Thursday, 7 March 2019

Ricotta and oregano meatballs by Yotam Ottolenghi.


Serve four.

5 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm dice (optional)
2 large stalks celery, cut into 1cm dice (optional)
8 whole sprigs fresh oregano, plus 10g chopped oregano leaves
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
500ml chicken stock
Salt and black pepper
500g minced beef
100g freshly made breadcrumbs
250g ricotta
60g grated parmesan
1 egg
20g chopped parsley

First, make the tomato sauce.
Heat half the oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid.
Add half the onion, half the garlic and all of the carrots, celery and oregano sprigs.
Place on a medium-high heat and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring a few times, until the vegetables have softened without taking on any colour.
If need be, put the lid on the pan, to help prevent the onions from catching and burning.
Add the tomatoes, sugar, half the stock, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring from time to time, to give the sauce a chance to thicken gradually.

Meanwhile, make the meatballs.
Put the remaining onion and garlic in a large bowl with the beef, fresh breadcrumbs, cheeses, egg, oregano leaves, parsley, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.
Mix together with your hands, then shape into 12-14 balls weighing about 70g each.

Heat a tablespoon and a half of olive oil in a large frying pan and, when hot, add the meatballs.
Sear for two minutes on each side.
(Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to do this in two batches, adding the remaining tablespoon of oil before cooking the second batch.)

Remove the whole oregano sprigs from the tomato sauce, then gently press the seared meatballs into the sauce.
Pour over the remaining stock, or just enough almost to cover the meatballs; top up with a little water, if need be.
Cover the pan and cook on a very gentle simmer for 30 minutes.
If the sauce needs to thicken more after this time – you want a thick, pasta sauce-like consistency – remove the lid and increase the temperature a little so everything bubbles away.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with orzo or tagliatelle, warm or at room temperature.

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Pancakes.




My recipe
35g Self-rising flour
1 egg
125ml warm milk
30g butter
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Method.
Put the egg, salt and warm milk in a bowl whisk until frothy, add the flour a bit at a time
with the sugar and salt beat well.
Set aside for 30 mins.
Melt the butter.
Heat a frying pan with a little butter and cook the pancakes until golden. Turn out onto a plate
brush lightly with melted butter,sugar,lemon or creme Fraiche.

Tuesday, 5 March 2019

My No-Knead Bread.

100.0%, 320.0 g Strong flour + 40g Rye Flour + 40g Wholemeal Flour = 400g
2.0%, 8.0g Salt
0.5%, 2 g Instant Yeast
78.0%, 312.0 g Water












Saturday, 2 March 2019

Beef brisket.

- Pot-roasted beef brisket recipe | BBC Good Food
The dried porcini will add about three quid to the cost of this dish, but you get a lot of flavour for your money. We ate this with mashed swede, and loads of butter and black pepper.

Serves 6-8
dried porcini 25g
beef brisket 1.5kg, rolled and tied
banana shallots 6
carrots 350g, small ones
black peppercorns 12
bay leaves 4
thyme sprigs 6
swede 1, mashed to serve

Put the kettle on.
Set the oven at 230C/gas mark 8.
Put the dried porcini in a heatproof bowl, then pour the boiling water over it, cover with a plate and leave to soak for 25 minutes.
This will give you a deeply flavourful broth.

Place the rolled and tied brisket in a large casserole - lid off, then put it in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
Peel and trim the shallots and halve them lengthways.
Scrub and halve the carrots lengthways.
Add them to the casserole together with the porcini and its broth, the peppercorns, bay and thyme, then cover with a lid.
Lower the heat to 160C and bake for 4 hours.

Remove the brisket from its broth and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Put the casserole over a high heat, bring the contents to the boil and leave until reduced by about one-third.
Slice the brisket into thick pieces, dividing it between deep plates, then spoon over the broth and vegetables.

For the mashed swede
Peel a large swede and cut it into large chunks, pile it into a steamer basket or colander and cook over a pan of boiling water for 20 minutes until soft.
Tip into a bowl and crush thoroughly with a potato masher.
Add a thick slice of butter (about 30g) and lots of coarsely ground black pepper.
Beat firmly with a wooden spoon till fluffy.
Serve in generous mounds in the broth that surrounds the beef.

OR:
- Nigel Slater’s beef brisket recipes | Food | The Guardian

Monday, 18 February 2019

Brioche – a recipe from Crust by Richard Bertinet.

- Bread and buns: The foolproof baking guide | Weekend | The Times
Rum and sultana brioches
























Strawberry croustillant from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet

French Memories from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet

Chicken with fennel and herbs from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet.

