Purely food

I have moved...

2010-05-02T15:13:00.001+01:00

This blog can now be found at - http://purelyfood.wordpress.com/

I hope to see you all over there!

Claire

Preserved lemons

2010-04-29T20:26:00.001+01:00

Like many of you out there, I have been enjoying spending my Wednesday evenings traveling Europe with Jamie Oliver. So far we've been to Marrakesh, Andalucia and Stockholm with Venice, French Pyrenees and Athens still to come. I have to say he has to be up there as one of my favorite TV chefs, he's just so enthusiastic and his recipes are very accessible (and always delicious), that he never fails to inspiring me to get in the kitchen. I particularly liked the look of the Moroccan tagines (especially the lamb and the chicken ones), the selection of tapas, paella, fish baked in salt and last nights Swedish buns.

I have that many cookbooks that I was trying to resist buying his new one but after only the second episode I cracked and bought it with my weekly shop! The book has all the recipes from the show and more so I wasn't disappointed. First up I decided to prepare my own preserved lemons so that I can have a go at the Moroccan tagines. The recipe is simple, with the only draw back being the wait of one month for them to be ready. I won't copy the recipe here but here is a similar one.

Homemade baked beans recipe

2010-04-06T09:00:00.001+01:00

A couple of weeks back I got a phone call from my boyfriend whilst he was at work. Nothing unusual there you might think but he was ringing to tell me he had bought half a lamb from a work colleague and could I find room in the freezer for it. His colleagues brother has his own farm only 30 minutes from where we live and was selling half lambs and with the memory of the Lancashire hotpot still fresh in his mind my boyfriend jumped at the chance. You can't get much more local!

Now we don't have a chest freezer or anything like that, just your average tall fridge/freezer, so creating room for a half a lamb would be no easy task. We decided the best thing would be to split it with his parents, leaving us each with a quarter of a lamb. I set about sorting through our well packed, mostly unlabelled freezer (I know, I know I should label things but only one mystery item was unearthed). I managed to empty one and a half drawers and luckily it all fitted in one draw in the end. The only problem we had when the meat arrived was that none of it was labelled with the cut! Thankfully my boyfriends mum was able to identify it all and we labelled it all up and split the lamb between us. So expect plenty of lamb recipes over the coming months.

First up I decided to slow roast the shoulder of lamb over the Easter weekend. During the week leading up to Easter I saw an episode of Market kitchen where they cooked Sheppard's pie with homemade baked beans. The baked beans looked really easy to make and from the comments the dinners were making they sounded delicious. I've been meaning to make my own bake beans for some time but never quiet got round to it and on top of that I had an unopened bottle of pomegranate molasses waiting to be put to good use. The recipe was easy, the beans were delicious (perhaps a little too sweet for my liking so will tweak the recipe a little next time) and worked perfectly with the slow roast lamb and crusty baguettes still warm from the oven. If you thought there was no point making baked beans think again! these have a million times more flavour than any you can find in a tin.

Homemade baked beans
serves 4

100g lardons bacon
2 shallots, chopped
150ml tomato ketchup
100ml beer
50ml pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 x 400g cans haricot beans, drained and rinsed

fry the bacon and shallots in a large pan over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until golden-brown. Add all of the remaining baked bean ingredients and bring to a simmer. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and bake for 1 hour, or until the mixture is thickened.

Easter cupcakes

2010-04-05T17:17:00.002+01:00

Happy Easter, I hope you all have had a great weekend and eaten lots of chocolate! I have a few posts planned for the next few days featuring some of the cooking and baking I have done this bank holiday weekend (we need more long weekends!). First up I have some Easter cupcakes to show you. Then tomorrow I will be blogging about the delicious homemade bake beans I served with delicious slow roast shoulder of lamb and crusty baguettes fresh from the oven. Finally I hope to share with you a recipe using left over roast lamb to make Shepard's pie.

So on to the Easter baking. Silver spoon recently sent me a selection of their new range of edible cake decorations to try out and tell you all about. I regularly use items from the Silver spoon range and have always been happy with them so jumped at the chance to try their new range. The parcel included a yellow icing pen, chocolate chips, food colourings, orange and lemon extract and a couple of tubes of sprinkles. Since there was only the two of us this weekend to eat them and what with all the Easter eggs I decided to make cupcakes rather than a cake. Cupcakes also meant I could try out a few of the sprinkles/icing as each cake could be different. Since it was Easter I also bought a bag of mini eggs to add to the decorations. I haven't used the natural lemon or orange extract yet as I haven't been able to find a recipe using them, so if any one knows any please leave me a comment.
The icing pens are a great idea. I have used them before and have always been happy with the colour, consistency and ease of use. The decorations were also tasty to eat and produced great results. This is the first time I have used this cupcake recipe which is from Gorgeous cakes by Annie Bell, a recent addition to my bookshelf. The book is packed full of stunning cakes which I can't wait for an excuse to bake them all! This recipe will definitely be used again as it is much nicer than the ones I've used before and so quick to prepare (30 minutes from weighing ingredients to coming out of the oven, helped by my trusty kitchenAid).

Cupcakes
Adapted from Gorgeous cakes by Annie Bell
Makes 6 cupcakes

110g unsalted butter,
110g golden caster sugar,
110g plain flour,
2 large eggs,
1 teaspoon baking powder.

Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/ gas mark 6. Line a muffin tray with 6 cupcake of muffin paper cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer. Add the eggs, flour and baking powder and mix well.

Fill the cases by two-thirds with the cake mixture.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until risen, springy to the touch and lightly golden. Leave to cool before icing.

Have fun and decorate the cupcakes with your choice of icings and decorations. See here for the great range of decorations available from silver spoon. Thank you to Silver spoon for providing me with the samples to write this review.

Fresh from the oven - March 2010 - Kringel

2010-03-28T17:41:00.003+01:00

This month's Fresh from the oven Challenge was hosted by Jo from Jo's Kitchen. She chose Kringel (an Estonian sweet or savoury bread) that has recently been featured in the Hairy Biker's programme, Mum's Know Best. Thank you Jo for hosting this months challenge.
It's been a while since I updated the blog and even longer since I took part in a challenge so hopefully this challenge will see me back to regular blogging and taking part in challenges. I ended up baking this bread today! as it was the only totally free day I have had at home in ages. I also baked a wholemeal loaf for this weeks lunch. It has been so long since I baked I had to get my bread book out to check on all the quantities which I used to know by heart!

Since there is only the two of us to eat this sweet bread I halved the recipe and we also decided to make it a little healthier and omit the chocolate topping (partly as we had none in the house). The recipe was simple and relatively quick and the end result was like nothing I have baked before. I do think that the chocolate topping would have improved it. I used dried yeast and just halved the quantity. There were also a few comments from members that 1tsp salt was missing from the recipe and the original recipe stated 'flour' and we decided it meant white bread flour. I have added these additions to the recipe below but have heard the some members struggled with this recipe as they stuck to the original recipe which perhaps has a few flaws. I couldn't make my mind up from the recipe instructions for platting the dough in which direction to cut the dough in half. I went for length wise which made the platting easier but the bread didn't turn out like the picture!

Kringel
(adapted from The Hairy Bikers, mums know best)

Ingredients (Makes 1 Loaf)

Dough

40g fresh yeast
1tbsp sugar
250ml milk, lukewarm
2 egg yolks
50g butter, melted
1tsp salt
600-700g white bread flour

Filing

100g butter, softened
3 handfuls of raisins
10 tsp sugar

Topping

150g dark chocolate (at least 50% cocoa solids)
75g butter

Method

Mix the yeast and sugar in a bowl. Add the lukewarm milk and egg yolks, then mix in the flour, salt and melted butter and knead well. Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°c/Gas 6. Dust your work surface with flour. Take the dough out of the bow, knock it back and roll out to a thickness of 1cm. Spread the softened butter evenly over the rolled sheet of pastry, then sprinkle with raisins and finally sugar.

Roll up the dough like a swiss roll and cut it in half with a sharp knife. Starting from the uncut end, plait the dough, lifting each half over the other in turn. Finally, shape the plaited bread into a B shape and transfer to a buttered baking tray. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

In the meantime, prepare the chocolate topping by melting the chocolate and butter in a bowl over boiling water. Once out of the oven, let the bread cool down a bit, place on a serving plate and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

Lancashire hotpot recipe

2010-03-08T20:03:00.003Z

I've been full of cold and generally feeling under the weather for the past week or so (hence the lack of posts on either of my blogs). I haven't felt up to cooking much but once I started to feel better this weekend I have been planning what to cook and craving good homely comfort food. This dish fitted the bill perfectly. Lancashire hotpot is a traditional British dish which is essentially a lamb stew topped with sliced potatoes on top. Its simple to prepare and the flavours are delicious. But not the easiest dish to make look pretty!
Lancashire hotpot

Serves 4
1-2tbsp olive oil
500g Lamb neck fillet, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm thick discs
1 onion, diced
1tbsp plain flour
250ml lamb stock
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1tbsp dried thyme (or a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme)
2 bay leaves
4 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices
few small cubes of butter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170C
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the lamb and carrots. Stir occasionally until the meat has browned and the carrots softened slightly. Set aside on a plate.
Sweat the onion in the meat juices (add more oil if necessary) for a couple of minutes.
Add the flour and stir well.
Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves and stir until the flour mixes into the gravy.
Make a layer of potatoes under the gravy (place in the gravy and use your wooden spoon to push them under the surface. Add the meat and carrots back to the gravy.
Arrange the remaining potatoes over the top. Add some small butter cubes around the top.
Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 1 hour with the lid on and 20-30 minutes at the end without the lid until the potatoes are golden.

Tomato, sausage and fennel seed ragu with gnocchi

2010-02-24T19:29:00.005Z

Recently my thoughts have been turning even more than usual towards Italy, Tuscany in particular (see here if you haven't heard why). The recipe below uses a typical combination of fennel seeds and pork. The recipe is simple to prepare and delicious to eat. It is from a great book I got for Christmas, The Italian cookery course. This book is fast becoming one of my favorite cookbooks. So far I have cooked a winter minestrone soup from it (which was the best I've tasted) and this delicious tomato, sausage and fennel seed ragu with gnocchi. I can't wait to find more time to cook more of the recipes. I also look forward to finding time to read this book cover to cover. The book includes lots of information on the ingredients used and traditional cooking in Italy and all it diverse regions. There are also lots of useful masterclasses on everything from breads, fresh pasta and risotto to stuffing a leg of lamb and how to bone a chicken or rabbit. To anyone who loves Italian food as much as I do this is 500 pages of wonderful writing, stunning photos of Italy and the food, lots of masterclasses and helpful techniques, not to mention several hundred delicious recipes. I am especially looking forward to spending some time trying out the bread recipes and masterclasses and also fresh pasta.

Back to the sausage ragu. I love the combination of fennel seeds and pork and this ragu works well with gnocchi as suggested in the book but I believe it would work equally as well with a pasta such as penne. I have only recently discovered gnocchi, its a nice change to pasta and very simple to cook (I love the way it floats to the top of the pan when it is ready). I really must find time to have a go at making my own gnocchi sometime soon. This recipe serves 6-8 and freezes well.

Tomato, sausage and fennel seed ragu with gnocchi
Serves 6-8

12 lean best-quality pork sausages
olive oil
4 whole garlic cloves, lightly crushed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
4 bay leaves
250ml red wine
800g Italian tinned plum tomatoes
6 heaped teaspoons tomato puree
grated Parmesan to serve
Packed of gnocchi to serve 6-8

Remove the sausage meat from the skins and chop up the meat to break it up.
Put the olive oil in a large frying pan (I used a cast iron casserole pot) over a medium heat and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic becomes light gold.
Add the onion and fry for a few minutes, until translucent.
Stir in the fennel seeds and bay leaves.
Add the meat and fry for 6-7 minutes or until cooked through. Use a wood spoon to break up the mince and stop it sticking to the pan.
Add the wine and allow to reduce for a couple of minutes, then add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and stir well.
Leave the ragu to simmer for 10 minutes.
Cook the ragu according to the packet instructions.
Once cooked, drain the gnocchi and toss in the ragu.
Serve with Parmesan scattered over the top.

cookbook review: New urban Farmer, Celia Brooks Brown

2010-02-23T09:50:00.006Z

First impressions of this part gardening, part cook book were very positive. The book is full of stunning, brightly coloured photographs of Celia's allotment, vegetables and recipes.

The book is divided in to the four seasons and takes you through the full gardening year providing advice on what jobs need doing when, which vegetables to plant and suggesting recipes to cook with the crops in season each month.

Celia has her own allotment in London and this book is about a year on that plot and what she has learnt. I only have a very small area for planting, a small raised bed and room for a few containers but the book offers advice and encouragement for growing your own in your garden and in containers as well as on allotments. For each month there is a useful 2 page table of all the veg you can harvest and sow that month. It includes information on which ones are suitable for containers and points you in the direction of recipes in the book using each vegetable.

The recipes are simple and the photo's make your mouth water just looking at them. I particularly like the look of warm courgette salad with parmesan crackling, allotment bbq platter with two sauces and the chocolate upright pear cake.

I for one can not wait until March (where the book starts the new gardening year) to get started on my own small veg plot. I can see this book being a well used book in both the garden and the kitchen.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me this book to review.
paperback, £14.99
ISBN: 978-1-84400817-9

Lake district foodie finds and wedding planning

2010-02-17T20:57:00.004Z

Last week we went to Keswick for a couple of nights during which my boyfriend proposed. I have set up a separate wedding planning blog, somewhere I can bookmark and save ideas and inspiration for the big day. You can read all about the proposal here.

We are currently looking in to getting married in Tuscany, Italy. We do not know anyone else that has done this so if any of you do and you have any advice to share with us please contact me, I would love to hear from you.

Anyway back to foodie talk! I wanted to share with you a few foodie finds in Keswick. First up there was the B&B we stayed in - Howe Keld. It has won awards for it's breakfasts and it wasn't hard to see why. Check out the menu here. There was fresh smoothies every day, a great selection of cereal, yogurts, fruit (fresh and dried), nuts and seeds to start. Then wholemeal bread, banana bread or malt loaf (all home made). Cooked breakfast choices included a locally sourced full English (with a vegetarian option), smoked salmon and scrambled eggs or pancakes with maple syrup. The rooms are also very well decorated/designed and the staff friendly and helpful.

Next up was a little cafe/deli called good taste cafe. This cafe is run by a chef and the food is excellent. There are daily specials as well as a regular menu. I can highly recommend the pork and fennel seed meatball with mozzarella panini. On Saturdays the shop window is full of home baked breads which all look fantastic. Upstairs in the seating area there is a warming wood burning stove tables and chairs, comfy sofa's and books shelves stuffed full of cookbooks! They also run a selection of cookery classes which are listed on their website with everything from bread making to butchery (and a Tuscan inspired Italian class that sounds right up my street).

Finally I want to share with you a great restaurant in Keswick called Morrels. I had the Chorizo, Smoked Bacon, Peppered Salami & Tomato Risotto to start followed by Rump of Lamb with Minted Lamb Sausages, Boulangere Potatoes, Redcurrant & Thyme Jus. Finished off with a bramble, apple and flaked almond clafoutif. The lamb was perfectly cooked and all the dishes were delicious and flavoursome.

Daring cooks February 2010 - Mezze!

2010-02-14T09:00:00.008Z

I was quiet excited by this months Daring cooks challenge chosen by Michele from Veggie Num Nums. The challenge was to prepare a mezze table. The compulsory element was to make homemade pita breads and hummus. The rest of the mezze was left completely open to us to get creative.

I've not cooked very much Middle Eastern food as yet but hummus and baked falafels have been things I have thought about attempting. Only a few days before the challenge I talked about making preserved lemons after reading an article about them. Obviously homemade bread is a regular feature in my house but I had not made my own pittas but again it was on my never ending list of recipes to try.

Middle Eastern flavours include olives, lemons, feta cheese, cumin, chickpeas, yogurt, beetroot, garlic, aubergines, tahini, paprika, lentils and mint. After a bit of research (and a very well timed mezze section on Market Kitchen) I decided to make a beetroot dip, baked falafels, feta cheese, olives and kebabs to go with the pita breads and hummus.

The pita breads were easier to make than I imagined and puffed up beautifully. They tasted delicious too. They were slightly thicker than shop bought ones which I found worked well. The hummus was also simple to make. You can find the recipes for these compulsory elements at the end of the post.First up these baked sweet potato falafels from Allegra McEverdy seemed the perfect choice for me. Falafels are usually deep fried but since I mostly try to cook healthier options, baked was the perfect solution. Sweet potatoes are also one of the most nutritious vegetables around. They are a great source of vitamins A, B6 and C, fibre, magnesium, copper, potassium and iron. The recipe can be found here on 101 cookbooks a fantastic healthy eating blog (most recipes based on natural, whole foods and ingredients) I have only recently discovered. The resulting falafels have great flavours and are delicious hot or cold, dipped in hummus or in a pita sandwich.
The kebab recipe comes from here another new find for me. This blog is full of straight forward recipes for Mediterranean food that all look delicious. The kebabs were delicious in the pita breads with some of the tomato paste from the same recipe and much healthier than the take away versions!The beetroot dip recipe was one I saw on Market Kitchen and can be found on there website here. The flavours worked well together and I preferred this to the hummus for dipping pita bread in. Finally I marinaded some cubes of feta cheese and some black olives in some extra virgin olive oil and dried oregano.

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn't puff up, don't worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes.

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Jordan's Country crisp - muffins

2010-02-07T18:30:00.001Z

This is a long over due blog post! Just before Christmas I was sent a couple of boxes of Jordan's country crisp to try.I'm a great believer in having a good breakfast to set you up for the day. For me this usually involves a bowl of porridge (all year round!). I'm a bit strange when it comes to cereal as I don't like milk! Weird I know but I never have (not even as a baby). This can cause problems at breakfast as I won't eat cereals where the milk is obvious. Porridge fits the bill perfectly plus it's healthy and I like to play around adding different toppings (mostly raisins or blueberries at the moment). I do sometimes wish that I liked milk so I could eat delicious looking granola, muesli and these country crisps.

Jordan's country crisp are delicious oat clusters, made from UK grown, conservation grade oats and no preservatives, artificial colours or salt is added. I tried the strawberry and the chocolate varieties and thought both were delicious added to a bowl of natural yogurt to add a bit of crunch and flavour. My boyfriend also tried both in the traditional way (with milk!) and loved both. Chocolate for breakfast though did seem like something that should be saved as a weekend treat!I also decided to try out one of the recipes supplied by Jordan's and finally settled on these delicious muffins. Probably not the healthiest recipe but delicious as an occasional treat. They were moist but with bits of texture from the country crisp and the nuts and also tasted of caramel due to the butter and brown sugar being melted together.

Country crisp muffins
(find this and other recipes on The Country Crisp Appreciation Society website)
Makes 6
Prep time: 10 mins, plus cooling
Cook time: 25-30 mins

120g unsalted butter
120g light brown soft sugar
2tbsp milk
75g self-raising flour
50g pecans, roughly chopped
50g sweetened dried cranberries
2 medium eggs, beaten
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
100g Jordans Dark Chocolate Country Crisp

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/160C fan. Line a muffin tin with 6 muffin cases.
2. In a small pan, melt butter and sugar over a medium heat until the sugar is no longer grainy. Add the milk and leave to cool for 15 mins before whisking in the eggs and if using the vanilla, add it now.
3. Mix together the flour, pecans and cranberries in a large bowl, then pour in the cooled butter mixture. Beat until smooth before folding through the Jordans Dark Chocolate Country Crisp.
4. Using two dessertspoons, fill the muffin cases about ¾ full with the batter. Bake for 25-30 mins until the muffins are springy to the touch. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool for 10 mins in the tin, before transferring to a wire rack.

