My Comforting Lemon and Vanilla Rice Pudding :)!

Hello again everybody, i thought since the bitter-cold winter evenings are fast approaching here in Scotland that i would share with you a little comforting, sublimely satisfying pudding that sprung to mind one day while pondering around in the kitchen. It’s basically a simple rice pudding with the sweet and rich scented vanilla and some lemon zest with it’s zing which cuts through the richness of this comforting delight. The weather here in Scotland has been so dreary these past few days, with either rain, wind or just plain coldness. But i can’t compare that to the pain and suffering the millions of American’s affected by Super storm Sandy will be going through. This weekend will probably consist of another days shopping for friends and family’s Christmas presents. But i don’t mind as I’m popping into Waterstones bookshop afterwards to pick up a few Nigella Books to indulge in over the weekend. Oh also to let you know that this Saturday is the last episode of Nigellissima, Nigella’s instant italian inspiration series.

INGREDIENTS:

600 ml / full fat milk which i prefer for this.

450 ml / single cream.

zest of 1 lemon.

1 vanilla pod, split open to expose seeds.

25 g / caster sugar.

100 g / pudding rice.

25 g / butter, diced.

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 140 c / Gas 1.

Put the milk, cream, lemon and vanilla into a saucepan. Gently bring to a simmer, then stir in the sugar and rice.

Then transfer the mixture to a shallow ovenproof dish and dot butter over the top.

Bake for 30 mins, then stir thoroughly and then bake for another 1hr. Until the top is golden and the centre is soft and creamy.

When cooked leave the pudding to rest for 10 mins then serve :)!.

Pleasantly divine and intriguing, perfect for those lazy sofa days!

Until the next time, Thanks R.

 

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (Nigella Retake)!

Hello everybody so it’s been such a long day for me i have been getting good results in tests and i now have landed with a huge pile of simultaneous equations which quite frankly takes me 30 mins to complete two of them aha !. Anyway there over and done with now so on with an enjoyable post, yesterday my mum bought me a kitchenaid mixer the same as Nigella’s. I was so excited to see it but it’s been kept in a cupboard until Christmas has arrived!. On Saturday morning when i returned from my violin lesson i began to tune into Nigellissima aha! she was cooking this fabulous olive oil chocolate cake and i thought i would share it with you although i have tweaked a few tiny things to do with it. It’s velvety smooth texture is sublimely satisfying. The chocolate is in the form of rich, deep, earthy cocoa powder ( NOT DRINKING CHOCOLATE ). i just thought i would state that clearly as drinking choc contains more sugar and refined cocoa which is not very nice. As you have probably already noticed, Nigella uses olive oil in this cake instead of butter. The oil cuts through the earthy cocoa and rounds everything off beautifully. Nigella use’s just regular olive oil but i find using half extra virgin and half regular olive oil gives the perfect balance of nuttiness and roundness.

INGREDIENTS:

150ml olive oil made up with half regular and half extra virgin.

50g/cocoa powder.

125ml boiling water.

2 tsp vanilla paste or extract.

150 ground almonds or 125g plain flour.

1/2 tsp bicarb.

pinch of salt.

200g white or golden caster sugar.

3 eggs.

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C or Gas 3. Grease a 23cm/9in spring-form cake tin with a little oil and line the base with baking paper.
2.  Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, sublime, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla, then set aside to cool a little.
3. In another smallish bowl, combine the ground almonds (or flour) with the bicarb of soda and a pinch of salt.
4. Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment and beat together vigorously for about three minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.
5. Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when it’s all incorporated you can slowly tip in the ground almonds (or flour) mixture.
6.  Then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
7. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, in the tin, and then coax it out with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding.
8. Tip: It is slightly heavier with the almonds – though not in a bad way – so if you want a lighter crumb, rather than a squidgy interior, and are not making the cake for the gluten-intolerant, then replace the 150g ground almonds with 125g plain flour. This has the built-in bonus of making it perhaps more suitable for an everyday cake. As the almonds make it break easily due to the low gluten content!

