Month: December 2012

Potato and leek vichyssoisewith crispy bacon and chives! Lorraine pascale:)

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Hello again everybody, sorry for a delayed post i am saying i have been so busy but honestly it has just been because of the days being far too short aha! I hope you are all keeping well and now thinking of an after-Christmas detox plan (in my dreams…)! Over these past few weeks i have demolished over 3 boxes of chocolates and a few other savoury items! Tonight i visited a friend who welcomed me and another friend with unlimited cups pf tea and a cheeseboard which was absolutely fantastic and oh i nearly forgot the chocolate biscuits! Oh they really where very yum indeed. At the weekend there i decided to take a break from those incredibly tempting sugary treats and treat my stomach to a comforting bowl of delicious warm soup! Now people reading this a thinking hold on a second! Vichyssoise is a cold soup so how can it be warm and delightfully comforting! Well i have to say that i’m not a true fan of cold potato soup, the reason is because the starch released by the potatoes makes the cold soup have the consistency of wallpaper paste which isn’t that appealing to a lot of people. So as Lorraine Pascale says, i have truly wacked the heat up here aha! This soup is perfect for those days when you may have a cold or are feeling a little down and can’t face the world! There is usually no need for a quick dash to the supermarket here as you are most likely to have all the ingredients in the house already:) an added luxury! Ha at the start of this post i metioned detox and detoxing is the way forward after the Christmas period. Myself and a few friends are starting a fitness regime soon that should pleasantly burn off those mince pies and countless boxes of chocs and biscuits not to forget the glorious turkey with all it’s trimmings alongside! This soup has the somewhat consistency of velvet as it has been blitzed to a velvety custard ( of soup ) and then topped with a drizzle of cream which provides a sort of blanket of creaminess. You are then met by salty pancetta or lardons and chives which provide a sharp and salty hit of crunch which in the soup give it a lift and take away the heaviness associated with creamy soups! INGREDIENTS: 50g butter salted or unsalted. 2 large leeks 2 large floury potatoes eg. Maris Pipers. 100ml of white wine ( only wine you would drink yourself but you can leave this out if you wish!) 1 litre of good quality chicken stock or turkey stock from Christmas! 75g smoked lardons or cubetti de pancetta! Small amount double cream for drizzling Few snips of chives Salt and pepper! METHOD: Put a large pan on the stove on a low heat with the butter. Trim the leeks, and remove bitter outer leaves then finely slice then add to the butter and soften gently for 10 mins. Stirring from time to time to avoid the butter burning! While that is underway, peel and chop the potatoes into small chunks and add to the (cooked) leeks and the wine if using. Allow the alcohol to burn off slightly for 2 mins then slowly add the stock and sone seasoning and then bring to a boil for 10-15mins until the potatoes are nice and soft. Meanwhile, heat a smallish pan on a high heat and cook the lardons or pancetta for 3-4 mins until crisp and glistening to you. Then transfer to kitchen paper to drain. Using a stick blender, carefully blitz the soup till a smooth velvet texture is achieved! You can do this in a jug blender to although you will need to blitz in batches. Take the now blitzed soup, and add it to bowls drizzle a retro swirl of cream over season again if necessary and then sprinkle generously with the lardons or pancetta followed by a snippet of chives and serve. Thanks Ryan! Until next time….

Churros Nigella style!

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Hello again readers, there is something so satisfying about diving into comfy clothes and throwing a blanket on top with a cup of tea and cake alongside when reading a cookery book. They seem to enlighten my day and make life seem a whole lot less tense and stressful! Today i ended up pondering around about town looking for some sort of inspiration but unfortunately i came across none until i was travelling home on the underground and a thought came to mind. A man sitting across from me (probably from a region in Spain) was chatting away to his wife when i heard him stutter upon the word churros, i instantly thought of Nigella’s churros which are adapted from a Mexican food made easy cookbook and they are utterly fabulous! Now to be truly honest with you here i have constrained myself to not adapt this recipe to much as they are just perfect as they are. But i have altered the luxuriously thick chocolate sauce to accompany them slightly. Churros are simply little deep-fried doughnuts from Spain and are usually tossed in a caster sugar and cinnamon powder mixture then dipped or dunked into a luscious chocolate sauce which is to die for!