My favorite ingredients - Skye Gyngell

2010-02-04T20:30:00.000Z

Asparagus, cherries, fish and shellfish, olive oil, leaves, citrus, pulses & grains, tomatoes, nuts, vinegar, garlic, game, apples, cheese, honey and chocolate. These are Skye Gyngell's favorite ingredients and the titles of the chapters in her second book. The book is beautifully written and illustrated with stunning photography throughout.

In this book Skye writes about her love of cooking fresh, seasonal food. It's all about welcoming seasonal in to her cooking when the ingredients are at their best and her passion for seasonality and food in general is evident throughout.

In each chapter she shares her love of that particular food, memories and lots of useful advice on buying and cooking with these ingredients to really show them off at their best. There are also a collection of recipes in each chapter, many of which are part of her restaurants repertoire. Some of the recipes are straight forward. Others are more complex but I have no doubt that all are achievable for the right occasion by an enthusiastic home cook. Examples include slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with red wine vinegar, goat's cheese souffle with lemon thyme and chocolate panna cotta with warm berries and honey.

This book is more than a collection of recipes to simply be recreated in kitchens all around the country. It is an inspiring book that will fill you with passion to eat seasonally, be more creative in the kitchen and to really get the best flavours out of the ingredients you buy.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me this book to review.
First published 2008 in hardback
Now available in paper back £14.99
ISBN: 978 184400 822 3

Nigel Slater's grilled gammon with baked onions

2010-01-22T17:20:00.005Z

It's been a while since my last post. I've been suffering with a cough/cold which left me with limited energy to do much more than working and the basics around the house. It was strange really, I never lost my appetite but I did lose interest in cooking. My blog reader and sky + filled up with blog posts and foodie programmes. I'm feeling a lot better now and normal service will hopefully be resumed on the blog.

One thing I have found myself craving a lot whilst I have been ill is mashed potato. Now that I am feeling better I took the first opportunity I could to cook some. I decided to serve it with a recipe I had bookmarked in Nigel Slater's Tender. I love this book. It is the first of his books I have read and will not be the last. I love his style of writing and Tender is full of lots of delicious sounding recipes and advice on both cooking and growing your own vegetables. Even better, it's the first of two volumes. The recipe I chose to cook was grilled gammon with baked onions. I never imagined that onions could taste so good served as a side dish. The taste was so unbelievably mild and they melted in the mouth. The sauce was delicious too and worked really well with both the onions and the gammon.Grilled gammon and baked onions
Nigel Slater - Tender, volume 1

Serves 2 with second helpings of onions
6 medium onions
a thick slice of butter (about 30g)
a heaped tablespoon of flour
250ml, light stock (tsp Marigold vegetable stock powder dissolved in 250ml water), hot
250ml hot milk
3 bay leaves
nutmeg
2 teaspoons grain mustard
small handful of parsley leaves
a little oil
2 gammon steaks (about 150-175g each)
dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4
Bring a deep pan of water to the boil. Peel the onions, add to the pan, turn down the heat and simmer until they are tender enough to take the point of a kitchen knife (around 20-25 minutes). Drain them and discard the water.
Put the pan back on the heat, melt the butter and stir in the flour, keeping the heat low to moderate). Let the flour and butter cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often so the mixture doesn't burn. Turn up the heat and add the milk and stock. Whisk together for a few minutes until there are no lumps.
Season the sauce with salt, pepper, bay leaves,, a gentle grating of nutmeg and the mustard. Let the sauce simmer gently for a good 10 minutes or more, stirring regularly so it does not catch on the bottom.
Cut the onions in half from stem to dip (they will be slippery) and place them flat side down in a shallow baking dish.
Chop the parsley and stir in to the sauce, pour over the onions.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.
Turn the oven off, but leave the onions in the oven whilst you cook the gammon. If your grill is in the oven, move the onions to the bottom and put the grill pan two-thirds of the way up, so that it blocks the onions from the grill.
Oil the steaks and season with pepper and a light sprinkling of oregano. Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, till golden.
Serve the gammon with the baked onions and their sauce.

Whats in season - January

2010-01-01T13:52:00.004Z

Happy new year!

My first post of 2010 is a whats in season guide to January. January is the heart of the winter months. It's cold and often snowy so comforting pies and stews are often on the menu. Christmas has led most of us to over indulging and the new year for many brings new years resolutions to eat healthy, lose weight or to eat more seasonally. So I figured today I would continue my whats in season series and also sit down with new and old favorite cook books to plan some comforting, seasonal and healthy meals for the next month.

I compiled this list using:
Eat the seasons
The river cottage year, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
River cottage seasonal guide - The Guardian
What's in season?

January

Vegetables: Beetroot, Brussels sprouts, Brussels tops, cabbage (red, white and various greens), carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chicory, greens (spring and winter), Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, shallots, swede, turnip

Fruit: apples, pears, forced rhubarb, mandarins, oranges, satsumas, tangerines, Seville orange, blood oranges, pomegranate

Fish: cockles, cod, crab, mackerel, mussels, oysters, pollack, salmon, scallops, whiting

Game: Duck, hare, partridge, pheasant, venison

Review of 2009

2009-12-31T18:30:00.001Z

2009, the year I started food blogging. This time last year I just another reader of food blogs and never did I imagine that I would start my own. Then in February I cooked a three course dinner for valentines day and after reading blog posts about the same thing I became inspired to start my own. I have to say I had my doubts about how long I would keep it up and still continue to be amazed by the things I have done cooking wise this year.

Initially I started this blog as a way of recording recipes I would like to cook again but food blogging has done so much more for me than that. I'm a much less fuss eater. I've tried raw fish, an ever increasing variety of vegetables (I was previously a carrots, peas and sweetcorn girl!) and also fish (fish fingers and salmon only this time last year). I got my first kitchenAid, which is still much loved and used. It pushed my bread baking onwards and also inspired me to join the Daring Bakers. Highlights include my first challenge, a Bakewell tart, the Dobos torte and Decembers gingerbread house. At the same time I joined the Daring cooks and a newly formed bread baking group Fresh from the oven. Highlights of the daring cooks challenges this year include Chinese potstickers, sushi and salmon en crute. I started out as a member of Fresh from the oven on their first challenge in June, in August I hosted the challenge of English muffins and took over the running of the group along with Jules of butcher, baker. I also joined the UK Food Bloggers Association and try to be an active member in the forum as much as time allows. And of course my blog reader continued to grow with more and more great blogs.
Another thing I have come to love about food blogging is the social side (you can find me on Twitter here). I have got to know some like minded people via this blog and twitter. Hopefully blogging and tweeting about my love of cooking/baking and sharing my successes (and sometimes failures) in the kitchen will stop me boring my none foodie friends and family! I have read and appreciated all the comments you have given me so thank you all and keep them coming.

Other foodie highlights of 2009 included a trip to the lake district and one to the Anglesey Oyster and welsh food produce festival (I even tried an oyster) where I discovered smoked bread flour. Favorite recipes other than those mentioned above have included authenitc spaghetti carbonara, blueberry crumble muffins and beetroot and spring greens risotto.

So what does 2010 have in store?
In mid December my boyfriend and I got our first DSLR camera (a second hand Canon EOS 400d) as an early Christmas present. I hope that this will start to make a difference to the photos on my blog.I hope to revive and complete my whats in season series which was side tracked due to lack of time. I also plan to continue trying to grow vegetables in our tiny garden. This year produced a bowl of mangetout and 2 courgettes! but I live in hope of producing more.

Bread wise I want to continue to bake the majority of bread we eat and to try lots of recipes and types. First up I plan to attempt sour dough again (you can read a bit about my first attempt at sour dough here) it was an epic failure but it was over a year ago now (pre-blogging) and the memories are fading enough for me to consider trying it again! This time I will be following the recipe from The handmade loaf by Dan Lepard, no doubt a much better recipe than the Jamie Oliver one I tried last time (sorry Jamie I have had great success with all your other recipes but not the sour dough).

I also received some ravioli cutters for Christmas so I'm hoping to experiment with them sometime soon. I didn't have much success with ravioli why I tried earlier this year but I'm hoping another Christmas present I received may help - The Italian cookery course by Katie Caldesi. Talking of cookbooks this year has also seen my collection expand exponentially. I got 3 for my birthday in October, 2 in Borders sale last month and 3 for Christmas alone. Favorites this year include Tender by Nigel Slater, Ottolenghi the cookbook and Larousse Gastronomique. I plan to try new recipes more often (especially from all these new cookbooks) because as I blogged last week I find cooking new recipes inspiring and therapeutic. All too often I fall in to the trap of planning a week of meals and writing a shopping list at the last minute and filling it with the same old meals. I hope to be more organised in 2010.

I plan to continue being a member of the daring bakers and daring cooks as I enjoy the excitment each month of what the next challenge will be and it pushes me to try recipes I wouldn't normally try. I also hope that myself and Jules can build on the success we have these last 6 months running Fresh from the oven.

All thats left is for me to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year!

Daring bakers - December 2009 - Gingerbread house

2009-12-28T21:00:00.000Z

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I've always admired gingerbread houses and even before this challenge was anounced I had contemplated baking one this year. However whether I actually would have found time to if it wasn't for the daring bakers I'm not so sure. I had great fun building my house, even if it was time consuming. When the challenge was announced I was very excited about it and eager to get started but since I wanted to be able to eat the house at christmas I waited until the 23rd to put the house together and decorate it, having pre-made and frozen the gingerbread pieces. I used the recipe given by Y of Lemonpi which came from The Grea t Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice A. Ojakangas. I used this template from Rachel Allen.

I kept it a secret from our families just in case mine turned out a complete distaster but I was very pleased with the result and I think everyone els liked it too. It even survived the journey an hour up the motorway to my boyfriends parents for christmas. We used it as a centre piece for the table on christmas day...and then it was demolished and we enjoyed eating it!

Fresh from the oven - Stollen

2009-12-28T19:14:00.000Z

This months Fresh from the oven Challenge was hosted by Jules. Since it was December and everyone was preparing for Christmas she picked a festive challenge - stollen.I've not eaten stollen before, let alone baked it myself and on top of this I'm not much of a marzipan fan. However my boyfriend loves marzipan so I went ahead and completed this months challenge. In the end I really enjoyed the taste of the stollen and had fun baking it. We shared the stollen with my boyfriends family and everyone enjoyed it. I could easily see myself baking stollen again next Christmas.

Stollen
based on a Simon Rimmer recipe

100ml/3½fl oz warm milk
6g (1 sachet) fast action yeast or 2 tsp dried yeast or 20g fresh yeast
pinch salt
1 tsp caster sugar
225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp ground mixed spice
200g/7oz mixed dried fruit (including glacé cherries)
25g/1oz flaked almonds
50g/2oz unsalted butter
1 free-range egg, beaten
250g/9oz marzipan

To finish
rum
25g/1oz butter, melted
50g/2oz icing sugar
Method

1. Place the milk and yeast into a bowl and mix well. Leave to sit for 5-6 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sift the salt, sugar, flour and mixed spice into a large bowl. Add the dried fruit, almonds and butter and mix well then stir in the yeasty milk and mix well.

3. Add the egg and stir to form a dough. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, then cover and leave to prove for 20 minutes. Uncover the dough and turn out onto a clean, floured work surface. Knock the dough back to reduce the volume, then knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.

4. Push the dough out by hand into a flat oval shape about 23cm x 18cm/9in x 7in. Roll the marzipan into a sausage shape about 6cm/2in shorter than the dough. Place the marzipan into the centre of the dough, then fold over the sides of the dough to seal in the marzipan. Then fold in the ends of the dough to contain the marzipan and help give the dough shape. Place the stollen seal-side down onto a greased baking tray. Cover and place somewhere warm to prove for one hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C/365F/Gas 4. Place the stollen on the baking tray into the oven to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through.

6. To finish, remove the stollen from the oven, brush with the rum then melted butter and dust liberally with icing sugar immediately. Allow the stollen to cool, then serve in slices.

Chickpea and chorizo stew

2009-12-21T21:20:00.001Z

I don't know about you, but one of the things I love most about cooking is that moment when the stress and worries of the day just melt away. Whether it be in the therapeutic stirring of a risotto or just the shear concentration and enjoyment of following a new recipe. For me there is something therapeutic about food and cooking. There's nothing more relaxing than curling up with a new or old favorite cookbook, getting lost in the kitchen in the cooking process and the smells or sitting down with a warming bowl of comfort food.
After repeated talk of chickpea and chorizo stew on twitter I decided it was about time I tried it. I had also just purchased Joanna Weinberg's How to feed your friends with relish, which includes a recipe for this dish. The only down side is that the recipe in the book serves 25! However I discovered that Essex eating has scaled the recipe down on his website to feed 4-6 - find it here. I cooked the recipe tonight after a particularly hectic day at work and was not disappointed. The smells of this stew bubbling away on the stove were divine and the taste was literally bursting with flavours. We have half the recipe in the fridge ready for a quick meal tomorrow night and I have been led to believe that the flavours will improve! If you haven't tried this dish by now (& provided you like chorizo) I urge you to give this recipe ago.

It's night like these that leave me feeling inspired and determined to try new recipes more often. Maybe some time soon I'll scale down the recipe in the same book for cottage pie with chorizo, which feeds 40!

Daring cooks - Salmon en Croute

2009-12-10T19:21:00.003Z

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.This months Daring cooks challenge struck the balance between keeping up the festive feeling without being another turkey dish! I really enjoyed this challenge and think it would make a perfect boxing day or new years dish.

Mine wasn't the best looking salmon en croute but the salmon was flaky and succulent and the sauce tasted delicious with the fish and the pastry. I will most likely make salmon en croute again possibly with a healthier sauce and filo pastry.

Thank you Simone for a great December challenge.

Salmon en croute:
Ingredients
Mascarpone or creamcheese 5.2 ounces/150 gr
Watercress, rocket (arugula) and spinach - 0.6 cup/4.2 ounces/120 gr
Shortcrust pastry - 17.6 ounces, 500 gr. Use a butter version such as Jus-rol which is frozen or dorset pastry. or... make your own!
Salmon fillet (skinless)- 17.6 ounce/500 gr
egg - 1 medium sized

Directions:
1.Heat the oven to 200°C/390 F. Put the mascarpone or cream cheese in a food processor with the watercress, spinach and rocket and whizz the lot until you have a creamy green puree. Season well.
2. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap the salmon in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it will hang over the edges). Put the salmon in the middle. If it has a thinner tail end, tuck it under. Spoon half of the watercress mixture onto the salmon. Now fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly), making sure you don’t have any thick lumps of pastry as these won’t cook through properly. Trim off any excess as you need to. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like. Brush with the egg glaze.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. To test whether the salmon is cooked, push a sharp knife through one of the cuts into the flesh, wait for 3 seconds then test it against the inside of your wrist; if it is hot, the salmon is cooked. Serve with the rest of the watercress puree as a sauce.

Shortcrust pastry
While this is not mandatory to do, I highly recommend making your own shortcrust pastry as it is very simple to do! As mentioned in the notes; please make sure to not add too much water as that is the key to having a successful shortcrust pastry. Watch this video to check the correct consistency of the dough Making shortcrust pastry

Ingredients:
450 gr (15.8 ounces or 3.2 cups ) of plain all purpose flour
200 gr ( 7 ounce) cold butter
pinch of salt

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you have a food processor you can use that as shown in the above video.
Stir in the salt, then add 2-3 tbsp of water and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.

For best results make sure the butter is very cold.

Christmas baking

2009-12-10T19:00:00.000Z

The Christmas tree is up, the presents are wrapped and the cards have been sent. Now it's time for me to tell you about some of the festive baking I have been doing this month.

First up there were the Jamie Oliver mince pies (from last years Christmas show, recipe available here). These were incredibly simple to make and a delicious twist on traditional mince pies. We ate a few warm from the oven and the rest are sat in the freezer patiently waiting to be reheated from frozen nearer to Christmas. I followed the main recipe but I used more than 100g of mince meat as it was spread too thinly for my liking.
Next up are these Christmas spiced biscuits from Sainsbury's magazine. The flavours in these biscuits are delicious and quiet frankly I could eat them all year round! I'm sorry to say that there are none left! For that extra festive touch I decorated them with red and green icing.
I have also taken part in this months festive themed Daring cooks and Fresh from the oven challenges. The results of which will be posted on the 14th and 28th respectively. I also aim to find time to bake some extra Christmas treats for my family and also complete the December Daring bakers challenge so keep an eye out for them on here soon.

Spiced Christmas biscuits
Sainsbury's magazine, December 2008

225g soft butter
175g light soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon clear honey
1 large egg
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

In a food processor, mix together the butter, brown sugar and honey for a few minutes or so until pale and creamy. Then add the egg and mix again until combined.
Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices and mix until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
Turn the mixture out on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently, then divide in two.
Roll out each piece of dough between two sheets of baking parchment to about 0.5cm thick and chill for at least one hour until firm.
Preheat the oven to 190C, 170C (fan), gas 5.
Cut out star shapes using a cutter and place on a baking sheet; repeat until all the dough is used up.
Bake in batches for 10-12 minutes until golden, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
When cold, decorate with icing if desired.

Will keep in an airtight container for up to a week. Can be frozen uniced.

Christmas Hampers

2009-12-01T12:42:00.005Z

So its December already! Where has this year gone? To get us all in the christmas spirit I have a few festive blog posts for you coming up over the next month and I've even used my limited skills to make the blog a little bit festive.

First up I have been wanting to tell you all about the wonderful Christmas hamper I received from Interflora since it arrived mid November. A couple of weeks before that I was contacted by them to see if I would be interested in them sending me a free hamper (worth £70) to review on my blog. I had no idea that Interflora did hampers (I had always associated them with flowers) and decided to check out their website. The hamper they sent me is just one of a range of Christmas hampers they are selling this Christmas, as well as a range of Christmas flowers.The hamper arrived just after 9am on the day they told me it would be dispatched and was packaged securely. The wicker hamper was enclosed in a tight fitting, smart black cardboard box to prevent movement during transport. All the glass items were wrapped in bubble wrap and surrounded by biodegradable packing material and the items fitted snugly in the hamper so that all items arrived in perfect condition.
The quality of the wicker hamper and its contents were fantastic. The hamper includes a bottle of red and a white wine, Christmas cake, mince pies, Christmas pudding, luxury fruit and nut mix, clotted cream biscuits and fudge, chocolates, a selection of Twinings teas, chocolate chip short bread biscuits, rosemary and thyme biscuits, strawberry jam, cranberry sauce and onion chutney. More than enough to keep us going over the festive season and in to January too!
Overall I would have to say that I would recommend Interflora hampers to anyone looking to send gifts to friends or family that live too far away to personally deliver your gifts. At least there is no chance of delays due to postal strikes!

