Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll Ups

Thinking of what to make on a daily basis can be exhausting (especially if you have a soon to be 11 year old who loves his food!)

Today I decided to make cream cheese roll ups..(just because I has cream cheese in the fridge! Lol)

250g cream cheese
3/4 cup icing sugar

Put everything in a mixer and blend untill smooth.

Sandwich bread
Melted butter (100g)
Sugar
Cinnamon

Place the bread on a cutting board, (I tried some with and without crust), flatten it with a rolling pin and spread about a tablespoon of cream cheese over it. Roll it up and dip in melted butter and roll onto the cinnamon sugar (place sugar on a plate and sprinkle cinnamon according to your preference )

Place on baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at 170 degrees until crisp and golden. I love that the butter and sugar turns into a crispy crust! Enjoy!

Soufflé Pancakes with Pear and Plum Compote

Bored with your usual pancakes and waffles? Try making this Really Easy but stunning looking breakfast!

Pear and Golden Plum Compote

4 pears skinned and sliced into wedges
3 golden plum skinned and sliced into wedges
1 raspberry tea bag (I used Ahmad Tea)
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 small cinnamon stick

Simmer all the above until all the fruits are tender and the liquid turns into a nice syrup.

You can make the compote way ahead or substitute the plums with apples or any fruit of your choice.

Soufflé Batter

5 medium eggs
3 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tsp orange zest

1 cup flour

Pour all the about ingredients except the flour in a blender until well mixed. Pour the flour in and blend until smooth and no lumps appear.

I heated 2 (6 inches) cake tins with about 2 tablespoon of melted butter in the oven. Once butter is hot and bubbly, pour equal amounts of batter into the tins and bake for 20 minutes on 190 degrees until soufflé has nicely risen .

Serve with compote, dust with icing sugar and whipped cream.

Quiche Lorraine (Lazy Version)

Okay everyone loves a good Quiche ... I use Julia Child's quiche sauce but a very lazy version to put everything together. The thing I dread in the morning is to make the short pastry for the base.... especially when you're already starving ! Ohhhhh the wait!!

I'll post the recipe for the short pastry too but in this particular one all I did was layer sliced bread at the base and toast it a little. Remember to butter your pie dish first! Or a casserole dish like I used.

6 sliced bread (I managed to arrange 4 at the base and I cut the rest into strips to cover the sides)

Bake in 170 degree oven for 5 minutes to toast it slightly.

1 onion (chopped)
1 garlic (chopped)
Few rashes of bacon or ham (I used turkey ham)
1 potato (chopped into small cubes)

Sautée the onion and garlic until soft, add the potatoes and ham and season with salt & pepper. Pour over the bread.

I like arranging some sliced tomatoes on top before pouring the sauce, unless I'm making beef quiche. Then ill leave it as it is. Or you can skip it all together. Whatever floats your boat :-)

Quiche Sauce (Julia Childs recipe)

5 eggs
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
Ground pepper
A dash of Nutmeg

Pour the sauce over the ham and then sprinkle with cheese. Whatever you have on hand. Bake at 170 degrees for 30 minutes until the sauce sets and is firm to the touch. Serve with a side of salad.

Short Crust Recipe

2 cups flour
110g butter (chopped into small cubes)
3 tablespoon shortening
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch sugar
5-6 tablespoon cold water

Do the rubbing in method for this. Dry ingredients in a bowl and cut the butter into the dry ingredient to make a coarse crumb.. Then add the water bit by bit until you get a soft pliable dough. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes and roll out on your pie dish. Poke with a fork. Blind bake for 5-8 minutes before putting in your quiche ingredients.

Bon Appetit!