Onion Tart

Ingredients:
one 23 cm (9 inch) shortcrust pastry base
1/2 cup (4 oz/125 g) mixed butter and oil
250 g (8 oz) onions, sliced
1 cup (125 g/ 4 0z) grated Gruyere cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (125 ml / 4 fl oz) heavy cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
6 black olives, pitted

Preparation and cooking:
Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan and gently saute the onions for 8 minutes without browning. Remove from the heat.
In a bowl, mix together the cheese, eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Stir this into the onions. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 C (400 F).
Decorate the tart with the olives and serve hot or cold.

This recipe is based on the Onion Tart recipe in Jean Conil and Fay Franklin's book, "The Flavours of France: Fabulous Vegetarian Cuisine for Every Occasion".

Manhattan Cheesecake

This cheesecake is just plain delicious, with no base.

Serves 10 t0 12.

Ingredients:
500g (1 lb) cream cheese
500g (1 lb) ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 large eggs
60g (2 oz) butter, melted
3 tablespoons each of flour and cornflour, sifted together
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sour cream

Decoration:
1 cup cream, whipped
strawberries or other fresh fruit

Preparation:
Combine cheeses and beat well until creamy. Gradually add sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in melted butter, flour, cornflour and vanilla. Fold in sour cream. Spoon mixture into an ungreased 23 cm (9 inch) springform tin. Bake in centre of a preheated moderately slow oven (160 C/325 F) for 1 hour (cake will still be soft in centre). Turn off the heat and leave cake in oven for 2 hours. Remove and cool completely in tin, standing on a wire rack. When quite cold, chill for at least 2 hours before removing sides of tin and transferring to a serving plate. Decorate as wished, using whipped cream and fruit.

This recipe is from Margaret Fulton's "Encyclopaedia of Food and Cookery".

Tart Lemon Frosting

I put this frosting on lemon cake or cupcakes, or vanilla cake.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 tablespoons butter
3 cups of icing (confectioner's) sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 dash salt

Preparation:
Add lemon rind to butter, cream well. Add part of sugar gradually, blending after each addition. Add remaining sugar alternately with lemon juice, until of right consistency to spread, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add salt.

This recipe is from the Recipe Goldmine website.

Pad Thai

This is my favourite recipe for Pad Thai (or Thai Fried Noodles). The best part of making this dish is the garnish.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup small cooked prawns
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 eggs, beaten
375g (3/4 pound) rice vermicelli, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
1 cup bean sprouts

Garnish:
1 tablespoon dried prawn powder
2 tablespoons peanuts, coarsely ground
1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes (or powder)
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
2 limes, very finely sliced

Cooking:
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the garlic until golden. Quickly add the prawns and stir fry until heated through. Add the sugar, fish sauce and ketchup and stir until sugar dissolves. Add the beaten eggs, letting them set slightly, then stir to scramble. Add the noodles and toss and stir for about 2 minutes. Reserving about 4 tablespoons of the bean sprouts, add the remainder to the wok. Stir over heat until the bean sprouts are barely cooked. Turn the Pad Thai onto a platter, placing the reserved, raw bean sprouts on one side.

Presentation:
Sprinkle the noodles with the garnish ingredients in the following order: prawn powder, peanuts, chilli flakes, green onions, coriander leaves. Ring the platter with the lime slices and serve.

This recipe comes from Jennifer Brennan's "The Original Thai Cookbook".