Yemenite Pita 2

Yemenite Pita
This recipe started as an adventure and ended in a taste sensation. To get this recipe we had to get up at 4.30 am to make it to Sarah Ratzabi’s place by 6.00. Sarah is a Yemenite woman living on a religious moshav north of Tel Aviv. Every Friday morning she and her friends (Nama ...

Chocolate Brownies

One time Davina came to visit and mentioned her chocolate brownies. So after she got home I asked for the recipe. Davina, being American, shipped me two packets of ready made brownie mix. I’m not really a ready mix kind of guy so I made my own recipe. Chocolate Brownies Steven Thomas Print Recipe Ingredients  200 grams dark ...

Couscous

Couscous is basically a North African pasta. I spent a day watching Marie make couscous the traditional way. None of this quick cooking stuff. 3 minute couscous doesn’t cut it for Marie. She made the couscous from scratch. As a side effect of making the couscous you also end up with a soup. The couscous ...

Challah

I wanted to try a fluffy white bread and picked Challah because Galit has a fondness for it.  Challah Challah is a feature of Friday night meals in Jewish families. It is an enriched bread dough with eggs, honey and oil in the mixture. The result is a light crumb with a hint of sweetness. ...

How to Make Bread

How to Make Bread
I love bread. Always have. And a few years ago I got a real passion for learning about and making bread. I particularly like southern European breads. The perfect loaf for me is a sour dough with crunchy crust and light airy crumb. French, Italian and Maltese breads all have these characteristics and I love ...

Fresh Fruit Cake

Fresh Fruit Cake
Unlike the dried fruit cake recipes common in New Zealand, this cake has a wet mixture. Our recipe is based on one from an Israeli book, although we had to reduce the quantities significantly to fit in our 20 cm x 20 cm cake tin.  Fresh Fruit Cake Galit Haviv-Thomas Print Recipe Pin Recipe Ingredients  70 grams butter2/3 cups sugar3 egg ...

Sweet Toppings for Pancakes

I almost always serve Hotcakes, Pikelets, Scotch Pancakes and Crepes with a sweet topping of some kind. Lemon and sugar is the classic topping for crepes and large pancakes. As a child I remember assembling them at the table; we sprinkled our own sugar, squeezed over the lemon juice by hand, rolled them up, and ...

Roti – Malaysian Pancakes

Mmmmm. Roti is the traditional accompaniment for Malaysian Curry – the combination being called Roti Chanai. Nothing like it. Watching Malaysian chefs prepare this flaky bread is a treat in itself. I love seeing them work the dough and then throw it around in ever expanding sheets. Fantastic. Recipe makes six roti = enough for ...

Roman Chicken

For some reason we started going to a lot of Italian restaurants when we moved to the UK. I developed a liking for the Italian mains. This is my version of Roman chicken. Roman Chicken Steven Thomas Hearty Roman fare. Print Recipe Ingredients  1/4 cup floursalt and pepper9 chicken drum sticks skin removed.Olive Oil4 garlic cloves diced1 large red onion sliced4 large capsicums any colour, sliced1/2 cup olives I ...

Chocolate Nut Tart (Crostata di cioccolata con nocciote)

This tart is divine and really impresses when I have to bring a dessert to a function.  Chocolate Nut Tart (Crostata di cioccolata con nocciote) Print Recipe Ingredients  Ingredients for pastry1 3/4 Cups flourpinch of salt1/2 cup sugar115 grams butter or margarine chilled1 egg1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zestUp to 2 tablespoons of waterIngredients for tart200 g dry amaretti biscuits50 g blanched hazelnuts100 g ground almonds3 tablespoons of sugar200 grams plain cooking chocolate3 tablespoons milk50 grams butter3 tablespoons liqueur amaretto or brandy is recommended, but ...