French Onion Soup

August 19, 2014August 19, 2014Leave a comment

So simple, so rich, so delicious. There is something incredibly humbling about a French Onion Soup. Originating as a hearty soup for Paris market workers to warm themselves up on cold mornings, French Onion Soup is now considered one of the worlds classic soup dishes and has the ability to turn an ordinary meal into something deeply extravagant and sensual.

My tip is to make sure you caramelise your onions so they’re really rich, sweet, tender and impart that lovely deep brown colour that the dish is known for.

Ingredients

1 packet of Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps
1L of beef stock – change to vegetable stock for a vegetarian/vegan option
1kg of brown onions – halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic – halved, lengthways and finely sliced
1 tbs of butter
1 tbs of olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 large bay leaves
1 tsp of dried rosemary
40g of grated parmesan
Fresh thyme leaves, to serve

Method

Heat oil and butter in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes, or until onion is well browned and softened.
Add stock, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, bay leaves and rosemary. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and allow to cook for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the thyme stalks and bay leaves.
Meanwhile, preheat grill and arrange half a packet of Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps on a large baking tray. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and Grill for 1 minute or until cheese is golden and melted.
Arrange remaining Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps in the bottom of soup bowls, ladle soup into bowls over the crisps. Top with parmesan grilled Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps, scatter with fresh thyme leaves and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Golden Crumb Pasta

August 13, 2014August 13, 2014Leave a comment

This dish is a modern take on the classic Italian dish of Spaghetti with Pangrattato. “Pangrattato” is basically Italian for breadcrumbs – but so much more romantic! Coming from the Calabria district, like me! Traditionally this is seen as ‘peasant food’, given the cheap and readily available ingredients of bread and pasta; and was eaten during lent or at Christmas when Catholics avoid meat.

In this dish I have chosen to mix it up a bit and use Abe’s Bagels – Bagel Crisps, for their crunch and in this case their roasted garlic flavour. This dish is easy and delicious, with the subtle hum of the anchovies, the kick of chilli and crunch of the garlic bagel crumbs.

Ingredients

1 packet of Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps
1/3 cup of oil olive
2 long red chillies – halved, seeds and membrane removed and finely sliced
10 anchovies – finely diced
The juice of 1 lemon
500g of thin spaghetti – I recommend Barilla
¼ bunch of flat leaf parsley – roughly chopped

Method

Place Abe’s Bagels – Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps into the bowl of a food processor and process until roughly chopped.
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of cooking liquid.
Heat oil in a large, non-stick pan over medium heat. Add chilli and anchovies and stir cooking for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add parsley and Abe’s Bagels – Bagel Crisp crumbs and cook for 1-2 minutes or until bagel crumbs are golden and parsley is beginning to crisp. Add pasta and lemon juice to the pan and toss, adding enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten.
Divide between bowls and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

August 7, 20144 Comments

Salted. Caramel. Cheesecake. Need I say more?

To many, plain cheesecake is decadent enough. For me, this amazingly delicious Salted Caramel Cheesecake, is gluttonous heaven. A buttery, crunchy, salted bagel crisp crust that sits beneath a smooth and creamy caramel cheesecake filling, topped with praline shards that hold notes of caramel, salt and bagel crisp crunch. Wow.

Ingredients – cheesecake

2 packets of Abe’s Bagels – Marlborough Sea Salt Bagel Crisps
150g of butter – melted
800g caramelised condensed milk
500g block of cream cheese – at room temperature
¼ cup of boiling water
3 tsp of powdered gelatin
½ tsp of salt – or to taste

Ingredients – praline

½ packet of Abe’s Bagels – Marlborough Sea Salt Bagel Crisps
½ cup of caster sugar
2 tbs of cold water

Method

Place 2 packets of Abe’s Bagels – Marlborough Sea Salt Bagel Crisps into the bowl of a food processor and process until it resembles a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and process until combined. Press the crumbs evenly over the base and sides of a lined, 20cm springform pan using the back of a metal spoon and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Place cream cheese and caramelised condensed milk into a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat until smooth.
Place boiling water in a heatproof bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Add gelatin mix and salt to the cream cheese mixture and process until well combined.
Pour the cream cheese filling mixture over the bagel crumb base and refrigerate overnight, or for a minimum of four hours.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar has dissolved.
Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil, and boil, without stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the mixture turns golden. Remove from heat. Set aside for 2 minutes to allow bubbles to subside. Roughly break ½ a packet of Abe’s Bagels – Marlborough Sea Salt Bagel Crisps into halves and quarters and arrange on prepared tray, pour over sugar and allow to cool before breaking into praline shards.
Carefully remove cheesecake from spring form pan, arrange praline shards on top and serve.

Enjoy!