The
colours are vibrant and stunning – just as they should be.
Do
I have your attention?
Sunday, 28 January 2018
Saturday, 20 January 2018
Radio Recipes - 22nd January, 2018
As
promised here are the recipes and the bits and pieces mentioned
during my chat with Bernie Keith, on his Radio Show, The Bernie
Keith Show, BBC Radio Northampton on Monday 22nd
January, 2018 at 10.10am. If you fancy a listen after its aired have a look for the 22/01/2018 show on this link.
If
you liked the idea of the “muddle” here's the “recipe” and a
couple of photos too.
The Muddle
Choose a dish or bowl that's not too large
Warm the chocolate pudding, one large dessert spoon
in each bowl
One scoop of vanilla ice cream
3 or 4 pieces of Rocky Road
or Chocolate Hokey Pokey
Drizzle with a small ladle of compote
Then
there's the chocolate pudding :
Marianne's
Chocolate Pudding
from The Little Book of Chocolat by Joanne Harris and Fran
Warde
Takes
1 hour/ serves 6-8
unsalted
butter for greasing dish
75g
caster sugar
40g
unsalted butter, soft
1
egg
40g
cocoa powder
150g
self raising flour
120ml
semi skimmed milk
Sauce
180g soft dark brown sugar
200ml water
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4. Rub the inside of a 1 litre
ovenproof dish with a little butter.
In a bowl, place the sugar, butter and egg and whisk until
blended. Add the cocoa powder and flour along with a little milk and
blend until smooth. Add the remaining milk and mix in, then transfer
to the buttered baking dish.
To make the sauce, place the sugar, water and cocoa in a small
saucepan. Heat gently and mix until dissolved. Add the vanilla
extract, pour over the top of the cake mixture, place in the middle
of the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
In
a perfect world you'd make this and serve it immediately – it's my
preference to be able to prep a pudding ahead but the downside here
is that the sauce is absorbed more than one would want. It's the
gooey consistency that's crucial.
Here
are my suggestions on both counts.
I
made the dessert ahead and froze it – the result was good but you
might want to add more “goo”.
Defrost
the pudding and then warm in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for
15 minutes.
Make
an additional quantity of the sauce – it only takes minutes and
then divide it equally between the foil containers – you've created
a triple chocolate pudding.
Try
single cream instead of vanilla ice cream.
The
recipe states it serves 6-8 – I'd be inclined to say 4-6 but of
course it depends on how greedy your chocoholics are.
Cherry
and Raspberry Compote
350g cherries, stoned – can use frozen
150g caster sugar
juice of 1 lemon
150g raspberries – can use frozen
4 tbsp water or juice from defrosted fruit
Pour the water into a pan and add the cherries, sugar and lemon
juice. Place the on a medium heat and stir until the sugar
dissolves. Cook the cherries over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until
they have released some juice but are not overcooked. If you are
using frozen cherries you will have the fruit juices when defrosted –
use this juice instead of the water.
Add the raspberries to the pan and cook for a further 1-2
minutes until they start to soften. Remove the pan from the heat and
leave the mixture to cool, then chill it well before serving.
You can keep the compote as is or blitz in a processor and pass
through a sieve – purely a matter of personal preference – some
people aren't fond of raspberry pips.
Sticky
Toffee Sauce
110g/4oz unsalted butter
225g/8oz soft dark brown sugar
50g/2oz chopped stem ginger (optional)
10 fl oz double cream (heavy USA)
Heat the butter, sugar and ginger – gently. When dissolved
add the cream.
Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.
One batch of the recipe produces 540g of sauce, or, over two
portions – one to fold through a batch of home-made vanilla ice
cream – based on the ice cream recipe which is on the blog.
It freezes too!
This is an excellent recipe and I'd wager that you'll not be
buying a ready-made version once you've sampled this one.
Hmm – another element you could add to the “muddle”?
Chocolate
Hokey Pokey
75g unsalted butter
100g pecan nuts roughly chopped
pinch of sea salt flakes
200g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
2 tbsps golden syrup
4 x 32g Crunchie bars
Heat a small knob of butter (from the 75g) in a medium frying
pan and when it foams tip in the pecans with the sea salt flakes.
Stir them over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until toasted – you'll
be able to smell them when they are ready. Tip the nuts into a bowl
and leave to cool.
This element can be made ahead.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt, in a medium
saucepan with the rest of the butter and the syrup, stirring. Once
the chocolate mixture is smooth take the pan off the heat. Bash the
Crunchie bars (keep them in the wrappers – less messy!). Add the
Crunchie pieces, along with the toasted pecans, to the chocolate
mixture. Gently mix together before transferring to an 18cm round or
square foil tray 24x24cms (or cake tin if you prefer to wash up!).
You could also use a standard foil tray bake.
Leave to set in the fridge. When set cut in half and then
continue to cut each half into 2cm strips and cut each strip so that
you have 2cm squares. This will give you 80 pieces of hokey pokey.
If you feel that it's too much like hard work to assemble
ingredients then when you've a spare ten minutes do your “mise en
place” - French as you may have guessed – literally “put in
place”. In other words get yourself organised – ahead of the
game. You're far more likely to make the hokey pokey if you've
toasted and salted the pecan nuts and weighed out the chocolate.
You'll enjoy bashing the Crunchie bars.
You could if you felt so inclined make your own honeycomb –
since I'm suggesting a treat I'm not sure that by adding another
element and making it a smidge more faffy you'll appreciate my
efforts!
To those who say “I don't like dark chocolate” and
therefore wouldn't make the hokey pokey do me a favour – try it.
I've never been a fan of dark chocolate and so have compromised the
two to one ratio. Make sure your plain chocolate is between 50 -70%
cocoa solids in other words not so strong and bitter that it'll make
your teeth itch – if you know what I mean.
