Italian Traybake!

Hello again, readers i do very much apologise for the seemingly endless gap between my post’s! Just seems to be everytime i try to fit a post in something else comes along and steals it’s priority! Now enough of me whining! And into some delightful Italian Cooking! Okay so i wouldn’t exactly call this the most amazing Italian food experience but there is something so incredibly humble and comforting about this dish and it always seem to bring out the best in people and gets everyone talking at the table! And that’s what i love about cooking, not just the fact that you have made something with your own hands but also that you are bringing joy to family and friends faces which in return always makes you feel great too!

Okay so this is a traybake and as you probably already know a traybake is simply an easier way to please guests than slaving over hot stove-tops all day preparing a drastically difficult, time-consuming meal when the tray and oven are quintessentially a better option to use! Now this dish is a pretty carnivor enhanced main course but if you are vegetarian do feel free to swap the meat for vegetables (preferably Italian if possible) i love griddled and then roasted raddichio! Gives off a lovely pepperiness! If you sticking to the meat option here i do go for chicken thighs because of there much tender texture and they don’t become string-like and i do suggest you purchase very good quality Italian sausages from an Italian deli is best but if not a good quality British sausage will do but the Italian varities are much more substantial and give much deeper and sophisticated flavours to this dish!

INGREDIENTS: 3 Baking Potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks. 8 Chicken Thighs bone and skin intact! 8 Italian Sausages approx 750g! Small bunch of fresh rosemary! The zest of 1 unwaxed lemon. 1 tsp sea salt flakes. Ground black pepper 4 tbsp olive oil! (does not need to extra-virgin).

METHOD: Preheat the oven to 220°c or Gas 7. Put the potatoes with the chicken and sausages into a large shallow baking tray! Arrange about 4 sprigs of rosemary around the tray and chop the needles of the other 2 and sprinkle these over the chicken and sausages! Zest the lemon over the whole tray and season with salt and pepper then pour the 4 tbsp of oil all over the tray and bake in the oven for approx 50-60 mins!

This has got to be one of the most perfect and comforting tv dinners or a simple main for friends and family! Whatever the occasion i’m sure this will bring joy to everybody at the table!

Merci! Ryan!

Hello Folks!

Hello again just a little reminder that i will be putting up a post shortly i am heading out just now to pick up sone Amaretti biscuits for a crumble and then home for homework and after all of that i will be posting for you i hope to share a little Italian Classic with you! With a few twists incorporated here and there hope you enjoy and post soon.

Ryan!

Madeleines With Lemon Curd! Rachel Khoo!

Hello everyone again! Sorry for the distant gap between posts these past few days i have just been up to my head in violin work and homework for that ugh… Anyway i thought i would revive myself from that situation and do a nice little post to cheer me up before i pass out writing about how a cadence structure influenced Mozart! bizarre i know but that’s the Royal Board of Music for you. Now the first time i ever made these i never went along with the recipe for the crème au citron but instead i went for a tart and sophisticated blueberry conserve which did work surprisingly well so don’t feel frightened to add a touch of something you fancy or add a different filling! Okay so you have to buy a Madeleine tin for this (a scallop shaped tin in which the French delights are cooked in). These tin’s are very inexpensive to buy online so don’t make the silly mistake and purchase the instore.

I discovered this recipe from Rachel Khoo’s book when i was having an inspirational half an hour to myself eating cake and popping in some notes into the odd cookery book or two. This Madeleine recipe ( base ) works for all Madeleine’s and won’t need to be changed for any other recipe you decide to try out. One thing i should say before you run off to your kitchens,you must serve Madeleine’s oven fresh with a slight heat (just under blood temperature). I love the scallop shape of these little france classics, and to pop the cherry on the cake i like to have my french music and books besidde me when i’m baking these to enlighten the atmosphere! So i hope you find happiness and pleasure from baking a batch of these for your friends and family when they come over for some afternoon tea. Although during this day and age the afternoon tea has become a bit of the past but i treasure it’s beauty and carry on the faithful tradition! 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

for the madeleines:

• 3 free-range eggs
• 130g sugar
• 200g plain flour
• 10g baking powder
• 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only                             
• 20g honey
• 4 tbsp milk
• 200g butter, melted and cooled
• punnet of raspberries
• icing sugar, for dusting

for the creme au citron (lemon curd)