   Hope you enjoy!

   Thanks R.

Banana Bread Nigella Style :)!

Okay, i have a little confession to make i have recently become overindulged in the world of Nigella Lawson.  She has been my cooking aspiration for the past few weeks. I have become a sort of Nigella addict so every little cooking matter has a part of her in it, may that be a simple change of ingredient that she thinks works or take little speech’s and using them in my recipes. I hope over the course of Christmas to start videoing some of my recipes to share with you all. I would happily buy a bed a live in her pantry, its probably the most amazing part of her kitchen! Apart from all of that today i spent my day wandering through town buying a few more Christmas presents, and of course spending nearly an hour in Waterstone’s bookshop reading her cookbooks which i have placed on order YAY! So anyway the point of this post is to share with you a part of Nigella style cooking in the department of baking : Banana Bread. Lots of people seem to think aw it’s just another cake but trust me once your teeth have sunk into this cake you’ll never turn back to shop-bought. It just seems to ooze banana chewiness and sweetness. To warn you it does contain alcohol in the form of bourbon or rum but feel free to substitute a builders tea. I have made this cake quite a few times with the bourbon and to be honest with you all, you really cannot taste it. It’s like a subtle under-note of richness and don’t be too worried about the alcohol as most of it evaporates off during cooking!

BANANA BREAD!

INGREDIENTS:

100g sultanas

75ml bourbon or rum or strong black builders tea.

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bi-carb

1/2 tsp salt

125g unsalted butter, melted.

150g sugar

2 large eggs

4 small very ripe bananas on the edge of going black! ( approx 300g)

60g chopped walnut kernels

1 tsp vanilla extract.

METHOD:

Line a loaf tin with parchment paper on the bottom and butter and flour the sides.

Put the sultanas in a small saucepan with the alcohol or tea of choice and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave covered for about an hour until the sultanas have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 170c / Gas Mark 3.  Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. In another bowl mix the melted butter and the sugar together until light and creamy in consistency. Beat the eggs in 1 at a time, and mix well. Then add the mashed banana and fold in. Now add the walnuts, drained sultanas and the vanilla. Begin to add the flour slowly whisking all the time to prevent lumps. Once completely incorporated add the mix into the tin and pop in the oven for an hour to an hour and a quarter. To check if it’s ready a skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve! I’m sure this won’t stay round for long :)!

Thanks R. 🙂

A few little lunch on the go recipes :)!

Hello everybody once again, i have just came up with a few little recipes for a really quick and easy, sublime lunch for 1. My Toasted bagel with whatever nice ham you have and grilled tomatoes is a fantastic make in the morning lunch. And to complement that a sandwich of crispy scrummy pork. This is a great way over christmas to use up any leftovers, it really doesn’t have to be pork it could be chicken or turkey for example. Whatever way you choose to make it, i can assure you it tastes absolutely fabulous :)!.

1. Toasted bagel 🙂

1 bagel
1 large vine ripened beef tomato
Pepper
A little olive oil
A few slices of your favourite ham.

Heat the grill to high. Split the bagel in half.

Cut the tomato into 5mm slices. Place on a baking tray and season with pepper and brush with the olive oil. Put under the grill for a few mins until softened.

Toast the bagel under the grill, to your desired goldness.

Put the bagel on a plate or box for lunch, add the tomato and ham and EAT!  🙂 Divine :)!

2. Sandwich of crispy pork.
1tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion
1 garlic clove
2 thick slices of sourdough or prefered bread of choice.
1 small gem lettuce separated into leaves.
4 slices of pork, chicken or turkey.
Sea Salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5-7 mins to soften, without browning.

Lightly toast the bread and put a slice on the plate or box. Brush with some oil and place a few lettuce leaves on top.

Lay the meat slices of choice on top and top with the sautéed onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Sandwich together and apply to face as Nigella would say :)! 

