Soraya's The Kitchen Witch

MINESTRONE SOUP

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 head of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

2 tins chopped tomatoes or 1 kg (2 lbs) of fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1 litre (2 pints) ham stock

or

4 ham stock cubes and a litre (2 pints) water

2 carrots, grated

½ white cabbage, sliced in bite size chunks

1 stick celery (more if you like), finely sliced

1 smoked sausage (of any variety), finely sliced

3 tbsps concentrated tomato purée

60 g (2 oz) parmesan cheese, finely grated

Water as required

Put some olive oil into your soup pot and set the heat to low. Add the finely chopped onion and cook very slowly till soft, opaque and sweetened. Add the garlic and the tinned tomatoes or skinned and chopped fresh tomatoes. Add the ham stock or stock cubes dissolved in water and bring to the boil. Add the grated carrot, the bite-size chunks of cabbage, the finely sliced celery and the smoked sausage to the soup pot. Finally add the concentrated tomato purée and the parmesan cheese. Your soup should be kept on the simmer until it has a chunky consistency but if you think it is too thick add some more water or stock. Before serving, taste and season with salt and black pepper.

Tinned tomatoes and tomato purée can sometimes be a little bitter. Add a teaspoon sugar if need be.

CRESCENT CAKES

180 g (6 oz) self raising flour
125 g (4 oz) sugar
125 g (4 oz) ground almonds
125 g (4 oz) butter
1 tbsp honey
1 egg

Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix. Add the butter and blend using your fingers. Then add the honey and the egg and mix well until you have a firm dough. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and set in the fridge till the dough is cool and firm. Remove from the fridge and take small pieces of the dough and roll into rounds. Shape them into crescents. Place the cakes on a greased baking tray and bake at 170–180°C (325–350°F/gas mark 4) for about 20 minutes.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

90 g (3 oz) chopped dates or prunes
90 ml (3 fluid oz) boiling water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
45 g (1½ oz) soft butter
45 g (1½ oz) demerara sugar
1 egg
1 tsp black treacle
90 g (3 oz) self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
90 ml (3 fluid oz) milk
sauce

SAUCE
30 g (1 oz) butter
90 g (3 oz) soft brown sugar
150 ml (¼ pint) double cream
1 tbsp black treacle

Place the dates or prunes in a bowl and cover with the boiling water and vanilla extract. Soak for 5 minutes. Cream together the butter and demerara sugar. Beat the egg and add to the butter mixture then beat in the black treacle. Fold in all the bicarbonate of soda and a third of the flour and then add half the milk and repeat until all the milk and flour have been used up. Drain and mash the fruit and add to the mix. Fill individual greased ramekin dishes and bake for 20–25 minutes at approximately 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4).
To make the sauce, melt the butter, sugar and half the cream, bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the black treacle, turn up the heat and let the mixture simmer for 2–3 minutes, stir. Remove from heat and add rest of cream.
Turn each of the puddings out onto a plate and pour the toffee sauce over the top. Serve with a dollop of thick cream or crème fraîche or with custard.

CARDAMOM AND VODKA BISCUITS
You need to start preparing this dish the night before but it doesn’t take long to make. This recipe makes a lot of biscuits and they are great for parties. Keep people guessing as to what the special flavour is!

3 cardamom pods
½ cup vodka
1 kg (2 lbs) self-raising flour
250 g (8 oz) caster sugar
3 tsps baking powder
60 g (2 oz) butter
600 ml (1 pint) milk
1 egg
Cooking oil
Caster sugar

Take 3 cardamom pods (preferably green but if these are not available use brown). Remove the cardamom seeds and crush them in the bottom of the half cup of vodka. Leave overnight. The next day, strain off the liquid and discard the seeds.
Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips then add the milk, egg, and cardamom/vodka liquid. Knead the mixture well until you have a smooth dough then roll out to finger thickness. Cut into diamond shapes then make a diagonal slit in the middle of each and pull one end through the slit.
Deep fry until golden-brown and dip in sugar when you remove them from the oil. They can be eaten hot or cold.

CHICKEN AND LEEK SOUP

2 leeks
6 carrots
2 litres 500 ml (4 pints) chicken stock (real or made from stock cubes and water)
30 g (1 oz) long grained rice
Salt and pepper
Parsley to serve

Put the chicken stock in a large saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Clean and cut the leeks (use all of the leek) into 1-inch pieces before adding to the soup; clean the carrots and grate them before adding to the soup. Add the rice and seasoning and bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2–3 hours. Taste to make sure that the seasoning is to your liking then garnish with parsley.

BISCUIT PASTRY

200 g (8 oz) flour

125 g (5 oz) salted butter

1 egg yolk

40 g (2 oz) caster sugar

This pastry has a bit more fat (the egg yolk also adds fat) and is bit more crumbly than the basic recipe on the previous page. Cream fat, sugar and yolk, and quickly work in flour and, if necessary, sufficient water to form a stiff paste.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

DANISH APPLE CRUMBLE