• 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice only
• pinch of salt
• 40g sugar
• 45g butter
• 2 free-range egg yolks

1. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy. Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.
2. Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs. In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.
3. Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Put the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigorously. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken. Don’t stop whisking or the eggs will curdle (if the curd starts to boil, take off the heat). Once the curd thickens and releases a bubble or two, remove from the heat and pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl. Place cling film in direct contact with the curd and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190C/ gas 5. Butter and flour a 12-shell madeleine tin. Put the lemon curd into a piping bag fitted with a small, pointed nozzle and place in the fridge.
6. Put a heaped tablespoon of batter into each madeleine shell and press a raspberry deep into the batter.
7. Bake for five minutes and turn the oven off for one minute (the madeleines will get their signature peaks), then turn the oven on to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and bake for a further five minutes. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, wash and dry the tin, then repeat the baking as for the first batch.
8. While the second batch is baking, pop the piping nozzle into the mound in each baked madeleine and squirt in a teaspoon’s worth of lemon curd. Repeat with the second batch, then dust with icing sugar and serve straightaway.

Thanks for reading this post i do hope you get to know your kitchen and Madeleines and get baking aha!
Enjoy! Ryan.

Quick supper of Pasta, Peas, Lardons, Cream and Parmesan!

Hello again folks, everyone is keeping well i hope! Now today i got home threw my rucksack onto the floor of my kitchen and scoured the cupboards for inspiration of something to eat! Well after about 5 minutes i had taken out some penne pasta, and ventured into the fridge and deep freeze to discover peas, lardons, cream and parmesan so i decided to throw together a little concoction of the 5! In the end it turned out a success and so i therefore thought why not share with the rest of the world. I do first want to apologise for the large gaps between posts and i’m really sorry for not sticking to what i set out to do, it’s all really to do with the fact that for the past 3 days i have been chained (metaphorically speaking) to my bedroom while i spent hours revising for math exams! oh the delights of trigonometry ad how they fill me with absolutely no pleasure what so ever:(! Anyway i also wanted to tell you about my new years resolution which just sprung to mind a few days ago and that is to start a food journal! Basically it consists of carrying my little notebook around with me throughout my culinary and social adventures and note down recipes and things that inspire me! sounds like a good idea to me don’t know about you though although i have only started yesterday. But so far i feel the urge to carry on writing pages and pages in my A4 notebook but i have to contain myself and my thoughts!

I love to mix around with the ingredients in any dish like this so feel free to use what ever you have handy in the kitchen! I like sometimes though just to sit back and relax with a nice, hot, steaming bowl of fresh pasta and forget about the day:). Oh.. i thought i would mention this to anyone out there reading this who likes jazz music! I am an incredible fan of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong ( as a collective). They both have very unique voices and seem to lighten up the mood/atmosphere of any day or week!

I have also just opened up a debit card there and i’m pretty scared to receive it now because as soon as i put a certain balance into it, i will have already spent it on an online purchase of some kind aha! Oh well i guess i will have to get used to them anyway as later in life we will be using them unless some genius out there designs a new kind of banking method! About the Food journal i have started i suggest you could do one to on a subject of your choice and at the end of the year we can review and share our discoveries and notes:).

INGREDIENTS:

Dried or Fresh Penne pasta (or what’s in the kitchen, after all this is a kitchen standby). Enough for as many people you are feeding! just go by judgement your naked eye is the best scales!

A few handfuls of peas or 60-70g! (Petit-pois are best) From the deep freeze.

30g of lardons or cubetti de pancetta!

A good swirl of cream!

Plenty of Grated parmesan!

As you can see it’s mostly approximate so don’t panic everything is fine just bung it altogether and you will be just dandy aha!

METHOD:

Put a pan of water onto the boil and when boiling and plenty of salt then the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions ( Word of warning, i usually cook the pasta to the instructions but checking a few minutes it’s supposed to be ready as it can overcook to mush otherwise).

In another small pan bring a 1/2 way up of water to the boil and add the peas and cook for a few minutes.

Then take a small frying pan and fry the pancetta or lardons for a few minutes until crisp.

now drain the peas and pasta and toss them along with the lardons in a bowl and add the swirl of cream and the grated parmesan and dive to the sofa and switch on your favourite programme or tunes! Enjoy!