- French Memories from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet
This is all about baking a whole meal in one dish, which you can bring from the oven to the table.
I love the aniseedy flavour of fennel.

For 4-6
Ingredients
125g butter
1 corn-fed chicken
2 large fennel bulbs
4 large tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
16-20 small new potatoes
few sprigs of chervil, parsley, rosemary
and thyme
sea salt and freshly groud black pepper
1 large or 2 small unwaxed lemons
2 whole star anise
125 dry white wine
6 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Take the butter out of the fridge to let it soften.
- If you have bought a whole chicken, joint it into 10 pieces so you end up with 4 breast pieces (on the bone), 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs and 2 wings.
- Cut the fennel bulbs in half lengthways to give 2 identical halves (as if you had opened out the fennel like a book) and cut each piece lengthways into 4.
- Halve the tomatoes.
- Crush the garlic cloves with the back of a knife.
- Wash the otatoes.
- Finely chop the chervil and parsley; leave the rosemary and thyme sprigs whole.

Method
- Layer the tomatoes, cut-side up, in a very big roasting dish.
Lay the fennel on top, followed by the garlic cloves and a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme.
Put into the oven for about 20–30 minutes to start them cooking.

- If the butter isn’t soft enough, bash it with a rolling pin! Mix all of the chopped herbs into it.

- Put the chicken pieces into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the herb butter and really massage it well into the chicken.

- Take the roasting dish out of the oven and put the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables.
Cut the lemon(s) in half and squeeze the juice over.
Tuck the squeezed halves in amongst the chicken.

- If using whole star anise, crush them in a pestle and mortar (or use the end of a rolling pin to crush them on a chopping board).
Sprinkle the star anise over the chicken and put the potatoes on top, so that they can brown.
- Pour over the wine and olive oil and put in the oven for 30–45 minutes.
Halfway through take the dish out and turn the chicken over.
The potatoes will tumble underneath, but that is fine.
At the end of the cooking time, check that the largest piece of chicken breast and the biggest thigh are cooked by inserting a sharp knife into the meat.
The juices should run clear.

Tapenade from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet.

- French Memories from French chef and baker Richard Bertinet
I like to use Kalamata olives for this, but you can use any good-quality black olives.
The tuna and anchovies give a really deep ‘meaty’ flavour, but if you want to do a vegetarian version you can leave them out and just add some more olives and capers instead.

Makes enough to fill 2 medium (250ml) jars
Ingredients
Kilner jars
300g black olives
75g tinned anchovy fi llets, in oil
75g tinned tuna, in oil
150g capers, in vinegar
1⁄2 lemon
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
- Drain the olives, anchovies, tuna and capers.
If you are using Kalamata olives they will usually be in oil – if this is good-quality oil, use a few tablespoons in the tapenade in place of the olive oil.

- Stone the olives: with a small, sharp knife make three incisions in each olive from end to end – keep the cuts at equal distances – then pull away the three similar-sized segments from the stone, without tearing or bruising the fruit.

- Juice the lemon.

Method
Put the olives in a food processor and make good use of your pulse button to chop them quite roughly.
Add the rest of the ingredients and keep pulsing in short bursts until you get a coarse paste.
I like tapenade to be quite coarse, but some people prefer it smoother, in which case just process it a little more. It really is up to you.
You shouldn’t need to add any salt because the anchovies should make it salty enough.

Monday, 28 January 2019

White Bean, Chorizo and Cavolo Nero Soup.

A chunky autumn soup-come-stew, made with white beans, paprika-laced chorizo sausage and Italian black cabbage leaves.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion - halved and thinly sliced
pinch of dried chillies
half can of 400g Beans in Water
100g smoked dry-cured bacon lardons
100g spicy cooking chorizo - skinned and sliced
1 large garlic cloves - crushed
two small peeled floury potatoes, such as King Edwards: 1 - cut into small chunks, 1 - whole
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
100g cavolo nero leaves - washed
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the casserole.
Add the bacon lardons and fry for 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Add the chorizo sausage and fry for another 1- 2 minutes until these too are lightly browned.
Add the onion and dried chillies, cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until soft but not browned.
Add the garlic and fry gently for another minute, make sure that the garlic does not brown.
Stir in the potatoes (1 - cut + 1 - whole), beans, stock.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are almost soft.

Meanwhile, slice the green leaves of the cavolo nero away from either side of the thin stalks.
Discard the stalks, bunch up the leaves and slice them across into 2.5cm wide strips.
Stir the cabbage into the soup, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Mash whole potato from soup with fork and stir in.
Uncover and simmer for another 2 - 3 minutes until the cabbage leaves are tender, the beans have heated through and the potatoes are just beginning to break apart.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and serve sprinkled with some chopped flat leaf parsley.

