Well Christmas time again, it's kinda sneaked up on me!
Most people enjoy a festive cup or cocktail at this time of year. This is one of my favourites & a bit of a variation on the old favourite 'kir royale'.
For four people
200g fresh cranberries
500ml water
200g caster sugar (approximately)
1/2 Vanilla pod or a few drops of vanilla extract
Place the cranberries, water & sugar in a pan with the vanilla.
Stir to a boil & then simmer for approximately 10 minutes, by this time the cranberries will have popped & given the syrup a wonderful colour.
At this point you need to taste the syrup to check the sweetness, cranberries are a sharp berry & you may find they require more sugar, season to your taste with extra sugar.
What you are looking for is a sweet but not syrupy taste.
Pour the syrup through a sieve into a jug & let it drip, don't squeeze the pulp as this will cloud your syrup. This won't affect the flavour though if you prefer it cloudy.
The left over berries are great used as standard cranberry sauce.
Now chill the syrup.
To make the drink
Pour syrup into a champagne flute until it's about a quarter full
Now top up with Champagne or a dry sparkling wine.
Garnish with a couple of frozen cranberries.
Enjoy!
Monday, 20 December 2010
Monday, 18 October 2010
Chocolate Fondant
This chocolate fondant is a fairly standard mix, but I kind of think it's one of my favorite standby puddings, you know, the sort of thing that you can knock up fairly quickly from ingredients from the store cupboard, great for when you have dinner guests at short notice. Talking of short notice, if you get organised & make a batch they can be frozen & cooked straight from the freezer. Butter 100g
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Friday, 17 September 2010
Winter root vegetable soup
One of my favorite autumn or winter lunches, it lends itself really well to swapping any of the vegetable components to create a truly tailored flavour. Great with a chunk of bread or a nice soda bread. Carrots (washed & chopped) 2 Onions peeled & diced 2 Garlic clove peeled 1 Swede diced 1/2 Parsnips peeled & sliced 1 Mixed herbs Pinch Vegetable stock 1 litre Vegetable oil 2 dessert spoon Sweat all of the veg in a large pan for about four or five minutes, or until softened. Add the herbs & veg stock, bring to a boil & simmer until all of the vegetables are tender. Blend until smooth & season with salt & pepper, finish with a little cream if you like. Enjoy! |
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Lime & Basil Tart
I've been making lemon tart for years now & one day whilst thinking about flavours (as you do!) I thought how nice a lime one would be, so I tried one. Then I thought how nice it would be with some basil. It has a really zingy zesty flavour & a really delicate texture. I really like it with fresh coconut ice cream.
Ingredients
4 Limes (zest & juice)
180grm Caster sugar
3 Eggs
200ml Double cream
12-15 Fresh basil leaves
Method
Line a tart case 20-25cm with sweet pastry. Blind bake until the pastry is cooked, allow to
cool slightly.
Place lime zest & juice into a suitable mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar.
Whisk in the cream & then add the eggs & whisk. Lastly stir in the shreaded basil leaves.
Carefully pour into a blind baked pastry case
Bake at 180°C gas 5 until just set, approximately 30-40 mins.
Glaze if desired with icing sugar & hot grill or blow torch
Enjoy!
Ingredients
4 Limes (zest & juice)
180grm Caster sugar
3 Eggs
200ml Double cream
12-15 Fresh basil leaves
Method
Line a tart case 20-25cm with sweet pastry. Blind bake until the pastry is cooked, allow to
cool slightly.
Place lime zest & juice into a suitable mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar.
Whisk in the cream & then add the eggs & whisk. Lastly stir in the shreaded basil leaves.
Carefully pour into a blind baked pastry case
Bake at 180°C gas 5 until just set, approximately 30-40 mins.
Glaze if desired with icing sugar & hot grill or blow torch
Enjoy!
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Supermarket culture & the lost cooking generation
Since setting out on the path of writing, I've been thinking more about food, which is tricky considering I think about little else! My thoughts keep coming back to why the majority of people are so disinterested and apathetic to food and it's production?