Fresh from the oven - White tin loaf

2009-11-28T08:30:00.000Z

This month's Fresh from the oven challenge was hosted by Linda of With knife and fork. She chose a simple English tin loaf. Part of the challenge was to learn the kneading technique she was taught by Dan Lepard. This was the first time since before I bought my KitchenAid that I kneaded bread by hand. It was easy and the resulting bread rose well and had great texture. I would recommend any one who kneads bread by hand to give this a go but I won't be giving up using my KitchenAid regularly! The bread was good for sandwiches but taste wise I didn't enjoy it as much as other breads I bake. However this could be because I mostly bake wholemeal loafs for sandwiches. Thanks again Linda for hosting this months challenge.

Dan Lepard says he developed this when he was working full time in commercial kitchens (that made artisan hand kneaded bread) because there wasn’t time for full 10 minute knead of all the different bread batches so he switched to short kneads spaced out and found it works just as well, part of the development of a good gluten structure is dependent on the time elapsed not the vigorous kneading. I liked the idea because I’d not been getting good textures with either a machine or a normal hand knead. I am now a wholesale convert.

Note:

You must use oil not flour on the kneading surface and your hands. Something like vegetable oil is good.

The dough must be quite sticky and soft to start with. It will firm up when kneaded and as time progresses.

Steps:

Once you have soft sticky dough leave it covered in the bowl for 10 minutes.
Now oil your kneading surface and hands and tip the dough out.
Knead for about 12 seconds by folding in the edges to the centre, a bit like shaping a round loaf, rotate the dough as you go.
Flip the dough over, leave it on the surface and cover with a cloth. Wash out the bowl and then oil it lightly. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover.
Leave for 10-15 minutes and then do another 12 second knead. You will notice the dough is already less sticky and firmer.
Leave for 20 -30 mins and repeat the fast knead. You are aiming to have kneaded the dough 3 times in the first hour.
Leave covered to rise until at least 50% larger but not more than double in size.
Tip out onto the oil surface and press the air out of the dough using the tips of your fingers so its square-ish in shape. Repeat the fast knead process (or fold in to thirds then rotate through 90, flatten again and fold into 3rds again).
Shape the dough as required for the particular loaf you are making. Put it in a tin, or supported in a floured cloth in a bowl.
Leave to rise until at least 50% larger and preferably almost double in size.
Slash top and bake as per your recipe.

White Tin Loaf

(based on Dan Lepard’s Quick White Loaf, p63 of the Handmade Loaf)

2lb loaf tin greased and floured or lined with baking parchment (no need to line the short ends just oil them).

Oven to be pre-heated to its maximum setting (R10/250C) and with a tray of water in the bottom to create steam.

Ingredients:

200g semi skimmed milk at room temp (Dan uses whole milk but semi skimmed seems to work fine)

150g water at room temp (remember 1g = 1ml but its easier to be accurate weighing fluids)

1 tsp fast action yeast (or 2 tsp fresh yeast crumbled)

200g plain white flour

300g strong white bread flour

1 ½ tsp fine sea salt

Method:

Mix the flours and salt together in a bowl.

Mix the water and milk together in a separate bowl and whisk in the yeast.

Add the liquid to the flour and mix with the fingers of one hand to a soft sticky rough dough. You may need to add a little more liquid do this a teaspoon at a time until you have a soft sticky dough.

Follow the kneading instructions above.

The first rise will probably take about an hour from the last knead.

To shape for a tin loaf, flatten the dough to a square about the same width as your tin. Roll the dough into a cylinder and press the seam firmly, fold under the two short ends and place in the tin seam side down.

Allow to rise (covered) to 1 ½ to 2 times volume i.e. to the top of the tin.

Slash the top of the loaf along it length and put it straight into the oven for 10 minutes at maximum temperature. After 10 minutes check how it’s browning and drop the temperature as follows (these baking guidelines are from the River Cottage Bread Book):

R6/200C if the crust is pale

R4/180C if crust is noticeably browning

R3/170C if crust is browning quickly

And cook for a further 40-50 minutes.

I usually check again part way through this time and either adjust temperature again or cover the top with foil if it’s brown enough. Also note that with a traditional gas oven (i.e. one without a fan) the top may brown far too quickly on the side near the heat at the initial temperature so you might want to start at a lower setting of R8/9 for the first 10 minutes. Adapt the setting for what you know about your oven and how things usually bake.

When it’s cooked turn it out of the tin and allow to cool.

Then when it’s cooled cut a big huge doorstop of a slice toast it and slather with lashing of butter. Yum.

The recipe also works well with a mix of 50:50 wholemeal and white bread flours. You’ll prod need 2-3 tbps extra water.

Daring bakers - November 2009 - Cannoli

2009-11-27T09:00:00.003Z

I had mixed feelings about this months Daring bakers challenge. On the one hand I love cooking and eating Italian food but on the other, I refuse to deep fat fry anything. A bit further in to the post and I discovered that it was possible to bake cannoli. So I decided to give the baked version ago. I just needed to find out at what temperature and for how long and what I could use instead of buying cannoli forms. A bit of research on the Internet and I found a video where not only did the cook bake his cannoli but he used 1 inch diameter wooden dowelling to shape and bake the cannoli.
So armed with 6 3 inch lengths of wooden dowelling one Sunday afternoon I set about making baked cannoli. The dough itself was simple enough to make using my KitchenAid, however rolling out thinly was quiet a challenge. I shaped the dough around my soaked lengths of dowelling (just as suggested in the video) and baked as directed. I only made 6 cannoli since there were only 2 of us but unfortunately 4 of them refused to be parted from the dowelling! The two that survived with filled with whipped cream (a cheats filling I know but I guess I must have known they wouldn't turn out!) and decorated with chocolate chips. The taste? I have to say I wasn't impressed with the taste. I'm sure that part of the problem was that I went for the healthier cooking option but even so I didn't rate the flavour of the shell that much. At least this was a slight improvement on last months macaroons!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Christmas pudding challenge

2009-11-15T15:45:00.009Z

A few weeks back I saw a competition posted on the UKFBA website. The competition was to come up with an alternative way of using a Christmas pudding. The competition is being run by Mathew Walker who have been making Christmas puddings in Derbyshire since 1899. Mathew Walker generously sent all bloggers wanting to enter the competition a 100g taster Christmas pudding and a full size (454g) Christmas pudding.

So I started to think of recipes using Christmas pudding, specifically leftover Christmas pudding (yes, I believe it does happen in some households!). I wanted to create something simple that could be used as a desert on boxing day. The final recipe I settled on was to replace meringue with Christmas pudding in a twist on the traditional Eton mess - a Christmas mess!

I still wanted there to be a mixture of textures as well as flavour so I decided to include broken up pieces of brandy snaps in the cream mixture. The hardest part was deciding what fruit to put in it. Cherry's soaked in kirsch? cranberry sauce? mandarin segments? I think all would work well. In the end though I found a tub of pears in cranberry juice which left them a beautiful pink/red colour. The dish tasted delicious. all the flavours blended together well (helped by the Christmas pudding being so delicious and flavourful) and I enjoyed the mixture of textures. The brandy flavour in the Christmas pudding infused through all the cream making it all lovely and as my boyfriend called it "Christmas in a glass".A Christmas mess is the ideal desert for boxing day. Its quick and simple to prepare (exactly what you need after all the preparation and cooking on Christmas day), uses up any leftover Christmas pudding, includes many of the traditional flavours of Christmas and tastes fantastic. Leftover Christmas pudding can be included cold or reheated (and then cooled slightly before adding to the cream). You could heat by frying lightly or in a microwave. The quantities are a bit vague allowing you to customise the recipe to your families tastes.

Christmas Mess
Serves 4

200g leftover Christmas pudding (or as much as you have/like).
400ml double cream or whipping cream
4-6 brandy snaps
Tub of pears in cranberry juice (tinned pears in natural juice would also work or any fruit of your choice)
Icing sugar and coco powder for dusting.

In a large bowl softly whip the cream until it is thick and soft.
Gently stir in most of the bits of brandy snap and all the Christmas pudding.
Put a layer of pears in the bottom of 4 glass dessert bowls (I used wine glasses).
Spoon the cream mixture on top.
Decorate the tops with the reserved brandy snap shards.
Dust with icing sugar and coco powder.
Serve.

Daring cooks - Sushi

2009-11-14T08:40:00.000Z

Not that long ago, if you had asked me to eat sushi, I would have point blank refused, stating that I don't like raw fish (even though I had not tried it!). Thankfully I seem to be getting much more adventurous and willing to try new things. So when I read that this months Daring Cooks challenge was sushi, I surprised myself by getting quiet excited about the challenge. The next weekend we gave up or usual coffee and cake shopping break and instead opted to visit the Yo-sushi bar in our local shopping centre and try a few different types of sushi. I loved the set up of the sushi bar with the conveyor belt where you can pick which dishes you want to try and the ability to watch the chef's preparing the sushi whilst you eat. However it was with some trepidation that I took my first bite of a raw salmon nigiri sushi. It was actually quiet nice! so much so that I went on to try a tuna one as well! I have to admit to still being a bit freaked out by the thought of fish roe but I tried a dragon roll with fish roe on the outside of the rice and it wasn't bad but I wasn't rushing to eat any roll containing large amounts!

After our research trip to Yo sushi I started to think about making sushi at home. I was unconvinced about buying fish fresh enough to eat raw locally so I decided to stick with smoked salmon and cooked prawns as my fish element. I also used avocado, cucumber and roasted red peppers.
The challenge had four parts:-
Part 1: Making proper sushi rice – you will wash, rinse, drain, soak, cook, dress, and cool short grain rice until each grain is sticky enough to hold toppings or bind ingredients. Then you will use the cooked rice to form three types of sushi:
Part 2: Dragon sushi roll – an avocado covered inside-out rice roll with a tasty surprise filling
Part 3: Decorative sushi – a nori-coated rice roll which reveals a decorative pattern when cut
Part 4: Nigiri sushi – hand-shaped rice rolls with toppings

The most time consuming part of the challenge is preparing the rice but once you have this done and all your filling ingredients prepared the rest of the process is easier than I expected and so much fun. You can get as creative as you like with the fillings and in particular presenting the dragon rolls.I really enjoyed preparing and eating the sushi rolls for this daring cooks challenge. I think it has been my favorite so far. I tried (& liked) raw fish sushi for the first time, I had fun preparing my own sushi (even if I cheated and didn't use raw fish) and I was very impressed with how my sushi turned out!

Thanks to Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen for picking a great challenge!

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

PART 1 : SUSHI RICE (makes about 7 cups of cooked sushi rice)

Preparation time: 1¾ hours consisting of :-
Rinsing and draining rice: 35 minutes
Soaking rice: 30 minutes (includes 5 minutes making the vinegar dressing)
Cooking and steaming time: 25 minutes
Finishing the rice: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2½ cups uncooked short grain rice
2½ cups water
For superior results use equal volumes of rice and water

Optional Ingredients

3 inch (75mm or 15 grams) square dashi konbu (or kombu) (dried kelp seaweed) wipe with a damp cloth to remove white powder & cut a few slits in the sides of the kelp to help release its flavours
2½ teaspoons (12.5 mls) of sake (Japanese rice wine)

Sushi vinegar dressing

5 Tablespoons (75 mls) rice vinegar
5 Teaspoons (25 mls or 21 grams) sugar
1¼ Teaspoons (6.25 mls or 4.5 grams) salt

DIRECTIONS:
Rinsing and draining the rice

Swirl rice gently in a bowl of water, drain, repeat 3-4 times until water is nearly clear. Don't crush the rice in your hands or against the side of the bowl since dry rice is very brittle.
Gently place rice into a strainer and drain well for 30 minutes.

Soaking the rice

Gently place the rice into a heavy medium pot with a tight fitting lid (if you have a loose fitting lid use a piece of aluminium foil to make the seal tight).
Add 2½ cups of water and the dashi konbu.
Set the rice aside to soak for 30 minutes, during this time prepare the sushi rice dressing.

Preparing the Rice Vinegar Dressing

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
Heat on low setting.
Stir until the mixture goes clear and the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Set aside at room temperature until the rice is cooked.

Cooking the rice

After 30 minutes of soaking add sake (if using) to the rice.
Bring rinsed and soaked rice to the boil.
Reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed, 12-15 minutes. Do not remove the lid during this process. Turn off heat.
Let stand with the lid on, 10-15 minutes. Do not peek inside the pot or remove the lid. During this time the rice is steaming which completes the cooking process.

Finishing the rice

Turning out the rice

Moisten lightly a flat thin wooden spatula or spoon and a large shallow flat-bottomed non-metallic (plastic, glass or wood) bowl. Do not use metallic objects since the vinegar will react with it and produce sour and bitter sushi rice.
Remove the dashi konbu (kelp) from the cooked rice.
Use the spatula to loosen gently the rice and invert the rice pot over the bowl, gently causing the cooked rice to fall into the bowl in one central heap. Do this gently so as not to cause the rice grains to become damaged.

Dressing the rice with vinegar

Slowly pour the cooled sushi vinegar over the spatula onto the hot rice.
Using the spatula gently spread the rice into a thin, even layer using a 45° cutting action to break up any lumps and to separate the rice. Don't stir or mash rice.
After the rice is spread out, start turning it over gently, in small portions, using a cutting action, allowing steam to escape, for about a minute.

Fanning & Tossing the rice

Continue turning over the rice, but now start fanning (using a piece of stiff cardboard) the rice vigorously as you do so. Don't flip the rice into the air but continue to gently slice, lift and turn the rice occasionally, for 10 minutes. Cooling the rice using a fan gives good flavour, texture and a high-gloss sheen to the rice. The vinegar dressing will be absorbed by the hot rice. Using a small electric fan on the lowest speed setting is highly recommended.
Stop fanning when there's no more visible steam, and all the vinegar dressing has been adsorbed and the rice is shiny. Your sushi rice is ready to be used.

Keeping the rice moist

Cover with a damp, lint free cloth to prevent the rice from drying out while preparing your sushi meal. Do not store sushi rice in the refrigerator leave on the counter covered at room temperature. Sushi rice is best used when it is at room temperature.

* Tip: To make sushi rice: for each cup of rice use 1 cup of water, 2 Tbs rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp sake. For superior results use equal volumes of rice and water when cooking the sushi rice since the weight of rice can vary. Weight of 2½ cups of uncooked rice is about 525 grams or 18½ ounces.

* Tip: While the rice is draining, soaking and cooking prepare your rice vinegar dressing, sushi fillings and toppings.

PART 2 : Dragon Rolls (also called Caterpillar Rolls)

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 1¾ hours to make the sushi rice
Cooking time: about 5 minutes (grilling the eel)

Yield: 2 inside-out (uramaki) sushi rolls

INGREDIENTS:

1 sheet 7”x8” (17.5cmx20cm) of toasted nori (dried seaweed sheets), cut into halves
1/2 Japanese cucumber
2 cups of prepared sushi rice
Glazed Barbecued Eel (ungai) (about 3½ ounces or 100 grams)
1 Avocado
Vinegared Water – ½ cup of water combined with a dash of rice vinegar
Various small amounts of sauces to use as the flames of the dragon (or legs of a caterpillar)

Optional

2 tablespoons (25 grams or 1 oz) Fish Roe (Fish eggs)

DIRECTIONS:
1.Cut cucumber into strips ¼ inch (6mm) x 7” (175mm) long, then salt, rinse & dry the strips.
2.Grill (broil) the eel for about 2-5 minutes until bubbling. Cut into two lengthwise strips.
3.Halve, pit and peel the avocado. Cut the avocado halves into thin even 1/8 inch (3 mm) slices. Fan out the cut avocado into a 7 inch (175 mm) overlapping pattern.
4.Cover bamboo mat with plastic wrap. Place a sheet of nori shiny side down, lengthwise, on the edge the mat.
5.Moisten lightly your hands in the bowl of vinegared water.
6.Place one cup of rice on the nori and gently rake your fingertips across grains to spread rice evenly. Do not mash or squash the rice onto the nori, the rice should appear loosely packed and be evenly distributed over the entire sheet, you should be able to see the nori sheet in a few places.
7.Flip the rice-covered nori over (so the bare nori is now on top) and place on the edge of the mat closest to you.
8.Arrange one of the eel strips across the length of the nori, not quite centred on it but a little closer to you. Place half the cucumber sticks next to the eel.
9.Lift the edge of the mat closest to you with both hands, keeping your fingertips over the fillings, and roll the mat and its contents until the edge of the mat touches straight down on the nori, enclosing the fillings completely. Lift up the edge of the mat you're holding, and continue rolling the inside-out roll away from you until it's sealed. Tug at the mat to tighten the seal. If the rice doesn't quite close the roll add more rice in the gap and re-roll using the mat to completely cover the inside-out roll. Place the roll on a damp, clean smooth surface.
10.Spread about 1 tablespoon of the optional fish roe along the entire top of the rice-covered roll. Using the plastic covered mat gently press the fish roe so it adheres to the rice.
11.Slide a knife under one fan of avocado and transfer it onto the top of an inside-out roll. Gently spread out the avocado layer to cover the entire roll. Lay the plastic wrapped mat over the avocado-covered roll. Squeeze very gently to shape the roll.
12. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the roll. Slice the roll into 6-8 equal, bite-sized pieces, wiping your knife with a damp towel before each slice. Discard the plastic wrap. Repeat the above to make one more roll.
13.Arrange the cut pieces on a serving plate with the sauces so the finished dish appears as a dragon breathing fire and flames (or a caterpillar with many legs).

* Tip: The most common mistake is having too much filling the golden rule is less is more when it comes to making sushi it is easier to roll an under-filled roll than an over-filled roll.

* Tip: Dampen your knife with a moist lint-free towel before every cut – this prevents the sushi rice from sticking to your knife.

* Tip: Excellent videos on making Dragon Rolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQZGRohVNFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo55iBN9FQs&feature=related

PART 3 : Spiral Sushi Roll
This is easiest 'decorative' sushi roll.

Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 1¾ hours to make the sushi rice

Yield: One Roll, cut into 8 pieces

INGREDIENTS:

2½ cups prepared sushi rice
2 sheets of toasted nori, each sized 7”x8” (17.5cmx20cm)
Six assorted fillings, each filling should be the size of a pencil (see note below)

DIRECTIONS:
1.Join 2 sheets of nori by moistening the adjacent edges and overlapping them about ½ inch (12mm).
2.Place this double sheet shiny side down on a rolling mat, part of the nori will extend beyond the mat.
3.Using moist fingers place 2½ cups of rice on the nori and gently rake your fingertips across grains to spread rice evenly, leaving ¼ inch (6mm) nori showing on the both ends of the sheet. Do not mash or squash the rice onto the nori, the rice should appear loosely packed and be evenly distributed over the entire sheet, you should be able to see the nori sheet in a few places.
4.Using your fingers form six grooves (in the same direction that you will be rolling the mat) at even intervals across the bed of rice. Make the first groove about 2 inches (50 mm) from the edge of the nori sheet. Form the grooves by pushing the rice away, do not mash or squash the rice, leave a loose one grain layer of rice in the bottom of the grooves. Level the areas between the grooves where you have pushed the rice.
5.Place your fillings in the grooves. Fill the grooves a little higher than the surrounding rice bed.
6.Then roll the sushi up from the edge closest to you, this will form a spiral pattern of nori, rice and fillings inside the roll.
7.Slice into 8 pieces with a very sharp wet knife, wiping the blade with a damp cloth after each cut.
8.Place the pieces on a platter and garnish.

NOTE:
Make each groove about a finger-width wide they will hold about 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Use fillings that compliment each other and are highly coloured. Use parboiled vegetables cut into strips, seafood, left over eel, smoked fish or chicken, whole cooked beans, edible flowers etc....

