Cooking hour

GRILLED SHIRAZ & FIG MARINATED KANGAROO STEAK

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:49:00 +0000

Ingredients :

4 kangaroo steaks (I have used rump for this recipe be sure to use a cut suitable for grilling)
125ml Shiraz wine
5 tablespoons of good quality fig jam (I use a brand called St Dalfour's, must have at least 50% fig content)
Large pinch of mixed spice
Salt & pepper
Approximately half a tablespoon of roughly chopped fresh rosemary.

1. Gently tenderize the steaks using a meat tenderiser
then place them side by side into a shallow dish, try
not to overlap them, season with salt & pepper.
2. Place the shiraz and the fig jam into a mixing bowl
and stir until well combined.
3. Add in the mixed spice and fresh rosemary and stir
through.
4. Pour the marinade over the steaks, making sure they
are well covered, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours
5. When it is time to cook the steaks take them from the
fridge then very lightly grease or spray a large grilling
pan (preferrable ribbed) and place on the hob at
medium heat.
6. Once the pan has come up to temperature place each
steak in gently and cook as follows:
•Rare = around 2 minutes per side
•Medium Rare = around 3 minutes per side
•Medium = around 4 minutes per side
•Medium well around 5 minutes per side
•Well = around 6 minutes per side
#PLEASE NOTE COOKING TIMES MAY VARY DEPENDING ON THE THICKNESS/THINNESS OF THE STEAKS. THE STEAKS I HAVE USED IN THIS RECIPE WERE AROUND 2CM IN THICKNESS.

Roast turkey with spiced cranberry, bacon and walnut stuffing

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:43:00 +0000

Ingredients :

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 6 rashers good-quality bacon, sliced into thin strips
• 3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
• a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
• a large handful of dried cranberries
• 800ml dry cider
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of chopped walnuts
• zest of 1 orange
• 300g good-quality pork sausage meat
• 1 egg, free-range or organic
• 2 big handfuls of breadcrumbs
• 1 turkey (about 4kg), free-range or organic
• 100g softened butter
• 300ml tub of fresh chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon cornflour

To make the stuffing, melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan and add the bacon, shallots, celery and rosemary. Cook gently with the lid on for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft, but not coloured. Add the cranberries and half the cider and turn up the heat a little. When the liquid has reduced to a third of its volume, set it aside to cool. Mix in the nutmeg, allspice, some salt and pepper, the walnuts, orange zest, sausage ment and egg, then fold in the breadcrumbs.

Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. Pat the turkey’s skin dry with kitchen paper, then stuff the neck end with half the stuffing. (You can cook the remaining stuffing separately or use it to make sausage rolls on Boxing Day.) Rub the bird with the softened butter and season well. Place in a roasting tin, cover with foil and pop in the preheated oven. After 15 minutes, turn down the heat to 150°C/300°F/gas 2. Baste, then roast for another 2 to 2¾ hours.

Remove the foil 1 hour before the end of cooking time. To check the bird is cooked, stick a fork into the thickest part of the thigh – the juices should run clear. Remove the turkey from the oven, lift out of the tin, cover with foil then leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Increase the oven temperature to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Skim off the fat in the tin and use it to roast your potatoes. Add the rest of the cider to the meat juices in the tin, along with the meat off the turkey wings and enough stock to cover the bottom of the tin. Stir in the cornflour, dissolved in a little water, and simmer on the hob until thickened. Sieve into a jug and serve with your turkey, stuffing and some roast potatoes.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca, crunchy salad, garlic bread, silky chocolate ganache

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:31:00 +0000

GARLIC BREAD
• 1 ciabatta loaf
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3–4 cloves of garlic

SALAD
• 2 bulbs of fennel
• a bunch of radishes
• 1 lemon

SEASONINGS
• olive oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & black pepper

SPAGHETTI
• 500g dried spaghetti
• 1 x 225g jar of tuna in oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 1 x 30g tin of anchovy fillets in oil
• 1–2 fresh red chillies
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 8 jarred black olives, stoned
• ground cinnamon
• 1 x 700g jar of passata or 2 x 400g tins
of chopped tomatoes
• 1 lemon

GANACHE
• 2 x 100g bars of good-quality dark
chocolate (approx.70% cocoa solids)
• a large knob of butter
• 300ml single cream
• 3 clementines
• 12 palmiers or other nice biscuits,
for dipping

TO SERVE
• a bottle of chilled Valpolicella

Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the oven on to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Put a large frying pan and a large deep saucepan on a low heat. Put the thick slicer disc attachment into the food processor.

