Apple and marzipan slice
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g puff pastry
- 200 g marzipan
- 2 golden delicious apples
- 3 T sugar
- Icing sugar, for sprinkling
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll out the puff pastry and place on a greased baking tray.
Tear the marzipan into equal-sized pieces and place evenly over the pastry.
Thinly slice the apples and lay on top of the marzipan. Sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve hot.
Slow-roasted pork belly with apples and cider
INGREDIENTS
- 4 onions medium, peeled and sliced into half-rings
- 4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced into quarters
- Sage leaves a handful
- 2 x 330 ml Dry cider bottles, plus extra
- 1 free-range pork belly on the bone, skin on sea salt
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 250°C. Place the onion and apple in a deep roasting pan and scatter over the sage. Toss, then pour in the cider.
Place the pork belly on a board, skin-side up, and dry well with kitchen paper. Using a very sharp knife, deeply score the skin-andfat layer in a diagonal pattern, taking care not to cut into the meat.
Rub the skin generously with sea salt, ensuring you get the salt into the score marks. Place the pork on top of the onion and apple mixture, then roast for 30 minutes, or until the skin starts to crackle.
Turn the heat down to 150°C and roast for a further 2 to 3 hours, basting now and then and topping up with cider, if necessary, to prevent the apples and onions from burning.
Remove from the oven when the belly is cooked through and falling off the bone but still deliciously succulent, with a wonderful crackling on top. Serve immediately.
Apple juice-and-lime-cured trout
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup 100% apple juice
- 3 limes
- 110 g caster sugar
- 150 g coarse salt
- 1 x 225 g fillet rainbow trout
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the apple juice, juice and zest of 2 limes, caster sugar and salt. Place the fish in a small, flat, non-metallic container or tray and pat the cure onto the fish. Slice the remaining lime and layer onto the fish.
Cover with clingfilm and place a heavy object on top of the trout to compress it and help the flavours penetrate the fish. Chill for 4 hours. Rinse the cure off the fish, pat dry and slice very thinly.
Serve with goat’s cheese and radishes, or spring onion on homemade Melba toast.
Baked meringue apples with fluffy sabayon.
INGREDIENTS
- 6 Golden Delicious apples
- 3 T light brown sugar
- 6 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 cup organic apple juice
- For the meringue:
- 1 free-range egg white
- 55 g caster sugar
- For the sabayon:
- 2 free-range egg yolks
- 3 T Zesty white wine
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Slit the apples horizontally around the middle and place on a baking tray. Sprinkle with brown sugar, insert a cinnamon stick into each one at the stem and drizzle with apple juice. Bake for 20 minutes.
Spoon the meringue over the baked apples and return to the oven to bake until the meringue is golden brown. Remove and serve hot with a generous drizzle of sabayon.
To make the sabayon, whisk the egg yolks and sugar over a bain-marie until foamy. Make sure that the water is not too hot or the eggs will scramble. Slowly add the wine and whisk continuously until pale and creamy.
To make the meringue, whisk the egg white and sugar until soft peaks form and the mixture becomes glossy.
Warm buttered pear, apple and Gorgonzola salad
Pears, on the other hand, love blue cheese, brandy, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, red wine, vanilla.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 T butter
- 2 T sugar
- 2 crunchy pears, cored and cut into wedges
- 2 Royal Gala apples, cored and cut into wedges
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 t olive oil
- 250 g streaky wood-smoked bacon, sliced into thirds and fried until crispy
- 50 g walnuts, lightly toasted
- 40 g watercress
- 150 g Gorgonzola, broken into pieces
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 T apple cider vinegar
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Melt the butter and sugar in a pan over a medium heat. Add the pears and apples and cook for 5 minutes until soft and caramelised.
Squeeze over the lemon juice and drizzle over the olive oil. Set aside to cool.
Gently assemble the salad with the remaining ingredients and toss through the buttered pears and apples.
Season to taste and drizzle with vinegar.
Red apple, asparagus and leek risotto
INGREDIENTS
- 4 T olive oil
- 4 leeks, roughly chopped
- 300 g Arborio rice
- 3 cups organic liquid chicken stock
- 75 g Parmesan grated
- 170 g asparagus, quartered
- 1 T butter
- 200 g chevin
- 2 red apples, cut into chunks
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, then add the leeks and cook until soft and translucent.
Add the rice and stir, coating it well in the oil and leeks, then add 1 cup chicken stock. Stir gently until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add another cup of stock, stirring until absorbed, then add the final cup.
The rice should be cooked but still have a bit of a bite. If necessary, add a little more stock or water and continue stirring until the rice is just cooked.
Add the Parmesan and asparagus and stir. Once the asparagus is tender, stir through the butter, then spoon the risotto into individual dishes and break over the chevin.
Add the apple and season to taste.
Apple-caramelised crepes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup flour
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 T oil
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup water
- 1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
- Butter
- Sugar and cinnamon mix
- Emmenthal cheese
- 2 fresh figs
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the combined eggs, oil, milk and water.
Slowly whisk until smooth and strain into a jug to remove lumps. Allow the batter to rest for 1 hour.
Drizzle thin slices of apple with lemon juice to prevent the apple from discolouring.
Heat a small pan over a medium heat, add a small knob of batter and swirl it around to evenly cover the base of the pan.
Add 3 slices of apple to the pan and cover with 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter to evenly cover the base of the pan.
When the edge is lightly browned, carefully lift the crepe with a spatula or with your fingertips.
Cook until browned. Remove and grind generously with cinnamon sugar.
Serve warm with thinly sliced Emmenthal and fresh figs.
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