PART 4 : Nigiri Sushi
Nigiri sushi is the type of sushi most often made in sushi bars. In Japanese, nigiri means “squeeze”.

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 1¾ hours to make the sushi rice

Yield: 14-16 pieces of sushi

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups prepared sushi rice
8 pairs of assorted toppings, 200 gms/7 ozs total of fish, meat or vegetables (see note below)
1 tablespoon Wasabi (paste, reconstituted powder) or any other paste to adhere topping to rice

Optional

Garnishes such as Ginger (pickled), chilli strips, vegetables flowers etc
Thin strips of nori or vegetables (for tying topping on)

DIRECTIONS:
1.When handling sushi rice, make certain your hands are very clean. To keep the rice from sticking to our hands moisten your hands with vinegared water.
2.Form nigiri sushi by scooping up a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) of rice with your forefinger and second finger of your right hand and placing it in your cupped left palm.
3.Use the fingers and thumb of your right hand to form it into a long, narrow mound (about 2 inches x 1 inch wide or 50mm x 25mm) in your cupped palm.
4.Press enough to make the rice hold firmly together. Place the nigiri on a damp cutting board flat side down. Don't let sushi touch or they'll stick to each other. At this point, you can cover the sushi with plastic wrap, and they'll keep at room temperature (not the refrigerator) for several hours.
5.Smear a thin line of wasabi on top of the rice and place the topping piece on it. You may need to press the topping down lightly with your fingers and adjust the shape of the rice accordingly to form an attractive piece of nigiri sushi. If your topping is very loose like fish roe you can place a strip of nori (higher than the rice) around the nigiri and form 'battleship' sushi. The cavity that the nori forms holds the topping so it does not fall off.
6.Garnish as desired and use strips of nori (or vegetable) to tie the topping to the nigiri if needed.
7.It is customary to make nigiri sushi in pairs, so make two of each variety.

* Tips: A great video on making nigiri sushi
http://www.howcast.com/videos/270-How-To-Make-Sushi
A great web page on slicing fish for nigiri
http://www.sushilinks.com/sushi-recipes/how-to-buy-fish/index.html

Cookbook review - Supper for a song - Tamasin Day-lewis

2009-11-10T18:13:00.003Z

First off I have to admit to having never read another Tamasin Day-lewis cookbook so I can't compare this latest book to her usual style. This latest release is another in a long line of books clearly written with the more cost conscious cook in mind. In it Tamasin provides recipes for making the most of the food we buy and in some cases encourages the reader to cook extra food so there are left overs to be made in to some mouth watering recipe the following day. Yes the book is called Supper for a song but this doesn't involve buying the cheapest food in the supermarket. This book is about using good quality ingredients and making sure you waste none of it. Recession or no recession this book (and the others similar to it) are designed to help us make the most of the food we buy and in the processes eat delicious food.

This book is packed with ideas for using up left over potatoes, bread, meats, chickpeas and fruits (to name just a few). It is filled with delicious looking photos, mouth watering recipes and tips from the author. There are recipes for roasting a chicken and making stock and risotto with the left overs, Shepard's or cottage pie with leftover roast beef or lamb, potato bread and cakes and hummus and chick pea soups and stews. There is a chapter on meat using the cheaper (but more flavourful) cuts of meat such as braised belly of pork, brisket with pickled walnuts and oxtail stewed with grapes. There are also plenty of recipes for those who love to bake such as carrot cake, Earl Grey fruit tea loaf and chocolate brownies.

One thing I would warn some people about is that the title may make you think this is 'budget' cooking. It's not! Its about buying the best quality ingredients you can afford and using them wisely. Recipes use organic ingredients, wild salmon, vanilla pods and many different types of alcohol including Marsala, Creme de cassis and Madeira (so clearly not aimed at those on a tight budget!).

Further information:
Supper for a song. Tamasin Day-Lewis
Published by Quadrille publishing, September 2009
Hardback, full colour photography, pages 192
ISBN 978 1 84400 743 1
£20

Fresh from the oven - Edible bread bowls

2009-10-28T22:00:00.000Z

This months Fresh from the oven bread challenge was hosted by Corry. She chose ‘Soup Bowls’, from Richard Bertinet’s fabulous book ‘Dough – Simple Contemporary Bread’.

I really enjoyed baking these bread bowls and found them simple and reasonably quick to make. They were a great novelty idea but not something I will make regularly. I replaced a 1/3 of the bread flour with smoked bread flour (more about here) which added an extra flavour to the soup. I served spiced vegetable and chickpea soup in mine, a recipe from this months sainsbury's magazine which was delicious (I will post the recipe shortly).

Here's what corry had to say about the bread bowls (recipe at the bottom).

The bread bowl recipe is quick and easy, It’s a great recipe to have in your repertoire and a lot of fun, There’s no dishes to clean up afterwards and you get to lick the bowl as well as eat it. If you are organized, you can have it ready in time to serve up for dinner. They also freeze well for a few weeks.

This dough has a small amount of semolina added to give it a nice texture, and some fruity olive oil to make it soft, resilient and give it a good flavour. You can also add a little chilli or spice to the dough for extra favour.

I found that the recipe makes 6 bowls using 16 x 10cm diameter pyrex bowls or 8 if you use 12cm bowls . Preparation takes 30 minutes, with 60 minutes resting time and 20 to 25 minutes to bake.

Bread bowls

Ingredients:

500g strong bread flour

20 gm course semolina

15gm fresh yeast (or 1 sachet dried)

10 gm salt

50 gm good-quality fruity olive oil

320 gm water

chilli or spice (optional for added flavour)

Preheat the oven to 250˚C (500˚F). Mix together the flour and semolina and rub in the yeast as if you were making a crumble (Richard Bertinet’s method – see below for video link). If using a mixer, switch it on to the slowest speed, add salt, olive oil and water and mix for 2 minutes, then turn the speed up to the next lowest speed and mix for 6 to 7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.

If you are kneading by hand, knead for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until you have a nice smooth elastic ball of dough. Richard Bertinet has a unique kneading technique referred to as the French fold that can take approximately 5 to 10 minutes depending on practice. You can view his method in a online video at the Gourmet Webpage. In this video, he is actually doing sweet dough but the same technique can be used for most bread dough.

Place the dough into a bowl that has been floured, cover with a tea towel and leave in a draught free place for approximately 1 hour or until doubled in volume.

Lightly oil or spray with non-stick spray, the outside of 6 ovenproof bows (I used pyrex bowls). Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 6 to 8 pieces (depending on the size of your baking bowls). Taking one piece of dough at a time and using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a circle (similar to making pizza). Shake off excess flour and shape each piece over an upturned bowl, patting into shape and pressing gently to remove air bubbles from between the dough and the bowl. Rest the dough for 10 minutes. Place the upturned bowls, two at a time, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, then into the preheated oven. Turn the oven down to 200˚C (400˚F) and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Using a fine-bladed knife, gently loosen the bread from the bowls and ease off. Cool on a wire rack.

It is probably safer to serve the bowls on a plate, as they do become soggy after a while and the soup may leak through.

Daring bakers - October 2009 - Macarons

2009-10-27T18:50:00.006Z

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was very excited when I visited the Daring Bakers forum on the 1st October to discover we would be making macarons. I have seen lots of them on various blogs (mainly the fantastic ones on Tartelette) and had been thinking about baking them for a while but just never quiet got round to it. This month has been busy though and I only found the chance to bake them last week and predictably they went very wrong! I spent ages reading through all the tips people had been posting on the forum and felt well prepared to undertake the challenge but the results say otherwise!I hope to try making macarons again one day soon and think that next time I will try a different recipe. Perhaps the one in the Ottolenghi cookbook or one from Tartelette's website. Any tips on why mine turned out this way would be appreciated!

For any one who wants to try the recipe, here it is.

Macarons

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip. You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Cookbook review - John Torode's Chicken and other birds

2009-10-22T16:15:00.000+01:00

Chicken used to be one of my favorite meats and I used to cook it at least once a week. Right now though I can't remember the last time I cooked it. Its not that I've gone off chicken but more that I'm a less fussy eater and cook a wider range of dishes. However this book could hold the next chicken recipe I cook. 256 pages on chicken and other birds, cooked in a variety of different styles and cuisines, with this book you'll never be short of inspiration for chicken again! But this book is more than a book of chicken, there are also lots of recipes and information on cooking game birds too.

The first thing I liked about this book was the removable jacket sleeve with a flow diagram of what to do with your chicken. From poaching or roasting it whole, to jointing and grilling it or using the meat in curries, pies or kebabs. This diagram inspires you to turn to the book for recipes, ideas and tips for getting the most out of your chicken. As well as the recipes which I will cover in a minute, there is lots of other useful information such as a calendar of the game seasons so you know what to eat when its at its best, a brief guide to all the types of bird you might wish to cook, what to look for when shopping for chicken (no not the 2 for £5 stickers), jointing a bird and a list of poultry and game dealers.

So on to the recipes. The book is split in to chapters on the following topics soups and stocks, snacks and starters, legs and breasts, salads, curries, barbecues, roasts, one pot wonders, tarts, pies and pasties, pasta, noodles and grains and finally confit, terrines, pates and pastrami. Each chapter has a brief introduction by John which will inspire you to try the recipes. Some of the recipes that I want to try include chicken Cesar salad, some of the 8 different chicken kebab ideas (oregano and garlic, chicken and prawns with pancetta, Chinese chicken with sesame seeds), the roast chicken with olives and lemons, and the chicken paella. There are nearly as many game bird recipes as their are chicken ones such as penne with ragout of game sausage and red wine, guinea fowl tagine, five-spiced Chinese duck with bok choy and oyster sauce and pheasant wrapped in proscuitto with polenta. I've never eaten game, let alone cooked it but should I ever decide to this will be the book I reach for. Scattered throughout the recipes John also offers lots of useful advice and tips.

Whilst I would not normal buy cookbooks that focus on one type of meat I do think this is a good book. Its stuffed full of mouth watering pictures and John's useful hints and tips. Although you may glance over this book on the shelf if your not a fan of chicken or think you know all there is to know as chicken I think this book is a great introduction to cooking other types of birds.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Further information:
John Torode's chicken and other birds.
Published by Quadrille publishing, September 2009
Hardback, full colour photography, pages 256
ISBN 978 1 84400 715 8
£20

Authentic spaghetti carbonara

2009-10-21T22:10:00.000+01:00

Until a few years ago I used to love the rich, creamy carbonara sauces most Italian restaurants serve. Ok so it's not the healthiest dish on the menu but it was a very occasional treat. Then suddenly I started to find the dish too rich for my tastes and stopped ordering it when in Italian restaurants. Maybe my tastes had changed or maybe I had had one too many rubbish carbonara's. Then as I started to get more and more in to cooking I discovered that true Italian carbonara's don't include cream at all! At this point I started to consider the idea of making a carbonara myself.

I discovered Italian Foodies sometime last year and have been following the blog since then (and also working my way through the posts/recipes from before I discovered it). It has to be up there as one of my favorite blogs. It is full of mouth watering pictures and deliciously simple recipes (mostly Italian - my favorite kind). You might have noticed that I have a list in my side bar called 'recipes I want to try'. I have been using this list to keep track of some of the recipes other blogs post that I want to try myself. Italian foodies authentic carbonara has been sat there for quiet sometime waiting for me to find the time to try it.

At the weekend we visited The Hollies farm shop in Cheshire. They were hosting a Great British food feast, with lots of local suppliers showcasing their produce and lots of food to sample. There was also a delicious hog roast and a showcase of 1000's of pumpkins (the advertising said 4000 but I didn't count them!). One of the products that caught our eye was their bacon. So armed with a packet of local bacon I decided to try my hand at a real authentic (cream free!) carbonara. I wasn't disappointed. The carbonara was simple to make and turned out fantastic, I didn't miss the cream and it really allowed the quality and taste of the bacon to shine. I wanted to share this recipe with you all and also book mark it here so I can make it again in the future. For the recipe and step by step photos see here.

smoked bread recipe

2009-10-20T02:02:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Anglesey Oyster and welsh food produce festival in Treaddur Bay, Anglesey. Whilst we were wandering round the different food stalls we came across Derimon smokery which as well as some of the smoked products you might expect (salmon, garlic, tomatoes, etc) had a few I wouldn't of expected like duck breast, mussels and bread flour. The bread flour grabbed my attention and the man of the stall was more than happy to tell me about it. He sells it in his shop and also supplies it to El Bulli! where it is used in bread buns for dipping in to oils and vinegars. He suggested using a ratio of 1 part smoked flour and 3 parts strong white bread flour as a starting point but to play around depending on how strong or mild you want the smoky flavour.

I started by using the formula he suggested and using it to make a pizza base for a ham and mushroom pizza. For me the ratio seemed just right. You got a good amount of smoky flavour which complimented the toppings well with out being overpowering. Next I decided to make a smoky bread loaf using the same ratio. The end result again was delicious and just the right amount of smoky flavour perfect for cheese on toast! I have also used some of the flour in my Fresh from the oven challenge which will be revealed on the 28th October. The only problem is I'm down to half a bag and have no idea where I can get another bag in Cheshire!Smoked bread flour loaf

125g smoked white bread flour
375g strong white bread flour
10g salt
5g fast action yeast
2 tbsp sunflower (or similar) oil
300ml warm water

Combine the bread flours, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add the water and oil slowly into the flour, stirring (I use a KitchenAid on low speed with a dough hook fitted) until well combined.
If using turn the mixer knead for a couple of minute until a smooth, satiny bread dough forms (if not using a mixer knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for approximately 10 minutes).
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave to prove in a warm, draft free room until doubled in size (mine took 1.5-2hrs).
Preheat oven to 250C (or it's highest setting). Deflate the dough with your hands. Shape in to a ball and place on a baking sheet or if you own one in a lightly flour proving basket and leave to prove for 30minutes.
Transfer the bread from the proving basket (if using) to a baking sheet. Score a cross in the center and bake for 10 min at 250C then turn the oven down to 200C. Bake bread for a further 20-30 min. You can always cover the bread with tin foil if the crust is getting brown too fast. The bread is cooked when it sounds hollow when you tap on the base.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.

I am submitting this entry to Yeastspotting.
Enjoy!

Guest post

2009-10-14T20:23:00.002+01:00

Just to let you all know I have wrote a guest blog post on Nora the kitchen 'Splorer tonight. You can read it here, its a review of all the deliciousness posted on other food blogs this week.

Enjoy!

Daring cooks - Vietnamese chicken pho

2009-10-14T17:38:00.001+01:00

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

There were two parts to this month's Daring Cooks' challenge, a compulsory and an optional challenge. The compulsory part was a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup (with the option to do it the quick way or a longer method). The optional part were deep fried chocolate wontons. Partly due to time (and partly due to not wanting to deep fry) I only did the noodle soup.

I have made a chicken noodle soup before, but as I commented then I felt the one I cooked was a bit over simplified. Since then I have bought a bottle of fish sauce but I still don't like fresh coriander. I substituted the chicken for pork (sliced up British pork loin) which I cooked in the broth. I made the recipe as described below using some homemade chicken stock from the freezer and simply omitted the fresh coriander from my bowl. The flavours of the broth were delicious and I didn't feel mine was lacking in flavours without coriander. I think I would make this again as it was quiet simple (especially for a 'daring' challenge) and flavourful.
Vietnamese Chicken Pho

Preparation Time: 45 cooking time + 15 minutes to cook noodles based on package directions

Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Pho Broth:
2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)
½ onion
1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tbsps. sugar
1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 lb. (500 grams/16 ounces) dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:

2 cups (200 grams/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.
In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently.
Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.
Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.
Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.
Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

Enjoy!

Kidney disease cookbook

2009-10-09T13:32:00.006+01:00

Since I started this blog I receive a lot of emails from people wanting me to promote their offers or latest campaigns but I have never really been keen on turning my blog in to free advertising space. However the email I got today was different and it is something that I am willing to make available to you and tell you about. Basically I was asked to help make a cookbook for people with kidney disease available on my website and I have agree to do just that.

One in 10 people will develop chronic kidney disease in their lifetimes in the UK alone. Some of you may be familiar with the chef Lawrence Keogh from BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen but may not be aware that he had to have a kidney transplant at the age of 35, and as a result is now limited to what foods he can consume i.e. minimal amounts of salt, sugar and fat. On the back of this he developed a cookbook especially tailored for people who have or have had problems with their kidneys.
The book contains 16 recipes and is designed to help people cook meals that are still exciting and flavourful but move away from the quite often dull low phosphate diets that many sufferers have to contend with. He wrote the book in conjunction with a renal dietician who includes information throughout the book on why each recipe is suitable in kidney disease. I think this is a great little booklet for patients suffering from kidney disease and as such I am happy to support this campaign. Currently the booklet is only available free of charge from renal dieticians. However the aim is to make this cookbook available to as many kidney disease suffers as possible, so if you or someone you know suffers from kidney disease send me an email (purelyfood @ gmail.com) and I will email you a copy of the PDF.

A weekend in the Lakes

2009-10-06T18:00:00.002+01:00

This last weekend myself and my boyfriend went up to the lake district for a couple of nights. We had a great time relaxing, walking and enjoying delicious food. I thought I would share with you my photos and thoughts on some of the places we visited and/or ate.

We stayed at a very nice little B&B in the heart of Ambleside (stumbling distance from the pubs, restaurants and shops). The owners were really friendly and helpful, the breakfasts used local products where ever possible and our room was lovely and perfect for our needs.

We arrived Friday afternoon and after unpacking we set out to explore Ambleside and book somewhere to eat Friday and Saturday evening. Whilst wandering round Ambleside we discovered a fantastic specialist food shop - Lucy's Specialist Grocers. It stocks a wide range of food from around Cumbria including, breads, cheeses, fruit and veg and a vast selection of jams and chutneys. We bought a selection of spices shown below, all for under £2.50 (much more reasonable than the supermarket and you can control how much you buy).They also have two restaurants in Ambleside (but you really need to book ahead) and also a cooking school near Kendal.

Friday night we ate at The Glass House Restaurant and I really wish I hadn't left my camera in the B&B. The restaurant is a listed building, a converted mill and still has a working waterwheel (although it wasn't on when we were there). The restaurant is on a series of mezzanine flours and we were right at the top where all the machinery that powers the waterwheel are still visible on the ceiling. The food was delicious and reasonably priced for the lake district. Starters were around £5-6 and mains ranged from £10-14 (with the exception of a couple of more expensive dishes like fillet steak). I had the Caesar salad with warm poached egg and maple glazed pancetta to start and char grilled pork chop with bubble and squeak and courgette ribbons served with a creamy mustard sauce. My boyfriend started with crispy duck, bean sprouts, water chestnut and white radish salad and had the fish pie as a main. All the food was delicious including the complimentary bread basket to start with which I believe was home made.

On Saturday the weather started out wet and windy but if your going to the lakes you expect this. So we put on our walking boots and waterproofs and headed off to Grizedale Forest hoping the weather would improve. Thankfully it did, but not before pouring down on us! We had a good long walk through parts of the forest looking at the sculptures and as an added bonus we picked lots of blackberries.

