La Cuisine de Sarah

Banana & Hazelnut Cake

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:09:00 +0000

I have been experimenting with chestnut flour recently, it makes gives this cake an extra nutty flavour. To make a good banana cake the bananas need to be really ripe, ideally you need to wait until they start to turn brown -personally this is how I like them anyway as I find they have more flavour.

Ingredients

-3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
-100g self raising flour
-100g chestnut flour (or another 100g self raising flour)

-1 tsp baking powder
-2 eggs, beaten
-75g caster sugar
-50g hazelnuts, chopped or bashed

1. Grease and line a 500g loaf tin. Make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Combine the flours and baking powder and put to one side. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy then gradually add in the egg, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the flour mix until just combined, then mix in the mashed banana and hazelnuts.
3. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 45 mins - 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool before eating.

Rustic White Loaf

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:11:00 +0000

This is the first time I have tried making bread using a poolish. It worked out well and is easy to manage- I made the poolish early in the morning before work, then made the bread in the evening so the poolish had a good 12 hours to ferment. You can also leave it overnight. This loaf had a nice flavour and great crust (it erupted!)

Ingredients

Poolish
-50 g strong white bread flour
-50 g rye / whole wheat flour
-250ml water
-1/4 tsp dried yeast

Loaf

-500g strong white bread flour
-1tsp dried yeast
-2 tsps salt
-350ml warm water

1. The night/ morning you wish to bake, mix the ingredients for the poolish together, cover with cling film , and leave in the fridge for 12 - 24 hours.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Mix together the flour, salt, poolish and add the water and stir. Knead for 5 -10 minutes, the dough will come together and form a smooth ball. Leave this covered with greased cling film for 1 h or until doubled in size.
3. Preheat oven to 250C. Take the dough, punch it down and shape it, place in a 500g baking tin, cover with greased cling film and leave for 1 - 2 hours until well risen.
4. Remove the cling film and bake for 10 minutes at 250C then lower the temperature to 200C and bake for a further 20 - 30 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Roasted Butternut Squash stuffed with Beetroot 'tartare'

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:10:00 +0000

This is a simple midweek throw-together dish...

Serves 2

Ingredients

-1 butternut squash, halved lengthways and seeds removed

-2 cooked beetroot

-1 slice feta cheese

-1 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds, or chopped walnuts

-Breadcrumbs

-Sunflower oil

-Seasoning

-Fresh mint to garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 250C. Brush the butternut squash halves with sunflower oil and season. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast until tender - about 30 minutes.
2. Finely dice the beetroot and feta, then mix with the toasted sunflower seeds. Season to taste.
3. Spoon the beetroot mixture into the cavities of the squash. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and finish with a drizzle of oil, then return to the oven for 5 minutes. Top with chopped mint.

Enjoy with a green salad or rice/ couscous/ quinoa.

Chocolate Cake with Poached Pears

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:02:00 +0000

A thin, vanilla and spice soaked chocolate sponge topped with poached pears. Can be served hot or cold.

Serves 6 -8

Ingredients:

For the pears:

-6-8 pears (I used conference pears, which hold their shape well)
-75g sugar
-1 vanilla pod
-1 clove
-1/2 tsp mixed spice
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-200ml water
-100ml ginger wine

For the cake:
-125g butter, softened
-125g self-raising flour
-125g caster sugar
-3 eggs
-2 tbsp cocoa powder
-50g dark chocolate, finely grated

1. First start with the pears. Keeping the stem intact, carefully peel the pears and take a slice off the bottom so they can stand upright. Using an apple corer and sharp knife, remove the seeds from the centre of the pear, cutting into the pear from the bottom.
2. In a large saucepan gently heat the sugar, ginger wine, water, vanilla (split) and spices. Lower in the pears, cover, and poach for 15 - 20 minutes or until just tender.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 23cm spring-form tin.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Crack in one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition (adding a spoonful of flour with each egg will prevent the mix from splitting). Finally, sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then fold in with the grated chocolate.
5. Pour the cake mixture into the tin and spread out to the edges, it will be a thin spreading as this will not be a thick cake.
6. Bake the cake on the middle shelf for 30 - 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
7. To serve the cake, remove the pears from their poaching syrup and put to one side. Reduce the remaining syrup over a medium - high heat until thickened. Use a fine skewer to pierce the cake all over, then pour over some of the syrup spreading it over the cake as you go. Arrange the pears on top of the cake.

