Heavenly sweetness with a bit of spice

Oat stuffed baked apples

I love having fruit for dessert, and these baked apples are perfect. Serve them on their own or with a vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

¾ cup cake flour

¾ cup treacle sugar

½ cup jungle oats

6 Tbsp butter or margarine melted

6 Golden Delicious apples

1 cup apple juice

½ cup honey

2 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 220°C. Prepare your filling in a bowl. Mix flour, brown sugar, oats, and butter or margarine. Combine to form crumbs. Wash the apples, and using a scoop, scoop out the centres, but don’t go all the way to the bottom of the apple. Fill each apple with the oat filling, going right to the top of the apple. Arrange the apples in a baking dish. In a small bowl, stir the apple juice, honey, and cinnamon. Pour over and around the apples. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the apples are tender. (If the topping starts to burn, cover lightly with tinfoil.) Place apples on your serving platter or an individual dessert dish, and drizzle pan juices over them. Simply heavenly!

Sweet and spice lamb shanks

This is an awesome Rosh Hashanah dish.

Ingredients

6 lamb shanks

1 Tbsp chopped garlic

1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger

2 Tbsp oil

1 onion chopped

1 carrot finely sliced

2 leeks finely sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 dried apricots halved

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp curry powder

½ tsp mixed herbs

½ cup beef stock

½ cup red wine

1 cup orange juice

½ cup chutney

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp ginger or garlic paste

1 onion thinly sliced

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan, and sauté the garlic and ginger. Add the onions, carrots, and leeks, and sauté until the onions and leeks are translucent. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside. Using the same pan, brown the lamb shanks. Add the salt, pepper, garam masala, and curry powder. Add the dried apricots, bay leaves, mixed herbs, beef stock, orange juice, wine, and chutney. Lastly add the vegetables back to the pan. Heat through. Place in a roasting dish, cover completely, and cook for two to three hours at 180°C.

Chicken Marbella

This chicken recipe was given to me by a dear friend, and I make it for special occasions or the chagim.

Ingredients

3 braai packs of chicken

4 cloves crushed garlic

¼ cup fresh oregano

Coarse salt and black pepper to taste

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup olive oil

1 cup pitted prunes

½ cup pitted olives

½ cup capers

Bay leaves

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white wine

¼ cup chopped parsley

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, except the brown sugar, white wine, and parsley. Marinate overnight, and then place in a large roasting pan.

Sprinkle brown sugar and white wine over chicken. Bake at 180°C until well browned, basting frequently. Garnish with parsley before serving.