GARLIC BREAD Slice the ciabatta at 2cm intervals, three-quarters of the way through. Finely chop the bunch of parsley. Scrunch up a large sheet of greaseproof paper under the tap, then lay it flat. Scatter it with the parsley and a pinch of salt & pepper. Drizzle generously with olive oil, crush 3 or 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic on top, and smear this mixture all over the bread with your hands, pushing it down into the cuts. Wrap it up well, put it into the oven and check on it every so often.

GANACHE Pour the boiled water into the saucepan for the pasta and place a large heatproof bowl on top (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Smash up the chocolate bars in their wrappers, then unwrap and empty into the bowl. Add the butter, cream and a pinch of salt. Finely grate in the zest of 1 clementine, gently stir and leave to melt.

SPAGHETTI Lift up the chocolate bowl and add the spaghetti to the water with a pinch of salt and cook according to the packet instructions. Put the bowl back on top. Keep an eye on it – if it looks like bubbling over, reduce the heat a little. Pour the tuna oil into the frying pan, keeping the tuna in the jar. Crush in 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic and add the capers, anchovies and their oil. Finely chop the chillies and parsley stalks and add them to the pan. Quickly check your spaghetti and give it a stir. Roughly chop the parsley leaves and put aside. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring well, then add the tuna, breaking it up as you go and the black olives. Stir in a large pinch of ground cinnamon and the passata or tinned tomatoes.

GANACHE Once melted, give the chocolate a good stir and divide between 6 espresso cups. Halve the remaining 2 clementines and arrange them on a board next to the palmiers. Take to the table.

SALAD Trim and quarter the fennel. Trim any leaves off the radishes. Put the fennel and radishes into the food processor and shred. Tip into a large bowl. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, add 2 lugs of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper, then toss and scrunch with your hands. Taste and tweak as necessary, then take to the table.

SPAGHETTI Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and reserve some of the cooking water. Carefully tip the pasta into the pan of sauce. Add most of the reserved parsley, squeeze in the juice of a lemon, drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil and toss really well. Add some of the cooking water to loosen it if needed. Tip on to a platter, scatter over the remaining parsley and take to the table.

TO SERVE Take the garlic bread straight to the table from the oven and unwrap. Pour the red wine into glasses and let everyone help themselves.

Spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce, Chianti gravy, chocolate fondue

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:16:00 +0000

LAMB
• 1 x 8-bone rack of lamb, fat removed
• 1 x 2-piece pack of lamb neck fillet
(approx 250g)
• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• white wine vinegar
• 300g cherry tomatoes on the vine

GRAVY
• 4 rashers of smoked bacon
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
• ½ a glass of red wine

VEGETABLES
• 500g baby new potatoes
• 250g baby carrots
• stalks from a bunch of fresh mint
• 1 organic chicken stock cube
• 200g fine beans
• 200g runner beans
• ½ a Savoy cabbage
• 200g frozen peas
• a knob of butter
• ½ a lemon

MINT SAUCE
• leaves from a bunch of fresh mint
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

SEASONINGS
• olive oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & black pepper

FONDUE
• 1 x 100g bar of good-quality dark
• chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 100ml milk
• 4–6 handfuls of mixed fruit, such as
mango, strawberries or pineapple

Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Put a large frying pan and a large saucepan on a high heat. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the oven on to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

LAMB Halve the rack of lamb, then season with salt & pepper and add to the frying pan with a lug of olive oil.

VEGETABLES Wash the potatoes and trim the tops of the carrots. Add everything to the large saucepan with a pinch of salt. Rip the leafy tops off the bunch of mint and put aside for the mint sauce. Make sure the band is still around the stalks, then add them to the saucepan. Just cover with boiled water and crumble in the chicken stock cube. Put the lid on.

LAMB Drizzle olive oil straight into the pack of neck fillet and season. Turn the racks of lamb then put the two neck fillets in the pan. Sear the ends of the meat and keep coming back to the pan and turning each piece so they brown all over.

Pull the leaves off 3 sprigs of rosemary and put into a pestle & mortar with a good pinch of salt & pepper. Peel the garlic, add to the mortar, and pound really well. Turn the lamb over. Add Dijon mustard to the mortar with a good couple of lugs of olive oil and a swig of white wine vinegar. Mix well.

