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Cannoli Siciliani – Classically Italian!

September 22, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

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This is one of my all time favourite Italian dessert pastries, crisp and delicate shells filled with a light and perfumed cream studded with tiny golden citrussy bites and dark bitter shavings of good chocolate.  I added some Frangelico to the cream mixture to add a light hazelnut scent and also some of Leafy Greens delicious Organic Vanilla powder.  I usually whip some mascarpone cheese into the ricotta mixture to add a little richness, but if you have a really great creamy ricotta cheese you can leave this out.

The hardest part about making cannoli is rolling the pastry to the required thickness, or rather thinness.  You can do this very carefully by hand, but this is a really special skill.

I use a pasta machine, it does the job quickly and you get all the cannoli perfectly even which means they all fry at the same speed.  If you are planning on filling the cannoli before hand you need to line the fried tubes with some melted chocolate to try and prevent them from getting soggy, but cannoli are best filled and eaten.  To make cannoli you are going to need to get your hands on some cannoli tubes, these varying size stainless steel tubest are used to shape your pastry around, so that they hold the shape when you deep fry them.

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Cannoli Siciliani
Makes 12-24 Tubes

Ingredients
Cannoli Tubes
–  400gms stone ground unbleached flour, plus extra for rolling
–  140ml white wine, plus extra 60ml
–  1 jumbo free range egg yolk
–  40gms castor sugar
–  40gms butter, cold cut into small pieces
–  pinch of fine salt
–  sunflower or other vegetable oil for frying

Cream Filling
–  400gms good fresh ricotta cheese
–  100gms mascarpone cheese
–  2tbsp runny honey
–  40gms finely chopped candied mixed citrus peel
–  60gms drained maraschino cherries, finely chopped
–  3 tbsp Frangelico/Marsala/Cointreau/Amaretto/Orange Juice
–  60gms good dark chocolate, finely chopped

To make the pastry start by sieving the flour and salt into a large bowl.  Now rub the butter into the flour, working quickly and lightly to keep the butter as cold as possible.  Once the butter is rubbed in stir in the castor sugar and then add the egg yolk.  Mix the egg yolk into the flour before adding the wine.  Add about 100ml of the wine, and keep adding the wine extra wine tablespoon at  time making sure you mix well between each addition.  Once the dough has come together add knead it for a few minutes until it is smooth and silky, it should be elastic, not so moist that it sticks to the counter when you kneed the dough, or so dry that it crumbles when you try and knead it.  Once you have finished with the dough wrap it in cling wrap and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30-minutes or for as few hours.

When you are ready to roll the dough, cut it into 4 pieces.  Keeping the extra dough wrapped while you work with each piece.  Run it through the pasta maker on its thickest setting, dusting with flour as needed.  Repeat this process until you have reduced to around a 6 or 7,  depending on the thickness you like and your specific machine.  I usually make mine around a 7, since I like the pastry really delicate and crunchy.

Now using a martini glass or circle the right size for your steel tubes, start cutting out disks of pastry.  When you wrap them start by placing the tube in the centre of the circle, then fold one side round. wet the edge of the side still on the counter and just roll the tube over it, pressing gently as you do.  This will seal the tubes, and also by wrapping from the centre you will keep the opening of the tubes clear of fried pastry.  I roll, cut, wrap, fry in one long line, so that the pastry goes into the oil as soon as its cooked.  The tubes need to be deep fried in hot clean oil, test the oil by dropping a small piece into it, it should pop to the surface a bubble.  Fry one or two tubes at a time, be warned they brown very quickly so if you stick too many in you might find yourself battling to stop them from burning.  Turn the tubes as they float in the oil so that they brown evenly, I find a set of chopsticks is the easiest way to handle them.  Remove the tubes and lay them against the sides of a colander lined with absorbent paper towel.  This will allow any trapped oil to drain away, as soon as you can, lift the pastry tube carefully into a clean dry dish cloth.  Using one side of the dish cloth, carefully push the steel tube whilst gripping the pastry tube with the other hand gently.  Once some of the tube is exposed, and using the cloth pinch the steel tube and pull it all the way out.  You will master your technique fairly quickly it only takes a few finger burns to learn how to hold the tube,  Plus if you grip too hard the pastry tube will break.

To prepare the cream place all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk till well combined.  Add the filling to a pastry bag and set it aside.  At the last minute pipe the mixture into the tubes, remember the tubes will only stay crisp for about 30-minutes.  If you want to try and fill the tubes earlier, melt some chocolate and brush the inside of the tubes with it.  Once this has gone cold it will form a protective layer between the tube and the cream, but the tubes will still get soggy after a few hours.  To fill the tubes, pipe in from one side till the cream starts to come out then flip the tube and pipe in until it starts to come out that end.  To serve lay the cannoli on a platter and dust well with icing sugar.

 

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate, Dinner Party, Sweets Tagged With: baking, Sweet

Rich Choc Walnut Butterscotch Bars

September 17, 2014 by TSJC 1 Comment

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These are those incredible nutty, chewy, sweet and crunchy bars.  Be warned once these are made you will want to way to get them eaten as quickly as possible to avoid completely destroying your diet.  I used organic walnuts in these, but you could use peanuts, hazlenuts or even almonds.   The recipe is really simple its just that there are 3 stages which can be quite time consuming, but the outcome is really well worth the effort.

