Strawberry and Kiwi Tarts.

I will admit that I hate kiwi but when I saw a picture of these I was so won over by the colours I had to try and make them. Despite not liking them personally I am reliably informed by the tasters present that this is a good recipe. I didn't bother with the food colouring if you want to see them with food colouring then have a look here Love and Olive Oil. Also I would suggest only putting the strawberries on top as you are about to serve as the colour from the fruit bleeds into the kiwi.

For base:
250g lemon biscuits
100g butter, melted

For filling:
4 kiwis pureed
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
100g butter
green food colouring, optional

Preheat oven to 175C. Break the biscuits up into a fine crumb, stir in melted sugar. Press the mixture into six individual tins or one 9inch tart tin. Bake for 4-5 minutes.

Put all filling ingredients into a heavy bottom pan and stir over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Don't let it boil. At this point add food colouring if desired. If the mixture has gone lumpy don't worry just put it through a sieve.

Divid the mixture amongst tins and leave in the fridge for 1-2 hours until set.

I have linked this up to Tinned Tomatoes Bookmarked Recipes.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies.

I have newly discovered pintrest, well when I say discovered I mean joined I knew I would become addicted to it so have been studiously avoiding all enticement to join. If by any slim chance you are at all interested in the things I like my account is pinterest.com/agagirls. I found this recipe on pintest and was instantly intrigued, as I am always looking for good gluten free recipes. The recipe originally came from the blog Chocolate and Carrots. I will admit that the recipe does seem a little strange but stick with it these work. They fall somewhere between a cookie and brownie and are seriously dangerous 'The velveteen bow' ate four. I think they would delicious as a pudding with vanilla ice cream in the middle and served with soft fruit.

3 cups icing sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
4 medium egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips preferably dark as these are already quite sweet

Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix together the powdered sugar with cocoa powder and salt.
Whisk in the vanilla and egg whites. You should end up with a batter the consistency of thick brownie dough. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon out large teaspoonfuls on to baking parchment, be aware that they do spread. Bake for 12-14minutes until the tops look like brownies and are beginning to crack. Leave them to cool completely on the baking trays. They should keep in an air tight container for three days, that is if they last that long.

Hungarian Pork Goulash.

'Oh I do have such an expressive eye brow don't I' had bought a rolled shoulder of pork from the reduced section in the supermarket. There wasn't room for it in the freezer and neither of us could quite face roasting it. So I found this recipe in my ginger pig book but it required belly of pork as well. A fact I was exceptionally happy about as it gave me a great excuse to go to our local buter Crombie's. Crombie's is a truly exceptional old fashioned butchers, where they are kind enough to sharpen my knives while I wait.  This recipe makes a really delicious stew which is full of flavour but much lighter than a beef of lamb stew. It was definitely better reheated the second time around as the spices had time to really come through, so I would advise making it a day ahead f you have the time or self restraint.

Serves 6

1.25kg shoulder of pork, skinned, and cut into 1inch pieces
300g pork belly, skinned and cut into 1inch
1 onion, diced
2 clove garlic
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp caraway seeds
800g tinned tomatoes
300g jar of peeled, roast peppers or 3 peppers, chargrilled and peeled
2 tbsp sour cream
chives to garnish

Pre heat oven 180C. Brown off the meat on all sides, then add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add the spices and season, cook for a few minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and top up with enough water to cover the meat. Bring to boil, then put in the oven with the lid on for 2 hours. Cut the peppers into strips and stir in to stew. Return it to the oven for another 30 minutes. At this point I thickened the sauce with a beurre noisette as a thicker sauce was our preference but it was not entirely necessary.