. She gave me a hint of what was in her recipe, and with that in mind I needed to recreate these fluffy umami morsels. 

    Cheese muffins with a sweet marmite glaze. 
    Ingredients:

    For the muffins

    -375g Self raising flour 

    -125ml milk 

    -125ml olive oil 

    -pinch of dried herbs of your choice 

    -2 eggs lightly beaten 

    -150g grated Gouda cheese 

    -50g grated Grana Padano 
    Sweet marmite glaze

    -1 heaped tablespoon of Marmite 

    -2 tablespoons of water 

    -2tablespoons of golden syrup
    Method: 

    Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.

    In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, eggs, olive oil, milk and grated cheese, add half of the Grana Padano to this mixture. With a butter knife, stir the ingredients until just mixed through. In a greased muffin tray, divide the batter into the tray, sprinkle over the rest of the Grana Padano and bake for 20 minutes. Whilst the muffins are baking, mix the glaze ingredients into a small bowl and place in a microwave for 20-30 seconds(this step can be done over the stove in a small saucepan) once the muffins have been cooled, spoon over the glaze. 

    Marmite is definitely an acquired taste, like their advertising campaign suggests “you either love it or you don’t”. A simple marmite toastie is just my kind of quick snack chock full of umami flavour! The muffins don’t quite taste exactly like Marina’s but they are my take on a memory. 

  • Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

    Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

     I have recently gifted myself a digital subscription to the award winning Delicious Australia’s food magazine. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t done so sooner! I’m a massive fan of their glossy food mag and find myself constantly perusing their websites in search for ideas and inspiration. 
    This recipe is adapted from their February issue, which is packed full of colourful and light summer inspired recipes. This particular recipe looked amazing photographed on their cover but also seemed like something I wouldn’t usually make. Like any fritter recipe, this is super easy and so light and fluffy. The zesty flavour of the zucchini and creamy profile of the Haloumi really complements each other and the accompaniment of the crisp vibrant sugar snaps are just the thing this dish needs for texture and colour. I love how the creamy dressing provides relief for the slight kick of chili in the fritter. 

    Okay, enough explaining the flavour profile, try the recipe for yourself!

    Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

    Ingredients: 

    – 620g Courgette/zucchini (about 5 of them) coursely grated

    – 100g Self raising flour

    – 50g plain flour 

    – 250g haloumi

    – Pinch of chilli flakes ( I added a few pinches) add according to taste.

    – 1tsp salt 

    – 2 eggs lightly beaten 

    – 1/2 cup chopped dill 

    – 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil 

    – 200g of sugar snap peas 

    – 50g julienne beetroot to serve 

    – A few spinach leaves or baby gem lettuce to serve 

    Green Goddess Dressing: 

    -1/2 bunch of mint and dill 

    -Juice of 1/2 lemon

    -120g sour cream 

    -140g Double fat plain yoghurt 

    Method: 

    Place the colander into a bowl and coursely grate the zucchini into the colander. Add the salt and set aside for 15 minutes, then squeeze to remove extra moisture. In a separate bowl, add the grated zucchini, flours, eggs, chilli flakes and dill, mix to combine. 

    In a frying pan, heat the olive oil for a shallow fry on a medium heat. In batches, spoon in a heaped tablespoon of the fritter mixture and fry for 3-4 minutes on either side, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm. 

    Plate fritters with the lettuce/spinach, beetroot and sugar snaps, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Top with a poached egg or two. 
    In a blender (or in my case my NutriBullet) blitz together the yoghurt, sour cream, mint and dill until combined. Drizzle over the fritters and salad 

    **the original recipe calls for smoked ham to be added to the fritter mix, you can, like me completely omit this ingredient or add smoked bacon if you want to take it to next level deliciousness! 

  • Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio bar. 

    Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio bar. 

    You might have noticed no Valentine’s themed post… At the the risk of sounding like a grinch, I don’t believe in the capitalist hype around it. What I do believe in is love, celebrated everyday not just between two people but to be shared amongst all. However, you might not feel the same, so to celebrate love today and everyday treat yourself to this delectable treat! 

    The recipe is adapted from this month’s Delicious Australia magazine. 

