Sun-dried tomato and piquanté palmiers

A simple yet impressive canapé that is cinch to make - not to mention they come out looking so elegant. You can really experiment with the filling and they can be either sweet or savoury. They can be prepared in advance and refrigerated - just pop in the oven when you are good and ready.

375g pre-rolled puff pastry 

1/2 cup drained pickled piquante peppers

3/4 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes (preserved in oil)

1 egg beaten for egg wash

Freshly ground pepper

handful of fresh basil leaves

Plain flour for dusting

It's easy to work with pre-rolled puff pastry. You can still use a block of puff pastry and roll it out so that it is  about 3 millimetres thick and 9 x 14 inch in dimension.

• Whizz the piquante peppers and sun-dried tomatoes in a food processor till they are finely chopped bordering on becoming a paste. You can use some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar to loosen the mix if needed.
• Dust the surface with some plain flour and roll out the pastry sheet to the desired thickness and dimension. You don't have to be delicate about it as we don't really want the pastry to rise too much when baked.
• Spread the mix evenly covering the entire surface of the puff pastry. Tear the basil leaves over the spread and season with from freshly ground pepper.
• Roll both the longer edges towards each other so they meet in the middle. Brush a little egg wash in the centre so the rolled halves can stick together.
• Transfer the log to a baking sheet and refrigerate for half hour till its chilled well. This will make cutting easier.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Remove the log from the fridge. Cut it into 1 centimetre pieces and place each piece flat on the baking sheet.
•  Brush them all over with the egg wash and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are crisp and golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack before serving.

Mushroom crostini

A mushroom lover's treat particularly when this made with wild mushrooms. The topping can be prepared ahead of time and heaped onto the toasted bread slices shortly before serving.

500g mushrooms - I used a combination of chestnut, shitake and morels.
1 tbsp butter + 1/2 tsp butter
1 tbsp + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 tbsp low-fat crème fraiche

1 baguette cut into 1/2 inch slices (about 10-12)
handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 cup Parmesan or Pecorino cheese (optional)

freshly ground pepper

Salt to taste

• Clean the mushrooms and slice them into smaller pieces. 
• Melt 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms to the melted fat along with salt and cook them till they are browned nicely and all the liquid has evaporated. The browning concentrates the mushroom flavour. Do not overcrowd the skillet, otherwise the mushrooms will end up boiling in their own liquid.
• Remove the mushrooms to a cutting board and chop roughly when they have cooled down.
• Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining oil and butter. 
• Add the chopped onions and thyme and sauté till the onions just start to brown. Add the chopped mushrooms back to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
• Mix in 1-2 tbsp of creme fraiche and the chopped parsley.
• Remove from heat and keep aside till the time you need it. 

To prepare the bread slices -

• Warm the mushroom mixture in a pan or microwave it for 1-2 minutes.
• Pre-heat the grill at a high setting. Brush the bread slices with olive oil on both sides and arrange them on a baking sheet. Place them on the highest rack in the oven and grill for a few minutes till they are nicely toasted. Turn the slices over and do the same on the other side.
• Spread the mushroom mixture on to the bread slices and sprinkle some cheese on top before serving.

Chicken kofta and chicken kofta curry

I come from a family of vegetarians. I have always been surrounded by people who weren't vegetarians but my real exposure to cooking non-vegetarian food was after marriage. Over the years, I have learnt a few recipes that I make well (at least that's the hope!) but I rarely go out of that comfort zone. Experiments are few and far apart and mostly after a lot of reading on the web. So when my husband brought home some chicken mince, I was at a loss what to do with it. He suggested I use it to make something akin to meatballs. That's how I ended up making this chicken kofta curry.

I didn't have any of the usual herbs or bread crumbs, but I did have some basil left over from last night's pasta dinner. The bread crumbs I improvised by toasting two slices of bread lightly and then whizzing them in a food processor. The amount of mince I had was way more than needed for the curry. So I baked them separately for another day. I think these would make good appetizers served with a dipping sauce.

For the koftas or chicken balls

700g chicken mince

1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

3/4 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground pepper

2-3 slices of stale bread or 1 cup fresh bread crumbs

12-15 basil leaves

5-6 curry leaves

Salt to taste

3 tbsp oil for shallow frying

• Place the bread (or bread crumbs) in the food processor along with the torn up basil and curry leaves and pulse a few times till everything is well combined but still coarse..
• Mix the rest of the ingredients and the prepared bread crumbs into the chicken mince. Add salt according to taste (probably need about 1-11/2 tsp of table salt)
• Form lime sized balls and place them in an oiled plate to prevent them from sticking.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is medium hot, shallow fry the prepared mince balls till they are golden brown on all sides. The intention is only to given them colour and not to cook them at this stage.  (Skip the next step if they are being used for a curry)
• Remove them into an oiled baking tray when they are nicely browned. Cover the tray with foil and bake them in a 190C oven for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

For the curry

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp Crème fraiche or double cream

3/4 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

Few basil leaves for garnish

The koftas will need to be shallow fried as mentioned above. 

• Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the cumin seeds when the oil is hot and allow them to splutter.
• Add the chopped onion and sauté till they are softened and translucent.
• Add the tomato paste and ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle a little water to prevent this from burning or catching at the bottom.
• Next add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powder and sauté for a minute till the spices are well coated.
• Add a cup of water and allow it to come to boil. Add the koftas that have been fried to the sauce pan and add more water so they are just submerged.  Add salt needed for the gravy. Allow this to come back to boil. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low flame till they are cooked fully.
• Add the cream or  crème fraiche and garam masala and mix well. Continue to simmer till the gravy starts to thicken.
• Turn off the heat and finish off with some chopped basil.
• Serve warm with rice or rotis.

Crispy ravioli bites

There's always a scramble to prepare some snacks when you have friends over. When given a lot of notice, I normally plan and make something elaborate. But sometimes you don't have the time for it or you just can't be bothered. I have just the thing for such occasions. All you need is some fresh ravioli from the supermarket - the kind they sell in the fresh pasta section, a couple of eggs and bread crumbs. It is a snap to make and is quite a tasty finger food.

1 pack of fresh ravioli
2 egg whites
200g bread crumbs
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Oil for frying

Whisk the egg whites lightly in a bowl. Toss the breadcrumbs with the pepper and keep ready in another bowl. Coat each ravioli in the egg white first and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs and keep aside for frying.

Heat the oil in a pan to fry the coated ravioli. Toss the ravioli into the oil one by one when the oil is hot (medium - medium high). The ravioli will start to bubble from the sides if the oil is hot enough. It will first sink to bottom, but as it cooks it will float back up. Add about 6-10 at a time depending on the size of the pan, don't crowd it all in as the temperature of the oil will drop immediately and it will turn everything soggy. Move them around and continue frying till they are golden brown and crisp.

Serve with some dipping sauce (tomato pickle (or chutney) or pasta sauce or even ketchup will do nicely)  and a piping cup of chai!

Stuffed mushroom

Another mushroom starter to celebrate India's win  against Pakistan in the World cup semis... yippee!!

3 large mushrooms

1/2 an onion chopped  

3 spring onions chopped

3 tbsp bread crumbs

3 garlic pods chopped finely

Few basil leaves

Few sage leaves

2-3 tbsp olive oil 

Grated parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems and brush all over with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a tray, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 15 minutes until they almost done.
• Meanwhile, in a heated pan, add some olive oil and sauté the onions, garlic and spring onions till they are softened. Remove into a bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and chopped herbs and mix well.
• When the mushrooms are almost done, remove from the oven and top them with the above mixture and put back in the oven for another 7-10 minutes or until the top starts to brown.
• Sprinkle some parmesan cheese before serving. 

Grilled mushroom with goat's cheese, mango chutney and balsamic reduction

I only had a taste when a friend ordered this at a pub in Wales and but that was enough.  I liked it so much that I decided to try it at home.  The combination of salty goats' cheese and sweet mango chutney gel so well together. I don't think the original had balsamic vinegar drizzle, but again I knew that it went really well with the goat's cheese. So I decided to try all three together...

2-3 tbsp sweet mango chutney
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
75g Goats' cheese
3 large mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste

• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Remove the stems and clean the mushrooms with a brush or paper towel. Brush all over with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the tray facing up and cook in the oven for about 20 mins on the top rack till they are cooked. 
• Meanwhile place the balsamic vinegar in a pan over medium heat. Reduce by half and allow to cool. 
• When the mushrooms are done, remove from the oven, top with goats' cheese and place them back in the oven for a final 3-4 mins so that the cheese heats through and softens.
• Drizzle the balsamic vinegar reduction over the mushroom and cheese and spoon some mango chutney before serving.

Spinach, ricotta and sun-dried tomato tart

This is one of those recipes that packs a punch but actually requires very little effort!

1 pack of frozen puff pastry cases
200g of chopped fresh or frozen spinach 
200g of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
5-6 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes preserved in oil
1 egg (for the egg wash)
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Salt
Ground black pepper

• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Place the spinach in a microwaveable container, add 1 tbsp of water, cover with cling film and steam in the microwave for about 6-7 minutes until the spinach is cooked. Remember to prick the cling film to allow the steam to escape. If using frozen spinach, follow the pack instructions to cook it.
• Allow to cool slightly and remove as much water as possible by pressing it between your hands or in a mesh strainer.
• Mix it with the ricotta cheese, parmesan, nutmeg and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper.
• Place the frozen puff pastry in a baking tray and prick the centre area with a fork to prevent it from puffing up. 
• Make an egg wash with the beaten egg and little water or milk.
• Brush the pastry cases with the egg wash.
• Place a tablespoonful of the spinach and ricotta mixture in the centre of each of the pastry cases.
• Cook in the oven for 16-20 minutes till golden brown.
• Serve warm.

This is sufficient quantity for 6 tarts.