Can be served with cream, custard or ice cream.

Home-made Granola

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

In line with my 'eat more wholefoods' New Year's resolution, I made this granola to take for breakfast at work during the week. I've been having it with slices of banana and soy milk.

I've used almonds, hazelnuts, dates, coconut and apricots as the main flavours but you really can add whatever dried fruits and nuts you have to hand. I admit I just saved this batch from burning but it still tastes good :-)

Ingredients:

-300g rolled oats
-100g shelled almonds
-50g hazelnuts
-30g pumpkin seeds
-1 tbsp golden linseed
-1 tbsp wheatgerm
-2 tbsp honey (British / local - save our bees!)
-2 tbsp golden syrup
-2 tbsp apple juice
-2 tbsp walnut oil (or sunflower oil)
-20g toasted coconut flakes
-75g pitted dates, chopped
-75g dried apricots, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a small pan, mix together the honey and golden syrup and warm over a low heat. Mix this together with the rest of the ingredients (apart from the dates, coconut and apricots) in a large bowl.
3. Divide the mixture between the two baking trays and spread out. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until browned and crisped, stirring at 10 minute intervals.

4. Mix with the dates and apricots and leave to cool entirely before storing in an air tight container.

Serve with milk, yoghurt or as a crunchy topping for desserts.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:43:00 +0000

This soup is comforting, nutritious and extremely cheap to make. The 500g bag of organic yellow split peas I used cost me just 99p, and the whole soup can't have cost more than £2.50 to make. So it complies with more than one of my New Year's Resolutions- a good start to 2012!

Serves 6 as a starter or 4 as a main course

Ingredients:

-500g dried yellow split peas, rinsed
-1 onion, peeled and chopped
-1 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
-1 small red chilli, seeds removed and chopped
-1 tsp turmeric powder
-1/2 tin coconut milk
-1 litre vegetable stock
-1/2 soy sauce
-Juice of one lemon
-1 tbsp sunflower oil for frying
Seasoning

1. Gently fry the onion, ginger and chilli until soft. Add the split peas to the pan with the vegetable stock and turmeric, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the split peas are tender but still with some bite to them. You may need to top up with water as the peas cook.
2. Remove 1/3 of the split peas from the pan and put to one side. Purée the rest using a hand blender (or transfer to a food processor). Pour the reserved split peas back into the pan.
3. Stir in the lemon juice, coconut milk, and soy sauce then season to taste.

Serve with chunky bread and a swirl of yoghurt if liked.

Christmas Leftover Toasties

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Left:

-Slices of Bath Soft cheese

-Pomegranate seeds

-Finished with rocket leaves

On homemade foccacia

Right:

-Layer of celeriac mash

-Roasted sprouts and shallots

-Slices of cheddar

-English mustard

On white sourdough

Both lightly brushed with sunflower oil and toasted over a low heat for 5 -10 minutes each side. Fine dining it is not, but who can refuse a cheese toastie??

Celeriac Gratin

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:53:00 +0000

Celeriac has to be my favourite winter vegetable. This dish, although delicious by itself, would also make a great side dish on Christmas Day.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

-1 small celeriac root, peeled
-200ml double cream
-100ml milk
-1 garlic clove
-1 bay leaf
-Salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Chop the celeriac into 2mm slices. Heat the milk and the cream in a pan with the bay leaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic. Tip in the celeriac slices and stir. Simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Grease an ovenproof dish and pour in the contents of the pan. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until browned.

Christmas Spice Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:04:00 +0000

We got our Christmas tree today so I am getting into the Christmas spirit now :-)

Ingredients
Makes 15 -20 small cakes

-45g runny honey
-45g treacle
-90g golden syrup
-90g brown sugar
-180ml milk
-200g self raising flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp ground allspice
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
-65g butter, softened
-1 large egg, beaten
To serve: 75g sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease some cake tins (muffin tins for example or here I used heart shaped ones).
2. Dissolve the brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle and honey in the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat. Leave to cool slightly.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder and spices together in a large bowl. Beat with the softened butter.
4. Add the sugar/ milk mixture in batches, mixing well after each addition. Add the beaten egg and combine.
5. Spoon the mixture into the moulds and bake for 20 -25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean.
6. Meanwhile mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Place a few of the cakes into this sugar mixture as soon as they are removed from the oven. Spoon over the sugar then place on a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the rest of the cakes.