Make sure all sides of the lamb are seared, then use tongs to transfer all of it to a roasting tray. Pour away most of the fat in the pan, then put it back on a very low heat for the gravy. Spoon the dressing from the pestle & mortar over the lamb and put the vines of cherry tomatoes on top. Move everything around until well coated in the dressing. Sprinkle with salt, then whack on the top shelf of the oven and set the timer for 14minutes for blushing to medium meat, slightly less for rare, and more for well done. Turn the racks over halfway through.

GRAVY Finely slice the bacon and put into the frying pan.

MINT SAUCE Finely chop the reserved mint leaves and add to the unwashed pestle & mortar. Pound, then add the red wine vinegar, caster sugar, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of cooking water from the veg pot. Muddle together with the pestle, have a taste to check the balance, and add a tiny splash of extra virgin olive oil. Take to the table with a spoon.

GRAVY Turn the heat under the bacon right up and add the leaves from the rosemary. Stir in the flour, red wine and a few ladles of cooking water.

VEGETABLES Trim all the beans and put the runner beans through a runner bean slicer or slice at an angle, 1cm thick. Cut the Savoy cabbage half in two and click off any tatty outer leaves, then discard the stalk. Cut the cabbage into thin wedges. Add the cabbage, beans and peas to the saucepan, then stir and put the lid back on.

LAMB Turn the lamb over. If your tomatoes are colouring too much, lean the meat on top of them.

Barbecued thai chicken legs

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:26:00 +0000

Slash the chicken legs all over with a knife.

Pick the coriander leaves and put them to one side. Add the stalks to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and whizz to make a paste.

Rub the paste into the slashes and all over the chicken legs.

Place in a snug-fitting tin to marinate and light the barbecue. Place the roasting tin on the edge of the barbie so the chicken starts to cook gently without starting to colour too much.

When the legs are about half cooked, take them out of the tray and place them directly on the barbecue. Grill, turning now and then, until cooked through and crispy brown on the outside. Sprinkle the coriander leaves over to serve.

Tropical fruit salad

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:23:00 +0000

Trim the outside skin off the pineapple and cut out the hard core that runs down its centre. Lay it on a chopping board and cut it into chunks with a sharp knife. Place in a bowl.

Cut the flesh of the mango off the stone and scoop out the flesh from the skin with a spoon. Place into the bowl with the pineapple. Cut the papaya in half and scoop out the black seeds inside. Scoop the fruit out of the skin in the same way as with the mango. Place into the bowl.

Top and tail the kiwi fruit, then, sitting it on one of its flat ends, trim the furry skin off with a sharp knife. Slice the kiwi and place into the bowl. Drizzle the lime juice over your fruit.

Take four plates and divide the fruit between them. Pound most of the mint leaves with the sugar in a pestle and mortar or a flavour shaker. Spoon a little yoghurt over the top of each plate and sprinkle over the mint sugar and the rest of the mint leaves and serve.

Greek salad

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:36:00 +0000

This salad is known and loved around the world. Those of you who’ve been lucky enough to eat this salad in Greece will know that when it’s made well it’s absolute heaven. Hopefully this recipe will help you achieve the big bold authentic flavours that it's known for. The trick is to pay attention to the small details that make it so wonderful: things like finding the ripest tomatoes, good Greek olive oil, beautiful olives, creamy feta and lovely herbs.

I think it’s quite nice to have different shapes and sizes in a salad, so cut your medium tomato into wedges, halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the beef tomato into large rounds. Put all the tomatoes into a large salad bowl. Slice the onion very finely so it’s wafer thin and add to the tomatoes. Scratch a fork down the sides of the cucumber so it leaves deep grooves in the skin, then cut it into thick slices. Deseed your pepper, slice it into rings and add them to the salad along with the cucumber.

Roughly chop the dill and most of the mint leaves, reserving the smaller ones for garnish. Add the chopped herbs to the bowl of salad, then squeeze your handful of olives over so they season the vegetables, then drop them in.

Add a pinch of salt, the vinegar and the extra virgin olive oil. Quickly toss everything together with your hands. The minute all those flavours start working with the veg is when the magic starts to happen. Have a taste, and adjust the flavours if need be.

To serve, pop the block of feta right on the top of the salad. Sprinkle the oregano over the top along with the reserved mint leaves, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and take it straight to the table. It’s confident and scruffy with a bit of attitude. Delicious.

P.S. I’ve been known to pop leftover Greek salad into a liquidizer with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a few ice cubes, then blitz it up to a smooth consistency so it's basically a Greek gazpacho. It’s not a classic thing to do, but it is very delicious, not to mention a great way of using up leftovers!