INGREDIENTS:

Churros:

50g caster sugar.

2 tsp ground cinnamon.

125g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

1 tbsp olive oil.

250ml freshly boiled water.

500ml veg oil for deep-frying.

Chocolate Sauce:

100g dark chocolate 70% min or 50/50 milk and dark ratio.

25g milk chocolate or white (completely up to you it’s pretty free rein)

1 tbsp golden syrup

150 ml double cream.

METHOD:

In a shallow, wide dish sprinkle the caster sugar and cinnamon onto it a stir together until a brown speckled concoction is formed.

Melt the ingredients for the chocolate sauce in a saucepan over a very, very gentle heat until the chocolate is just melting into a pool then remove from the heat and set aside to cool and thicken slightly.

Now for the churros, put the flour and baking powder into a bowl and beat in the olive oil and the boiled water. Keep on beating this mixture until you end up with a warmish sticky dough, then leave to rest for 10/15 mins until the oil is heated up.

Pour the oil into a smallish pan and heat the oil to around a temperature of 170c which is the perfect browning temperature.When ready pour the dough into a star nozzled piping bag and pipe 4-5cm lengths into the oil and snip off with scissors.

Cook them for about 3-4 mins or until they are a golden-amber colour and gleaming in the light of your kitchen!

Carefully using tongs (these are best as they avoid splashing of the hot oil) lift the churros out of the oil and leave to drain and set on kitchen paper for 5-10mins then roll and toss in the sugar mixture and dunk and dive them into the glorious chocolate dream sauce:)!

Thanks for reading, until next time au revoir!

Ryan.

 

 

 

Cappucino Pavlova! (Nigellissima).

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Hello again everybody, hope you are all well and are almost ready for Christmas! i’m still in need of ideas for food aha! This whole weekend has been spent cooking my way through The Little Paris Kitchen and listening to all the Christmas songs known to man during the process aha! This is a recipe from Nigella’s Nigellissima, It has a wonderful crisp outer shell then you crack into the soft billowy centre of creamy meringue. All with the hit of a cappucino throughout hence the title of the book Instant-Italian-Inspiration. This Pav is perfect after a heavy Christmas dinner:) It is very light but rich at the same time so i prefer to slice this on a board and bring it out to the table pre-measured! Well i did say at the start of the post i was cooking my way through Rachel Khoo’s book and so that is what i did:) i began by making some Chouquettes followed by Quatre-quarts aux agrumes ( citrus fruit cake ). I recommend this book to any keen cook who wishes to take a journey into the world of the French cuisine, Rachel gives a very broad and simple approach to the cuisine which takes off the stress of thinking that French Cuisine is all about a complicated dish and lots of butter! Seriously this is not the truth:)

I was watching Nigellissima An Italian Inspired Christmas when i discovered this pavlova! I love the creaminess of the meringue against the bitterness of the espresso powder ( ground espresso INSTANT!!!!) Please don’t make the mistake and buy granules or just instant coffee it has an incredibly bland taste and will mask everything else that is going on in the taste buds. Now i know this pud is not quintessentially Italian but it has some Inspiration and that is all that counts:) Now i probably won’t post until Christmas day now so have a lovely Christmas Eve and i will speak to you soon!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 250g caster sugar.
  • 4 tsp instant espresso powder!!!!!!!!
  • 4 free-range egg whites.
  • pinch of salt.
  • 2 tsp cornflour.
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar.
  • 300ml double cream.
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/375F/Gas 4 and line a flat oven tray with baking parchment and – if it helps – using a 23cm cake tin as a guide – draw a circle on it with a pencil.
  2. In a small  bowl, mix the sugar with the instant espresso powder, and set aside for the moment.
  3. In a clean, grease-free bowl, preferably metal (and wipe the inside with a piece of paper roll dipped in vinegar first, if you want) whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are holding soft peaks and keep whisking while you gradually add the sugar-coffee mixture, one tablespoon at a time.
  4. When all this mixture is incorporated and you have a firm, gleaming, beige -coloured  meringue, fold in – using a grease-free metal spoon – the cornflour and vinegar.
  5. Dollop large spoonfuls of the meringue mixture inside the drawn circle (or make a circle shape freehand if you prefer) on the baking parchment and smooth and shape it with a spatula so that it looks rather like the crown of a straw boater: it must be flat on top.
  6. Put this in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 150C/300F/Gas 2, and cook for one hour. The meringue’s outer shell should be crisp, but only just. When it’s ready, turn off the oven and leave the Pav base inside it until cool or overnight.
  7. Once the pav base is cool, lift it carefully in its paper and place it, top-side down on a large flat plate, then gently peel off the paper.
  8. Whip the double cream until thickened and airy, but still soft, and spread this delicately over the top (which previously was the bottom!) of the meringue. With a teaspoon, push the cocoa powder through a fine sieve or tea strainer to decorate – cappuccino-style – the top.