You have the sweetness too in the Crunchie bars and the balance is
just right.
Have a glance at the photos below.
If you liked the thought of the “muddle” then you might like
the “Hodgepodge”. There are three different versions of a
“Hodgepodge” - Easter Emergencies A Hodgepodge,
Hodgepodge – take 2 and Hodgepodge … again. The Compote
Compilation will give you the recipe for a Blueberry Compote.
Happy days – hope you're inspired to try.
Things you should know …
… about
spices and stuff.
Are
you dipping your toe into Indian Cuisine, as it were? If it's a yes,
then here's few pointers.
Unless
you have a group of friends that will share, don't buy large
quantities of spices because it's cheaper that way. It's only
cheaper if you're going to use them. Spices lose their strength over
time and they should be kept in a cool, dark place in containers that
have tight fitting lids. If you really become hooked you could
always treat yourself to a spice tin.
Using
the chicken tikka salad recipe as an example, you'll know that you
need two medium sized mixing bowls for the spice mixes and a jug for
the yoghurt. Use kitchen kit that is not new, especially if you use
plastic bowls. Spices will stain plastic and will also taint no
matter how hot your washing up water. This need not be an issue –
just wash dry and store them separately – preferably bagged and
keep them for your Indian recipes.
Remember
my old friend the foil tray – ideal for cooking your chicken and
then disposing afterwards.
Oh
and an added bonus – if you are thinking about a New Year health
kick – substitute the full fat yoghurt for low fat – hey it's no
great sacrifice.
Step
by step photo guides coming next.
What's your salad bag?
For this dish mine was a forage in the fridge and I rescued :
Half a bag of baby new potatoes
(if you can get Cornish so much the better)
cooked, peeled and then cubed – approximately
8 potatoes
Iceberg lettuce – broked into small pieces
Large sweet red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
finely
cherry tomatoes, halved
one medium sweet variety onion, sliced
finely
I chose a large white bowl for the salad and began with the
lettuce and then sprinkled the remaining salad ingredients, topping
with the chicken pieces and finally drizzling with the dressing.
Think about scaling up your salad - as it is it's a lunch and in
particular easy to transport so would be great if you're on the move
or just to take to the office.
Add more ingredients to the salad and serve with a flat bread of
your choice for a supper – you don't have to make them if it's too
much pressure!
With the variety and choice of salad ingredients and types of
bread to choose from the world really is your lobster – I know I'm
predictable – I just love the expression!
The dressing … to go with the chicken salad
Who
would have thought you'd be drizzling a quintessential Italian
combination of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar – a
marriage we already know is made in heaven – with another Indian
classic – tandoori chicken tikka.
The
dressing
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1½ tbsps balsamic vinegar
1½ tsps brown sugar
¼ tsp coarse black pepper
¼ tsp cumin powder
pinch of salt
Whilst the chicken is cooking, with a whisk mix together all
the dressing ingredients and leave to one side.
A few thoughts so far :
I'd wear gloves when you coat the chicken – turmeric and chilli
will stain your hands as well as equipment.
Make sure your “oven tray” has sides – unless you have a
burning desire to clean your oven!
I used soft dark muscovado sugar in the dressing.
I marinaded the chicken from 11am – 7.30pm. It's very important
that you cover the chicken marinade and keep it in a cold place. If
you keep it in your fridge then bear in mind it's raw chicken and as
such should be kept on the bottom shelf and more importantly that it
is kept away from cooked food.
When the chicken is cooked I know you'll want to taste it –
cook's privilege after all – a lot depends on your palate and that
of your guests but tasted on its own you may find it a tad hot. I'd
suggest that before you rush to judgement wait until you've assembled
and tasted the completed salad.
A word about the “heat” of the spices. Remember recipes are
meant to be a guide they are not set in stone. If you find the
spices too powerful don't let it put you off – try reducing the
green chilli paste, turmeric and red chilli powder from 1½ tsps to 1
tsp each.
It's personal taste after all – it's whatever suits you.
Chicken salad … but not as you know it.
I've
had this recipe in my “try tray” for months – it comes from
Dipna Anand, co-owner of London's Brilliant restaurant.
As
is my usual procedure, here's the recipe exactly as I found it :
Tandoori
chicken tikka salad
Serves
4
700g (1lb 8oz) chicken breast, cut
into chunks
Marinade
1½ tbsps ginger and garlic paste
½ tsp salt
1½ tsps green chilli paste
2½ tbsps white vinegar
5 tbsps vegetable oil
1½ tsps turmeric
1½ tsps red chilli powder
1½ tsps cumin powder
2 tsps garam masala
160g (5½ oz) Greek yoghurt
or low fat version
For
the dressing
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1½ tbsps balsamic vinegar
1½ tsps brown sugar
¼ tsp coarse black pepper
¼ tsp cumin powder
pinch of salt
In a bowl mix the chicken pieces with the ginger and garlic
paste, salt, green chilli paste and the white vinegar and leave to
one side.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the oil and turmeric. Add the
red chilli powder, cumin poweder and garam masala to the bowl then
mix well before adding the yoghurt. Combine the mixture thoroughly.
Add the chicken pieces to the yoghurt mixture. Use your hands
to ensure the chicken pieces are evenly coated in the yoghurt
marinade. Leave the chicken to marinade for at least an hour. You
may leave it in the marinade overnight, this way the chicken will
absorb all the flavours thoroughly.
Once the chicken has been marinated, place the pieces on an
oven tray. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 160fan/180c/Gas 4 for 20-25
minutes.
I have a good feeling about this recipe - I know I've said this
before - but only when deserved – I'm sorry you can't smell this.
Sunday, 14 January 2018
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)