Tomato soup

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:15:00 +0000

I've made all sorts of different tomato soups over the years, and this is probably one of the simplest and tastiest. Here's the trick... if you go down to your local market at the end of the day you may find they are selling off tomatoes cheap. More than likely the seller thinks they are over-ripe, but they are more probably just perfect and will make great soup. If you can't get these, buy tomatoes two or three days before you need them, but don't keep them in the fridge as they won't ripen. Leave them on a windowsill to get ripe. If there's a choice then have a taste – you'll be amazed how different they can be, so choose the ones that taste the best. The second trick is the slow cooking, which makes them very sweet. Best served in warm bowls or mugs at the table with some really fresh bread.

Put your onion, garlic, carrot and basil stalks into a large pot with a couple of lugs of olive oil. Cover the pan, and simmer gently without colouring for 20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. Whisk together the cream, vinegar and egg yolks in a small bowl and put to one side. While the veg are simmering, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins and roughly chop the flesh. Add these to the veg, then pour in the stock and simmer for a further 20 minutes with the lid on. At this point it's nice to purée the soup using either a food processor, a liquidizer or a hand-held blender, but be careful as it will be hot. Once you've puréed the soup, put it back into the pan, bring it back to a simmer, and season very carefully with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Just before serving, to enrich the soup and give it a shine and silky texture, whisk in the cream mixture (don’t reboil it after adding the egg yolks or it will scramble) and serve straight away, sprinkled with a few torn-up basil leaves, if you like.

1 steak 2 sauces

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:13:00 +0000

As a lover of good steak, I had quite a few conversations with people in LA about how they liked to eat theirs. This dish is a result of me soaking up all those vibes. I’m pairing a cooked sauce, made with peanuts and spices, with a fresh green salsa that is going to send your tastebuds into orbit. If you notice that your peanut sauce is lighter than mine, don’t worry. The peanuts I used in LA were just darker. It will still taste delicious.

Take your steaks out of the fridge and let them get up to room temperature while you make your peanut sauce. Put a dry frying pan on a medium heat and toast the nuts and sesame seeds for a few minutes until lightly browned. Add the oregano, cumin seeds, thyme, chipotle chilli and garlic and cook for another minute or so. Tip into a liquidizer with the extra virgin olive oil, rum, lime juice, fresh chilli, salt and pepper, and 200ml of water. Whiz until shiny and smooth, then have a taste and adjust with a bit more salt, chilli or lime juice if needed. Put to one side.

To make your salsa, get yourself a good knife and a big chopping board. Set aside a few of the coriander leaves, then chop the top of the bunch, stalks and all, with the mint leaves, garlic, chilli, spring onions and tomatoes until it’s all very fine – watch your fingers here! Sprinkle over a generous pinch of salt and pepper, then add most of the lime juice and a good lug of extra virgin olive oil. Mix together on the board, taste it, season with more salt, pepper, lime juice or chilli, and put it into a bowl ready to go.

Get a frying pan, griddle pan or barbecue screaming hot and season both sides of your steaks with salt, pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil. Add the steaks to the pan or barbecue. Turn every minute and cook to your liking. I’m going to give you some rough timings, but use your intuition: a 200g steak about 2cm thick wants about 2 minutes each side for medium rare and 3 minutes each side for medium. As it cooks, whip the meat with the sprig of rosemary and rub it with the cut side of the garlic clove for some extra flavour.

When the steaks are perfectly cooked to your liking, move them to a plate to rest for a few minutes. Cut them into 1cm thick slices, spread the peanut sauce all over a large serving platter or divide between your plates, and gently place the slices of steak on top. Finish with a few dollops of salsa, and scatter over your remaining coriander leaves. Drizzle over any resting juices and let everyone tuck in. This goes beautifully with the Mexican street salad.

Baked eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:11:00 +0000

1 Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4. Butter 4 ramekins or ovenproof tea cups and coat with grated parmesan.
2 Cook the spinach in a little butter and extra-virgin olive oil over a medium heat for 2–3 minutes. When wilted, spoon into a colander and press out any liquid. Finely chop, then mix in a bowl with the cream, a good grating of nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in the haddock.

3 Divide the spinach between the ramekins, then crack an egg into each, and pour around a little of the extra cream. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, then bake on a tray for about 20 minutes, until the whites are set and yolks are done to your liking. Serve with buttered soda-bread toast.