Merci pour regarde.

Ryan!

 

 

 

Chestnut Chocolate Pots! Nigella:)

Hello everyone again, I hope you are all well and eating well too aha! I know I certainly am, I just made my way through the hallway to discover my Amazon parcel awaiting me and to my not so surprising self opened it to discover a luscious, red, gleaming tin of Italian Amaretti biscuits! Mmm.. the crunch of the outer golden amber coating and then to bite into the sumptuously caressing centre of apricot kernels, sugar, and egg whites all with a bitter almond edge! ah just heaven! Anyway I better carry on with the stated recipe as quite frankly I talk about those treats all day long:) aha! as I am writing this post I have so fantastic Italian jazz on to vamp up the atmosphere! As you probably already know these are not quintessentially Italian and therefore the music is not necessary but i really think it creates the correct ambience required and for me the chestnut flavour provides that little secret Italian edge.

Now these little pots of delight really captivate the taste-buds and have an almost earthy tone but are still velvety smooth and have a texture of the world’s finest silk! I love the contrast of chestnuts and chocolate, I never thought, before this recipe that they would partner up well and I tell you they do very well! You really have to strain yourself to eating one of these as they are super rich but I find that I can discover some little small space in my stomach to fit another in aha! I don’t know about you but I just love ordering things online, infact i must confess i buy nearly all of my kitchen gadgetry/kit online, for the reason that it so much cheaper and there is a much more wider, extensive range to choose from. I remember when I first purchased a lovely ceramic le creuset dish from France online and when it arrived, I unveiled it from it’s delicate interior and tissue paper aw what a feeling! Now it’s all worn, but I still feel proud to use it:)

INGREDIENTS:

• 175 gram(s) dark chocolate (best quality)
• 125 ml double cream (plus more to serve if wished)
• 125 ml Full fat milk
• 1 medium egg(s)
• 250 gram(s) sweetened chestnut purée (from a can)
• 30 ml dark rum (optional).

METHOD:

Crush the chocolate to rubble in a food processor.

In a smallish saucepan, heat the cream and milk until just coming to a boil. then remove from the heat and with the motor on the processor off pour over the contents of the pan through the funnel.

Now let the mixture stand for 30 secs and then whiz for 30 secs and then crack the egg into the funnel and whiz for another 45 secs.

Add the chestnut purée and the rum (optional) through the funnel also and whiz until incorporated nicely.

Now you can remove the blade and using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold the mixture into little pots, ramekins or shot glasses.

Chill for at least 4 hours to set and then dive in with a spoon 🙂 Serve these voluptuously little pots with a drizzle of double cream and enjoy:)

Merci Beaucoup! Ryan!:)

 

 

 

Gâteau au fromage, pruneaux et aux pistaches! Rachel Khoo:)

Bonjour, readers! I hope you are feeling good and have had a lovely holiday over Christmas and New year. Now over the past few days I have been thinking about Spring and how Spring brings a feeling of freshness and revival! As you have probably already noticed I have given the title of this dish in French, the reason for this, I have no idea but i find that if you take even the simplest of English words or phrases and then translate them into French you end up with a title which sounds so exotic you seem to have an urge to find out what it is! So to any of my readers who can’t work this recipe out it is a cheese, prunes and pistachio cake. Which may not sound at all that satisfying but hmmm… i must tell you now it’s absolutely glorious and it doesn’t seem to have that heaviness, which sometimes is associated with cakes! This cake has that light-as-air texture and provides that Spring-like feel which also seems to lighten up life a little!

I make this cake when I feel Spring like weather is on it’s way or when i feel the urge to make a savoury cake or make a picnic basket! The cake batter itself is necessarily unchangeable, but if you feel the urge or inspiration coming on to create or experiment with more fillings and create an even more light, Spring cake then please let me know your combinations. When this cake is baking in the oven, you can smell the fresh, light, French air travel through the home and giving you a satisfactory or maybe even a humble feeling! I always think of Parisians sitting at French café’s sipping coffee out of little blue cups and watching the sun shine through the Eiffel Tower on a gloriously warm Spring or Summer’s evening!

