He took over making lunches for his two girls, firing up the oven in the mornings to bake pastries or scrolls. While his children loved it, he wanted a faster solution.
Georgievski discovered the air fryer and has not looked back. Now in his second book, Air Fryer Express, he is sharing his recipes for lunches, dinners and snacks.
Air fryers have become the latest must have kitchen accessories for busy parents to health enthusiasts.
Using the air fryer George saved 17 minutes on the scrolls.
"I could have breakfast and espresso, as well as make my wife a single-origin filtered coffee in the time I had saved.’’
So he began to re-create some classic dishes that would normally take hours to cook in the oven.
"I think of air fryers as smart devices. Like smartphones they make life easier and help us get things done quickly.’’
In an extract from the book he shares some recipes that might help in the first week back at school.
PHOTOS: NIKOLE RAMSAY
Vegetable spring rolls
This is a simple and fun way to get kids to eat their vegetables. I used to make these spring rolls for Anela and Kiki years ago and I love that I now get to share them with you; however, I’m also going to share my spicy dipping sauce for adults, so that everyone can get in on the fun.
Makes 10
½ onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, cut into matchsticks
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
50g (½ cup) finely diced mushrooms
30g (¼ cup) finely diced broccoli
40g (¼ cup) finely diced red capsicum
2 garlic cloves, crushed
95g (½ cup) cooked rice (optional)
3 Tbsp salt-reduced soy sauce
10 sheets of frozen filo pastry, just thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 spring onion, green part only, finely sliced
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced
Adults-only dipping sauce
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp crushed unsalted peanuts
1 Tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
Method
Place the vegetables, garlic and rice (if using) in a bowl and stir through the soy sauce.
Take a sheet of filo pastry and trim one of the long ends so you are left with a square (save the offcuts for another use). Place the filo sheet on your chopping board with one corner facing you, so it looks like a diamond.
Using a spoon, place 2 tablespoons of the vegetable mixture in the centre of the filo sheet. Now fold it up, spring-roll style. If you don’t know how to do this, pop "how to wrap a spring roll’’ into the YouTube search bar - it’s a game changer.
Repeat with the remaining vegetable mixture and filo sheets until you have 10 spring rolls.
Brush the beaten egg over the rolls and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Line the base of your air fryer with baking paper and pop your rolls in. Cook on 170degC for 8 minutes.
Now for the sauce: If you’re making these rolls for the kids, simply spoon the hoisin sauce into small bowls.
If you’re making them for grown-ups, combine the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl, then divide among bowls.
Serve the rolls naked for your little humans or sprinkle the spring onion and chilli over for your adult friends; either way, it’s win–win.
Extra fancy stuff
To make these spring rolls even more delicious, try adding 1 teaspoon each of finely chopped lemongrass, ginger and coriander leaves. Yummo.
The dipping sauce is a simple, traditional I discovered on my travels to Vietnam, but you can swap it for soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce if you prefer.
Dedo’s gevrek
‘‘What on earth is Dedo’s gevrek?’’ I hear you ask. OK, so here’s the story.
My grandfather was a baker back in Macedonia and whenever we went to visit him and the rest of my family, he would bring me a gevrek from his bakery.
It’s like a New York–style pretzel covered in sesame seeds and cooked with honey. My mum only recently found the original recipe in my grandfather’s handwriting.
These gevrek are so dear to me, and I really hope you enjoy them.
Makes 16
2 7g sachets dried yeast
pinch of sugar
500ml (2 cups) lukewarm water
pinch of salt flakes
800g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3 Tbsp honey
155g (1 cup) sesame seeds
natural yoghurt, to serve (optional)
Method
Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl and set aside for about 15 minutes, until it looks all frothy. Add the salt and flour and mix really well with a fork.
Once it gets too thick, tip on to a floured work surface, swap the fork for your hands and knead for about 10 minutes, until you have a smooth dough.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave on the bench to do its thing for 40 minutes. It will rise beautifully.
Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Return the dough to your work surface and knead again for about 3 minutes. Divide the dough into 16 even-sized portions. Roll the portions into 25cm long logs, then join the ends of each log to create a ring. Pop the dough rings on the prepared tray.
Combine the honey and 1 litre (4 cups) of water in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until the honey has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then, working in batches of four, lower the dough rings into the sweetened water and cook for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, spread the sesame seeds on a large plate. Using tongs, remove the dough rings from the water and dip them, one by one, into the sesame seeds until they are completely covered. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Line the base of your air fryer with baking paper and cook the dough rings, four at a time, on 18degC for 15 minutes. They should turn a beautiful golden brown and smell divine.
Allow the gevrek to cool a little, then enjoy them while they’re still warm. As a kid, I remember eating these with natural yoghurt, but they are equally good on their own.
Extra fancy stuff
These gevrek are only slightly sweet, but if you want to ramp up the sweetness, simply drizzle them with an extra tablespoon of honey when you take them out of the air fryer.
