Summer Weekday Recipes

The time is nigh, where soon our houses will be filled to the brim with family members and loved ones, all hungry for the delicious treats one has come to associate with this season. For this entry, I have provided some tasty and unusual seasonal recipes that will keep all those cravings at bay. Enjoy!

Monday
Apricot Salsa
Ingredients

3 cups chopped fresh apricots
1 cup shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/4 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 red chilli, seeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Mix the apricots, shallots, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic, coriander, cumin, and lime juice together in a bowl; refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Tuesday
Roasted fennel with olive tapenade and feta
Ingredients
6 fennel bulbs, with tops
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups pitted green olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
3 small cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons chopped capers
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup torn fresh mint leaves

1. Preheat oven to 180’C

2. Cut off the fennel stalks and coarsely chop the tops; reserve the chopped tops for garnish. Halve each fennel bulb lengthwise. Rub the bulb halves with 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper. Place cut-side down in a roasting pan.

3. Roast the fennel until soft and caramelized, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

4. Meanwhile, to make the olive tapenade, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, olives, parsley, tarragon, garlic, capers, vinegar and crushed red pepper in a food processor and pulse until chunky.

5. To serve, arrange the roasted fennel on a serving platter and top with the tapenade, and then sprinkle with feta, mint and the reserved fennel tops.


Wednesday
Cheese soufflé with asparagus
I made this dish for my husband a couple of days ago, and it went down a treat!
Ingredients:
· 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
· Additional butter to grease dishes
· 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
· 1/2 cup milk
· 2 eggs; separated
·1/3 cup grated cheese (I like to use a strong cheddar)
· 2 Tbsp. finely grated parmesan
· 1/2 tsp. wholegrain mustard
· Salt and pepper to taste
· Asparagus ends chopped, with spears kept whole

1. Heat oven to 200’C. Grease 2 ramekins with butter and dust with parmesan.

2. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium low heat, add flour, and cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.
3. In the meantime, heat milk in the microwave at medium power for 30 seconds.

4. Whisk in milk and continue to cook, stirring, until thickened.

5. Whisk together egg yolks and spices, then add to sauce mixture, whisking steadily to avoid scrambling the eggs.

6. Stir in the cheese and chopped asparagus and mix thoroughly.
With the asparagus spears, lightly coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
7. Remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.

8. Beat egg whites to medium stiff peaks.

9. Thoroughly fold the egg whites into sauce mixture.

10. Pour into ramekins, and place the asparagus spears in a neat pattern on top of soufflé mixture. Place in oven, reduce heat to 180’C, and bake 30 to 35 minutes depending on how well done you like your soufflés. Don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes
Thursday
Baked cheesy figs
Ingredients:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
30g onion, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp almonds (flaked or finely chopped)
120g baby spinach
1/4 cup gruyere cheese
1/4 cup pecorino or parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
8 fresh figs

Grind the mustard seeds and dry fry them for 1 minute. In the same pan add the oil, garlic and onion and cook on low heat for 3 minutes. Add the almonds and spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes before taking off the heat, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste and adding 90% of the cheese.

Halve the figs from top to bottom, scoop out 2/3 of the flesh and add some of the flesh to the spinach and cheese mixture. Stuff the figs with the mixture and place them on a lightly buttered tray, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 10mins (until soft).

Friday
‘T is the season to be jolly…and to ensure ample amounts of jolliness, follow some of these simple yet delicious cocktail recipes.

Litchi Lovers Bellini
20 fresh whole litchis, peeled and pitted
2 cups/450 ml chilled sparkling wine
8 teaspoons/40 ml Chambord

Puree the litchis in a blender until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine-meshed strainer and into a bowl, pressing on the solids in the strainer to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solids.

Chill the litchi juice until it is cold. Pour 2 tablespoons/30 ml of litchi juice into each of 4 Champagne flutes. Add enough sparkling wine (about 1/2 cup/115 ml) to fill each glass. Add 2 teaspoons/10 ml of Chambord to each glass and stir gently to blend, and serve.

Litchi Lassi Yogurt Drink
A non-alcoholic option:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup chopped litchi or ½ cup litchi juice
sugar or honey to taste
ice cubes
¼ tsp. cardamom powder (optional)

Blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve if necessary.
Servings: 2
Litchi Fizz CocktailSubmitted by Angellique Glenn

1 oz. Vodka
¾ oz. litchi Syrup
1 oz. Lemonade

Shake and pour into a martini glass
Garnish with a pitted and peeled litchi and a lemon twist
Saturday
Strawberry Semi-Freddo
Serves 6Ingredients:
500g fresh strawberries
100g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 lemon, juiced
310ml (1 1/4 cups) thickened cream

1. Process the strawberries, icing sugar and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth, then press through a sieve to remove the seeds. Whip the cream until it's thick, but still able to drop off a spoon. Fold the strawberry mixture into the cream.

2. Pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze until frozen at the edges. Remove from freezer and whisk. Return to the container and re-freeze. Repeat 2 or 3 times. (Alternatively use an ice-cream machine)

Semifreddo means half-frozen, so place it in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving.
Sunday
Grown-up raspberry jelly
Yes, I know this recipe is a bit of a mission, but I promise that all the effort will be worthwhile in the end. This jelly is the Aston Martin of all jellies.

Ingredients
(For a non-alcoholic version make up the jelly with red grape juice or a diluted fruit cordial, adding sugar to taste).
4 tbsp cold water
3 tsp of powdered gelatine
40g caster sugar
500 ml rosé wine
400g small raspberries

For the mint cream:
200 ml double cream
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp rose wine
Small bunch fresh mint, chopped

1. Spoon the water into a small heatproof bowl then sprinkle the gelatine over the top making sure that all the powder is absorbed by the water. Leave to soak for 5 minutes.

2. Stand the bowl in a saucepan of gently simmering water and heat for a few minutes until the gelatine has dissolved and the water is completely clear. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the sugar. Gradually stir the wine into the gelatine until well mixed then leave to cool.

3. Arrange some of the raspberries in the base of a 1.2 litre jelly mould; pour over just enough of the rose mixture to cover then put the mould in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until just set.

4. Arrange half the remaining raspberries on top, pour half the remaining rosé mixture over and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour until just beginning to set. Leave the remaining rosé mixture at room temperature. Cover with the remaining raspberries and rosé mixture and chill for 3 hours or overnight in the fridge until firmly set.

5. When almost ready to serve, whip the cream until if forms soft swirls, add the sugar then gradually whisk in the wine. Fold in the mint and spoon into a small bowl.

6. To unmould the jelly, fill a large mixing bowl with hot water from the tap, add the jelly mould, count to 10 then take out of the water. Loosen the top edge of the jelly with wetted fingertips then cover the mould with a serving plate or pedestal dish, turn over holding mould and dish firmly. Jerk to release the jelly then carefully lift off the mould.

7. Serve within 30 minutes of removing the jelly from the moud and serve with spoonfuls of the cream.