By early afternoon we were starving so headed back to the visitors centre where there was a fantastic cafe. I don't know about anyone else but I find canteen style cafes at popular local attractions are either really bad (school dinner like, over cooked or simply prepacked sandwiches) or really good (local produce, flavourful and a reasonable amount of choice). Thankfully The Cafe in the Forrest at Grizdale fell in to the later category. The menu consisted of the usual burgers, sausages and chips but there were also casserole of the day (beef, mushrooms and Hawskhead ale) and venison burgers. I had the casserole of the day and my boyfriend had the pie of the day (Coniston beef and red wine) both cost approximately £7. Both dishes were very generous in size (the pie looks a lot smaller in this picture than it was), packed with flavour and perfect warming comfort food after a long walk. To finish with we shared a slice of their homemade toffee fudge cake. Again the portion size was very generous (more than enough to share) and the cake delicious. The only problem was it looked so delicious we forgot to take a photo!
Saturday evening we ate at Zeffirellis restaurant, a Mediterranean inspired vegetarian restaurant, cinema and jazz bar. Most Friday and Saturday evenings they have free live music upstairs in the jazz bar. We went both nights and really enjoyed ourselves. The food again was delicious and reasonably priced (around £9 for mains and pizza's). I had aubergine and mozzarella parmigiana and my boyfriend had vegetarian red bean chilli. Both dishes were very good portion sizes and full of flavour and neither of us missed the meat (a sign of a good vegeterian meal in my eyes). To finish with decided to spoil ourselves with a dessert each. I had their speciality chocolate sundae (all I can say is it was truly delicious) and my boyfriend had the tiramisu.
On Sunday it was time to pack up and head off home but not before spending the morning in Keswick followed by lunch and a spot of shopping at the Rhedged centre. They have 3 cafes and a selection of shops most selling local products. In the food shop we picked up a jar of Westmoorland's chutney and some diced shoulder of venison. If any one has any good recipes for venison stew/casserole which would be good for someone whose never cooked or eaten venison please let me know! The chutney was delicious in a simple cheese sandwich when we got home on Sunday evening. The bread is homemade Irish Blaas which I made before going away using Eat like a girls recipe. The bread is delicious with a soft light texture. I will certainly be making them again.
Enjoy!

Chocolate, pear and orange squares

2009-10-05T18:05:00.001+01:00

When I asked my boyfriend what dessert or cake he would like me to bake for his birthday the response I got was anything with chocolate and pears. The chocolate was no surprise (he LOVES chocolate) but the pear threw me a little. Chocolate and pear may be a classic, tasty pairing but none of my recipe books seemed to have any recipe ideas. Then a couple of weeks before his birthday I won a copy of 200 cakes and bakes, published by Hamlyn, via a weekly contest by Octopus books on twitter. When the book arrived I was pleased to see a delicious looking, simple to make chocolate, pear and orange squares recipe (a traybake).The cake was indeed simple to make and the end result was delicious. It rose well and was light and moist and the flavours mixed well together.
The rest of the recipes in this little book also look deliciously tempting. To name just a few that appeal to me there is a strawberry macaroon cake, chocolate truffle cake, chocolate and chestnut roulade and triple chocolate pretzels. The book is full of mouthwatering photographs to tempt you and the instructions all seem clear and simple.

Hopefully you will also notice an improvement in my photographs on this entry. I have just bought one of these mini photography studios and have noticed an improvement already. Hopefully once I have more time to play around with it they will get better still. The only disappointment with this purchase is there were no instructions provided what so ever. I noticed that a lot of the pictures I took on a white background had a pinkness to them. If anyone knows what is causing this and how to correct it that would be helpful.

Chocolate, pear and orange squares
Serves 8

175g butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
125g self-raising flour
75g self-raising wholemeal flour
25g coco powder
grated rind and 2 tbsp juice from 1 orange
4 small conference pears, peeled, halved and cored

To finish
sifted icing sugar
1 little grated chocolate
a little grated orange rind

Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in alternate spoonfuls of beaten egg and flour until all has been added and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the cocoa, orange rind and juice then spoon the mixture into an 18x28cm roasting tin lined with nonstick baking paper and spread the surface level.

Cut each pear half into long thin slices and fan out slightly but keep together in their original shape. Carefully lift on top of the cake and arrange in 2 rows of 4.

Bake in a preheated oven, 180C (350F), gas 4 for 30-35 minutes until well risen and the cake springs back when gently pressed with a fingertip.

Lift out of the tin using the lining paper, cut into 8 pieces and peel off the paper. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with grated chocolate and orange zest. Serve warm or cold as it is, or with ice cream or custard. Store in an air tight tin for up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven - Stuffed buns

2009-09-28T10:20:00.000+01:00

This months Fresh from the oven challenge was hosted by Ria from Ria's Collections. She picked a family favorite Stuffed Bun recipe for this month's challenge. It is basically a bun stuffed with a Spicy Indian Chicken filling (or a vegetarian filling if you prefer).

I'd seen a recipe for stuffed buns before that I liked the look of but this is the first time I've baked anything like this myself. I liked the idea though of the buns being a complete snack, bread buns filled with a delicious, spicy chicken mixture.

So how did I get on -
The dough was wetter than I am used to and I had to add some extra flour. I'm afraid I cheated a bit and didn't knead by hand for 10 minutes but used my KitchenAid. I also found that my dough didn't rise very much, after an hour and a half and very little rising I decided to carry on regardless with the rest of the recipe. Consequently I only managed to make 5 buns (should have made 12!), never the less the bread still tasted soft when finished. They are very quick to bake so keep an eye on them in the oven. The filling in these buns was delicious and as for the bread it's self I found it too sweet but my boyfriend loved it!

♥Stuffed Bun♥

Yields 12 buns

For the dough:

Ingredients

Dry yeast-1 tbsp

Warm water-2tbsp

Milk-1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil-1/2 cup

All purpose flour-2 cups

Sugar-1/4 cup

Egg-1, beaten

Egg white-1,for egg wash

White sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method

Dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1/2tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
Boil the milk and allow to cool down till it is warm to touch. Add sugar, oil and salt.
Mix well with a wooden spoon till the sugar dissolves and add 1 cup flour and mix to a smooth paste.
Add the beaten egg, yeast and mix.Add the remaining flour and mix well till it forms a smooth dough.
Knead well for 10 mins.[We knead it using our hands]
Let it rest till it doubles in volume.
Punch down the dough lightly using your palm and divide them equally.
Flatten them into small discs and fill them with 1 tbsp of the filling. Re-shape them into a ball.Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
Let it prove for another 20 mins.
Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 10 mins. When it starts to brown, give them an egg wash using 1 slightly beaten egg white.

♥Spicy Indian chicken filling♥

Ingredients

Boneless chicken-200g, boiled and shredded

Onions-4 big, finely chopped

Ginger garlic paste-1 tbsp

Chilli powder-1/2 -1tbsp [depending on your spice level]

Coriander powder-1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil-3 tbsp

Method

Heat oil, add the ginger garlic paste and saute till it gives out a nice aroma.
Add the onions. Saute them till soft and transparent.
Reduce the heat and add the powders and mix well for 2 mins.
Add the shredded chicken and mix well.
Keep it off the fire and let it cool.
Use it for filling the dough.

Daring Bakers - Vols-au-Vents

2009-09-27T14:40:00.000+01:00

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
When I first read this months challenge my first though was of the mushroom Vols-au-Vents of the 80's, from parties when I was a growing up. I'm also not a huge fan pastry so to say I wasn't as excited about this challenge as say the Bakewell tart or Dobos Torta would be an understatement. Then my second thought was that making puff pastry is supposed to be a challenge (which is why I joined the daring bakers after all) and something I should try making myself at least one so I decided to participate.

The main point of the challenge was the homemade puff pastry. Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish dough and croissant dough. (In fact, if you participated in the Danish Braid challenge back in June 2008, then you already know the general procedure for working with laminated dough.) A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

Making the puff pastry wasn't as hard as I thought (although mine didn't rise very much so I clearly haven't mastered the technique), it was more time consuming than anything else. I struggled all month to think up an interesting filling for my Vols-au-Vent's. In the end I saw some rhubarb tarts on Nigel Slater's simple suppers and decided to make them with some of the pastry I made and simply fill the Vols-au-Vent's with roasted rhubarb. Although the pastry didn't rise all that much (it probably doubled in height) it did have plenty of layers to it. I'd never roasted rhubarb before but I liked the way it maintained the pinkness and tasted delicious.

The verdict -

Did I enjoy the challenge? - yes
Would I have made puff pastry myself if wasn't for this challenge? - probably not
Would I make this recipe again? - again probably not, I'm not a big fan of pastry so I couldn't see me making my own puff pastry again.

My Rhubarb tart -

I have copied the recipe below for anyone who would like to have a go at puff pastry. I would strongly recommend you watch the Julia Child video mention below if you do want to have a go as it demonstrates all the folding, turning etc.

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…I listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.
(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)
Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.
Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.
Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)
Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)
Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.
Fill and serve.

Last days of summer....

2009-09-19T20:30:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday, on a gloriously sunny day, myself, my boyfriend, his sister and her boyfriend spent a day on a canal boat. We couldn't have asked for a better day, the weather really made it. We had great fun learning to drive the canal boat and enjoying the weather as we slowly cruised through the Cheshire countryside.The day before I prepared a range of goodies to enjoy throughout the day. I made a bottle of lemonade, baked a Bakewell tart, some mini pizza wheels and prepared a couscous salad. There was also a banana bread loaf and half a dozen or so blueberry muffins in the freezer so they were packed too.

The pesto couscous salad is something I came up with last summer and has been a regular summer lunch since then. Its really simple to prepare but very tasty to eat. Perfect for picnics, lunch boxes for work or just to enjoy as a quick weekend lunch. The quantities are quiet vague as it depends which flavours you prefer and can be adjusted accordingly. Sometimes I add a handful of pine nuts &/or some fresh basil leaves at the end. The recipe is at the end.
I also decided to try out an idea I remember seeing a magazine sometime back. The basic idea was to make a pizza, roll it up and then cut into slices and bake in the oven. The result is perfect picnic finger food. Delicious hot or cold.Pesto couscous salad
serves 2

100g couscous
Chicken or vegetable stock, hot
1-2tsp pesto
handful of feta cheese, cubed
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
handful of olives, halved

Pour the hot stock over the couscous until the couscous is just covered, cover the bowl and leave for 5 minutes or until the couscous has soaked up all the moisture. Fluff up the couscous with a folk.
Add the pesto and stir through well.
Add the other ingredients and mix well.
Serve while still warm or once cooled.

Mini pizza wheels
Makes approximately 20

For the dough
500g strong white bread flour
5g fast action yeast
10g salt
300ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
For the topping
4 tbsp passata or pizza sauce
1 ball of mozzarella
Topping of your choice
1 tsp dried oregano

Mix together all the ingredients for the dough. Knead either by hand or with a mixer for 10 min until smooth and silky. Shape into a round and leave to rise in a covered bowl for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
Knock the dough back. Knead again very briefly. Divide the dough in two. Use a rolling pin to roll each piece out on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangle which is about 1cm thick.
Spoon on 2tbsp pizza sauce onto each rectangle. Add the toppings of your choice (I did one with a couple of slices of torn up parma ham and one with olives and sun dried tomatoes), grate or tear the mozzarella over the two pizzas and finally sprinkle over the dried oregano.
Have the pizza so the longest edge is in front of you and then carefully roll it up like a Swiss roll.
Cut the roll into 2 cm thick slices and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Leave a good few cm around each one as the dough will rise slightly.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200C.

Cook book review - Easy tasty Italian - Laura Santtini

2009-09-17T09:05:00.001+01:00

Another great Italian cook book! I know I have only just reviewed Antonio Carluccio's simple cooking but what can I say I love cook books and I love Italian food. However this cook book is completely different to Antonio Carluccio's so there is room on my bookshelf and in my kitchen for both! This book is completely different to any cook book (Italian or otherwise) I have browsed through before. Its very unique in style and a little bit quirky too. This book claims that after reading this book your cooking will never be the same again! Quite a big statement perhaps but I suspect it maybe true. I've read my fair share of Italian cook books but I can definitely say I have learnt a thing or two already from this book (which has only been in my possession a couple of days). It's much more than a collection of recipes, this book aims to teach you how to create flavour bombs that make even simple food sensational.

The secret - umami. This is the fifth taste, discovered by the Japanese in 1908 but only recently accepted by Western scientists. Umami means deliciousness and refers to intensely savoury tastes. Laura has christened umami in the Italian kitchen 'u-mamma!'. Classic umami flavours in the Italian larder include tomatoes, Parmesan, white truffles and balsamic vinegar to name just a few. Reading this chapter on umami helped me understand why dishes as simple as Antonio Carluccio's cart driver spaghetti can taste so delicious (porcini mushrooms are another Italian umami flavour) and why the soffritto base (onions, carrot and celery) are such a key component of Italian cooking.

As well as the umami larder, there are details of the typical Italian larder (a comprehensive list of typical ingredients like beans and pulses, pastas, cheeses and seasonings) and of the alchemic larder. This alchemic larder suggests adding edible metals, dried flowers, nuts and seeds and many other ingredients designed to add magic to dishes.

The next chapter has basic recipes and procedures to prepare flavour bombs, "using ingredients as a writer uses words and an artist uses paints". These include flavoured mayonnaise's, pestos, flavoured butters and pastes as well as marinades. There are serving suggestions for each flavour enhancer. For example she suggests adding chilli, chocolate, wine paste to rich stews, marinading red meat in red u-mamma! marinade, serving sweet and sour carrots with honey & thyme as a side dish or stirring a spoonful of basic basil pesto in to minestrone soup.

The second section of the book contains the main recipes which are divided in to 4 sections Air 'I am raw', Water 'I was cooked', Fire 'I was burned' and Earth 'I am tasty'. Each chapter describes different techniques used in Italian cooking and has a selection of recipes with suggestions for variations and which taste bombs can be added.

Air uses only raw ingredients. So this chapter covers antipasti, carpaccio, ceviche & tartare and dips. Recipes include wild mushroom trifolata, crab salad with pomegranate and mint, tuna and orange carpaccio and aubergine and lavender dip.

Water covers the techniques of boiling, absorption and reduction (risottos), poaching and bagno-maria (gentle cooking in water that is merely hot). There are recipes for sweet potato soup which can be enhanced in several ways including the addition of the flavour bomb of tomato, pepper, orange and cinnamon paste. Pasta is of course included with notes on cooking pasta, making pasta sauces and recipes for the top 10 classic pasta sauces of all time. Risotto is also included, teaching the basic method and lots of tasty ways to transform the basic recipe. Other recipes include sea bass santini and u-mamma! meatloaf.
Fire covers grilling, frying and hob stews with a step by step guide to good grilling, suggestions for rubs and seasoning and recipes including a delicious looking lamb chops with u-mamma! grapes and no-fuss roasted sea bream.

Earth is all about creating delicious food through slow cooking including tender and moist looking rib of beef al barolo and leg-over lamb. There are also recipes for the top 10 Italian vegetable dishes and 12 quick and easy desserts.

This book is bursting with delicious looking and sounding recipes but more than I believe that Laura Santtini is right when she says it can transform your life in the kitchen. I already feel inspired to not only try some of the recipes in the book but also to try out the pastes and butters etc in dishes I already cook to give them the u-mamma! deliciousness they deserve.

Its not out in the shops until the 2nd October but I would recommend to anyone who enjoys cooking Italian food even if you thought you had all the Italian cookbooks you needed.

Thank you to Quadrille publishing for sending me this great book to review and tell you all about.

Further information:
Easy tasty Italian - Laura Santtini
Published by Quadrille publishing 2nd October 2009
Hardback, full colour photography, 192 pages
ISBN 978 184400 755 4
£20

Cookbook review -- Antonio Carluccio's simple cooking

2009-09-16T18:20:00.004+01:00

I'm sure any regular readers of this blog will be well aware I am a huge fan of Italian cooking, so it will come as no surprise that I love the latest cook book by Antonio Carluccio. In this book Antonio Carluccio is pulling together all the 'secrets' he has learned from over 50 years of professional experience. In his introduction to the book he describes his love of Italian food and the principles of using the best ingredients possible, cooking them simply and not letting anything go to waste. These principles are evident through out the book. Most recipe contains ideas on how to make them more special or how to use up left overs. All the recipes are simple, usually no more than a page each including the a brief introduction to each dish, an ingredients lists, the method and any variations and tips.

The book has chapters on starters and salads, soups, pasta, gnocchi, polenta and rice, meat, fish, vegetables and deserts. Each chapter has a brief introduction and the recipes then follow, most of them illustrated with stunning photos. Extra information is also provided on cooking pasta, polenta and rice and there is also a good section on pasta sauces and the best type of pasta to pair with them.

Beetroot salad with mint is simplicity at its best and looks stunning and delicious. Pasta and bean soup, cep and cannellini bean veloute and simple fish soup are just a few of the soups that I look forward to cooking this autumn/winter. All the pasta recipes look stunningly simple, as do the risottos. Neapolitan beef olive stew, chicken baked with rosemary and garlic and tiramisu all look delicious and simple.

I tried my first recipe from the book one night last week after work - Cart-driver's spaghetti. It was incredibly simple and quick to cook and tasted fantastic. It's a simple pasta dish of tomatoes, tinned tuna and dried porcini. As I was cooking the recipe I wondered if it would be tasty as there were no herbs etc in it but I needn't of worried as it was delicious (my review of Easy tasty Italian coming up tomorrow will explain how a dish this simple can taste so much better than expected). UK readers may have seen Antonio Carluccio cook this recipe last night on Market kitchen where you will have seen just how simple it is to prepare. Great as a simple, week night supper and the recipe is included at the end of this post.

This book is a great, simple cook book for those new to cooking with an interest in Italian cuisine. It is also good for any Italian cooking enthusiasts (like myself) will also appreciate the simplicity of all the dishes and Antonio Carluccio's fantastic knowledge and passion for Italian food and cooking.

Cart-driver spaghetti
Serves 2

200g spaghetti
salt and pepper

Sauce
1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
4 tbsp olive oil
2 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
25g dried porcini (ceps), rehydrated and finely sliced
100g canned tuna in oil, drained

For the sauce, fry the onion in a pan with the olive oil until soft, about 5-6 minutes, then add the tomatoes and fry for 15 minutes. Add the sliced porcini and some of the liquid, along with the tuna and some salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente, about 5-6 minutes. Drain, mix with the sauce and serve immediately.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me this book to review.

Further information:
Antonio Carluccio's Simple cooking
Published by Quadrille publishing in 2009.
Hardback, full colour photographs, 176 pages.
ISBN 978 184400 734 9
Price £20
Available to buy now.

Banana muffins

2009-09-09T20:10:00.005+01:00

Do you have two blackened bananas sitting in your fruit bowls just crying out to be turned into banana bread? Yes, then this is the post for you.
Every year in the UK we throw out 6.7 million tonnes of food, most of which could have been eaten. 40% of this is fresh fruit and vegetables (and bananas are in the top 5 fruit and veg we throw away). These facts are just a few of the facts on Love food, hate waste campaign website. The website is jam packed with ideas and tips for reducing waste and saving money as well as lots of great recipes for using up leftovers.

I've blogged in the past about some of the ways I reduce waste which as a nice side effect also saves money. For example making the most of a chicken, meal planning and using this as a basis for a shopping list and freezing leftovers. There are also a growing number of cook books on the market about making the most of the food we buy. The basic principle most of these book encourage is buying the best quality food you can afford and making sure you get the best out of it and don't waste any. One such book is The new English Kitchen by Rose Prince which is full of tips and recipes to help you get the most of the food you buy. It covers everything from baking your own bread, making your own stock, cooking with cheaper cuts of meat and the principle of making food in to more than one meal. Another similar book is The thrifty cookbook 476 ways to eat well with leftovers by Kate Colquhoun. These two books aren't full of mouth watering colour photographs of the recipes but instead they are packed full of great advice and recipe ideas and the authors passion for food and making the most of it are evident.