 

Rich Chocolate Walnut Butterscotch Bars
Makes 12 -24 (Depending on the size you cut)

Ingredients
Biscuit Crust
–  225gms cake flour
–  1/2 tsp baking powder
–  150gms plain milk chocolate
–  115gms unsalted butter
–  50gms muscovado/demerrera sugar
–  30ml finely ground almonds (or finely ground oats)

Butterscotch Filling
–  175gms unsalted butter, cut into chunks
–  115gms raw castor sugar (or regular will do)
–  30ml golden syrup
–  175mls condensed milk
–  150gms whole roasted nuts, walnut/hazelnut/almonds/peanuts

Chocolate Topping
–  250gms chocolate
–  25gms butter

Start by preheating the oven to 160°C.  Grease a 20cm x 20cm baking tray.  Now in a bowl sift together the flour and baking powder.  Now rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Melt the chocolate over a pot of barely simmering water.  Rub in the brown sugar and almonds before adding the molten chocolate.  Work it in briefly till it forms a loose dough.

Press the dough into the base of your baking dish, you will not be able to roll it out like a normal dough so just press it in until it is flat and even, prick all over with a fork.  Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until firm.  Set aside to cool in the tin.

Now prepare the butterscotch mixture.  Add all the ingredients, excluding the roasted nuts, to a small heavy based saucepan.  Stir until the butter and sugar have melted.  Now allow to simmer over a low heat until it is a golden colour, be careful to not allow it to cook on too high a heat or you might burn the sugars.  Once it is golden stir in the roasted nuts.  Now spread the mixture evenly over the biscuit base.  Leave to set and cool.

Once the butterscotch mixture has cooled, set a bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, add the chocolate and the butter.  Melt until smooth and silky.  Now spread over the butterscotch mixture and shake the pan to allow the mixture to go smooth.  Depending on the type of nuts you have used you may or may not have a smooth top layer, this is not important.

Allow to cool and then cut into pieces.  I originally cut about 16 large pieces from the tray, however, these are very rich so you might want to cut them into smaller size chunks.

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate, Sweets Tagged With: baking, chocolate, KIDS

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

June 27, 2014 by TSJC 1 Comment

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This cookie is a hybrid of the best of nearly a dozen different cookies tested.  Each one chosen for a different characteristic, be it crunch, chew, chocolatey flavour, nuttiness, dunkability and then slowly massaged into a cookie that I think lives up to all the demands placed on a chocoalte chip cookie!  I tried loads of different nuts and they were all delicious but the ones I loved the most were the hazelnuts, because they give the deeply chocolate cookies an almost Nutella finish, totally moreish!

 

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Makes 24

Ingredients
–  225 gms unsalted butter, room temperature
–  180 gms light brown sugar
–  180 gms dark brown sugar
–  40 gms golden syrup
–  2 large free range eggs
–  2 tsp vanilla essence
–  230 gms cake flour
–  70gms oats, finely ground
–  40gms ground almonds
–  1 tsp baking soda
–  2 tsp hot water
–  pinch of salt
–  300gms dark chocolate
–  100gms hazelnuts

Start by preheating your oven to 175°C.  In a large bowl cream the butter, and sugars together, until smooth.  Then slowly beet in the eggs, one at a time till incorporated, then add the vanilla, beat in.  In a small bowl dissolve the baking soda, salt in the hot water, it will fizz, then beat it into the mixture.  Now stir in the flour, chocolate chips and nuts.  Use a small scoop to scoop out mounds of the mixture onto a baking tray that has been sprayed with non stick spray.  Don’t place the cookies too close as they will run into each other.

Bake in the centre of the oven until the cookies are crisp and golden on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  Allow the biscuits to cool slightly on the baking tray before trying to remove them and allowing them to cool completely in the oven.

choc chip cookie

 

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate Tagged With: baking, chocolate

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

June 4, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

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Delicious crunchy chewy peanut butter and chocolate cookies, quick to make. You can swop out peanut butter for another nut butter if you prefer or for some change. I made fresh dulce de leche to pour over the cookies, but this is not really necessary.

–  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
–  225gms unsalted butter, at room temperature
–  110 gms chunky unsalted unsweetened peanut butter
–  220gms dark packed brown sugar
–  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
–  1 free range egg
–  50gms dark chocolate
–  100gms chocolate covered nuts

Start by preheating the oven to 190°C.  Then line a baking sheet with a piece of baking paper, or spray lightly with a non stick spray, set aside.  In one bowl sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda together.  In a large mixing bowl beat the peanut butter, butter and sugar together.  When light and fluffy add the vanilla and the egg, blend in well.  Replace the mixer with a wooden spoon, and add the flour in

Start by sieving the flour and baking soda into a bowl. Beat butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Finally stir in the chocolate coated peanuts. Now using a table spoon drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet. Using a tablespoon pressed into light brown sugar gently press the tops of the cookies.
Bakke on the middle rack till golden brown for 8-10 minutes, the edges should be golden and crispy bit tie centers will still be soft. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container.

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate, Kids, Uncategorized Tagged With: baking, cookies, Sweet

Chocolate Extract

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

CHOCOLATE EXTRACT

What could be better than a pure chocolate extract, made from Mexico’s finest chocolate beans. Add a dash to any dish that requires a deep chocolate flavor… Create a pale chocolate mousse with all the flavor of a dark chocolate mousse. Works brilliantly with tomato, chili peppers, legumes and of course vanilla. Available from good delis and baking shops.

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Filed Under: Chocolate Tagged With: chocolate, extract

The Secret Jozi Chef & The Cookery

Paul Maciel, started well known Jozi restaurant Pronto in 2004, after 12 years Paul sold Pronto and decided to follow his passion for writing and teaching about food with the launch of his blog The Secret Jozi Chef and his cooking school The Cookery. The Cookery and multipurpose kitchen space in Craighall Park.
The venue hosts fun social classes for students during the week as well as interactive chef's table events. The venue is staffed by a team that loves what they do always ensuring a welcoming space. The Cookery is equipped with state of the art Whirlpool and KitchenAid appliances and plenty of room for larger groups to cook.

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