Vanilla Slice

Oh my goodnesss this has to be the easiest and most delicious vanilla slice that I have ever made. I think it's always great to eat a homemade vanilla slice, with that little bit of love and care that has gone into it. You are the one that gets to lick out the bowl at the end, which has to be the best reward for home cooking. Our church had an international food fair this weekend, where you could sample food from a wide variety of different cultures that makes up our church community. On the 'Serbian' stall was one homemade vanilla slice that even surpasses this particular recipe, it was a combonation of custard and cream with, yes, homemade pastry which just made it fantastic. The lovely creator of this vanilla slice was not forth coming with the recipe, so here is what I think is the next best vanilla slice that I have tasted.
This recipe is adapted from the Family Circle Recipe Encyclopedia.

Passionfruit Vanilla Slice

Preparation time: 35 mins
Total cooking time: 20-25 mins
Makes 12 generous squares.

2 Sheets ready-rolled puff pastry

Custard
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 cups cream
3 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp
25g unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to moderately hot 210c. Line two oven trays with baking paper. Place pastry sheets on prepared trays and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes or unitl golden and crisp. Cool on wire racks.
To make custard, blend the custard powder, sugar and cream in heavy-based pan. Gradually add milk; stir over medium heat until custard boils and thickens. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Cool completely.
Spread one sheet of pastry evenly with custard. Top with remaining pastry sheet, upside down.
To make icing, combine pulp, butter and icing sugar in heatproof bowl. Stand bowl over pan of simmering water, stir until icing is smooth and glossy; remove from heat. Spread evenly over pastry sheet with a flat-bladed knife. Refrigerate for several hours or until pastry softens slightly. Cut into squares with a serrated knife.
A couple of tricks when making this slice is to use a deep square cake tin to place the cooked pastry sheet in and then put your custard on top and so forth. This just keeps everything together and makes it easy to cut later. You can also line your tin with plastic wrap to gently lift the slice out when it is set. Enjoy, but don't make too often or your waist line won't thank you!!!

Cashew Butter Chicken

This has to be the easiest chicken curry recipe ever. It is so straight forward to cook and is very tasty. I first recieved this recipe from a dear friend who could give any great cook a run for their money.. I have tweaked the recipe to suit my palate which is hot and spicy, but it can be altered according to your own taste buds. This is my seven year old's favourite meal, which he gets every now and then due to the high fat content, but what's a chicken curry if it's not creamy and decadent.

3-4 medium chicken breasts, skin off, cut into 3cm pieces
2 medium onions, diced
80-100g ghee or butter
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 tablespoons tandoori paste (sharwoods brand)
1 large tablespoon ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup roasted and ground cashews
500-600mls cream
3 tablespoons coconut cream

Heat a heavy based saucepan on medium heat and add the ghee or butter. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and starting to brown. Add the tandoori paste, coriander and nutmeg and cook until fragrant. Place the chicken in the onion mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add the cream, cashews and coconut cream to the chicken and bring to the boil. Turn the mixture down to low and cover. Stir frequently to avoid the mixture sticking and burning and cook for 35-40 minutes. Serve with some steamed jasmine rice or a pilau rice.
This would also be great with the paneer cheese for a vegetarian option if you so desire.
Have fun!