The other day I had a very sad looking fruit bowl, a couple of blackened bananas and a few apples that had seen better days. So I decided to turn the bananas in to banana bread and the apples combined with a few cooking apples I stewed and turned in to a crumble. For the crumble topping I used a mixture of the left over topping (stored in the freezer) from making the blueberry muffins, porridge oats and broken up pecan nuts. The crumble was delicious served with some natural yogurt. The banana muffins were also very tasty and a great nutritious treat to add to our lunch boxes. Kate gives a basic banana cake recipe in her book and lists a few variations. I like mine with mixed spice and chopped nuts to give it plenty of flavour and the nuts give a bit of texture. I have made it as a loaf and as muffins and I love both. Two delicious treats from one neglected fruit bowl.

Banana cake
The thrifty cookbook

2 bananas, past there best, the blacker the better. Mashed with a fork.
1 egg
130g Self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
55g very soft butter
100g caster sugar

Optional:
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tsp mixed spice

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Line a small loaf tin, about 22x12cm. Lining with parchment paper to make the cake easier to remove.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix together and combine well with a fork. Depending on how mushy the bananas are, you might need to add a dessertspoon of warm water or milk to give the mixture a thick dropping consistency.
Put the whole lot in the loaf tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. If the cake gets too brown on top, you might need to cover it with a piece of foil for the last 5 minutes or so.
When a fine metal skewer or piece of raw spaghetti poked into the centre comes out clean the cake is done. Let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen them and turn the cake out on to a wire rack to cool.
Alternatively, you could spoon the mixture into a muffin tray lined with paper cases, in which case reduce the cooking time to 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cookbook review - The ultimate student cookbook - Fiona Beckett

2009-09-06T20:21:00.005+01:00

This is the forth student cookbook by Fiona Beckett following on from the Beyond bake beans series. This forth book is a compilation of the most popular recipes from the three previous books along with some new recipes by three student cooks. The students are Signe Johansen, Guy Million and James Ramsden who are all university students with a keen interset in cooking. They all have their own food blogs and are regular contributors on the beyond bake bean website and facebook page. As well as contributing their own recipes to the book they have added really useful comments and tips throughout the whole book. There is even a foreword by Heston Blumenthal.
The book starts off with some really useful information on basic kitchen kit, store cupboard ingredients, shopping on a budget, healthy eating and drinking and food hygiene and safety. The book then moves on to its collection of over 200 recipes. They are divided into 4 chapters; quick and easy recipes for 1 or 2, cheap and tasty meals for 3 or 4, flashy show-off recipes and yummy puds, cakes and cocktails. Through out the book there are lots of mouthwatering pictures of the recipes and lots of tips. Tips at the end of the recipes from the three students include useful advice such as money saving tips, ideas for left overs and extra tips on how to do certain steps of the recipe. Many of the recipes also have a handy list of variations you can try so you'll never be stuck for inspiration.

The recipes cover the basics such as the perfect mash potato, how to cook rice and pasta, as well as many delicious sounding recipes for everything from chilli con carne, homemade kebabs, curries and pasta sauces to delicious desserts like strawberry pavlova and chocolate mousse. All in all this is a very comprehensive collection of student recipes with lots of great tips and advice. And even better it is great value for money too.

Further information:
The ultimate student cookbook - Fiona Beckett with student cooks Signe Johansen, Guy Million and James Ramsden.
Published by Absolute Press in 2009.
Hardback, full colour illustrations, 288 pages.
ISBN 9781906650070
Price £10
Available to buy now.

Thanks to Absolute Press for sending me a review copy of this book.

Cook book review - The Jewish princess guide to fabulosity

2009-09-02T21:39:00.001+01:00

You might be thinking this doesn't sound like a recipe book and you'd be right. It's sold as a guide to being fabulous for all princesses but it does have a collection of delicious recipes in every section. I don't think this book is purely aimed at Jewish women either. The vast majority of the tips and articles relate to any woman, whatever her religion.I have to be honest this is not a book I would normally pick up in a book shop. I've never really read/bought any of these books that claim to be lifestyle guides for modern day women. However I'd heard good things about The Jewish princess cook books and knew this book also contained recipes so I volunteered to review the book. In the spirit of reviewing the book fairly I didn't just read the recipes but also the guides and hints and tips.

The book is beautifully illustrated throughout in full colour and the authors style is fun and witty. There are chapters on fabulous families, shopping, travel, dating and self maintenance to name just a few of the chapters. Each chapter also has 5 recipes at the end of each chapter that some how relate to the chapter. For example the chapter on dating has recipes entitled "a fabulous dinner for two". Recipes include chocolate fudge cake (which sounds divine), mousaka and roast maple duck. I tried out miso lime salmon at the weekend which was simple to make and flavourful.

In my opinion, if you like the lifestyle guide style of book you can't go far wrong with this book. It is feminine, witty and beautifully illustrated and as an add bonus there are some simple, delicious recipes included.

Further information:
The Jewish princess guide to fabulosity, Tracy Fine & Georgie Tarn
Published by Quadrille publishing in 2009.
Hardback, full colour illustrations, 192 pages.
ISBN 13 978 184400754 7
Price £12.99
Available to buy now.

Thanks to Quadrille publishing for sending me a review copy of this book.

The best blueberry muffin recipe?

2009-08-30T09:34:00.006+01:00

This might just be the most delicious blueberry muffin recipe around. It's from Ottolenghi the cookbook. If you haven't seen this cookbook it is definitely worth a read. The baking section alone is fantastic but there are also lots of delicious sounding/looking vegetable, meat and fish dishes. This is the first recipe I have tried from the book and it was a difficult choice picking which one to try first. The pictures throughout the book are absolutely stunning and will have your mouth watering. My copy at the moment is from my local library but it is definitely going on my wish list of books I want to own.

I baked these the other day and they are simply delicious. They taste of blueberries, lemon and a hint of apple and they have a delicious crumble topping. Like all muffin recipes they are simple to make. The trick is to keep stirring to a minimum when mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. There should still be some unmixed lumps. The recipe says it should make 10-12 muffins. I ran out of muffin cases after making 6 and the mixture went on to make a further 18! mini muffins. I think even if I hadn't run out of muffin cases it would have made a few more than 12.

Blueberry crumble muffins
Ottolenghi the cookbook

Crumble
300g plain flour
100g caster sugar
200g cold butter, cut into small cubes

Put the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and mix with your hands to work into a uniform breadcrumb consistency. Make sure there are no lumps of butter left.
Transfer to a plastic container. It will keep it the fridge for up to 5 days or for ages in the freezer.

Blueberry crumble muffins
Makes 10-12

540g plain flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 free-range eggs
340g caster sugar
140g unsalted butter, melted
380ml milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Granny Smith apple (unpeeled), cut into 1cm dice
200g fresh blueberries, plus a few extra for the topping.
1/2 quantity of crumble

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas mark 3. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, sugar and melted butter (make sure it is not too hot). Whisk in the milk and lemon zest, then gently fold in the fruit.
Add the sifted dry ingredients and fold together very gently. Make sure you stir just enough to combine; it should remain lumpy and rough.
Spoon the mixture into muffin cases to fill them up. Generously cover with the crumble topping to form small domes over the batter, then dot with a few extra blueberries. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Take out of the tins while still warm.

Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven - English muffins

2009-08-28T09:01:00.006+01:00

This months fresh from the oven challenge was hosted by myself. I bought the River Cottage handbook Bread by Daniel Stevens (published by Bloomsbury) a month or so back and decided I wanted to do a challenge from there. I thought it might be nice to do something other than a loaf so I have picked English Muffins. I love English muffins toasted and buttered for breakfast and buy them regularly but I have heard they are even better when homemade. I have attempted English muffins once before and the results were not good - most were burnt on the outside and doughy in the middle. I suspected I had the heat on too high but they showed promise so I thought I would try again and what better way to do that than through this baking challenge where we can all help each other out and ask for advice.I really enjoyed this challenge. The recipe was easy to follow and the resulting muffins were delicious. Much better than my first attempt!

This dough is soft so you may prefer to use a mixer if you have one.

English Muffins

Makes 9
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
5g powdered dried yeast
10g fine salt
325ml warm water

A drizzle of sunflower oil, plus extra for coating
A handful of semolina flour, for coating

To knead by hand: mix the flour, yeast, salt and water in a bowl to form a sticky dough. Add the oil, mix it in, then turn the dough out on to a clean work surface. Knead until smooth and silky.

Or, to use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add the flour, yeast, salt and water to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then add the oil and leave to knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and silky.

Shape the dough into a round, coat with a little extra oil and place in a clean bowl. Leave to rise, covered with a plastic bag until doubled in size.

Tip the dough out on to the work surface and press all over to deflate. Divide into 9 pieces, shape each into a round and flatten to about 1-2cm. Dust them all over with semolina flour; this gives a lovely texture to the crust. Leave to prove on a linen cloth or wooden board, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.
Heat a couple of large heavy-based frying pans over a medium heat. Lay the muffins in the pans and cook for a minute or so, then turn them over gently. Cook slowly for a further 10 minutes, turning every now and then. You may need to adjust the heat if they are colouring too fast, or not fast enough. Alternatively, if you are using an Aga, cook the muffins directly on the warm plate for up to 15 minutes, give them a quick blast on the hot side at the end, if you think they need it. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Fresh from the oven - Baking one loaf at a time.

Fresh from the oven is a monthly bread baking group started by Brooke and now handed over (Brooke's first baby is due next month - good luck Brooke) to myself and Jules. Challenges are announced on our private blog on the first of each month and then on the 28th of the month each member posts their bread on their blogs. Why not follow us on twitter, view our public blog which showcases all our efforts or email us to join at freshfromtheoven AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk.

Daring Bakers August - Dobos Torte

2009-08-27T09:00:00.012+01:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
A spoonful of sugar was one of the first blogs I regularly read before I started my own earlier this year. I even emailed Angela for advice before I set up this blog and she was kind enough to reply. So I was keen to see what recipe she had chosen for us. I knew it would be a good one and I knew it would be daring.

August 1st came round and I checked the forum excited to see what she had picked. My first thoughts on seeing the recipe and the pictures was wow, the cake looked amazing and sounded delicious. Then I read the recipe and looked at the cake again and started to feel a little intimated by all the steps and the immaculate presentation of the cakes. Whilst reading other peoples comments I knew I wasn't alone in thinking these thoughts but then we did sign up for a challenge when we joined the group.

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

I have copied the original recipe across and included my pictures throughout. I didn't use the buttercream recipe here as I wanted my boyfriend's sister who is pregnant to be able to eat it. Instead I made a chocolate ganache with 200g dark chocolate and 200ml cream. Added a portion or this to a basic butter and icing sugar butter cream and used this to sandwich the layers together and then coated the whole cake in the chocolate ganache. My caramel layer didn't turn out as it should of done. It smelt like it was burning so I took it off the heat and poured it over the cake layer, only to find it wasn't caramelised at all. However it did give the cake wedges on the top a delicious taste, even if it didn't look as impressive as it should. The "caramel" layer was at least edible. Some comments on the forum said that this layer was inedible and had to be removed. I was a little disappoint with the look of the cake but once I cut in to it and saw all the layers and once we all tasted it it didn't matter about the poor "caramel" layer.All in all I enjoyed baking this cake and we all enjoyed eating it. It was quiet rich but tasted fantastic. Would I make it again? Probably but not for a little while and I might not bother with the caramel layer.

Equipment

2 baking sheets
9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
a sieve
a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
a small saucepan
a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
metal offset spatula
sharp knife
a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
pinch of salt

Directions for the sponge layers:

NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)
Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)
In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Chocolate Buttercream

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine's note: If you're in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you'll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Caramel topping

1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Directions for the caramel topping:

Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Enjoy!

Garlic butter

2009-08-26T11:31:00.013+01:00

Last week I was asked to come up with a recipe using Kerrymaid garlic butter which is new to the market. Easy I thought, who doesn't like garlic butter? I personally love the smell of just baked garlic bread and it tastes delicious too. I sometimes make my own garlic butter (its simple to make and freezes well), sometimes I cheat and buy it and sometimes I use an extra virgin olive oil with garlic (a great store cupboard cheat to have a round).

So I started to think up ideas for a recipe using Kerrymaid garlic butter. Garlic bread - too simple and obvious! (I've included a recipe and pictures any way at the end), or what about rubbing it under the skin of a chicken before roasting it (again possible too simple as a recipe but I bet it would be delicious). Finally I decided on using it to flavour and cook mushrooms to combine with spaghetti. This is a dish based on a recipe for pasta with portobello mushrooms a nd mascapone I made earlier in the year. I adapted the recipe not long after I blogged it to make it healthier, so I omitted the mascapone and played around with the flavours a bit. I usually cook the mushrooms in olive oil with a couple of cloves of garlic but garlic butter works well as a bit of a cheat. I also think that mushrooms cooked in this way would make a delicious topping for bruschetta.

Spaghetti with mushrooms cooked with garlic, lemon and thyme
Serves 2

200g mushrooms (I use portobello or chestnut but I imagine other varieties would work too), sliced
200g dried spaghetti
Dried thyme (fresh would have been good but I didn't have any).
1-2 sachets of Kerrymaid garlic butter, (plus a splash of olive oil to stop the butter burning)
good splash of white wine
Salt and pepper
zest and juice of half a lemon
Parmesan to serve

Tip: Use a soft toothbrush to brush away any dirt from the mushrooms before slicing them.

Put a large pan of water on to boil and once it reaches a fast boil add your pasta.
Meanwhile heat the butter with a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan, sprinkle in a good pinch of dried thyme and the lemon zest.
Once the frying pan is hot (I cook mushrooms on a high heat so they don't release all their water) add the mushrooms, stir frequently.
Add a good splash of white wine to the mushrooms shortly after adding them to the pan.
Once the pasta is almost cooked, add the lemon juice to the mushrooms, stir to mix well and season to taste. Then add the pasta to the frying pan.
Stir to coat the pasta well in the sauce and add pasta water as required to form the desired consistency.Cook for a couple of minutes so the pasta absorbs the flavours.
Serve with grated Parmesan on top.

Garlic bread

I made a simple white bread dough:
250g white bread flour
3g dried yeast
4g salt
about half a tablespoon of olive oil
160ml warm water.

Mixed and kneaded it (for 5 minutes) in my KitchenAid and then left it to rise until doubled in size.
I then halved the dough, made each piece in to an oval shape, pricked all over with a folk and then topped with a couple of knobs of garlic butter on each. Bake for 15 minutes (or until golden) in a 200C oven.
Eat whilst still warm.

Cookbook review - Cake chic, Peggy Porschen

2009-08-20T19:06:00.008+01:00

This beautiful book by Peggy Porschen will be equally as at home on your coffee table as it is in the kitchen, perhaps even more so. It is full of stunning cakes and exquisite cookies that I can only dream of one day being able to recreate. From cookies shaped and decorated like little black dresses and ballet pumps to three tier cakes decorated in various styles. There are even cakes decorated to look like handbags and hat boxes. It is a sophisticated, girly book that I love to pick up and browse through.Peggy Porschen has had two highly successful books before this - Pretty party cakes and Romantic cakes. She has made cakes for the likes of Madonna, Stella McCartney and Sir Anthony Hopkins. She also supplies Fortnum and Mason with seasonal ranges of decorated cookies and cakes.

Cake chic is a collection of recipes and step by step cake decorating instructions with lots of gorgeous pictures. As well as designs for decorating cookies, mini cakes (including cup cakes) and large cakes there is a very useful chapter on the basics. This section goes through the basic tools required (a fairly extensive list actually), recipes for cakes, cookie, icings and frostings and tutorials on how to layer cakes, cover cake boards and piping techniques amongst other things. Although I don't feel experienced/talented enough to attempt any of these stunning designs I will be trying out the cake/cookie recipes and using the basics section to learn how to marble cakes, dip cup cakes and learn basic piping techniques.

Perhaps one day I will be brave enough to attempt some of the simpler designs in this book but I'm not sure I would be able to do them justice. For now I will be happy admiring the cakes and using the basics section as a resource when baking.

Further information:
Cake chic, Peggy Porschen
Published by Quadrille publishing in 2009.
Hardback, full colour illustrations, 144 pages.
ISBN 978 184400 710 3
Price £20
Available to buy now.

Cookbook review - The Eagle cookbook - David Eyre & The Eagle chefs

2009-08-17T14:35:00.003+01:00

I'm going to start this review being totally honest with you:

I've never eaten at The Eagle,
Up until hearing about this book on Twitter I wasn't even aware of this gastropub,
I haven't seen the original recipe book (which this new book is an update and redesign of) - Big flavours and rough edges,
I received this book free in order to review it from Absolute Press.

So for those of you like me that aren't aware of The Eagle, it is a gastropub in Farringdon London which was taken over by chefs David Eyre and Michael Belben in 1991. This was the first gastropub, revolutionising the way we British eat out. Since then gastropubs have sprung up all over the country, offering great quality food in a relaxed environment.

Anyway on to the cookbook. There are chapters on:

soups (including Andalucian garlic soup with soft boiled egg and spicy mussel soup),
salads (roasted pumpkin and red onion salad and Spanish roast vegetable salad),
meals on toast (bruschetta),
eggs for dinner,
pasta (penne with sausage, tomato and sage and egg fettuccine with ricotta, peas and smoked pancetta),
rice (risottos and paellas),
fish (Baked sea bass with tomatoes),
meat (grilled leg of venison and braised garlic chicken)
and side dishes (Sicillian aubergine relish and celeriac mash)

Each chapter includes an introduction to the chapter including such topics as what to pair fish with, grilling and roasting meat and a particularly good page on risotto law and rules. I especially like the way each recipe has a short introductory paragraph or two including a description of the flavours or the look of the dish, its origin and helpful hints and tips. Beautiful photographs are used throughout the book, not only to illustrate the mouthwatering, delicious looking food but also of The Eagle pub. I loved the writing style and the layout of the book as well. I may have only cooked one recipe from the book so far but I have read much more of the book and learnt alot.

On my first flick through of the book I thought the recipes were going to be complex, the types of recipes that are great to cook when you want to impress but not much good for everyday cooking. Although these recipes look and sound like they would certainly impress, on closer inspection many of them are not as complicated as I imagined. There is a good mixture of relatively simple dishes (some quick, some not so quick) and some that are a bit more complicated but the emphasis of the book is very much on using good quality ingredients, maximising the flavours and cooking great food in a relatively simple manner. I tried out one recipe from the book which with the permission of the publishers I have included below. It was simple, quick and tasty. I will definitely cooking this recipe again and I am already looking forward to trying out more recipes from the book. In particular I can see myself trying out some of the pasta dishes, the soups and stews in the autumn/winter and the next time I do want to cook something a bit special this will be the first book off the shelf.Grilled chicken breasts with oregano, lemon and black pepper
David Eyre

Serves 4
4 large free range chicken breasts
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano (or marjoram) - you could use dried for a different result, but use less than half the quantity
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small dried chilli, crushed
More freshly ground black pepper than you would expect - about 1 level tablespoon
2 lemons
Sea salt

Wash and dry the chicken breasts. Mix with the oreagano, oil, chilli, black pepper and grated zest of one of the lemons and leave to marinate whilst the grill heats up or the charcoal dies down to an even medium heat.
when ready to cook, salt the chicken and squeeze one of the lemons all over them.
Cook the breasts, turning them 90 degrees once on each side, then remove from the heat.
Squeeze the juice of the other lemon over them, sprinkle with a little more olive oil and leave to rest for a moment. If you happen to have some truffle oil, now is the time to make good use of it.
Serve with a mixed leaf salad containing chives, parsley and spring onions.

