Krispy Kreme Strawberries

I had an ambitious morning in the kitchen and decided to make Krispy Kremes wrapped around strawberries. Thanks to a really easy batter recipe by the 99 Cent Chef, it was a great success. The doughnuts were light and fluffy and, in my opinion, even better than real Krispy Kremes. The strawberry inside was just soft and really juicy. With the glaze, it was like eating strawberries and cream.

For the batter and Krispy Kreme glaze, check out the recipes here.

To make a Krispy Kreme strawberry, you'll need:
Strawberries (just ripe)
Wooden skewers

Poke skewers into the tops of the strawberries. Place on a plate and freeze for one hour. Wrap thin semi-circle layers of doughnut dough around the strawberries. Rest for 10 minutes (the strawberries will cool the dough).

When the oil is hot enough, dip the strawberry into the oil so that it covers half the dough. Cooking the bottom first ensures that the doughnut sticks to the strawberry. Turn the strawberry on its side and carefully cook the top, turning the skewer slowly.

Dry on paper towels and glaze.

If you're impatient, like me, you can fry the rest of the batter in globs and roll in sugar for a classic doughnut hole.

Salt

The lovely Felicity at Arbon Publishing recently sent me a copy of The Salt Book (Gubler, Glynn, Keast). Aside from being a glossy book I'd drool over and caress my cheek with in a bookshop, it's also a very intriguing read. It contains everything you need to know about salt, from the health implications of eating salt, to how to use salt wisely and great recipes that make salt an exciting ingredient to experiment with.

I tried some recipes over the weekend and I was blown away at how simple and inexpensive it is to make really impressive dishes.

Melon & Prosciutto (recipe extracted from The Salt Book)

You'll need:
1 ripe rock melon or honeydew melon
6 slices prosciutto (I used Serrano)
Persian blue or other finishing salt (I used fine Himalayan pink salt)

Using a melon baller, scoop out the flesh of the melon. Slice the prosciutto into small strips, slightly larger than the circumference of the melon balls. Wrap the prosciutto around the melon and secure with a toothpick. Lay the melon balls on their side and sprinkle each with an attractive finishing salt such as Persian blue salt.

Salty, smokey, thinly sliced Serrano prosciutto

Chicken in Salt Crust

You've probably seen something similar on Masterchef. Basically, you wrap a whole chicken in a dough of flour and salt, bake until the dough is rock hard and rest to slowly cook the chicken. The final product is really interesting. I've never tasted chicken like this. Obviously, it's salty. It's also incredibly juicy and chickeny.

Himalayan natural pink salt, hand-mined from deep inside the Himalayan Mountains

I absolutely fell in love with Himalayan pink salt. It goes really well with lighter foods like fruit or pasta and pesto because it's more subtle and mellow in flavour. Also, it's high in minerals and iron and is super pretty.