For some it's a lack of cookery skills, almost a lost generation of people, many of my age just weren't taught to cook by their parents. Some aren't bothered with cooking and some people just have no interest in where their food comes from. I think for many it's probably just the overwhelming array of ready meals and convenience products in the shops. A kind of a 'why should I make a pizza when I can buy one ready for the oven?' The answer for me is simple, given how tasty and fresh a homemade pizza can be, with a quids worth of ingredients and a half hour of effort. For me, it's all about the taste.
People take convenience over anything else (including quality and taste) these days. our parents used to shop in the high street, visiting the butchers, green grocer, fish monger and then doing a little shopping at the small high street supermarket. most of that heritage has been wiped away with the advent of the modern supermarket. What amazes me is when someone says to me that they visited a proper greengrocer and they comment how everything was so fresh and cheap! my response is generally that of a 'told you so!' Supermarkets are fine if that's your sort of thing, but convenience costs and not just in extra money from your pocket, there is also the issue of producer and animal welfare.
Sure we've all seen the TV types showing the plight of intensively farmed animals, these types of programmes raise awareness (which is great) unfortunately it seldom lasts and shoppers slip back into old ways. I think the answer for most is driven by cost and sadly others just don't care; either way, two chickens for £6 in the supermarket is generally enough to sway the shopper.
The supermarkets obviously look after their own interests, they make products seem better value than they are and do not push the welfare or producer side to many of the products. Supermarkets see welfare and producer awareness as value added, but I firmly believe that both should be at the top of a marketing strategy.
Lots of shoppers who care about what they eat look for these value added items, increased animal welfare such as free range or organic. Producer welfare is also very important, fair trade has seen the advent of much improved deals for producers in third world countries, but why do shoppers accept our dairy farmers being squeezed to produce cheaper and cheaper milk, basically cutting their profit to absolute minimum.
Shoppers have little awareness other than that of cost and that is distorted due to the way supermarkets price their deals, but if we could make people a little more aware then there would surely be a better and fairer deal for all.
For some it's a lack of cookery skills, almost a lost generation of people, many of my age just weren't taught to cook by their parents. Some aren't bothered with cooking and some people just have no interest in where their food comes from. I think for many it's probably just the overwhelming array of ready meals and convenience products in the shops. A kind of a 'why should I make a pizza when I can buy one ready for the oven?' The answer for me is simple, given how tasty and fresh a homemade pizza can be, with a quids worth of ingredients and a half hour of effort. For me, it's all about the taste.
People take convenience over anything else (including quality and taste) these days. our parents used to shop in the high street, visiting the butchers, green grocer, fish monger and then doing a little shopping at the small high street supermarket. most of that heritage has been wiped away with the advent of the modern supermarket. What amazes me is when someone says to me that they visited a proper greengrocer and they comment how everything was so fresh and cheap! my response is generally that of a 'told you so!' Supermarkets are fine if that's your sort of thing, but convenience costs and not just in extra money from your pocket, there is also the issue of producer and animal welfare.
Sure we've all seen the TV types showing the plight of intensively farmed animals, these types of programmes raise awareness (which is great) unfortunately it seldom lasts and shoppers slip back into old ways. I think the answer for most is driven by cost and sadly others just don't care; either way, two chickens for £6 in the supermarket is generally enough to sway the shopper.
The supermarkets obviously look after their own interests, they make products seem better value than they are and do not push the welfare or producer side to many of the products. Supermarkets see welfare and producer awareness as value added, but I firmly believe that both should be at the top of a marketing strategy.
Lots of shoppers who care about what they eat look for these value added items, increased animal welfare such as free range or organic. Producer welfare is also very important, fair trade has seen the advent of much improved deals for producers in third world countries, but why do shoppers accept our dairy farmers being squeezed to produce cheaper and cheaper milk, basically cutting their profit to absolute minimum.