 

Chouquette (sugar puffs)!

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Hello again fellow readers and bloggers! I was just recently given a copy of Rachel Khoo’s the little paris kitchen book ans i decided to share a recipe with you which i find absoloutely gorgeous! Chouquettes are simply little nuggets lf choux pastry topped with nibbed (coarse) sugar and sometimes chocolate! If you are not a sweet fan the you could adjust them to make Gougères which are a cheese version and are incredibly moriesh as well. These are perfect alongside a fresh cup of steaming coffee! These would be lovely a a gift for somebody at Christmas or just having a platter of them on a table would look stunning this festive period. But i do warn you they are best eaten on the day of baking!

Now i know the prospect of making choux pastry sounds daunting but honestly if you follow the method i use it is a guaranted success. You just have to work quickly and efficiently to get everything incorporated evenly! When making choux pastry always use a sturdy pan and a wooden spoon not a whisk as the whisk tends to clump everything inside it! Every time i make these they always put a smile on my face when it comes to eating them as they are incredibly light and don’t leave you feeling bloated like after a heavy cake! And this choux pastry will do for éclairs or profiteroles as well as chouquettes.

INGREDIENTS:

125ml water.
125ml milk (full fat, please)
100g butter cubed.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 teaspoon sugar.
170g plain flour.
4 eggs.
Icing sugar for dusting.
100g nibbed sugar or choc chips!

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 180°c. Pour the milk and water into the saucepan and and the butter, salt and sugar. Place the pan on a high heat and melt the butter carefully. Now turn down the heat very low and add all of the flour and beat hard until the consistency of a smooth ball appears which isn’t clinging to the sides of the pan.

Take the pan off of the heat now and begin to slowly add the eggs one by one to the cooled dough and beat hard until all of the eggs are incorporated fully and the mixture is uniform.

Now placd the mixture into a piping bag with a 5mm nozzle and begin to pipe onto a lined baking sheet 4 corners to stick the paper down. Then proceed to pipe the chouquettes. They shoukd be small disks and if they have little peaks then take a wet finger and flatten then down as these will burn during cooking.

Dust them with icing sugar and set them aisde for a moment and then dot each with a few nibbed sugar grains or choc chips the dust again with icing sugar before popping them into the oven for 20 mins until they are golden and crisp to the touch!

Thanks and hope you enjoy these Parisian teatime treats! Ryan.

Ruby Red Plum & Amaretti Crumble! Nigellissima:)

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Hello again everyone, i hope you are all keeping very well. i have just recently discovered this little Anglo-Italian recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Nigellissima. It is a red plum and amaretti biscuit crumble. It is perfect for those evenings when it is bitterly cold and dark outside as it provides just the perfect amount of warmth and comfort necessary to satisfy even the coldest of people! The acidity of the plums and lemon really lend a hand to cut through the richness of the crumble. Then from the out of nowhere you receive a subtle almond hit from the amaretti biscuits which i must admit are absolutely fantastic instead of  the traditional oats. Over the next few days i will try to post a few festive recipes and tips to throw the most utterly perfect Christmas!

INGREDIENTS:

100g crunchy amaretti biscuits.

30g soft unsalted butter.

1 kg red plums stoned and quartered if large and halved if small.

30g caster sugar.

zest and juice of half a lemon.

For the crumble topping:

150g plain flour.

1 tsp b.powder.

100g cold diced unsalted butter.

45g caster sugar.

1 23cm oval deep pie dish!