Butternut Squash, Feta, and Sundried Tomato Polenta Cake

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:07:00 +0000

... because cake doesn't always have to be sweet! This cake is easy to make and very versatile, I used butternut squash, sundried tomatoes and cheese but you can experiment and use olives, other vegetables, herbs, etc.

Great served with salad or served with drinks as an aperitif.

Ingredients

-150g cooked butternut squash (I halved a squash, roasted it and scooped the flesh out once cooled)
-100g polenta
-150g self raising flour
-50g quark, soft cheese or yoghurt
-100g feta or Cheshire cheese, very roughly chopped
-75ml milk
-3 eggs, beaten
-30g melted butter
-10 sundried tomatoes (in oil), chopped
-1tsp tomato purée
-1tsp baking powder
-Small handful sunflower seeds, toasted
-A few gratings of cheddar
Salt, pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for greasing

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a non-stick loaf tin (2lb).
2. Purée the butternut squash in a food processor or mash with a fork.

3. Mix the flour, polenta, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients (saving half the sunflower seeds and grated cheddar for the topping) and mix just until well combined. Season.
4. Tip the mix into the greased loaf tin and sprinkle over the sunflower seeds and grated cheddar. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Can be served hot or cold.

'Sisu': Finnish Rye Bread

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:12:00 +0000

This is my favourite bread at the moment, I got the recipe from a bread course but it is a traditional Finnish loaf. 'Sisu' translates as guts and perseverance, which is surprising really. After having spent two days making Panettone last weekend, this loaf is incredibly simple to make in comparison! And as it uses rye flour which is naturally low in gluten, it does not require any kneading. Just mix, prove and bake.

It is quite a dense bread but is delicious topped with cheese and gherkins, smorgasbord style.

Sisu

Makes one large loaf or two smaller ones

Ingredients:

-150g light rye flour
-350g dark rye flour
-300g sourdough starter (see step 1.)
-1 tbsp treacle
-10g caraway seeds
-15g fine salt
-350g luke warm water
-Sunflower oil for greasing

1. A day before you wish to bake, take 100g of your starter and mix with 200G rye flour (light or dark) and 100g water. Cover and leave to ferment overnight.
2. The day you wish to bake, mix all of the ingredients together. You will get a cement like dough. Grease a 400g loaf tin with sunflower oil (for one large loaf) or two for two smaller loaves.

The mix

3. Wet your hands then form the dough into a smooth shape and drop into the tin(s). Sprinkle with some rye flour and caraway seeds. Cover and leave in a warm place to prove for 3 - 4 hours. When the surface has cracked it is ready to bake.

Ready to go in the oven

4. Heat oven to 250C and bake for 40 minutes for two loaves or up to an hour for one large loaf. Reduce the heat to 200C after 10 minutes. When cooked, remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.

Roasted Pumpkin with Chickpeas in Spiced Coconut Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:29:00 +0000

I have long suspected that there is much more to Indian food than the dishes we find on the menu in most of the Indian restaurants in the U.K.. The menus always follow the same format and seem to offer the same thing. Maybe I haven't been going to the right restaurants!

I was delighted to find this gem of a book at a book-sale at work: 'Tasting India' by Christine Manfield.

Christine is an Australian chef and has travelled extensively in India. It is a beautiful book with stunning photos of Indian landscapes contrasted against those of busy city life. What I like most is it is divided into regions and each chapter has an introduction to the region, it's history and their particular style of cooking. The book has over 250 recipes and many of them are vegetarian. Not a korma or vindaloo to be found.

This is my recipe inspired by this book. It involves a lot of grinding / puréeing so a mini chopper or good pestle and mortar is needed!

Roasted Pumpkin with Chickpeas in Spiced Coconut Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

-1 small pumpkin or butternut squash, skin and seeds removed

-1 tin chickpeas

-1 onion, peeled and chopped

-1 red chilli, chopped

-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

-3 cm chunk of ginger, peeled

-1 small tin chopped tomatoes (230g)

-1 tin coconut milk (400ml)

-Small handful unsalted peanuts

-1 tsp soy sauce

-1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)

-Sunflower oil for roasting/ frying

Spice mix:

-1 tsp coriander seeds

-1/2 tsp cardamom seeds

-1 star anise

-1/2 tsp peppercorns

-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 250C. Chop the pumpkin into 2cm x 2cm cubes and spread out on a baking tray. Drizzle over some oil and coat the pieces. Roast until tender - about 20 -30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile put the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli into a food processor and pulse to a rough purée (I did this in a mini chopper, I found I needed a larger quantity for the blades to engage so I doubled the quantity and froze the rest for next time).