Cook's Notes
- If use dried white beans, such as haricot or cannellini - soaked overnight
Drain the soaked beans and add them to the pan with 1 litre of fresh cold water.
Bring to a simmer, part-cover and cook gently for 45 minutes - 1 hour until the beans are tender.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt, simmer for a further 5 minutes, then tip them into a colander set over a bowl to collect the cooking liquid.
Measure this and make up to 600 ml with water if necessary.
If more, return it to the pan and boil until it has reduced to the required amount.

- Seek out cooking chorizos that are sold whole from the deli counter rather than the pre-sliced chorizo sold in packets from the chilled cabinet.
The whole raw cured sausages have a much better flavour and texture for cooking.
- Any bright green leafy vegetable would work well in this soup like; kale, Savoy cabbage, Swiss chard or spinach.
Add to the soup and just cook until wilted down or tender.
This soup would work well with British butter beans.

Recipe adapted from:
- White Bean, Chorizo and Cavolo Nero Soup | Le Creuset

- Cavolo nero, meatball & cannellini soup recipe | BBC Good Food

- Italian Soup | Vegetables Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes

- Nigel Slater's classic ribollita | Food | The Guardian
Ribollita is a famous Tuscan bread soup, a hearty potage made with bread and vegetables. There are many variations but the main ingredients always include leftover bread, cannellini beans, lacinato kale, cabbage, and inexpensive vegetables such as carrot, beans, chard, celery, potatoes and onion.

Monday, 21 January 2019

Lamb & Pearl Barley Stew.

- Lamb & Pearl Barley Stew Recipe | Abel & Cole:
250g pack of diced lamb
1 onion
1 carrot
A stick of celery
1 chicken stock cube
A 75g bag of pearl barley
A handful of flat leaf parsley
1 red onion squash

1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
800ml boiling water

- Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium pan.
Add the lamb.
Fry over a medium heat for 5-8 mins till the lamb is browned all over.
Turn it once or twice to make sure it browns evenly.

- While the lamb fries, peel and dice the onion and carrot.
Trim and finely slice the celery.
Pick the leaves off the parsley sprigs.
Put them to one side.
Finely chop the stalks.

- Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook over a lowish heat for 5 mins, stirring now and then.
The veg should start to look soft and glossy.

- Crumble the stock cube into a heatproof jug.
Pour in 800 ml boiling water.
Stir to dissolve the stock cube.
Stir the parsley stalks into the veg with the pearl barley.

- Pour in the chicken stock.
Turn the heat up and bring the stew to the boil.
When it’s boiling, pop on the lid.
Turn the heat down.
Simmer for 30 mins.

- While the stew simmers, halve the squash.
Scoop out the seeds and peel it.
Chop the squash into smallish chunks.
Add them to the pan.
Simmer for 8-10 mins till the squash, lamb and pearl barley are tender.

- Finely chop the parsley leaves.
Stir them into the stew.
Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle into warm bowls to serve.

Tip
Know your onion squashes
With their pointy tops, onion squashes look like big red onions (guess that’s how they got their name).
They’ve a soft, sweet flesh, that’s quick to cook.
You can eat the seeds too.
Dry them in a low oven and sprinkle with spices and salt for a crunchy snack.
'via Blog this'

Jewish Honey cake by Claudia Roden.

- Jewish new year recipes | Claudia Roden | Life and style | The Guardian:
Honey cake has been a favourite Jewish cake since the early Middle Ages.
It is mentioned in 12th-century records in Germany, when it was the custom for young boys attending heder (Jewish school) to bring a piece on the first day.

It is the traditional cake of Rosh Hashanah, symbolising the hope that the new year will be sweet.
This version is moist and delicious with a great richness of flavour.
It should be made at least three days before you want to eat it.

Makes 1 cake
large eggs 2
sugar 200g
light vegetable oil 125ml
dark liquid honey 250g
rum or brandy 2 tbsp
warm strong black coffee 125ml
baking powder 2 tsp
baking soda ½tsp
salt a pinch
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
ground cloves ¼ tsp
orange grated zest of 1
plain flour 300g, plus extra to dust the dried fruit and nuts
sultanas 40g
walnuts or slivered almonds 50g, coarsely chopped

Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and creamy.
Then beat in the oil, honey, rum and coffee.

Mix the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest with the flour.
Add gradually to the egg and honey mixture, beating vigorously to a smooth batter.

Dust the sultanas and the walnuts or almonds with flour to prevent them from dropping to the bottom of the cake and stir them into the batter.

Line a 24cm cake tin with greaseproof paper or with foil, brushed with oil and dusted with flour, and pour in the batter.
Or divide between two 24cm x 13cm loaf tins.