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to Gas 5/190c and pop in a baking sheet or tray. Place the amaretti biscuits into a bag a bash with a rolling pin (which is possibly the best way to relieve any anger). Now pop them into a bowl.

Melt the 30g of butter in a saucepan (with lid), add the plums (prepared) and sprinkle in the 30g of sugar and the zest and juice of the lemon and apply heat and shake the pan gently. 2 mins lid off stir then 2 mins lid on. this timing is for fruit which is ripe. If they are not fully ripe you will need to apply a little more time to this! if cooking for longer be prepared to add more sugar and the other half of lemon.

Pour the plums into the pie dish and leave to one side while you start on the topping. sprinke over 2 tbsp of the amaretti biscuits and the put the rest into a bowl and add the rest of them to the flour and b.powder,sugar and butter then combine with fingers to achieve a consistency of breadcrumbs.

Now sprinkle this mix over the plums in the dish and place in the oven on the baking sheet for 30mins until the ruby red liquid is appearing at the sides and the top is golden brown. leave for 10-15mins to stand and the serve with mascarpone whipped or cream:)

Thanks Ryan.

Mousse Aux Éclats De Chocolat! (chocolate mousse with cocoa nibs). Rachel Khoo!

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Hello again everybody, i hope you are all warm and cosy old indoors as it’s freezing here in the old Scotland. I guess this week has been the same as any other as i always get the news that another test is upcoming and it just ruins your day:( then at the next class they break the news to you that there is another test:( Ugh! i feel as though i am just complaining over nothing but i think there comes a time in the year when tests could at least be abolished for 3 weeks or something aha! So anyway i discovered this little beautiful recipe on you-tube, while watching some Nigella and Rachel Khoo videos! This mousse is incredibly rich so only 1 small glass or ramekin full is plenty for 1 person. But since i am such a choc-aholic i require maybe a second one. If you have any query’s on Christmas or recipes don’t feel hesitated to ask me always there to help.

Oh while were on the subject of Christmas, tomorrow is the start of the 12 days of Christmas in our house! we begin by putting the tree and decorations up and then really just counting down the days until the moment finally arrives. I have almost forgot that on next Tuesday I will be revelling the food mixer from it’s box and using it for the first time which will be absolutely fantastic although the anticipation is killing me! Every time i get up in the morning i look at my bedside wall and stare into my advent calender which with almost no satisfaction supplies me with not very much chocolate for my burst of morning motivation. I still have a few presents to purchase for a few friends and then it should be done and dusted! i am a great fan of giving presents to people i love their reactions and when there faces light up with utter joy and excitement! In the end it makes me an happy person, them also a happy person and the whole ordeal of frantically racing round shops to purchase presents all worthwhile and satisfying!

So back to these little chocolate mousse’s, now i know i have also given there name in French but it seems that when you take a recipe and change the language it just seems to sound a whole lot better and at a new level in professionalism. I find that these mousse’s provide you with that perfect and instant chocolate hit and intensity, although they do take around 4 hours to set ad are not as quick as the Nigella ones, i still find that the wait is completely worth it in the taste stakes! so let’s crack on…

INGREDIENTS:

For the crème pâtissière
  • 3 free-range eggs, yolks only
  • 50g caster sugar.
  • 20g cornflower
  • 250ml whole milk.
  • 1 heaped tbsp unsweetened cocoa.

or 1 of the previous chocolate crème pâtissière recipes from my previous post!

For the chocolate meringue
  • 3 free-range eggs, whites only
  • 50g  icing sugar
  • couple drops lemon juice
  • pinch of salt (fleur de sel)
  • 150g dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • 200ml double cream.
To serve
  • 2 tbsp soft butter
  • 50g cocoa nibs ( found online and in health food stores)

METHOD:

For the crème pâtissière, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and thick, then whisk in the cornflower.Add the cocoa powder to the milk and bring to a boil then switch off the heat.Pour the milk in a slow stream onto the egg mixture, whisking vigorously all the time. (Pour slowly to avoid scrambling the egg.)