3. In a spice grinder or good pestle and mortar grind the coriander and cardamom seeds, star anise and peppercorns. Mix with the ground cinnamon. If you prefer you can use some garam masala instead of this spice mix.

4. Heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a large sauce pan and gently fry the onion/garlic/ginger/chilli purée for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the spice mix and cook for a further minute or two.

5. Add the coconut milk, tinned tomatoes, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil to the pan and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

6. Meanwhile, toast the peanuts in a dry pan until browned. Place them in a plastic bag then use a rolling pin to bash them into small pieces. You could use a pestle and mortar if you have a good one.

7. Drain the chickpeas and add these, the roasted pumpkin and the ground peanuts to the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes and season to taste.

Serve with rice. This curry is best left overnight in the fridge for the flavours to really develop, then reheated the next day.

Panettone

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:28:00 +0000

This month's 'Fresh from the Oven' challenge is Panettone, hosted by Sarah of Maison Cupcake. Traditionally Panettone is naturally leavened, i.e. it uses a starter/culture instead of dried/ instant yeast to make the bread rise. So I decided to make it to this recipe which seemed to authentic and quite easy to follow. It involves bulking up a sourdough starter for 5 days prior to making the Panettone. I have to say I didn't choose the most straight-forward recipe, in addition to the 5 days needed to get the starter ready it then needs 12 hours for the 'first dough' to ferment and 12 hours for the 'final dough' to rise. However I am a great believer in 'Slow food' so I was prepared to give it a go, although I was slightly nervous about it as I had never made Panettone before! I was pleased with the results, I got 3 small breads and they do taste authentic even if the look a little, er, rustic. The two nicest ones will be gifts and I am keeping the mushroom looking one as a taster :-)

Cooking notes:
-The recipe calls for diastatic malt powder, I have never seen this before so took a gamble and used 1tsp barley malt - it seemed to work!
-I used sultanas and soaked them in rum and cointreau for 12 hours (whilst the first dough was fermenting)
-I didn't bother buying proper Panettone moulds, I lined large tinned tomato tins with greaseproof paper which worked well.
-I was going to attempt to hang the breads upside down to cool as recommended in the recipe, but when I got mine out of the oven they looked a bit too fragile to undergo this treatment. I laid them down on a wire rack to cool and removed them from their tins after 15 minutes.

The dough after 12 hours rising

The glaze and sugar dusting

Before going in the oven

The mushroom shaped one!

Paris

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Last Christmas I was given a French Patisserie course in Paris as a present (best present ever!) - and last weekend we finally got to go! It was an afternoon course so we spent the rest of the weekend being tourists and wandering round Paris (mainly walking in and out of bakeries and bistros). Paris brings together all that is great about French food culture. I loved seeing all the independent bistros and wine bars, and the range of produce available on every corner. It is definitely a foodie city. One of the highlights for me was having lunch at Rose Bakery, I have their recipe book and have always wanted to go- it didn't disappoint, the food was delicious and mostly vegetarian.

Here are some photos of our foodie weekend:

Bistros

Rose Bakery

We had lunch here, they serve quiches, salads, mini pizzas other fresh deli type food. It is mostly vegetarian and organic. Unfortunately I didn't get to try their cakes afterwards as we had to rush off as we had booked to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

My lunch

Cakes

Chalet Savoyard

We had dinner here one night, I had an individual fondue savoyarde (why not?) which came not only with an enormous basket of crusty bread cubes, but also with a bowl of potatoes! Much too much for any normal appetite but I had a good try.

My fondue

Boulangeries

We visited quite a few of the bakeries who came in the top ten 'Meilleures Baguettes de Paris 2011'. I was very disappointed to find the bakery who won the competition was shut! We tried the bread from some of the others however, and they were all very good as was to be expected! Many of these boulangeries were along the same road - Rue des Abbesses. I wish I lived in this neighbourhood- I would never tire of eating their bread. Why do we get stuck with Greggs over here??