Venison & juniper stew

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:34:00 +0000

Dust a chopping board with 2 tablespoons of flour and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and toss your chunks of meat through this mixture until well coated. Heat a large pan on a high heat, add a few lugs of olive oil and fry your meat for 3 minutes to brown it. Add your chopped onions, carrots, celery, crushed juniper berries, rosemary and the knob of butter. Add a few tablespoons of water, give everything a good stir, then pop the lid on the pan and let everything steam for 4 to 5 minutes so the flavours really mingle together.

Take the lid off so your meat and veg start to fry, and stir every so often for 5 to 10 minutes. Chop your parsley stalks finely, and once the onions start to caramelize, add them to the pan with your remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and your crumbled stock cubes. Stir, and pour in enough water to cover the mixture by a couple of inches. Put the parsley leaves aside for later.

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to medium low so that the stew is just simmering. Add your potatoes and slow cook for at least 2 hours with the lid slightly askew, or until the meat falls apart easily. Keep an eye on it as it cooks, and add splashes of water if you think it looks too dry.

Put your chopped garlic in the middle of a chopping board. Add most of your parsley leaves with a teaspoon of sea salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper. Chop everything together so you get a kinda chunky paste. Add this to the stew and stir through. Chop the last of your parsley leaves and sprinkle over before serving.

A rather pleasing carrot cake with lime mascarpone icing

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:36:00 +0000

This carrot cake is an exceedingly good cake made all the more pleasing by the twist of lime mascarpone icing. It’s delicious, it works and it’s better than any other carrot cake I’ve tried. I would normally bake this in a square or round cake tin, but for the picture I used a lovely old loaf tin and it came out looking gorgeous.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Grease and line a 22cm square cake tin or a round equivalent with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food processor until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one by one, and add the orange zest and juice. Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, and add the ground almonds, walnuts, spices and grated carrot and mix together well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gently fold them into the cake mix. Scoop the mixture into the prepared cake tin and cook in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes until golden and risen. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick into it. Remove it after 5 seconds and it if comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky it needs a bit longer, so put it back in the oven. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a rack and leave for at least an hour.

Mix all the icing ingredients together and spread generously over the top of the cake. Finish off with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts.

Sizzling beef with scallions and black bean sauce (usa version - imperial)

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:33:00 +0000

This works best with rice that has completely chilled down or, better yet, has been made earlier and kept in the refrigerator. But if you can’t prepare rice for this dish in advance, you can still cook it and pop into the refrigerator while you’re cooking the rest.

To prepare your stir-fry
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, add the rice and cook according to the package instructions. Drain the rice in a strainer, run it under a cold tap to cool, then allow to dry out in the fridge. Trim any excess fat from your steak and slice the meat into finger-sized strips. Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic
Finely slice the chile. Cut the ends off your scallions and finely slice. Pick the cilantro leaves and put to one side, and finely chop the cilantro stalks. Get yourself a big bowl and put in the ginger, garlic, chile, scallions, cilantro stalks, and steak strips. Add the sesame oil and mix everything together.

To cook your stir-fry
Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it’s very, very hot add a good lug of peanut oil and swirl it around. Add all your chopped ingredients from the bowl. Give the pan a really good shake to mix everything around quickly. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, taking care to keep everything moving so
doesn’t burn. Add the black bean sauce, and stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and the juice of half a lime. Keep tossing. Taste and season with black pepper and a little more soy sauce. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer everything to a bowl, and cover with aluminum foil. Give the pan a quick wipe with
ball of paper towels and put back on the heat. Add a lug of peanut oil and swirl it around. Crack in your egg and add a tablespoon of soy sauce - the egg will cook very quickly, so keep stirring. Once it’s scrambled, stir in your chilled rice, scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan as you go. Keep mixing for a few minutes until the rice is steaming hot, then taste and season with a little soy sauce.

To serve your stir-fry
Divide the rice between two bowls or plates. Spoon over the meat and black bean sauce and sprinkle over the cilantro leaves. Serve with wedges of lime — great!

Beautiful smoky barbecued shellfish

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:12:00 +0000

You can use all sorts of shellfish for this: razors, clams, mussels and queen scallops. Buy only tightly closed shellfish so you know they’re still alive and fresh. If you’ve got bay, rosemary, thyme or, best of all, myrtle in your garden, whack branches on the embers to smoke underneath your shellfish. If your bars are wide apart, sit your shellfish on a baking rack so they don’t fall through.

To make your dressing, add the garlic and lemon zest and juice to a large bowl. Pour in 3 times the amount of extra virgin olive oil and add the finely chopped parsley stalks. Mix together.

If you’ve got them, throw your herb branches on to the barbie so that they smoke.