Return the mixture to a clean pot over a medium heat and whisk continuously. Make sure to scrape the sides and the bottom, otherwise it will burn.The cream will start to thicken. Once it releases a bubble or two, take it off the heat.Pour into a shallow bowl. Cover with cling film (pat the cling film so it sticks directly on to the cream) and refrigerate for at least an hour before using.

For the meringue, put half the egg whites into a clean glass or metal bowl. Add the sugar, lemon juice and salt and whisk until white.Add the rest of the egg whites and continue whisking until the meringue forms stiff peaks when the whisk is removed.

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed.

To make the mousse, beat the chilled crème pâtissière to remove any lumps before stirring in the melted chocolate. Mix in one third of the meringue, then gently fold in the rest followed by the whipped cream.

To serve, brush 4-6 glasses or ramekins with soft butter. Add some cocoa nibs and roll them around the sides and bottom of the glasses until evenly coated.Divide the mousse between the glasses and chill for at least an hour, but ideally four hours. Serve chilled, sprinkled with cocoa nibs. The mousse is best eaten the same day and should not be kept for more than two days (due to the raw egg whites).

I hope you all enjoy this as much as i and Rachel do aha!

Thanks for reading and for the recipe Rachel Khoo!

Ryan.

Chocolate crème and Vanilla crème Pâtissière!

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Hello everyone again, I hope you are all doing well and coping with the changing climate aha! it’s incredibly bitter at night in Glasgow! I have decided to share these little fillings with you as they seem to be absolutely fantastic and I just can’t stop making them and adapting each time. The Chocolate Crème is usually used to fill up a layer in mousse’s or cheesecake in France or maybe even Les Petit croquembouche’s ( light choux buns with spun sugar swirled round the tower of them). Or if you are a Vanilla Crème fan then this filling is fantastic for tartlettes or choux buns e.g. éclairs. I first came across these fillings in a nearby deli and I thought hmm.. I will try and find a recipe and then Lorraine Pascale came to the rescue and their I was pondering round the kitchen searching for a pan to whip up these classic French Patisserie fillings! Although I have only changed a few little things in these recipes they are still traditional French and they are completely sublime.

Tomorrow will consist of making Nigella’s Christmas cake which if I must say is so satisfying and relaxing, and as her recipes are all so laid back, you don’t have to feel stressed in any way possible. Now i will make a little post tomorrow on how the cake went and it was really just to tell you that if you ever feel the urge to simply take out the Tia Maria liqueur, then think again it is only 125ml and when you bake the cake it will evaporate off leaving behind a feeling of humbleness which in return fills you with complete satisfaction. If your wondering why i choose Tia Maria, well it was for the reason that it reminds me of Christmas, it has wonderful complex aromatic structure which adds subtle warmth and depth to your cake. The liqueur has a wonderful fragrance of rum, chocolate, vanilla and coffee. It leaves behind no breath of alcohol so their is no need to worry about that and it is really there to add roundness to the cake and make it a festive crowd pleaser! So i recommend you make one of these to sit on your table at Christmas time.

I know this is a bit out of the blue but i am trying to find a magazine to subscribe to and it has been boiling in the back of my mind for a while now and i was thinking of a French one on Paris or culture, food or fashion? but i’m really quite bewildered by the choice out there so if any of you fellow readers have a good recommendation then don’t hesitate to comment back on any post to tell me about it!

CHOCOLATE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE:

INGREDIENTS:

400ml full fat milk

50-100g dark chocolate (depending on how strong you like it).

4 egg yolks

100g caster sugar

40g plain flour (sifted)

pinch of fleur del sel.

METHOD:

Heat the milk in a small pan to just above simmering then remove form heat and add the grated chocolate and keep warm.

in a pan (next size up) mix the yolks, sugar, flour and salt until well combined. Slowly begin to add the chocolate mixture to the egg mix and whisk throughly when doing so, then place on a medium heat (still whisking) until it begins to thicken then add to a bowl, cover with cling film and place in the fridge, use by 2 days!

VANILLA CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE:

INGREDIENTS:

400ml Full Fat Milk.

1 vanilla pod (seeds)

3 egg yolks

80g caster sugar

40g plain flour

pinch of fleur de sel

30g butter.

METHOD:

Do the same as the previous recipe,and then add the butter once in the dish covered with cling film.Merci Beaucoup!

Ryan.