My version:
I used dried oregano and didn't use any truffle oil. I cooked mine on a griddle pan after leaving the chicken to marinade for about one hour (there was no length of time specified in the recipe so I don't know if this was too long or too short). I served mine with new potatoes, griddled courgettes and oyster mushrooms.

Thank you to Absolute Press for sending me a review copy of this fantastic book.

Further information:
The Eagle cookbook - David Eyre & The Eagle chefs.
Published by Absolute Press in 2009.
Hardback, full colour illustrations, 192 pages.
ISBN 9781906650056
Price £20
Available to buy now.

Daring Cooks - Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes

2009-08-14T09:00:00.007+01:00

This months Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes. She chosen a delicious Spanish recipe, Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment. The recipe is from his US TV show Made in Spain. To watch how Jose Andres cooks this dish click here for a utube video.

After missing last months Daring Cooks challenge I was looking forward to finding out this months challenge. Initially I was not looking forward to the recipe but I decided to substitute the cuttlefish for chicken and give it a go anyway. During July I didn't spend all that much time in my kitchen so this was the first time in a while I got back in the kitchen and cooked something that wasn't familiar, quick or simple. Once I started to cook I started to realise just how much I had missed the relaxation and enjoyment I get from cooking. Since this is supposed to be a challenge I decided to try the Allioli using the traditional method. It was a complete disaster to say the least! But not one to give up I started again and made it following the modern method which worked well. However neither me or my boyfriend like the taste of raw garlic so we didn't really enjoy the alloli however I'm glad we gave it a try.

I really enjoyed cooking this recipe and the resulting dish was absolutly deliscious and very flavourful. I'm really glad I joined the Daring Cooks as otherwise I would have never cooked this dish. I froze the left over sofregit so in a few weeks I can cook this dish again and it will only take half the time! However I can definately see myself cooking the whole recipe from scratch again (without the allioli) and even looking up further recipes from Made in Spain. Thanks again Olga for chosing this recipe and hosting this months challenge.

Rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish (or chicken in my case!) and artichokes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

serves 4

4 Artichokes (you can use jarred or freezed if fresh are not available)
12 Mushrooms (button or Portobello)
1 or 2 Bay leaves (optional but highly recommended)
1 glass of white wine
2 Cuttlefish (you can use freezed cuttlefish or squid if you don’t find it fresh). I substituted this with chicken breasts.
“Sofregit” (see recipe below)
300 gr (2 cups) Short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain. This kind of rice absorbs flavor very well) – about 75 gr per person ( ½ cup per person) Please read this for more info on suitable rices.
Water or Fish Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
saffron threads (if you can’t find it or afford to buy it, you can substitute it for turmeric or yellow coloring powder)
Allioli (olive oil and garlic sauce, similar to mayonnaise sauce) - optional

Directions:

Cut the cuttlefish in little strips (or dice the chicken).
Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish (or chicken) in the pan.
If you use fresh artichokes, clean them and cut in eights.
Clean the mushrooms and cut them in fourths.
Add a bay leaf to the chicken and add also the artichokes and the mushrooms.
Sauté until you get a golden color in the artichokes.
Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
Add a couple or three tablespoons of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit.
Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Sofregit (a well cooked and fragrant sauce made of olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and onions, and may at times different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms)

Cooking time: aprox. 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup of button or Portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 Bay leaf
Salt
Touch of ground cumin
Touch of dried oregano

Directions:

Put all the ingredients together in a frying pan and sauté slowly until all vegetables are soft.
Taste and salt if necessary (maybe it’s not!)

Allioli is the optional part of the recipe. You must choose one of the two recipes given, even though I highly recommend you to try traditional one. Allioli is served together with the rice and it gives a very nice taste

Allioli (Traditional recipe)
Cooking time: 20 min aprox.
Ingredients:

4 garlic cloves, peeled
Pinch of salt
Fresh lemon juice (some drops)
Extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred but not essential)

Directions:

Place the garlic in a mortar along with the salt.
Using a pestle, smash the garlic cloves to a smooth paste. (The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)
Add the lemon juice to the garlic.
Drop by drop; pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.
Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar. The drip needs to be slow and steady. Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.
Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise. If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out. This takes time—around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar—to create a dense, rich sauce.

José's tips for traditional recipe: It's hard to think that, when you start crushing the garlic, it will ever turn into something as dense and smooth as allioli. But don't give up. It's worth the extra time and effort to see the oil and garlic come together before your eyes. Just make sure you're adding the olive oil slowly, drop by drop. Keep moving the pestle around the mortar in a circular motion and keep dreaming of the thick, creamy sauce at the end of it all.

Allioli a la moderna (Modern recipe)
Cooking time: 3-4 minutes
Ingredients:

1 small egg
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (as above, Spanish oil is highly recommended)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 Tbs. Spanish Sherry vinegar or lemon juice (if Sherry vinegar is not available, use can use cider or white vinegar)
Salt to taste

Directions:

Break the egg into a mixing bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic cloves, along with the vinegar or lemon juice.
Using a hand blender, start mixing at high speed until the garlic is fully pureed into a loose paste.
Little by little, add what's left of the olive oil as you continue blending.
If the mixture appears too thick as you begin pouring the oil, add 1 teaspoon of water to loosen the sauce.
Continue adding the oil and blending until you have a rich, creamy allioli.
The sauce will be a lovely yellow color.
Add salt to taste.

José's tips for modern recipe:
(1) If you do not have access to a hand blender, you can use a hand mixer (the kind with the two beaters) or a food processor. If you use a food processor, you must double the recipe or the amount will be too little for the blades to catch and emulsify.
(2) What happens if the oil and egg separate? Don't throw it out. You can do two things. One is to whisk it and use it as a side sauce for a fish or vegetable. But if you want to rescue the allioli, take 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water in another beaker and start adding to the mix little by little. Blend it again until you create the creamy sauce you wanted.

Olga’s Tips:
(1) In Spain, rice is not stired as often as it is when cooking Italian risotto. You must stir it once or twice maximum. This tip is valid for all Spanish rice dishes like paella, arròs negre, arròs a banda…
(2) When cooking the alternative style you can change the cuttlefish or squid for diced potato.
(3) If you can’t find cuttlefish or squid, or you’re not able to eat them because of allergies, you can try to substitute them for chicken or vegetables at your choice.
(4) Sofregit can be done in advance. You can keep it in the fridge or even freeze it.
(5) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(6) For more information on how to clean and remove the heart of artichokes, please watch this video
(7) To tone down the taste when you do it by hand in a mortar, then add an egg yolk. If you want to tone it down in the alternative way use milk or soy milk. Anyway, the best alternative way is the original oil and garlic alone.
(8) Allioli must be consumed during the preparation day and preserved in the fridge before using it.
(9) For help on conversion on metric to imperial, visit this page.

Enjoy!

Summer days - Homemade lemonade

2009-08-11T17:00:00.001+01:00

So the sun finally showed its face in the UK for a couple of days this weekend. In honour of the glorious weather, I decided to make a bottle of lemonade. I have always preferred traditional, cloudy lemonade, enjoying the real lemony flavour but this is the first time I made it myself. It won't be the last time though as it is really simple and tastes far better than shop bought versions. I used a recipe I had torn out of one of the supermarket magazines but I'm not sure which one.
To make the most of the great weather we went walking on Saturday in Dovedale again. It's a really nice area for walking (although a little over crowded on a hot, August weekend) and they sell great ice cream which I have previously wrote about but tasted even better on a hot day, after a long walk. On Sunday we finished off the lemonade sat in the garden reading. I have a selection of review copies of cookbooks that are being released in August/September to tell you about in the next couple of weeks so I enjoyed a lazy Sunday flicking through these gorgeous books deciding which recipes to try and what to tell you all about them. Expect the first review in the next few days of The Eagle Cookbook by David Eyre Published by Absolute press. I cooked a delicious chicken recipe form this book on Sunday evening so expect to hear all about it and the rest of the book in the next few days.

Homemade lemonade
Makes around 1 litre

6 lemons
150g granulated sugar
1 litre water

To serve
Sparkling water

Peel the skin off the lemons and place in a large pan, taking care not to take any of the bitter white pith off with it.
Squeeze the juice of all 6 lemons into the pan and add the water and the sugar.
Heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Allow to boil fairly rapidly for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve and pour into bottles. Seal and store in the fridge until ready to serve, preferably within 24 hours.
To serve, half fill a glass with lemonade and top up with sparkling water and add some ice cubes.

Enjoy!

Scones

2009-08-03T19:23:00.005+01:00

Whilst on holiday in Anglesey we visited The Anglesey Jam Factory, a traditional Welsh farmhouse producing and selling a wide range of preserves, marmalades and chutneys, as well as stocking Anglesey honey. We were particularly drawn to the jams as they sounded delicious and a bit different from the normal flavours. There was Blackcurrant preserve with Black Mountain Liqueur, Apricot preserve with Amaretto and Rhubarb preserve with crushed ginger and Cointreau; to name just a few. We finally settled on a jar of Morello cherry preserve with kirsch to purchase and take home with us. If your ever in the area it is well worth a visit.

My boyfriend is the jam fan in our house. He loves it spread on toast for breakfast but for me toast is for spreading marmite on or just simply butter. This jam sounded too delicious for me to miss out on, so I decided to bake some scones to spread it on. I wanted to keep the flavour of the scones simple so that the flavours of the jam would really be able to shine so I didn't put any dried fruits in these ones. I originally found a Nigel Slater recipe in a back issue of Sainsbury's magazine but it required buttermilk or milk & natural yogurt neither of which were currently in my fridge. In the end I found a recipe in Farmer's Market cookbook by Ysanne Spevack. I modified the recipe as it had no sugar in it and I was a little concerned they maybe too plain so I added 25g caster sugar (the quantity Nigel Slater used for the same weight of flour). The resulting scones had a good texture and worked really well with the jam. The jam was the real star of the show it was really delicious. I can see me making another batch of scones just so I can have more of this jam!
Scones
Makes about 10 scones

225g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
50g butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
75ml milk

Preheat the oven to 200C/425F/Gas7.
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg and milk.
Mix with a fork or butter knife to form a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly until smooth.
Roll out the dough to about 2cm thickness and cut out as many scones as you can.
Roll all the trimmings together and roll to 2cm thickness and cut out a couple more scones. Repeat until all the dough is used.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until pale and risen.
Serve slightly warm.

Enjoy!

Able and Cole - Summer range

2009-07-29T20:35:00.001+01:00

This month I have a selection of food including dips and spreads from the new Able and Cole summer range to tell you about. I will start off completely up front and say I received these free of charge in return for a blog post review of them.

I received the following items:

Black Olive Houmous, Abel & Cole (200g)
White Cornish Crab, Seafood and Eat it (100g)
Riserva Prosciutto (55g)
Taleggio (250g)
Roast Pepper and Feta Quiche (340g)

First off we had a quick Sunday night meal of quiche with the black olive houmous spread on homemade bread. Both were delicious! Black olives were a nice addition to an otherwise very tasty houmous and something I would eat again and perhaps even have a go at making myself.

The houmous had just the right balance of flavours and worked really well with my seeded, wholemeal loaf. The quiche its self was also really tasty. I love feta in quiches but would not normally choose anything with peppers in but I actually quiet enjoyed this combination and the sweetness due to the pepper being roasted first.I had never eaten crab before I received this so I can't compare the quality of this product to anything I have previously bought but it was absolutely delicious! I did a bit of searching on the Internet and found a recipe for crab linguine. The resulting dish was delicious. The chilli, lemon and garlic really enhanced the crabs flavours. The crab didn't go in to the dish until near the end but I decided to try some without the additional flavours and loved it so it was lucky there was any left by the time it was needed!

That just leaves the prosciutto and the taleggio. Taleggio was completely new to me, never heard of it, let alone tried it. After some research on the Internet I discovered it was a good melting cheese as well as being delicious spread on bread. I tried it both spread on bread (tasty but a little too strong in flavour for me) and I tested out its melting properties in two dishes. The first also used the prosciutto (which had a very nice flavour and seemed very good quality to me) and was my version of stuffed courgettes. I started by scooping out the flesh of two courgettes. I then gently sauteed a small onion, a clove of garlic and the courgette flesh in a little oil. I tore up the Prosciutto and layered it with the onion/courgette mixture in the courgette skin 'boats' and topped it off with the taleggio before baking in the oven. Boy does this cheese melt well!! There was almost more on the baking tray than left on the courgettes! I did prefer the taste when it was melted and it combined well with the Prosciutto.
The final dish was more of an accident than planned. One evening I decided to make pizza certain I had a ball of mozzarella sat in the fridge just waiting to be used. However after rolling out the pizza dough and covering it with tomato sauce I went to the fridge and couldn't find any mozzarella. I was faced with the choice of cheddar, taleggio or feta. As much as I love cheddar I'm not a big fan of it on pizzas and I wanted something that melted more than feta so I decided to try the taleggio. I first put tinned tuna on the pizza followed by grated courgette and finally topped off with the taleggio. The end result was delicious.
All in all I was very pleased with the quality of the items Able and Cole sent me and with the delivery and packaging of the items.

Fresh from the oven - Focaccia

2009-07-28T13:25:00.000+01:00

This months challenge is hosted by Brooke of Ed and Brooke and she chose focaccia. We could use any recipe we liked so I chose one from River Cottage Hnadbook No. 3 Bread. I decided to add some green olives to the top for a change along with the sea salt and olive oil. The result was very tasty but perhaps a little salty tasting due to the combination of the salt and the olives.

Focaccia are a favorite bread of mine. They are simple to make, yet look quiet impressive, they're versitile, delicious and an ideal accompaniment to many meals. I have used this recipe once before and will definitely be continuing with this recipe. I would really recommend the River cottage Hnadbook Bread to anyone who makes their own bread (recipes are not for breadmakers, make by hand or in a mixer).

GYO: Smoked salmon and mangetout risotto

2009-07-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

Just before going on holiday I picked my first crop of mangetout from my garden. It was only a small bowl full but even so I was pleased that I would be able to eat something that I had grown myself.
I decided I wanted to cook them as part of a dish where they would really shine instead of just cooking them and serving them as a side to meat or fish.Risotto came to mind and I thought I would combine them with some smoked salmon. The result was a dish that was both delicious and colourful. The mangetout added a crunchy texture and complemented the salmon well.
Smoked salmon and mangetout risotto

Serves 2
Olive oil
small onion, peeled and thinly diced
stick of celery, thinly diced (optional)
1 garlic glove, peeled and thinly chopped
150-200g Arborio rice
Good splash of dry white wine
Approximately 600ml Chicken stock
Zest and juice of half a lemon
Good handful of fresh mangetout sliced into pieces roughly 1-2cm thick
3 Smoked salmon slices cut into small strips
Salt and pepper

Heat the stock in a small saucepan.
Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot add the onion and celery and sweat (with the lid on), stirring occasionally until soft but not brown (5-10 mins).
Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for a few minutes, again stirring frequently.
Add the rice and turn up the heat. Stir to coat the rice (from here on you need to stir much more frequently to stop the rice sticking or burning and also to release the starch to make it deliciously creamy).
You should notice the rice become translucent and at this point you need to add the wine and continue to stir.
Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add the first ladle of stock and turn the heat back down to medium. Keep stirring.
Once this ladle of stock has been fully absorbed by the rice, add another ladle, stir and repeat until the rice is cooked.
Add the mangetout strips to the pan after a couple of ladles of stock have been absorbed, stir well. You can add the mangetout later if you like them really crunchy or sooner if you like them well cooked.
Once the rice is cooked, remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and smoked salmon, season to taste.

I have decided to submit this post to July's Grow your own round-up founded by Andrea's Recipes and this month hosted by Amy of Playing House.Enjoy!

Short Break

2009-07-20T17:40:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it is 3 weeks since my last blog post! Don't worry I haven't given up on it. This month just seems to be flying by. It started with a good friends wedding back in Yorkshire the first weekend of July. Then the following weekend we went to Anglesey for 10 days (got back last night). So between working, catching up on the jobs and preparing for these trips the blogging had to be put to one side. I also had to miss this months Daring cooks challenge but hope to fit in the next one. I have yet to do my Daring bakers and Fresh from the oven challenges for this month due to be posted on the 27th and 28th respectively. I hope to get chance to do at least one of them but we'll have to see how it goes as I have another wedding back in Yorkshire again this coming weekend.

I have quiet a few post ideas going round in my head that I hope to be able to type up before this sudden burst of inspiration escapes me. First there are a few foodie gems I discovered on Anglesey I want to share with you all. Then there are a couple of BBQ recipes I tried out whilst away and news of my first (very modest) harvest from my veg garden! I also have a post to share with you coming up about Able and Cole's summer range.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Anglesey:

Fresh from the oven - Rustic loaf

2009-06-28T12:23:00.007+01:00

After I joined the Daring Kitchen I had a browse through their forums and discovered a post about a new bread baking group being set up by Brooke. I decided to join as I bake the majority of my own bread and I am keen to try new recipes and learn from others. I did wonder if joining 3 groups on the same days was a bit much but I'm going to do my best. This next month is a busy one for me with weddings and holidays so I may not participate in all 3 but plan to try to complete at least 2 but we'll see.

So we decided on a name for our bread baking group - Fresh from the oven - and then on the 1st of June our first challenge was announced.
This month's challenge is hosted by Brianna. She has chosen a Rustic Bread from Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes.

The recipe can be found here.

This is a good, basic recipe that introduces a simple preferment, minimalist ingredients, and lets us practice our shaping techniques.

I kept putting off baking this bread and only completed the challenge on Friday. I have baked breads before that involve a prefermenting stage (see here) and as before I found it hard to get organised in to making the initial preferment the night before I have time to make this bread. Even after this 16 hour rise time the recipe is not a quick one. After making the final dough you need to leave it to rise for 2 1/2 hours and then after shaping for about 1 1/2 hours. I also found the dough quiet wet and difficult to work with and the final loaf did not rise as much as I would have liked (it seemed to be spreading outwards but not upwards). The final bread though did taste delicious.

Daring Bakers - Bakewell tart...er......pudding!

2009-06-27T08:58:00.000+01:00

So I finally joined the Daring Bakers - I've admired their baking for sometime (long before I started my own blog). I never dreamed I would join as the challenges looked just that bit too challenging. Then I bought my KitchenAid and it opened up a whole array of baking pleasures that I never imagined baking. So I decided I would join in with all the fun the Daring Bakers were having. My first challenge was not only fun but very successful!

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

I live only an hour from Bakewell, Derbyshire, the home of the Bakewell tart so it seemed fitting my first challenge would be a traditional, local recipe. The weekend after the challenge was anounced my boyfriends parents were coming down to visit us for a meal so I decided that it would be a good idea to bake the tart for them. I was a little nervous I had bitten off more than I could chew (I'd never made pastry before) and that we'd be running round to the local supermarket at the last minute to buy a replacement dessert. I shouldn't have worried the tart was a massive success. It looked and tasted exactly as we all remember Bakewell tarts did on previous occasions when we have eaten them. I will definatley be saving this recipe and baking it again (my boyfriend has already started planning when I can bake it again!).

