tomato and pesto canape's

These canape's is easiest to make as squares, but if you use a cookie cutter you can make them in any shape of your choice.  For Christmas last year I made stars pastry's, with the red tomato in the middle they looked lovely.

FYI:A canapé (a type of hors d’oeuvre, “apart from the main work”) is a small, prepared and usually decorative food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canap%C3%A9)

What you need:

Puff pastry 

Basil pesto

Rosa tomatoes

Cream cheese

To start make sure the puff pastry is defrosted (if not it won't "puff").

Roll it out slightly and cut into squares about 2cm x 2cm and put on a baking sheet.

Spread the pesto over the squares.

Then cut the tomatoes in half and take the pips out.  Fill the tomato with cream cheese and put it on the pesto covered puff pastry square.

Bake in oven for about 10min @ 180°C or until the puff pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter and serve.

Enjoy!

mosaic potholder

This project is loads of fun and it looks lovely when done.  I made this one for my sister for the kitchen tea, as this was the design that was used on everything at their wedding.

What you need:
tiles (mosaic tiles and/or ordinary bathroom tile)
a round supawood shape
tile cutter
quick dry wood glue
paint brush
white tile grout

You need to first decide om a design for your mosaic board, draw the design on your supawood board with a pencil.  Once you have a design on your board, you need to decide what colours and tiles you want to use in what areas.

Use a tile cutter to cut the tiles into pieces. Arrange on the design sticking them on with wood glue, using a paint brush to spread the glue evenly.  Continue till the whole board is filled with tiles, then leave to dry.

Mix tile grout in a plastic container, adding a little bit of water at a time, until the mixture resembles toothpaste. Use a teaspoon to spread the grout thick over the entire surface.

I like to use my fingers to work the grout in between all the pieces and on the edges, then wipe off any excess with your hands.  Make sure you don't remove the grout between the pieces.

Clean further with a damp cloth.

Leave overnight for the grout to set, then clean with window cleaner.

There you go... you have a mosaic potholder.

happy easter

Hope you are all having a very blessed Easter week-end!

Paper boats made in post of December 2012

click here

 great way to brighten up your Easter table!

pap-e-delle

Pap-e-delle is a dish that I often make with a braai (barbeque for those not in South-Africa) its absolutely yummy and I love the leftovers for breakfast the next day :-)

What you need:
1cup maize meal
1cup maize rice
1 tin whole kernel corn
1 tin tomato puree
6 ripe tomatoes diced
2 medium onions sliced
1 packed of onion soup powder
1cup chutney (Mrs. Balls is the best)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese

To start you first need to cook the maize meal and the maize rice. Keeping in mind that the maize rice will cook longer than maize meal.  So you need to cook it separately or add the maize meal to the maize rice after about 10 min of cooking.

Leave to cool slightly while you are making the sauce.

Slowly fry the sliced onions, and when soft add the diced tomatoes.  Allow to simmer for about 2 min then add the onion soup that is mixed with about 50ml of water, the tomato puree, chutney, and balsamic vinegar, and mix well.  Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Mix the maize mixture with the tin of whole corn.

Use a spoon and make balls bigger than a golf ball (but smaller than a tennis ball) and place in a ovenproof dish.

When you have filled the dish add the tomato sauce.

Then top it off with the grated cheese.  Place under the over grill and grill till golden brown.

Serve warm, and enjoy!