Home-made Fresh Basil Pesto

A jar of home-made #basil pesto in the fridge goes a long way. This is my friend Carol's awesome recipe and my top 5-favourite ways to use it:

• Mixed with butter and dolloped on top of a steak.
• Tossed in some steaming hot Linguine with Parmesan shavings. 
• Mixed with cream cheese to make a sandwich spread instead replacing butter. 
• Spread on a garlic crostini with parma ham and sundried tomato.
• Placed in the centre of a brie cheese before coating and lightly frying.  

Fresh Green Basil Pesto

100g fresh Basil leaves, washed
1/2 cup olive oil
30g tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
60g Parmesan / percorino cheese, grated
Some freshly squeezed lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Whizz the basil leaves, oil, pine nuts and garlic in a blender until smooth.
Gradually add cheese and a teaspoon or two of the lemon juice, salt and pepper

Taste and adjust the lemon, salt & pepper seasoning

Walnut & Wild Mushroom Turduken (3-bird roast)

A Turducken is not so well known in Europe but a great favourite back home in South Africa. You can de-bone all the birds yourself, but it is very tricky, so I would suggest asking your local butcher to do this for you.  What is a Turduken? Check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken. It is so easy to assemble and is delish!  Here we go ...

3.5kg turkey, de-boned and butterflied
1.5kg chicken, de-boned and butterflied
1 duck breast, skin removed
2 shallots, chopped
2 tbsp thyme
1 carrot, roughly chopped
50g butter, softened
1 glass white wine

For the stuffing:
25g dried porcini mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, chopped
100g walnuts, chopped
200g good pork sausages, skin removed
2 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped
Zest 1 lemon
2 tbsp breadcrumbs

For the stuffing:
Soak mushrooms in 300ml boiling water, cover and stand for 30 min.  Drain and reserve liquid (for gravy).  Finely chop mushrooms.  Heat a little butter in a pan and fry shallots for 1 min.  Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 min.  Add all other stuffing ingredients and set aside.

To assembly the roast:
Heat over to 190'c
Open turkey, skin side down
Place 1/3 stuffing on top and spread evenly
Place duck breast on top in the middle
Spread a 1/3 of stuffing over breast
Place chicken, skin side down on top of everything
Add the last 1/3 of stuffing and spread evenly
Tuck the top and bottom and pull the long sides together
Tuck one long edge over the other and tightly secure roll with some butcher string (2 pairs of hands here makes it easier)
Scatter shallots, thyme and carrot at the bottom of a large roasting pan (disposable works well)
Place roast on top of veg and brush with melted butter
Pour wine in the pan and season generously with salt & pepper
Cook for  2hrs (needs to reach 68' - 70'c with a thermometer)
Remove from oven, cover with foil a rest for 30 min

I use the mushroom reserved liquid with store-bought packet gravy - no one know the difference!

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley

This take on a true classic is full of fibre rich barley, loaded with protein and perfect for winter or a lazy Sunday evening dinner with some baguette. There are a few ingredients, but it is worth the 'little' effort and it freezes well up to 2-months. You can omit the sherry and replace with white wine if you like. Here you go ...

1 cup boiling water
20g shiitake mushrooms
Olive oil
2 medium onions, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
340g sirloin steak, cut into 2 inch strips
4 cups water
125g uncooked barley
1/4 cup sherry
3 tbsp soy sauce
300ml beef stock
1 tbsp sesame oil

Baguette cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

Combine water and Shiitake mushrooms in a bowl, cover and stand for 30min
Drain, reserve liquid, slice mushrooms
Heat some oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat
Add onions, shallots, ginger and garlic and saute for 10 min on medium
Add Shiitake, button mushrooms, sugar and beef and saute on high for 7 min
Add reserved mushroom liquid, water, barley, sherry, soy sauce and stock and bring to the boil
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 50 min until barley is is tender
Stir in sesame oil
Place cheese over bread slices and grill until cheese has melted
Place 1 slice of bread in each serving bowl and ladle soup over to serve

Need to go and grab a bowl ...

Salmon en Croute (in pastry)

There is no need for a festive offering this season to be pricey.  This is a classic, easy and very affordable for a small group of 4 or even 6.  It is a crowd pleaser and looks very impressive.  Here we go ...

2 medium potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced and pre cooked
25g butter
120g spinach, washed, coarsely chopped
1 red onion, chopped
60ml cream
60ml natural yoghurt
2 tsp dill, finely chopped
2 x rolls puff pastry
800g fresh Salmon fillet, skinned
2tsp store bought pesto

1 egg, beaten

Sauce
150ml lite cream
Juice 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp pesto
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Heat oven to 200'C
Heat large baking tray in oven
Melt butter in pan and add spinach, cook quickly until wilted and transfer to a cooling dish
Season to taste with salt & pepper and leave to cool, squeeze out excess moisture
Add onions to pan and gently fry for 6 - 7 min
Stir in cream, yoghurt and dill for 1 min
Add cooked potatoes and gently stir for 1 min
Roll out pastry thin to a long rectangle on baking paper
Line with potato mix leaving a 5cm border
Place salmon onto the centre of the pastry and potato mix
Smear pesto over fish and add spinach
Season  to taste with salt & pepper
Brush edge of pastry with egg
Roll out 2nd layer of pastry and carefully place over salmon, trim excess and seal edges
Brush pastry with egg
Place on pre heated baking tray
Bake 30 - 40 min until brown, allow to rest for 10 min

Sauce
Heat cream, add lemon juice and pesto.  Season to taste.  Add basil just before serving

Enjoy!