Preparations for the challenge involved a trip to Lakeland to buy a flan tin and resulted in the purchase of several non-essential baking items! In addition to the flan tin I bought a baguette pan, yeast, chopper/scrapper for bread making and a bit randomly a piping bag set (I've never decorated cakes before!).

The challenge

Bake a giant tart, medium tart or individual tartlettes.
Make the sweet shortcrust pastry from scratch, ideally by hand.
Make the frangipane layer.
Optional homemade jam or curd

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base.

Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

Enjoy!

Cook book review - Tiffany Goodall Form pasta to pancakes The ultimate student cookbook.

2009-06-24T20:33:00.010+01:00

This is a great introductory cookbook for students. It's the kind of book I would have like to have when I was at university. I left university only 4 years ago so remember my student days quiet well. I never had a student cookbook or any cookbook for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I didn't live on take aways and pot noodles! I think I ate quiet well for a student (I dread to think what my boyfriend lived off!) but I didn't cook anything which required a recipe either. My mum taught me the basics of how to cook meat and 2 veg before I left home. In addition to this I ate pasta with sauces from jars, frozen pizzas and the occasional ready meal (yes I'm a shamed to say I even ate the frozen Sunday roast ready meals!).

I received my review copy of this cookbook one morning last week and had a quick flick through the book before heading off to work. First impressions were good, lots of bright, colourful pictures and the food all looked delicious. I did initially think some of the recipes were very basic (boiled egg and soldiers, boiling pasta and baking jacket potatoes) but then I remembered my flatmate who set a jacket potato on fire in the microwave! or my boyfriend who admits that his parents tried to teach him to cook before going off to uni but he just wasn't interested in learning.

Since those initial first impressions I have had time to sit down and have a good read through the book and also my boyfriend tested a couple of recipes. This is a really good book for students or anyone moving out of home for the first time and having to learn to cook for themselves. As well as the real basics there is a good variety of recipes. From risottos to curries, smoothies to vodka watermellon and even a birthday cake. All meals are covered breakfasts, packed lunches, quick suppers, meals for friends and baking. There is even an introduction to basic kitchen equipment, store cupboard ingredients and basic hygiene. The format of the book is very unique with easy to follow comic strip style recipes with photos of every step of the process. Great for anyone completely new to the kitchen.

At the weekend my boyfriend tested out the chilli con carne recipe and followed the instructions in the book for cooking rice (something he had not cooked before). The chilli recipe serves 8 so is great for cooking for a group of friends or in our case freezing in to portions of 2 for when time is short. The result was delicious and his feed back was that the recipes were very clear and easy to understand.I would not hesitate to recommend this book to some one heading off to university this autumn. It's easy to follow, assumes no prior cooking skills (yet doesn't sound patronising or preachy) and is packed full of delicious recipes for every eventuality.

For more previews of the book see here.
Thanks to Quadrille Publishing for sending me my first review cookbook!

Hen party cupcakes!

2009-06-19T13:29:00.003+01:00

I'm heading off this afternoon for a weekend of girly fun. One of my friends from college is getting married in a few weeks so a group of us have hired a cottage in the peak district for the weekend. Its hopefully going to be lots of catching up, relaxing and girly fun. We were all asked to take some food along and I decided to use it as an excuse to bake! So yesterday I made 24 cupcakes/fairy cakes and a seeded/wholemeal loaf of bread and this morning I decorated the cakes. I had a slight mishap with the pink food colouring and now have pink/red fingers which I'm hoping will fade fast! I'll let you know next week how the buns tasted/went down with the other hens! I'm a little disappointed with them, the cakes didn't rise all that much and I found icing them harder than I imagined but I definitely noticed an improvement as I went along (the bright pink ones were the last ones I iced as I ran out of icing with only a few buns left). I half wish I'd made brownies which I have baked before and were delicious but I wanted to make something suitably girly!

Roast chicken

2009-06-17T15:09:00.000+01:00

A few weeks back Able and Cole sent me one of their free range, organic chickens to try for free in exchange for a review on my blog. For anyone that doesn't know Able and Cole are an organic food deli every company. They are best known for their veg boxes that are delivered to your door each week. They also offer a wide range of other organic food that can also be delivered to you. I was initially concerned about having fresh food delivered (that needs refrigeration) in case no one was in when it was delivered. Veg boxes may be fine left outside for several hours but this is not appropriate for fresh chickens. I needn't of worried though, not only was the delivery before 8am (meaning the chicken was in the fridge before work) but it was delivered in a polystyrene box with plenty of ice packs on top of it to keep it cool. The chicken also comes with the giblets which doesn't often happen in the supermarket. Mine are sat in the freezer waiting for me to find time to make stock.

I thought about cooking it in a different way to the normal simple roast I usually do but then decided it would be best to keep it simple and see if I could taste the difference. I usually buy a supermarket free range chicken (not usually organic though) which costs around £4 per kg. Able and Cole's comes in at £6.76 per kg. I served the chicken with some baby new potatoes and asparagus.

So the big question could we notice the difference? Yes, we both thought the chicken had a stronger taste.

Will I be switching to organic chickens? not at the moment. The cost is the big issue for me. I strongly believe in only buying free range chickens but at the moment my budget won't stretch to organic as well.

Next month I will be reviewing a selection of items from their new summer range. Suggestions on ideas for using taleggio cheese appreciated! (Its not a cheese I know anything about)

Chinese meatball and noodle soup

2009-06-15T16:04:00.001+01:00

Whilst shopping for ingredients for my Chinese dumplings I came across some reduced priced pak choi. It still looked healthy and knowing I would have left over ingredients from the dumplings I decided to make a meatball/noodle soup the day after. The soup included the meatballs, pak choi, left over shitake mushrooms and spring onions and noodles. The mince for the chinese dumplings was packed with flavour so I kept the soup fairly simple. On the day I made the dumplings I rolled tablespoons of the leftover mince in to balls and baked in the oven for around 15 minutes. I then stored them in the fridge overnight. The following day the soup was quiet simple to pull together. I stir fried the meatballs with the vegetables to reheat them. The end result was delicious and packed with oriental flavours.
Chinese meatball and noodle soup
Serves 2

For the meatballs
(I used approximately half of the mince in this recipe. Below I have detailed an estimate of what I believe would produce something similar if you don't have left over mince from making gyoza)

200g ground pork
2 large spring greens leaves, minced
1 stalk spring onion, minced
3 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
2.5cm ginger root, minced
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn starch

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Combine all the filling ingredients well.
Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls.
Arrange on a baking tray.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

For the noodle soup
800ml Chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp root ginger, finely grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped (I used a dried chilli as that was all I had).
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 pak choi, sliced
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 portions of vermicelli noodles, cooked according to the packet
2 tbsp soy sauce

In a saucepan bring to the boil the stock, ginger, garlic and chilli. Simmer for at least 5 minutes or until you are ready to serve the finished soup.
In a frying pan (or wok if you have one), heat 1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil until hot.
Stir fry the pak choi stalks, spring onion and shitake mushrooms.
Add the pak choi leaves when the rest of the vegetables are almost cooked (approx 3-5 minutes depending on how well cooked you like your veg).
Add the soy sauce to the stock.
Combine the noodles, vegetables, meatballs and stock. Serve.

Enjoy!

Summer days - Ice cream floats

2009-06-14T20:38:00.003+01:00

Who decided 3 ice lollies is a good number for a multi-pack?

Instead of fighting over the last one my boyfriend decided to chop it in half and adding each half to a glass of lemonade. He called the result a pimped up ice cream float and it truly was delicious!
Enjoy!

Daring cooks challenge - Chinese dumplings/potstickes

2009-06-14T10:10:00.002+01:00

Like many of you I have enjoyed reading about Daring bakers and their monthly baking challenges for a while now. When I heard about the Daring cooks starting I thought about joining as I cook more than I bake but was a little nervous that I was too fussy an eater! Then for their first challenge they made ricotta gnocchi and I kicked myself for not joining! I have wanted to make gnocchi for some time now but never quiet got round to it. So the day of the big reveal of all these delicious gnocchi dishes I decided to become a daring cook myself. Having just purchased my KitchenAid I decided to join the Daring bakers too!

This months challenge is hosted by Jen of use real butter and the challenge is Chinese dumplings/potstickes (aka gyoza in Japanese). I have to admit to being a little daunted by my first challenge. It was completely out of my comfort zone of British or Italian meals and to top it off they look like they involve lots of complicated, intricate steps. But then if it was simple, it wouldn't be a challenge! I read the recipe through and looked at all the pictures and actually started to get a little bit excited. My boyfriend (who loves oriental food and will be forever grateful for the daring cooks for this challenge) was more than happy to be chief tester.
The main point of the challenge was to make our own wrappers (not to buy pre-made wanton wrappers) and learn to pleat them. I didn't have too much trouble making the dough but the same can not be said for pleating them! Example below!

The results: You'll see from my pictures (especially if you see all the other daring cooks entries) that mine did not turn out very professional looking but its the taste that counts and even I loved them!

Will I make them again? I'm not sure. They were pretty time consuming which was fun for a challenge but not something I can see see myself making regularly.

For a great step by step recipe/how to check out Jen's version.

Below is the full recipe (warning its long!) and right at the end I write about my method and choice of filling etc.

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

shrimp filling:
1/2 lb (225g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb (225g) ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup (55g) ginger root, minced
1 cup (142g) water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tbsp (40g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for work surface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2: In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side. Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. It helps to rub the base of the dumpling in a little flour before setting on the baking sheet for ease of release. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziplock bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.

My method
I chose the pork filling and I replaced the napa cabbage leaves with some spring greens I had in the fridge. I omitted the bamboo shoots and used fresh shitake mushrooms. I used 250g plain flour and mixed the dough in a food processor with no problems. I chose the potstickers method of cooking (as I was afraid my dumplings wouldn't hold up to boiling! and I don't own a steamer). I made a simple dipping sauce of equal amounts of light soy sauce and sweet chilli dipping sauce. Only about half the filling was used for the dumplings so the rest I made in to meatballs and used in a noodle soup which I will post in a few days.

Thanks Jen for a great challenge! I recommend that you check out some of the other Daring Cooks blog posts as I have been watching them on the DC forum all month and there are some great looking variations including sweet ones!

Chicken and pesto pizza

2009-06-09T19:47:00.004+01:00

I've been meaning to make a roast chicken (leftovers from Sunday lunch) and pesto pizza for some time and tonight I finally got round to it. It was definitely worth the wait! Sorry about the poor picture of one lonely slice but in our eagerness to try it I forgot to take any pictures until it was nearly too late! Pesto makes a delicious pizza sauce and a nice change from the classic tomato sauce.

Chicken and pesto pizza

For the dough
makes 3 pizza's or 1 pizza and a focaccia to go with it

325ml warm water
5g dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil (I usually use extra virgin for breads/pizzas)
500g strong white bread flour
1-2 tsp salt

For the topping
Pesto
shredded leftover roast chicken
ball of mozzarella cheese

Place all the dry ingredients in a food mixer (if using) and fit the dough hook to the mixer head.
Put the mixer on low speed (2 for KitchenAids - consult the manual for other mixers) and slowly add the liquid ingredients to the bowl.
Once all the ingredients are combined leave to knead for 3-5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and springs back when prodded.
If you don't have a mixer place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the liquid to the well and use a wood spoon to mix until it is too difficult and then use your hands. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and springy.
Leave to rise until doubled in size (around 1 to 1.5hrs).
Preheat the oven to 250C or as hot as the oven gets.
Gently knock the air out of the dough.
Remove a third of the dough and on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into the desired shape size.
Spread a layer of pesto over the dough, leaving a 2cm boarder around the edge.
Scatter over the shredded chicken pieces.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake in a hot oven for around 1o minutes or until the crust is golden.

Enjoy!

June - Whats in season?

2009-06-01T19:40:00.006+01:00

The weather it the UK is glorious sunshine at the moment and it really feels like the start of summer. We've eaten most of our meals outside for the last few days as well which is a very plesant change. The variety of fresh fruit and vegetables in season now in the UK is rapidly increasing. The pictures are of the few vegetables and herbs I've chosen to grow in my small back garden. These were taken a week ago and alread the mangtout are twice as tall!

Sources used to put this list together:

Sainsbury's Magazine May (& there 2009 recipe calendar).
Eat the seasons
What's in season?
River cottage seasonal guide - The Guardian

June

Vegetables: Asparagus, Aubergines, Beetroot, broad beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Courgettes, Cucumbers, Fennel, Globe artichokes, Green beans, Jersey Royals, Kohlarabi, Lettuce, Mangtout, Mint, Parsley, Peas, Pea shoots, Peppers, Radishes, Runner beans, Rocket, Salad leaves, Samphire, Tomatoes, Watercress,

Fruit: Cherries, Elderflowers, Gooseberries, Passion fruit, Raspberries, Redcurrents, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Tayberries.

Seafood: Crab, Cuttlefish, Dover sole, Grey mullet, Hake, Lemon sole, Lobster, Mackerel, Monkfish, Plaice, Pollack, Prawns, Salmon, Sea bream, Whitebait

Meat: Duck, Welsh Lamb

Online Food Hygiene Certificate

2009-05-26T19:12:00.004+01:00

A little while ago I was contacted to see if I would be willing to do an online course in food hygiene and blog about the experience. The course is offered by Virtual college. At the moment I don't have any real need for a food hygiene certificate so I haven't looked for this kind of thing so don't know how this one compares. Even though I don't cook for commercial purposes I decided to take up this opportunity as food hygiene is important anyway.

I have done e learning courses before for study purposes (not food or hygiene related) and found this one was well designed, easy to navigate and everything was well explained. There were frequent mini self tests to aid in learning the material and a final test to pass. A few days after completing the module I received my certificate in the post (very prompt). I didn't do the course all in one sitting but you could as it only takes 2-3 hours. It costs £25 + VAT. I think this is a good alternative if you need a food hygiene certificate but can not get to a face to face course.

To find out more about the course click here.

Beetroot and spring greens risotto

2009-05-20T20:13:00.006+01:00

I've been putting off doing something with the beetroots from the veg box for the last few nights. Tonight I decided to get on with roasting them and use them in a risotto. I washed them and put them in foil parcels with olive oil, fresh rosemary, a splash of orange juice, a pinch of salt and peeper. I roasted them in a hot oven (200C) for around 1 and a half hours. Once cooled, I peeled (wearing rubber gloves!) the beetroot and diced into roughly 1cm cubes. I added the beetroot to a basic risotto along with a bowl full of thinly shredded spring greens and ended up with a really vibrantly coloured (as usual my photo doesn't do the dish justice) and very tasty dish. I only used half the amount of beetroot I had for this risotto, the rest is going in the freezer for the next time I want to create a similar risotto (maybe spinach next time). I still have lots of spring greens left which I need to use up in the next few days.

Beetroot and spring greens risotto
Inspired by Able and Cole's Beetroot and summer greens risotto

Serves 2
Olive oil
small onion, peeled and thinly diced
stick of celery, thinly diced (optional)
1 garlic glove, peeled and thinly chopped
150g Arborio rice
Good splash of dry white wine
Approximately 600ml Chicken stock
Finely shredded spring greens (a good cereal bowl full - I know I should have weighed it for you!)
3 Roasted beetroots, diced
Salt and pepper
handful of parmesan cheese

Heat the stock in a small saucepan.
Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot add the onion and celery and sweat (with the lid on), stirring occasionally until soft but not brown (5-10 mins).
Add the garlic cook for a few minutes, again stirring frequently.
Add the rice and turn up the heat. Stir to coat the rice (from here on you need to stir much more frequently to stop the rice sticking or burning and also to release the starch to make it deliciously creamy).
You should notice the rice become translucent and at this point you need to add the wine and continue to stir.
Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add the first ladle of stock and turn the heat back down to medium. Keep stirring.
Add the beetroot to the pan, stir well. The rice will start to become pink.
Once this ladle of stock has been fully absorbed by the rice, add another ladle, stir and repeat until the rice is cooked. Add the spring greens after the first few ladles of stock or later if you like it more crunchy.
Once the rice is cooked, remove from the heat, season to taste.
Scatter the parmeson (and a few small knobs of butter if you like) over the top, replace the lid and leave to become oozy/creamy ( few minutes).
Once the cheese and butter(if using) have melted, stir well and serve.

Enjoy!

Able and cole

2009-05-17T18:24:00.007+01:00

A few weeks back I contacted Able and Cole asking if I could feature a recipe of theirs (no longer on their website though) on my blog. I have tried a few recipes from their site and enjoyed them all. If you haven't seen their recipe page you should definitely take a look. It is easy to navigate and incredibly useful when you are looking for recipes using a particular item (fruit, veg, meat or fish). For example click on courgettes and you are transported to a list of tasty ideas all using courgettes. They were more than happy for me to feature one of their recipes and I was also offered a veg box to try. I of course accept happy to review one of their veg boxes on my blog for them. It also feels like a bit of a challenge deciding what to do with all the fruit and veg in the box.

Due to living in a mid-terraced house with no where for them to leave my box whilst we're out at work we had to ask if my boyfriends parents would accept it at their house for us. Luckily they deliver in their town on a Friday meaning we could pick it up from them at the weekend (they live an hour away from us). I like the idea of getting a box with different fruit/veg each week, forcing you to eat a wide variety of different types, getting creative with what to do with it and possibly increasing how much veg I eat. However in other ways I like sitting down planning my meals for the week ahead and then choosing what veg I need to buy. As much as I like the concept of having a box of fruit and veg delivered to my door weekly, currently it just isn't practical for us. The box arrived in good condition early Friday morning.

This weeks box contained:

Apples
oranges
Bananas
Spring greens
White onions
Potatoes
Beetroots
Cauliflower
3 Courgettes
Aubergine

The fruit is being munched through already. The rest I'm not sure what I will do with yet. 2 courgettes could be used for balsamic courgettes but not sure what to do with the third. The aubergine may be used in a Parmigiana di melanzane (possibly with the final courgette as the aubergine is quiet small). The cauliflower was left with my boyfriends parents as neither of us like it. That just leaves spring greens (never eaten or cooked so no idea what to do with them) and the beetroots (again never cooked or eaten beetroot that hasn't been bought cooked, usually in vinegar). I have in the past seen recipes I've wanted to try using raw beetroot but I can't find any now. I might bake them in foil but that's as far as my ideas have got. I have Monday to Friday this week to use them for after work meals so has anyone any ideas? I could just cook the potatoes, spring greens and beetroot and serve them with some meat or fish but I tend to like to cook things that are more of a complete dish.

Update: just separated the beets from the potatoes (which look quiet similar when coated in mud!) and there are a lot more than I thought. Maybe I need two meals out of them.

Update: What I did with all this veg!

Rosemary and garlic potato wedges
Balsamic courgettes
Parmigiana di melanzane (but I added in 1 courgette and the aubergine was a little small, not traditional but still delicious)
Beetroot and spring greens risotto
Used some bits in my first daring cooks challenge (but you'll have to wait until June 14th to find out what and how)

It was a bit of a challenge but I enjoyed all the dishs I made and we certainly ate more vegetables than some weeks.