This boulanger won 'Best Baguette in Paris 2011'- closed at weekends :-(

My Patisserie course

In just over 3 hours we made all this:

-Early grey madeleines

-Millefeuille (puff pastry already made and chilled)

-Rhum baba

-Chocolate fondants

-Chocolate crème brulées

Making puff pastry

Making Crème Patissiere

Ganache lined ramekins for Creme Brulée

Moulds for Rum Baba

Fondants au chocolat

Infusing butter with earl grey - for Madeleines

My Millefeuille

Pumpkin Soup with Coconut, Ginger and Chilli

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Another pumpkin recipe- I hadn't realised just how versatile pumpkins are until recently. From one fairly large Crown Prince pumpkin I have made enough soup to generously serve 10 people, using the rest of the flesh in a cake, and I am planning to roast and salt the pumpkin seeds! I have used the Crown Prince variety here as I have heard they have more flavour than the standard Jack-O-Lantern ones (the orange ones which are usually used for carving at Halloween).

Serves 4

Ingredients

-500g pumpkin flesh (seeds and skin removed- this is roughly 1/2 a small pumpkin or 1/4 of a large one)
-1 tin coconut milk
-1 red chilli (or as much as you can handle), finely chopped
-3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
-1 onion, peeled and finely diced
-1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
-1 tsp tomato purée
-1 tsp marmite
-1 tsp stock granules (I used Marigold)/ 1/2 good quality stock cube
-1 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
-1 lime leaf
-Sunflower oil for roasting/ frying
-Seasoning to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Chop the pumpkin into 3cm chunks and arrange on a roasting tray. Drizzle with sunflower oil and toss to coat. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft.
2. In a large saucepan gently fry the onion in some sunflower oil over a low heat until soft- do not let it brown. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilli and fry for 1 - 2 minutes more.
3. Take a large measuring jug and fill with 1 litre of hot water. Add to it the following: tomato purée, Marmite, soy sauce, stock, and toasted sesame oil- stir to dissolve.
4. Transfer the roasted pumpkin to the saucepan and add the tin of coconut milk, the stock, and the lime leaf. Simmer for 15 minutes then remove the lime leaf and purée using a stick blender or food processor (adding more liquid to get the desired thickness). Season to taste- you can also add more chilli/ soy sauce etc. if desired.

Cinnamon Rolls- Fresh From The Oven October challenge

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:47:00 +0000

This month I am taking part in the Fresh From the Oven challenge for the first time. This is a monthly baking challenge for food bloggers, and i'm looking forward to taking part - I think it will be a good way for me to try things I wouldn't usually make.

This month the challenge is Cinnamon Rolls and it's being hosted by Things We Make. I was very happy with this as a first challenge, as I had been wanting to make something like these for a while. They make a tasty breakfast treat, or are also nice with coffee in the afternoon, or both :-)

The recipe is below. I changed the filling slightly by adding chopped hazelnuts and flaked almonds.

400g Strong White Bread Flour
2 Sachets of instant yeast (14/15g)
200g Plain Flour
2 Egg Yolks
250ml Lukewarm Milk
50g Melted Butter
1Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

Filling

150g Very Soft Butter
50g Brown Sugar - muscovado or demerara
1Tsp Cinnamon
A Handful of Sultanas (optional)
(I also added 1 tbsp each of chopped roasted hazelnuts and flaked almonds)

Icing (optional*)

2 Cups of Icing Sugar
1 Tblsp Melted Butter
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Water to Mix

Instructions

In a jug mix the yeast, warm milk and tablespoon of sugar.
Leave to froth for 10 minutes if you have time then add the melted butter and egg yolks.
Mix this into the flours, with the salt.
Knead for 5-10 minutes on a floured surface or in your food mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes.
Put in a large bowl with a plate on top and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (1-2 hours)
Knock down and flatten out until it's about the size of a large baking tray.
Slather with the very soft 100g ofbutter.
Sprinkle with the mix of brown sugar and cinnamon, and the sultanas.
Roll up so you have a long swiss roll type thing.
Slice into 2" slices and place in a deep cake tin
I used a 26cm Kaiser tin, with a bit of butter rubbed into it.
Allow to rise for another 1/2 hour. Tuck in any sultanas so they don't burn.
Bake at 200c for 10 minutes
Cover loosely with foil and bake for another 15 minutes or so.
At this point I brush it with a little melted butter and put it back in if not quite cooked through but it's probably not necessary. I am a born fiddler.
Tip out straight away - using a plate to tip it onto then back onto a 2nd plate.
Top with the warm buttery icing and leave to cool....as long as you can bear it.