I hope you enjoy these little Pick me-ups as much as i do!

Thanks R. 🙂

Truite en Papillote :)! ( trout baked in tin foil )

Hello again everybody, this is a beautiful dish from as you have probably already guessed, France. It’s a super-fast dish, minimal effort required to make it and is way up there on the flavour chart. It is simply trout baked in tin foil or parchment paper which i prefer to be honest and and cooked with lemon and flaked almonds :). Although in my recipe i place fennel and spring onions inside the fish :)! The slight aniseed flavour the fennel helps to add is complemented fantastically with the sweet spring onions.

Ingredients :

4 trout gutted,filleted and washed.

1 lemon, cut into 12 small wedges plus finely grated zest of 2 lemons.

1 small bulb of fresh fennel, trimmed and finely sliced.

Half a bunch of spring onions, white bit only, washed and finely sliced.

1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced.

2 handfuls of flaked almonds, toasted in a dry pan and tossed for a few minutes until golden.

150ml white wine.

few glugs of olive oil.

salt and pepper.

Method :

Preheat the oven to 200c ( gas 6 ).

Cut out 4 large circles of parchment paper, big enough to encase a trout. Arrange a trout on the centre of each paper, and using a sharp knife delicately cut three slashes across the skin and place a small wedge of lemon in each. Divide the fennel, spring onions and garlic equally among the trout and sprinkle with some flaked almonds.

Add a few tablespoons of white wine and a couple of drops of olive oil to the trout and season well with salt and pepper. Wrap up the parcels so it’s airtight. Then place on a large baking tray and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins. Or until the flesh is firm. Serve en Papillote for the guests or family to eat from.

Trout is an incredibly cheap and plentiful fish to buy :)!.  Also freezes well to !
I hope this has brought a little touch of France into your life!

Here’s a little picture :)!

 

Thanks R.

Christmas breakfast bread :)

During the festive season, i find myself constant rushing about markets and town trying to find new recipe’s i can try out for the big day :)… On the subject of markets, if any of you get the chance to visit Glasgow around Christmas time, you must make a stop at the Xmas market in st Enoch centre it’s fantastic :)!. Its full of culinary delights, that will make you taste-buds bubble with excitement! This Christmas bread is absolutely fabulous, served warm straight from the oven with a fruit compote. :). The addition of buckwheat flour, gives this bread a lovely nutty flavour. No proving or kneading necessary. I received this wonderful recipe from a friend in Germany it’s apart of there daily breakfast routine, i hope the same for you :)!

Ingredients :

butter to grease.

3 eggs.

50g light brown sugar.

250g thin honey.

125ml milk.

125g plain flour.

125g buckwheat flour.

1 tsp five-spice powder.

1 tbsp ground mixed spice.

2 tbsp baking powder.

finely grated zest of 2 oranges or lemons.

Method :

Heat the oven to 160c ( Gas Mark 3 ). Lightly butter a loaf tin.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl sitting over a Bain Marie (simmering pan of water), until pale and thickened.

Warm the milk and honey in a small pan, and then gently beat into the egg mixture.

Sift the flours, spices and baking powder into a bowl and then carefully add the egg mixture, followed by the zest of orange or lemon (your preference).

Spoon the mix into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 mins until lightly golden brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve warm. 🙂

Note: This bread doesn’t keep very well so eat on the day it was made !

Thanks R.

 

 

 

For the cold months ahead : Bacon and Mushroom risotto!!

Oh the nights are gradually getting colder in the old Scotland. So to perk up those winter appetites i found this little gem of a recipe. My friends mum makes this all the time and is improving the recipe all the time.:)! I think this is the most up to date edition :)!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil.

1 onion, chopped.

8 rashers of streaky bacon.

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced.

300g risotto rice.

1 litre chicken stock.

grated Parmesan to serve.