    **Make a day in advance.**
    Frozen Yoghurt Berry and Pistachio Bar: 
    Ingredients: 
    – 330g (1pack of biscuits) ( I used Marie biscuits) 

    – 350g Mixed berries(raspberries and blueberries) 

    – 120g coconut oil or melted butter

    – 100g chopped Pistachios 

    – 250g plain double fat yoghurt 

    – 4 tablespoons of honey 

    – Two drops of rose water 

    – Dried rosebuds for garnish 
    Method: 
    In a food processor or NutriBullet, blitz the biscuits until fine, chop the pistachios roughly and add to the biscuit mixture. Add the coconut oil/butter and mix to combine, press down into a baking tray(you could use a muffin tray for Individual servings if you wish) 
    In a pan, on medium heat, add the berries, 2 tablespoons of honey and the rose water until the berries are macerated. Set aside 1/4 of the compote to serve later then leave to cool slightly. In a bowl add the yoghurt and the rest of the honey and stir to combine. Add this mixture to the prepared pan with the biscuit and pistachio mixture, top with the berry compote and swirl into the yoghurt. Place in the freezer and leave overnight to fully set. Take the bars out at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the reserved compote mixture and a sprinkling of pistachios. 
    With love, today and everyday! 

    Dominique x

  • Chicken sausage rolls with a basil and pumpkin seed pesto.

    Chicken sausage rolls with a basil and pumpkin seed pesto.

    Last week whilst on holiday, and feeling quite famished, I wanted a greasy quick fix to keep the hunger pangs at bay. The area we stayed in was quite rural and had a lack of stores. So heading out to the nearest mall with a Woolies to stock up on snacks to last till we leave, I grabbed a chicken sausage roll on the go. Having never consumed a chicken one before, this one in particular was just so good! Which prompted me to conjure up my own recipe to make at home. 
    This recipe is really easy and super quick, and is ideal for making when you have unexpected guests over you want to impress with a shortcut tasty snack made in a jiff. 


    Chicken sausage rolls with a Parmesan, basil and pumpkin seed pesto. 



    Ingredients: 
    – 400g Chicken Mince 

    – Store bought Puff Pastry 

    – 2 eggs (one beaten for eggwash) 

    – 1 tsp of salt 

    – 1 Tbsp of Smoked Sweet Paprika 

    – 1 TbspGround cumin 

    – 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs 

    – A glug of olive oil to bind. 

    – 25g finely grated Grana Padano.


    Basil pesto: 

    – A handful of Basil leaves 

    – 4tbsp of olive oil 

    – Pinch of salt 

    – Handful of toasted pumpkin seeds 

    – 25g of finely grated Grana Padano.
    Method: 
    Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Begin to mix the salt, paprika, cumin with the chicken mince in a large bowl, then add a glug of olive oil, breadcrumbs and the egg. Mix until combined. Shape into balls and place in roasting dish to roast for 15 minutes. Once cooked, cool and set aside. Roll out the pastry and cut into rectangles. Place the chicken balls on top of the pastry and cover with Grana Padano, then close with the pastry and brush with egg wash. Bake on a roasting tray with parchment(I used my Silpat, which I find prevents soggy bottoms) for 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp. 
    For the pesto, in a pestle and mortar, grind the basil leaves, olive oil and salt. Toast a handful of pumpkin seeds in a pan for 2-3 minutes until nutty in smell and taste. Once cooled slightly, roughly chop the pumpkin seeds and add to the pesto. Add the Grana Padano, and a little olive oil if the mixture is too clumpy. Keep grinding until an almost runny consistency is what you’re left with. I did indeed leave mine chunky, for purposes of food photography, in my opinion it gave the photo a little more colour and character. 

    * I cooked the chicken mince first, before filling the pastry out of fear of undercooking* 

  • White flesh Nectarine.

    White flesh Nectarine.

    Nectarines are one of many of Summer’s amazing bounty that it has to offer. 
    I always miss seasonal summer fruits when it’s out of season and long for all things tropical and sweet in the wet winter months. Nectarines are basically peaches without all the fuzz. This luscious fruit’s name means ‘of or like nectar’ because of its sweet taste. 