Autumn Salad with Roasted Pumpkin and a Warm Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter

Ingredients

-1/2 a small pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed
-Small bag of salad leaves
-1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
-Shavings of parmesan style cheese (optional)
-Sunflower oil, salt and pepper for roasting

Dressing
-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
-4 tbsp sunflower oil
-1tsp honey
-1 tsp chopped roasted hazelnuts
-Seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Cut the pumpkin into 2cm slices, drizzle over some sunflower oil and some seasoning. Roast until soft (about 30 mins).
2. Meanwhile make the dressing. Pour the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and warm over a very low heat. Leave for 5 - 10 minutes until reduced- do not let it boil. Stir in the honey, oil, and hazelnuts and season to taste.
3. When the pumpkin slices are soft remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Assemble the salad by mixing the red onion and salad leaves together and piling them onto a large plate. Carefully place the pumpkin slices around the leaves and scatter over the cheese shavings (if using). Drizzle over the dressing and serve.

Spaghetti with Balsamic Mushrooms, Walnuts, and Dolcelatte

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:33:00 +0000

This is a really quick pasta dish to throw together, and you can vary the vegetables according to what you have in. A perfect midweek meal!

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch.

Serves 2

Ingredients

-200g spaghetti
-200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
-75g dolcelatte, cubed
-Handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (fruity flavoured ones work particularly well, I used aged apple balsamic)
-1 small red chilli, chopped (optional)
-2 tbsp olive oil
Seasoning

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, until al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, fry the sliced mushrooms in the olive oil with the chilli (if using). Add the balsamic vinegar and walnuts and simmer until the vinegar has mostly evaporated.
3. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Add the dolcelatte and stir through. Season well to taste, and serve immediately.

'Going Wild' Bread workshop at Plumpton Mill

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:39:00 +0000

Some of you may know that tragically my sourdough culture died over the summer, at only 6 months old. It suffered two weeks of neglect and starvation whilst I was away on holiday (having hired someone to feed the cat, but having totally forgotten about the needs of my sourdough culture). Resuscitation failed and I have been without sourdough ever since. So I was really looking forward to the workshop I booked at Plumpton Mill near Lewes (Sussex). I didn't know much about the place, but I did know we were going to learn about making sourdough.

During the 5 hour course we learned to make a loaf of sourdough, flat-breads, and some chocolate/cinnamon pastries. The course is run by Robin van Creveld, founder of Community Chef (http://www.communitychef.org.uk). I picked up many useful tips for keeping a sourdough culture (or 'mother' as it is also called) alive and how to achieve great baking results. We were also given a cup of Robin's own starter to take home, so I am happy to say I now have a new 'mother'!

My new 'mother'!

Whilst the bread was rising we were given a tour of the mill. As a food geek I found this absolutely fascinating. The mill itself dates back to 1575 and ran up until WW1, after which it fell into neglect. Paul and Carol Nicholson bought the mill 12 years ago and have lovingly restored it to it's former glory. It is now a fully working water mill and they produce flour from locally grown grains. We were lucky enough to see it working. I was amazed at the engineering involved, and how sustainable it is to produce flour in this way.

The mill in action

At the end we were treated to a delicious vegetarian lunch. The mill and house are beautiful and it was the perfect setting for this course. I am off to make some sourdough now.

Spinach Homity Pies

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 10:05:00 +0000

Homity pies are traditional British pies consisting of an onion and potato mixture encased in pastry. In my version I have added some creamy spinach instead of the onions. The pies are quite hefty, so I served them as a main course with salad. However you could also make smaller ones which would be perfect for a picnic.

You will need to have made some bechamel sauce in advance.

Makes 4 pies

Ingredients

Pastry

-100g wholemeal flour
-150g plain flour
-150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
-1tsp salt
-1 egg
-1 tbsp cold milk

Filling

-200g spinach, cooked and drained
-300ml home-made white sauce or bechamel: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/whitesauce_1298
-500g floury potatoes, peeled and diced
-100g Lancashire cheese or cheddar, cubed
-2 - 3 tbsp milk
-Knob of butter
-8 tsp mustard (Regular or wholegrain)
-Salt & pepper, nutmeg
Chopped chives to serve.