Drain your shellfish then throw them onto the hottest part of the barbie. I like to put a large metal bowl or a deep roasting tray over the shellfish at this point, so they’re roasting as well as smoking.

After 3 minutes use a pair of tongs to carefully lift up the side of the tray and check the shellfish have opened. Remove them to the dressing bowl, saving the lovely liquid inside as you do so. Chuck out any shellfish that haven’t opened.

Sprinkle over as much chopped parsley and chilli as you like and gently mix everything together. This is wonderful finger food. I use one of the half shells to slurp up the juices. Don’t forget paper towels and maybe even a finger bowl.

Barbecued langoustines with aioli

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:08:00 +0000

Start by making the aïoli. Smash the garlic and salt together in a pestle and mortar. Whisk together the egg yolk and mustard in a bowl, then start adding the olive oils, bit by bit. Once you’ve blended in 150ml, add the rest in larger amounts. Finally add the smashed garlic, then lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Lay your langoustines flat on a chopping board and with a sharp knife, saw through their shells lengthways – cutting three-quarters, not all, of the way through. Open them out in a butterfly style and flatten them down gently with the heel of your hand.

Season the langoustines and cook them cut-side down across the bars (so they don’t fall through) on a hot barbie for 2 minutes and then for 30 seconds on their backs before lifting them on to a serving plate. Sprinkle with torn fennel tops, if using, and serve with the lemony aïoli.

Spaghetti vongole

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:02:00 +0000

• 250g dried spaghetti or linguini
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• small bunch of parsley, chopped
• 200g fresh clams, washed
• Olive oil
• 150ml white wine
• 2 large plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 lemon

1 Cook your pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instructions, until al dente, then drain.

2 Meanwhile, get a large pan (with a lid) on a medium heat and allow it to get hot. In a small bowl, mix the chilli, garlic and most of the parsley. With 4 minutes to go on your pasta, throw the clams into the pan with half the chilli mix. Drizzle with olive oil and pour in the wine. Put the lid on and shake the pan as they cook. Remove the lid and check they’re all open, then add your spaghetti and tomatoes. Tip in the rest of the chilli mix, squeeze in the juice from your lemon and cook for another minute, stirring well. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve scattered with the reserved parsley.

Stuffed fruit crumble

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:59:00 +0000

• 3 cardamom pods, seeds removed
• 75g caster sugar
• 70g desiccated coconut
• 1/2 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped
• 1 egg white
• Zest of 1 orange, juice of half
• 4 large plums (or any soft stone fruit), halved and stoned
• Vanilla ice-cream, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Place the cardamom seeds in a mortar and grind to a powder. Pour into a bowl and mix well with the sugar, coconut, vanilla seeds, egg white, orange zest and juice.
2 Place plums cut-side up on a baking tray. Pile the coconut mixture into the holes. Bake for 15-18 minutes, till the crumble is golden brown and the fruit soft. Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

Festive strudel

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:49:00 +0000

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Lay out 6 sheets of pastry on a clean tea towel, overlapping each by an inch or so, so they cover the tea towel. They should cover it completely, with just a little overhang at one of the shorter ends. Work quickly so your pastry doesn’t dry out and brush some melted butter all over it. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and 50g of the sugar then crumble over your ginger nuts to add a nice bit of crunch. Carefully layer the rest of the pastry sheets on top and brush again with butter.

Use your hands to crumble the Christmas pudding into a bowl then grate in the fruit, cores and all. You want to have about the same amount of grated fruit as you’ve got pudding. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar, and mix it all together to break up the pudding a bit more. Sprinkle this all over the pastry so it’s roughly covered, leaving the overhang clear. Place the chocolate in a row on top of the Xmas pud, down the short side nearest the overhang.

Fold the overhang over the chocolate and pinch it up, then lift up your tea towel, and use it to help you carefully roll up your strudel. Tuck the ends under to seal it and transfer to a large non-stick pan. Brush it all over with butter then sprinkle over a little more sugar. Bake in the hot oven for about 40 minutes until crisp, golden and gorgeous looking. It might split a bit and look slightly rustic, but I think that’s quite nice. You could wrap an extra layer of filo round it before cooking if you want it to look a bit neater. Once cooked, leave to cool then use a serrated knife to cut the strudel into 5cm slices. Dust these with icing sugar and serve with ready-made custard from the fridge.

Langoustines with tattie scones & dressed salad leaves

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:10:00 +0000

1. For the salsa, add the mango, melon and chilli to a bowl. Peel and finely grate the root ginger, place in a sieve and squeeze the juice through onto the fruit, pressing through with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the lime zest and juice and season with a little salt and pepper. Leave the mixture to sit for up to 20 minutes in order to allow all the flavours to meld together.

