Tricolore Galette

Tricolore Galette

Tricolore Galette A modern classic This was one of the first dishes I tried when I first started learning how to cook. I had taken a nicely decorated dish of tricolore galettes to a friend’s dinner party ( with all the confidence in the w…

orld ). You can imagine the embarrassment I felt, when no one could cut though any of the pastry with a knife!!! I had over-cooked them, over-stuffed them and so on….. But my friends still insisted they tasted great, just to encourage me….my sweet friends… And that encouragement worked!!! After many trials and errors in the kitchen, I later learnt more than I thought possible. So don’t give up when a meal goes wrong, keep trying to perfect it. Bon appetit!

You can make this into one large galette, overlapping the ingredients in rows, or into littles ones for individual portions. Feel free to use buffalo mozzarella instead of regular.

110 g puff pastry

1 large, ripe, plump tomato, cut into rounds.

4 slices of mozzarella cheese, preferable cut into rectangles

1 Avocado , sliced

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs melted butter

Salt and black pepper

Basil leaves for garnish

Preheat the oven. Dust your working area with flour and roll out the puff pastry dough into 2 5cmx15cm rectangles. Once shaped well, fold in all 4 edges of the rectangle in towards the center, about 2cm inwards. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork several times (not the folded edges, just the center). Brush the folded edges with melted butter. Place the galettes on a greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, or until risen but not browned. Take them out of the oven, place the mozzarella, tomatoes and avocados in alternating layers in the center of the pastry. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted and edges are slightly browned. Before serving, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with salt and a good grind of black pepper. Garnish with a basil leaf, and serve! Serves 2.

Seafood Paella

Seafood Paella

4 tbs olive oil

7 large tiger prawns, unpeeled

1/2 kg mussels on the shell , scrubbed and washed

1/2 kg squid rings

1/2 kg medium shrimps, deveined, leaving tails intact

1/2 cup finely diced white onions

3/4 cup finely diced tomatoes

2 tbs finely diced green capsicums

2 tbs finely diced red capsicums or Red pepper if you would like it hot!

1 tsp saffron strands

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric (optional)

salt to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3 cups short grain rice

3 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup peas

Lemon wedges and chopped parsley for garnishing

Wash the rice and set aside. Place the saffron strands in a heatproof bowl with 1/2 cup of hot water, let stand for 5 minutes, then drain, reserving the yellow liquid for the paella. In a paella pan, or any other large flat pan that you are using, saute the onions with the olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes, then add the peppers, saute for a further 2 minutes. Add the rice, paprika, salt , black pepper, turmeric (if using) and the saffron liquid to the pan, stir fry for a minute then cover with the stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Place the squid rings, medium shrimps, mussels, and tiger prawns neatly on top of the rice mixture, while the pan is still on the heat. Sprinkle the peas on top  and cover the pan tightly sealed lid, leave to cook for 15 more minutes. When the rice and seafood are cooked through, serve garnished with lemon wedges and some chopped parsley.