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and cook the onion and bacon for 5 mins to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 mins until they start to release their juices. Stir in the rice and cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring well and waiting for most of the stock to be absorbed, before adding the next ladle. It will take around 20 mins for all of the stock to be absorbed. Once the rice is cooked, serve immediately with the grated Parmesan !

Thanks R. :)!

 

Malthouse loaf :)!! mmmm…

hello again everybody, today i went for a violin lesson and found that in the house there was no bread so i made a quick dash to the shop to find they had no bread either, So the only alternative was homemade. This recipe sprung to mind and turned out rather well :)! it has a really nutty flavour 🙂

Equipment :

a reasonable sized loaf tin.

Ingredients :

500g malthouse flour.

1 tsp salt.

1 big squidge honey.

7g yeast.

380ml warm water or milk.

Method:

Put the flour, salt and yeast into a large mixing bowl.

combine together with a wooden spoon.

add the warm milk or water and honey.

stir together with wooden spoon and turn out onto a well floured surface or place in a food mixer,

knead for 5 mins food mixer or 10 mins by hand until the dough is smooth, satin and elastic.

leave wrapped in a well oiled and floured loaf tin and place in a warm room for 1hr until doubled in size.

unwrapped and place in a preheated oven at Gas 6 for 30-35 mins 🙂

serve warm with whatever you fancy. This bread really complements cheese and is great toasted 🙂 !

Thanks R.:)

Chocolat :)!

Chocolate seems to be one of those ever indulgent treats, we all have to turn to quite regularly. Some types come with a subtle cacao taste then there is others with the most pungent flavour. Either way chocolate is a taste sensation. As you have probably noticed already i have an obsession with France, nearly every post contains a little french something. It seems to have the most exciting culture and amazing people, besides that the food has got to be some of the best in the world. Last night i spent my evening watching three equally fantastic french movies: Amelie, I’ve loved you so long and of course Chocolat! :). Oh Juliette Binoche how her chocolaterie inspires and opens my mind 🙂 i can smell the Mayan chocolat chaud passing through my nostrils right now. Oh how i would give anything to be with my friend in Paris at the moment. I might be receiving some sweet chestnuts in syrup (marrons glace).  Anyway the point of this post is to open your mind with chocolate and share some of my creations with you. So when your in the super market next don’t pick up the dairy milk grab 3 bars of at least 70% cocoa chocolat and experiment :)!! You will be deeply surprised !.

1.The first of my little creations is to show you how to make proper Mayan chocolat chaud ! This little creation is inspired from the film Chocolat itself. when Juliette begins to create her Mayan chilli chocolat chaud. It has a rich velvety texture and is so luxuriously thick and glossy. serves 2.

100g 70% + chocolat noir (Dark).

200ml Whole Milk.

200ml double cream.

chilli powder to taste sprinkled on top.

2 cinnamon sticks. (optional).

Method:

Put the cream and milk in a medium sauce pan and heat gently until nearly at the boil. As that is happening break the chocolate into a bowl. once the liquid is ready, pour it gently over the chocolate and leave for a minute to let it settle. Then take a blender or hand blender and pour in the chocolate mixture. Blitz until thick and frothy. serve in little cups sprinkled with chilli powder and a cinnamon stick to stir. Serve immediately. 🙂

2.  Warm chocolate fondants (fondants au chocolat chaud) 🙂 the gooey, oozing chocolate fondants are to die for you must make these at least once in your life.

Michel Roux’s warm chocolate fondants

this has got to be the most perfect recipe for chocolate fondants from france :)!