2. Next, make the tattie scones. Spread the riced or mashed potato onto a baking tray. Mix the flour and the semolina together and use ¾ of this mixture to dust over the potatoes on the tray. Pour over the beaten egg. Add salt and pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to season. Mix together until it is a soft dough-like consistency. Do not overwork this mixture and if it appears to be too wet and sticky, adjust with some of the remaining flour and semolina mixture. Roll out the mixture on to a well-floured surface to about 1cm thick and cut into 8 triangles measuring 10cm on their widest side.
3. Add a little vegetable oil to a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Carefully lift the cut scones and add to the pan, frying till golden on both sides.
4. While the scones are cooking, make the salad dressing. Mix all the ingredients together except the olive oil. Whisk the olive oil into the lemon base ingredients slowly, a small amount at a time, until it is well mixed together and beginning to thicken slightly. Dress the salad leaves.
5. Assemble the dish. Place three small pinches of salad on each plate. Place three langoustines on each plate. Balance them on their ends so they arch over the 3 piles of salad in a straight line. At one end, place the head of a reserved langoustine carapace. (As a guide, the effect you’re after is like a child’s drawing of the Loch Ness monster, with the body looping above the water in three places and with the head emerging from the water at the front.) Place 2 hot tattie scones on each plate, one each where two langoustines meet. Drain any excess liquid that has formed in the salsa, and serve spoonfuls of the salsa alongside the langoustines.

Amazing lamb rack

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Preparing your lamb rack
Remove most of the fat from the back of the rack leaving a little bit to flavour the meat as it cooks. French-trim the bones by cutting the fat out around each bone down to the meat. Scrape the bones of all sinew and fat. Cut between the bones and through the eye of the lamb, leaving 1 cm of meat still attached at the bottom.

Make the stuffing
Finely chop your parsley, semi dried tomatoes and olives and mix them together with your feta in a bowl. Add a little pepper if you need to. Put this mixture between the lamb eye meat and the bones then fold back up. Tie tightly in about 5 places.

Prepare your veg
Cut up your veg and throw into a roasting dish. You want them to cook in the same time as the lamb so courgettes and aubergines are great, and if you’re using root veg, make sure you cut them into pieces.

To make your marinade
Finely chop your rosemary and garlic, mix with a little oil and rub it all over the lamb and the fat, cover and put in the fridge for 1 hour before cooking.

Preheat your oven to 190oC and while it’s getting hot take your marinated lamb from the fridge. Leave it for 20 minutes or so till it comes to room temperature.

Put the lamb right on top of the vegetables in your roasting dish. Put into your hot oven and roast – see cooking times below.

Cooking times
A rough guide is 25 minutes for every 450g of meat, but it all depends on your oven. A good way to test for doneness is to give the meat a bit of a squeeze with your fingers. It feels soft it’s rare; if it feels very firm it’s well done. For a nice rare lamb rack, 25 – 30 minutes is a good guide.

When you’re happy with the doneness of your lamb, remove the tray from the oven. Remove the lamb from the roasting tray and put the vegetables back in the oven. Let the lamb rest on a board for 5 to 8 minutes, then carve – aim to get two bones per person. Serve with the lovely roasted vegetables.

Make a note here of how long it takes to cook your lamb, so you’ll know for next time:
Rare = 20 minutes Medium Rare = 26 minutes Medium = 30 Well Done 35-40 minutes

Pork belly roast

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Turn oven to the highest temperature you can get it to. Using a Stanley knife score the skin down to the meat (try not to cut the meat), make the cuts very close together (go across the skin)
Put the fennel seeds and the malden sea salt in a pestle and mortar and grind till the seeds are smashed and mixed well with the salt.

Pour half the oil over the top of the skin of the pork belly sprinkle over ½ of the fennel and salt mixture and rub in, pour over the remaining oil and then the seed and salt mixture, now really rub this into the skin so that everything gets inbetween the skin and down onto the meat. Wash the carrots and celery well, cut them into large 2 inch pieces and throw these into the base of your roasting dish. Throw in the whole garlic bulbs, peel and cut the onions into large wedges. Toss in the whole thyme leaves.