1. To make the pastry, put the flours and salt in a food processor. Beat the egg and milk together then gradually add to the flour, and pulse until combined. If making by hand, tip the flours into a large bowl and add the butter and egg. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the milk and bring the pastry together. Knead three or four times to bring it together then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and mash with the butter and milk until smooth. Season well.
3. Mix the cooked spinach with the bechamel and season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
4. Remove the cling film from the pastry and divide into 4. On a floured surface roll each ball into a 15 - 20cm round. Leaving a 5cm crust around the edge, spread each round with 2 tsp of mustard, then top with 1/4 of the spinach mixture then 1/4 of the mashed potato.

5. To form the pies bring up the pastry around the filling and firmly press together any edges. Top with the cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and the cheese in bubbling. Serve with the chopped chives sprinkled on top.

Carrot & Sweetcorn Soup flavoured with Chipotle and Coriander

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:29:00 +0000

In Autumn I like to spend Sunday afternoons making batches of soup- either to freeze or to eat throughout week. It's great to have on hand for a cold Autumn evening. This one is particularly warming thanks to the chipotle powder. Chipotles are smoked mexican jalapeno chilli peppers, if you can't find the powder you could use pimenton (smoked paprika) or ordinary chilli powder. I like this soup served as it is, but it would also be nice served with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Serves 4

Ingredients

-3 carrots, peeled and diced
-Sweetcorn from 2 ears of fresh corn
-1 onion, peeled and chopped
-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
-2 tomatoes, chopped
-1 tbsp tomato purée
-1 tsp chipotle powder
-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
-2 bay leaves
-1 tsp dried oregano
-1 tsp marmite or 1 stock cube
-1 tbsp sunflower oil
Seasoning

1. Fry the onion in the oil until translucent, then add the carrot, bay leaves, and sweetcorn. Fry for 2 - 3 minutes more.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato puree, chipotle powder, oregano and garlic. Stir and cook for 2 minutes more. Cover with boiling water and add the marmite or crumbled stock cube.
3. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Use a stick blender or transfer the soup to a food processor to blend. Season to taste and stir in the coriander before serving.

Presto Pasta Night #231

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:02:00 +0000

I am delighted to be hosting Presto Pasta Night #231 today and have spent a great week reading through all the entries. It's wonderful to see how much pasta is loved all over the world- this week I have had entries from Canada, UK, South Africa... pasta unites us all!

Now on to the round up:

First in was this Autumn Pasta with Borlotti Beans, Cavolo Nero, Girolles, and Crispy Pancetta from Abby at Eat the Right Stuff. A very seasonal dish!

Next we have 'Truly Tender Meatballs and Spaghetti' from Val at More Than Burnt Toast. As she says, this looks like perfect comfort food!

Tandy from Lavender & Lime gave us this recipe for Pasta with prawns - interesting colour contrast between the sauce and the pasta:

Gay from A Scientist in the Kitchen cooked up Broccoli, Mushroom and Pepper over pasta- a good way of sneaking in some fresh veg:

Emma from Kitchen Goddess (in training!) sent in Spaghetti Puttenemma (Emma's Spaghetti Puttenesca). This looks like a perfect get-home-from-work-quick-and-tasty-pasta dish:

Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes made Gino D'Campo's Tagliatelle al pesto e yogurt. I love Gino and this looks delicious too!

Joanne of Eats Well with Others has combined a delicious mix of flavours in her Pasta with Ricotta, Roasted Tomatoes, Figs and Arugula:

The founder of Presto Pasta Nights, Ruth, sent in this recipe from her blog Recipes from Every Kitchen. I often get fresh beetroot in my veg box and never know what to do with the beet greens- I do now!

And here is my Spinach & Ricotta ravioli dish again:

I look forward to trying some of these recipes- thank you to everyone who participated. I hope you enjoyed this week's PPN as much as I did. Thanks Ruth for letting me host and for keeping this going!

Next week Tandy of Lavender & Lime is hosting for the second time. Send your entries to lavenderandlimeblog (at) gmail (dot)com and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by next Thursday, September 22.

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli and PRESTO PASTA NIGHTS

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:22:00 +0000

Our cat Walter supervising the pasta making

This week I am hosting Presto Pasta Nights for the first time. If you haven't heard of it before, check it out here: http://www.prestopastanights.com/ - it's a weekly round-up of pasta dishes sent in by fellow food bloggers. I have entered several times before, and am delighted to be hosting this week. To enter, please send me an email with a link to your recipe lacuisinedesarah (at) gmail (dot) com and copy ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by Thursday 15th September - I will put the round-up on the blog on Friday. The guidelines for entering a recipe are here.