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g plain flour.
• 15g baking powder.
• 150g soft goat’s cheese, cut into small pieces
• 80g pistachios, roughly chopped
• 100g prunes (pitted), roughly chopped
• 4 free-range eggs.
• 150ml/light olive oil (not extra virgin).
• 100ml full fat milk.
• 50g plain yoghurt. (to keep the cake moist).
• 1 tsp salt.
• A pinch of freshly-ground black pepper.

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, Gas 4 and line a 500g  loaf tin with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, goat’s cheese, pistachios and prunes.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy and pale in colour. Then gradually whisk in the oil, milk and yoghurt. Season with the salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
4. Fold the flour mixture into the whisked eggs. Try not to overbeat as this will make the end result tough (it’s better to undermix).
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool in the tin.

Merci pour la lecture, au revoir! Ryan.

Salted Butter Caramels With Edible Wrappers! :) Heston Blumenthal!

Bonjour, or Bonsoir i should say, I hope you are all well and are keeping well. I had a little of a morning bread baking extravaganza today, really all i did it for was to get my new Kitchenaid out and start using it aha! The bread in return was absolutely fabulous, the texture, flavour and structure where all very neat and tasty! Now i started this post lightly, now for the harder more complex part. I came across salted butter caramels when i was making Rachel Khoo’s Molleux au chocolat du sale, chocolate lava cakes with salted caramel sauce 🙂 mmmmm… they are a very indulgent luxury and one cannot have enough of these gorgeous French treats! The caramels themselves originate from Brittany and are traditionally made with local cream and fleur de sel (soft French sea salt flakes). This recipe calls for a little Heston Blumenthal magic with the edible wrappers which in principle are not actually that hard to master once you have tried a couple of times! I love the contrast of salty and sweet flavours!

Now this is when i get a tad scientific and pop my Heston hat on! Right for the perfect caramels i would suggest you invest in a high-quality thermometer mine was £19 from Lakelands! and oh for the edible wrappers you will require lots of very clean Petri dishes they are like CSI bacteria dishes ahah about 20-40 i would say and only buy plastic they are so much cheaper online. I got 100 caramels out of this mix so lets say you wrap 20-40 then repeat again although the discs of wrappers take 20-25 hours to solidify! Tedious I know but so much more appealing to the eyes of receiver! Now i am going to write this method in completely my own words as Heston’s explanation is very complex to understand! 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

For the caramels:

400g double cream.

38og whole milk.

380g white caster sugar.

375g liquid glucose.

300g unsalted butter.

10g salt.

For the edible wrappers:

1 drop!! of Glycerine.

5g powdered gelatine.

20 – 40 clean plastic or glass Petri dishes.

METHOD:

Line a baking tray (approximately 20 × 30cm) with parchment paper and set aside with a sieve for later use. Pour the double cream into a small saucepan and place it over a low heat to warm gently.

Put the milk, sugar, liquid glucose, butter and salt into a stainless-steel saucepan and place over a medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar, glucose and butter have melted.

When the temperature of the sugar and glucose liquid reaches 100C, swap the wooden spoon for a balloon whisk and whisk the mixture continuously as the caramel begins to thicken and change colour.

As soon as the temperature reaches 154C, remove from the heat and add the warm cream a third at a time. (Be careful of the hot steam released when the cream is added.) you really don’t want a facial as Rachel Khoo say’s!  After the final addition, stir thoroughly to make sure the caramel has come together.

Pass the caramel through the sieve straight on to the baking tray. Allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours before placing another sheet of parchment on top. Allow to set for an additional 12 hours before cutting into small rectangles and wrapping in edible wrappers.

For the edible wrappers, place 400g cold tap water in a saucepan, and add the glycerine and gelatine. Heat the mixture over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spoon to melt the gelatine.

Spread out 20 Petri dishes, or as many as you require, on a flat surface. Weigh out 5g of the gelatine solution into each dish, swirling the liquid to coat the bottom evenly and tapping the dish to break any air bubbles.

Place the dishes on a shelf and cover lightly with baking parchment to prevent any dust from settling on them. Leave in a warm place for 20–25 hours, or until the wrappers are completely dry.

When needed, carefully peel the wrappers off the dishes and wrap immediately round the caramels. Twist the ends like a Christmas cracker.

Hope you enjoy these and your friends and family too!

Until next time Au revoir!

Merci  Ryan!

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello hope you all have a fantastic and prosporous new year that brings joy and happiness to your life! It all starts now :)!