    This week I made nectarines the focal point of both dishes, and am I glad I did! Woolworths stocks the most tastiest nectarines, my favourite is the white flesh ones. They’re super juicy and so sweet. It’s just a no brainer to use these beauties in every dish imagined. I made two dishes for this post, a nectarine, feta and tomato salad and little nectarine puddings. 
    Nectarine, tomato and feta salad: 
    Ingredients: 
    – Two nectarines 

    – Handful of Cherry tomatoes 

    – A few chunks of feta 

    – Two tablespoons of Pumpkin seeds 

    – Basil leaves to garnish 

    – Olive oil to dress the salad 

    – Pinch of salt to season

    -Egyptian dukkah to sprinkle over

    Method: 

    Slice the nectarines as you wish and break up the feta into chunks and add to the plate. Half the cherry tomatoes and add to the plate. Lightly toast the pumpkin seeds and set aside. Add the basil, and scatter over the pumpkin seeds, season with a pinch of salt, the dukkah and dress with olive oil.

    Nectarine pudding: 
    Ingredients: 
    – Three nectarines 

    – 175g softened butter 

    – 175g castor sugar 

    – 175g self-raising flour

    – 3 free range eggs 

    – Fresh custard to serve. 
    Method: 

    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Slice the nectarines into thin slices and place on the bottom of a greased muffin pan. In a bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. In a different bowl, whisk the eggs and add gradually to the butter sugar mixture with some of the flour to stop from curdling. Once all of the egg mixture has been added fold through the rest of the flour. Using a big spoon(I used my ice cream scoop) take a spoonful of batter and place into each hole of the muffin tin. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a skewer inserted some out clean. Serve with fresh custard and a dusting of icing sugar of you will. 

    This recipe for the pudding is adapted from Delicious UKI’m going on a little holiday this week, and while I don’t really want to pack away my styling kit and shutdown my wordpress interface, I think I am in need of fresh sea breeze, sand between my toes and different scenery kind of downtime, if you know what I mean. I’ll be back again next week, refreshed and inspired. 

    Happy feasting! 

    Dominique x

  • Roasted Sunbutter with chocolate. 

    Roasted Sunbutter with chocolate. 

    I seem to have a healthy(excuse the pun) obsession with nut/seed butters these days. I could spread this luxurious paste on anything, from toast to dipping fruit into the nut/seed butter for a quick healthy snack option. This week I spotted a special on the sunflower seeds at my local supermarket and decided that I would experiment and make my very own homemade Sunbutter in my NutriBullet. I normally don’t have leftover chocolate, I think I might have forgotten about it and probably stashed it away for a rainy day… So with Sunbutter in mind I decided to use the leftover chocolate to give it a more dreamy luxurious feel.

    This recipe is modeled off of a general guideline to make nut butter. 
    Roasted Sunbutter with a hint of chocolate. 
    Ingredients: 
    250g of Sunflower seeds

    2 x Tablespoons of coconut oil 

    Two tablespoons of cocoa powder or four blocks of 70% dark Lindt Chocolate

    Pinch of salt 

    Two tablespoons of honey 
    Method: 
    Place the seeds on a baking tray with parchment on and roast in a preheated oven(180 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes(watch it carefully as you don’t want the seeds to burn) set aside to cool. 

    Once the sunflower seeds are completely cooled down, in a large NutriBullet cup, add only the seeds and blitz till the oils of the seeds are extracted and the grainy texture becomes oily and comes together, blitz every 30 seconds then scrape down the cup with a spoon. Once an almost paste like consistency is obtained, add the salt and coconut oil. Blitz for a further 30 seconds until a smooth consistency is achieved. Add the honey and melted chocolate/cocoa powder and blitz again for another 30 seconds. 

    Serve on toast, with fruit on the side or seed crackers. 
    *the melted chocolate I heated up the microwave with 10 second blasts in between and add a little milk in at the end to make the mixture runny. 
    There are so many things you can do with nut/seed butters. I am an avid smoothie drinker and maker, so it’s only natural that I add some of the Sunbutter to a smoothie. I made a Banana, Whey protein, honey, coconut milk and Sunbutter power up smoothie. Just add all the ingredients to the cup and blitz, easy as that! For best results, freeze banana slices, this will give your smoothie a smooth and creamy texture whilst keeping the smoothie really cold too. 
    If you own a NutriBullet and love the nifty little gadget as much as I do, then please share some other ways you best utilize yours. 
    Dominique x