Here is my pasta recipe for this this week - Homemade Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli served with a Sage & Caper butter.
Serves 2

Ingredients

200g of fresh pasta dough - basic recipe can be found here or here, rolled out into a rectangular sheet of dough
200g spinach, cooked and all water squeezed out
250g tub of ricotta
Good grating of nutmeg

50g butter
1 - 2 tablespoons of capers
10 fresh sage leaves
Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan style cheese to serve

1. To make the ravioli, first make the filling by mixing together the spinach, ricotta, and nutmeg. Season to taste. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture along the bottom half of the pasta sheet at 10cm intervals (there may be some filling left over). Use flour or ground semolina to dust, to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.

2. Fold the upper half of the sheet down over the bottom half. Use one hand to cup around the filling, excluding any air (if there are large air bubbles the ravioli will split when cooking). Press around the edges then use a sharp knife or cutter to cut the ravioli.

3. When all of the ravioli has been cut, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. At the same time, start to melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the ravioli to the water and cook for 5 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Fry the sage leaves in the butter until crisp then add the capers and seasoning (be careful not to burn the butter). Carefully drain the ravioli then toss through the sauce. Serve immediately with grated cheese.

Foodie France

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:36:00 +0000

I have just got back from two weeks holiday in sunny France. Here is a selection of photos of foodie moments I enjoyed during my time in the sud-ouest. I love exploring the local markets and always find something new to try each time I go. I am missing it already!

A very special sheeps cheese from a small organic cheese producer in the Aveyron.

Rabastens market, Tarn

One of many cheese stands at Rabastens market

Colourful veg stand at Rabastens market

One of the many fabulous cheese boards I indulged in.... from this particular one I discovered Delices de Bourgogne (bottom right corner), a very soft cheese almost the texture of whipped cream

Loin de l'oeil grapes harvested from my Mum's 'vineyard'

Olive stand at Gaillac market, Tarn

Gaillac market

Boulangerie window in Salers, Cantal

Perfect lunch in Salers - salad with local cheeses (cantal, bleu d'auvergne, potatoes, tomatoes and walnuts on bed of lettuce)

Having a glass of Cahors in a picturesque spot

Torta Mexicana with Char-grilled Courgette

noreply@blogger.com (La Cuisine de Sarah) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:21:00 +0000

Tortas are Mexican filled rolls, stuffed to overspilling with delicious fillings. The trick is to remove some of the crumb from the top half of the roll beforehand, in order to be able to fit more filling in (I can't believe I didn't think of that before!). Traditionally I believe the bottom half is spread with refried beans first, which sounds delicious but as this was a quick lunch unfortunately I didn't have any refried beans 'handy'. So I have just used mashed avocado as a spread. I have used courgette as the hot element to this filled roll, but other char-grilled vegetables could be used, or a fried egg, or meat lovers could use bacon or chorizo (as Thomasina Miers used recently in her mexican TV cookery show on Channel 5, which gave me the idea to make torta today). To make this vegan, leave out the cheese.

Makes 2 tortas

-2 large crusty rolls (pain rustique type), or 2 large chunks of ciabatta or rustic baguette.
-1 courgette, halved widthways then sliced lengthways
-1 avocado
-4 slices of mature cheddar cheese, crumbled
-2 spring onions, sliced
-4-5 radishes; thinly sliced
-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
-2 tsp chopped jalapenos
-4 little gem lettuce leaves
Cholula mexican sauce (or tabasco or similar - optional)
1 tsp sunflower oil

1. Heat a griddle or plancha until hot, then place the courgette slices on it, brushing both sides with a little sunflower oil. Grill until soft, turning regularly.
2. Slice the rolls in half then hollow out the top halves (leave roughly 1cm of crust). Move the courgettes to one side and toast the inside of the rolls on the griddle for a minute or two.

3. Scoop out the avocado and divide between the bottom halves of the rolls, mashing and spreading it out to the edges. Top with the chopped coriander, radishes, spring onion and jalapenos, pressing down. Lay some courgette slices on top followed by the cheese. At this point feel free to drizzle over your hot sauce of choice. Top with the lettuce leaves then close the roll with the top halves and press down firmly.

YUM. This is the best roll I have had in a long time!