Bake the large cake in a preheated oven 180C/gas mark 4 for 1 hours 15 min, or longer, until firm and brown on top, and the smaller ones for 1 hour.

OR:
- majestic and moist honey cake – smitten kitchen:

'via Blog this'

Frico from Memorie di Angelina

- Frico | Memorie di Angelina:
...frico, is something like a potato pancake, only you pile on lots of cheese, specifically a mild Alpine cheese called Montasio (see Notes).
The cheese melts into the potato and forms a delicious round of goodness, warm and creamy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside.

Substitute for Montasio cheese - Parmigiano Reggiano OR Asiago.. you could use fontina at a push.
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
700g (1-1/2 lbs) potatoes, peeled and diced
350g (3/4 lb) Montasio cheese, coarsely shredded or cut into small dice
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, lard, or lardo minced into a paste
75g (2-1/2 oz) pancetta, guanciale or speck, cut into small dice (optional)

Sauté the onion gently in the olive oil or lard or minced lardo in a skillet (nonstick is best) until soft and translucent, along with the pancetta, guanciale or speck if using.

Add the potatoes and mix together with the onions.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a glassful of water and cover.
Let the potatoes simmer until soft, adding more water if necessary.
Uncover and let any remaining liquid evaporate, smashing the potato with a wooden spoon into a very rough purée.
Leave some of the potato dice whole for a more interesting texture.

Add the cheese and fold it well into the potato and onion.
Stir from time to time over gentle heat until the cheese melts completely.
Continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough that it forms a solid mass.

Now flatten out the mixture and turn the heat up.
Let the mixture form a nice brown crust on the bottom, then flip it over and let it brown on the other side, as if you were making a frittata, about 3-5 minutes per side.
Repeat if need be to get a nice crust.

Serve immediately, while the cheese is still warm and creamy.
'via Blog this'

Nigel Slater’s Baked ricotta with thyme.

This is one of those recipes that works both hot and cold, though isn’t at its best served straight from the fridge.
Feel free to add a pinch of dried chilli flakes or a little dried mint.
I haven’t added salt to the mix but you may wish to, depending on the age of your parmesan.
The older, firmer cheeses may well be salty enough.




Serves 4
500g ricotta
2 eggs
1 tbsp thyme leaves
95g grated parmesan

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
Transfer the ricotta to a mixing bowl and lightly mash it with a wooden spoon.

Break the eggs into a bowl, beat well with a fork, then fold into the ricotta with finely ground black pepper.
Roughly chop the thyme leaves then mix with all but 2 tbsp of the parmesan.

Fold the thyme and parmesan into the ricotta then spoon into an oven dish.
Smooth the surface then scatter the reserved grated cheese over the top.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the ricotta has risen and the crust is golden brown.
Serve immediately with the tomatoes below.
- Nigel Slater’s ricotta recipes | Food | The Guardian

Nigel Slater’s Sticky, seeded fruit bread and malt loaf.

A cold winter’s afternoon, almost dusk, is the time I need a slice of malt loaf.
Cut thick and buttered, it is deliciously nostalgic.
It occurred to me that the basic loaf could be embellished with seeds and more dried fruits, to give a treacly, almost cake-like bread suitable for eating with cheese, in the way fruit cake can be eaten with cheddar.

Makes 1 loaf
150g malt extract
100g light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp black treacle

250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch salt
50g rolled oats
100g stoned weight prunes

2 eggs
125ml black tea
100g sultanas or raisins
5 tbsp pumpkin seeds
4 tbsp linseeds 4 tbsp

To finish
malt extract a little more
pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp
linseeds 1 tbsp
full-flavoured blue cheese to serve

You will need a deep, rectangular cake tin measuring 20cm x 9cm lined with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3.
- Gently warm the malt extract, muscovado sugar and black treacle in a small saucepan, without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats in a large mixing bowl.
Cut the prunes into small pieces and stir them in.
- Make the tea.
- Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat lightly with a fork.

Pour the warm malt and sugar mixture into the flour together with the tea and the beaten eggs.
Then fold the sultanas, pumpkin seeds and linseeds into the batter.

Scoop the mixture, which will be soft and runny, like a gingerbread batter, into the lined cake tin.
Bake for 60-75 minutes until risen and lightly springy.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
While the cake cools, brush the surface with a little more malt extract and sprinkle with the extra pumpkin seeds and linseeds.
Leave to thoroughly cool before slicing and serving with blue cheese.

- Nigel Slater’s comforting cheese recipes | Food | The Guardian

- Nigel Slater’s malt loaf recipes | Food | The Guardian