Serves: 10-12
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

You will need
200g softened butter, plus 20g to grease the rings
200g good-quality dark, bitter chocolate, finely chopped
200g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust
4 eggs, mixed with 4 egg yolks
55g plain flour
35g dark, extra bitter cocoa powder
500ml warm crème anglaise to serve

Method
1. Use a brush to lightly butter the insides of 12 metal rings, five centimetres in diameter and three and a half centimetres tall and line each with a band of greaseproof paper, five centimetres tall. Stand the rings on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan one-third filled with hot water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water.
3. Place over a gentle heat until the chocolate has melted, then take off the heat and set aside in a warm place.
4. Using a whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar together until pale and aerated, then slowly incorporate the egg mixture, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Reduce the mixer speed and incorporate the melted chocolate a little at a time.
5. Sift the flour and cocoa together over the mixture and fold in carefully, using a large metal spoon. Fill the prepared moulds with the fondant mixture to the top of the rings.
6. Bake in the oven for eight to ten minutes. To check to see if they are done, insert a skewer into the centre of one;  if the centre feels liquid, it is not yet cooked. If it feels soft, and the skewer meets with no resistance, they are done – the centre should still be very slightly runny.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to rest on the baking tray for 30 seconds. Lift the rings off all the fondants and remove the band of greaseproof paper. Repeat with the rest of the fondants.
8. Dust the tops with icing sugar, pour crème anglaise around each fondant and serve immediately.

thanks R :)!

The Ultimate Christmas Cake :)!

Hello everybody, i know it’s a little early to start thinking about Christmas cake already. But the point is if you get it baked sometime very soon you can leave it to mature, well wrapped in a tin until the day before your ready to decorate it. I will post the different possible decorating ideas nearer the time. I am planning to make my Christmas cake next month at the start to give me all the time in the world to go shopping,(ha ha i went yesterday). you may look at this recipe and think oh my goodness so MANY! ingredients. but honestly if you are not one for patience of weighing things a pack of dried fruit will do, but will never come close to the taste of all the weighed ingredients. you will be required to feed this cake with some sort of preservative eg: tea (black), cognac, rum etc…. every week until the decorating day :). My challenge this year is to get everybody to make their own Christmas cake! I hope i succeed and i hope you fellow bloggers will help me!

Equipment:

23cm deep round loose bottom cake tin.

Ingredients:

400g raisins, sultanas, currants.

100g dried cranberries.

100g Medjool dates, deseeded and roughly chopped.

100g dried apricots roughly chopped.

80g mixed peel.

500ml , black tea, rum or cognac (brandy).

250g butter.

250g muscovado sugar.

5 eggs lightly beaten.

250g plain flour plus 80g extra for tossing.

15g baking powder.

2 tsp mixed spice.

1 tsp ground nutmeg.

1 tsp ground ginger.

1 tbsp treacle.

100g hazelnuts chopped.

grated zest of 3 limes.

grated zest of 1 orange.

2 x 2cm pieces of grated fresh ginger. peeled.

Method:

Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, cranberries, dates, apricots and mixed peel into a bowl and pour over the liquid of choice eg: brandy, tea or rum, cover and leave to steep overnight.

On the following day, preheat your oven to 180c, Gas mark 4. grease your tin and line with a double thickness baking paper. and double thickness paper round the outside of the tin to protect the cake during its long cooking time.

Add the butter and sugar into a large bowl and cream together until your mixture is pale and fluffy. Add half the eggs, half of the 250g flour and just fold to combine. Then add the rest of the eggs, flour, baking powder, mixed spice, nutmeg and ground ginger and mix to combine thoroughly. Finally, drain the fruit reserving the liquid and toss the fruit in 80g plain flour. ( stops fruit sinking ). Add the fruit, hazelnuts, lime zest, orange zest, and ginger until a uniform mixture is achieved.

Dollop mixture into the prepared tin, and create a well in the centre, to achieve a flat surface once cooked.
Bake for 1 hour, reduce the heat to 150c Gas mark 2 and cook for a further 1hr 30mins. or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Once your cake has cooked, remove from the oven and prick holes all over the top and trickle some of the reserved liquid over the top. leave the cake to cool and wrap in paper and foil then place in a secure tin and place in a dark cupboard and feed regularly with the liquid of choice.

I hope this cake has a great turn out for you! Enjoy:)

Thanks R.