Put the seasoned pork belly on top of the vegetables and then put into your very hot oven for 10-15 minutes or until the skin of the belly starts to bubble and is golden brown. Turn the oven temperature down to 170 °C then roast for 1.5 hours. Carefully open the oven door and add into the tray ¾ of the white wine, continue cooking for 1 hour. Remove the meat carefully from the oven and test to see if it pulls apart easily. If not put back in the oven until the meat is ready then remove from the oven. Take the meat from the tray and place onto a wooden board and allow to rest while you make the gravy. Put the tray of roasted vegetables directly onto your stove top and on a medium heat add in the flour and stir till thick cook for 1 minute then add in the remaining wine. If you sauce is too thick add a little more white wine. Using a potato masher, mash up the vegetable until you have a delicious thick looking sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes on a low heat. Taste, strain through a sieve keeping all the lovely sauce for pouring over the roasted belly.
Remove the crackling from the top of the belly and break up into pieces, set aside then pull the pork belly apart and enjoy with more vegetables and your home made gravy.

Fish cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Peel your potatoes, chop them into even sized chunks (or use the left over potatoes from your baked potatoes – scoop out the potato and discard the skin), add the potatoes to the boiling water and bring back to the boil. Rub the salmon fillet all over with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. When your potatoes have half way cooked, place the salmon into a colander, then cover this with foil, and place the colander over the pot of boiling potatoes. Turn the heat down and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the salmon and potatoes are both cooked. Remove the fish from the colander and put to one side. Drain the potatoes in the same colander, then return them to the pot and let them steam dry for a minute. Pick the parsley leaves and finely chop them, discarding the stalks. Mash the potatoes, spreading the mash round the sides of the pan to help it cook down quickly. Remove any skin from the salmon. When the potatoes are cooled, put it into a bowl and flake the fish into it with 1 tablespoon of flour. Add the egg and chopped parsley with a really good pinch of salt and pepper. Finely grate over the lemon zest, then mash and mix it up really well.

To Make Your Fishcakes
Dust a plate with a little of the extra flour. Divide your fish cakes into 4, lightly shape and pat into circles about 2cm thick, dusting them with flour as you go. Put them onto a clean plate also dusted with a little flour. – If you are going to freeze them at this point, wrap them in clingfilm and put them into the freezer. Otherwise simply pop them into the fridge for an hour before cooking – this will allow them to firm up slightly.

To Cook Your Fishcakes
Put a large fry pan on a medium heat and add a couple of lugs of olive oil. When the oil is nice and hot, add your fishcakes and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden – you may need to cook them in two batches. Serve straight away, with lemon halves for squeezing over, serve with lovely vege or a cool crisp salad. These fish cakes also go really is you use tuna instead of the salmon.

Christmas pud sundae

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Put the cranberries, half the orange juice and all of the sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you get a lovely thick sauce. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

Stir the zest from the orange and lime into the custard and put the slices of banana and mandarins in a separate bowl with the lime juice and toss.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and crumble in the leftover Christmas pudding, along with the flaked almonds. Toast lightly, add a good lug of whisky and fry gently until crispy.

Divide most of the mandarins and bananas into the bottoms of four sundae glasses then spoon over some of the zesty custard. Top with a scoop of ice cream, drizzle over some cranberry sauce then sprinkle over most of the Christmas pudding mixture. Finish with the remaining bananas and mandarins and any remaining Christmas pud.

Special spaghetti cake

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:47:00 +0000

Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a large bowl beat the double cream and eggs with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add the grated Cheddar, most of the smelly cheese, the spinach, chilli, sun-dried tomatoes and the cooked spaghetti. Gently stir to mix well.

Melt the butter in an ovenproof frying pan, around 11inches in diameter, and swirl it around so the base of the pan is nicely coated. Slowly pour in the spaghetti mixture and shake the pan to even the mixture out. Bake in the hot oven for 30 minutes until it starts to crisp on top. At this point, take it out of the oven and use the back of a spoon to make small indents into the top of the bake. Toss the sage leaves in a little olive oil then press one into each dip with a small cube of the remaining cheese on top.

Return to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes until crisp. Remove and leave to rest for a few minutes. Serve in lovely wedges with a fresh green salad on the side.

Raspberry jam

noreply@blogger.com (Toma) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Put the raspberries in a large pan along with the lemon juice
and simmer very gently for about 5 minutes, stirring. When the juice begins to flow from the fruit, bring to the boil, add the vanilla pod and boil gently for 5 minutes. Warm the sugar in a heatproof bowl in a low oven and add to the fruit stirring until it dissolves. Bring it back to the boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and spoon off any scum. Remove the vanilla pod. Leave to stand for 15 minutes, transfer to a sterilised jar and refrigerate.