Shoppers have little awareness other than that of cost and that is distorted due to the way supermarkets price their deals, but if we could make people a little more aware then there would surely be a better and fairer deal for all.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Chutney recipes from my 'guest' on BBC Coventry & Warwick radio
I have created both of these recipes & I've modified & tweaked them over the years. They are both really versatile & you can change spice mixes & fruit content. One thing to bear in mind is to try & balance your flavours, do this by keeping ratios of ingredients the same. You could add in plums & remove some apple, or cut down the courgettes & add in some squash or pumpkin. Just don't go over the top with onions.
The chutney recipe that was broadcast
500g of each courgettes & onions, (1cm dice, sprinkled with 1 T spoon of salt, cover & leave overnight)
500g bramley apples (1cm dice)
150ml malt vinegar
400g sugar (white or brown)
1/2 T spoon of each paprika, cinamon, cumin, corriander
Method
After the salting, rinse off the veg, drain.
Simmer all vegetables & apples in a large pan with the sugar & vinegar for around 45-60 mins until sticky
Place in sterilised jars & ideally leave for 4-6 weeks to mature (if you can resist!)
Dark mixed (branston type) pickle
6-8 jars
The chutney recipe that was broadcast
500g of each courgettes & onions, (1cm dice, sprinkled with 1 T spoon of salt, cover & leave overnight)
500g bramley apples (1cm dice)
150ml malt vinegar
400g sugar (white or brown)
1/2 T spoon of each paprika, cinamon, cumin, corriander
Method
After the salting, rinse off the veg, drain.
Simmer all vegetables & apples in a large pan with the sugar & vinegar for around 45-60 mins until sticky
Place in sterilised jars & ideally leave for 4-6 weeks to mature (if you can resist!)
Dark mixed (branston type) pickle800g mixed veg 1cm dice (carrot, swede, onion & courgette)
200g 1 cm diced dessert apples
800g cooking apples
700ml malt vinegar (plus a little for later)
500g brown sugar
1 tsp salt ( or to taste)
1 tspn of ground ginger, paprika,cinamon & mustard seeds
1-2 dessert spoons of flour
6-8 jars
Method
Place the diced veg in a suitable bowl & sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt, mix through, cover & leave for 12 hours.
Now mix in the diced apples & leave for another 12 hours.
Rinse off the veg with cold water & drain.
Place the cooking apples, sugar & vinegar in a suitable sized pan & simmer with the spices for ten minutes.
Mix a little cold vinegar with the flour to a paste, whisk this into the spiced vinegar & cook for around 2-3 minutes. it needs to be the consistancy of double cream.
Stir in all of the prepared vegetables, cook for a couple more minutes & then place into sterilised jars, seal the lids & leave to mature for about 6 weeks or as long as you can resist!
Both go brilliantly with a ploughmans type lunch, great in a cheese sandwich, or dare I mention it really nice with cold meats or leftover christmas turkey! If you make it now, it'll be really well matured.
Enjoy!
Monday, 23 August 2010
Cherry frangipane cake
This was one of those recipes which I made up by accident. I needed a pudding/cake to take to a friends & it was borne out of what was hiding in my cupboards!
It's basically a rich almond sponge with syrup drizzled over & served with an accompanying compote. It's really nice either warm or cold.
For the syrup/compote
200g cherries
50g granulated sugar
50ml water
For the cake
230g butter
230g granulated sugar
3 medium eggs (should weigh around 220-230g)
170g ground almonds
60g self raising flour
1/2 Tspoon baking powder
1/2 T spoon almond oil or essence
Method
Firstly line a 20-25cm spring ring with baking paper
for the syrup & compote
Place the cherries & the sugar into a suitable pan & simmer for 10 minutes until the cherries are soft, pour off 150ml of the syrup & reserve for pouring over the finished cake.
Take the remaining syrup & fruit & pour through a sieve back into the pan. Press the fruit through the seive & then discard the stones. Bring back to a simmer for another 10 minutes & sweeten to your taste, I like mine quite tart, as long as it doesn't turn my face inside out! Thats the compote to serve with the cake.
Now you have the syrup to drizzle over & the compote to serve with the cake
For the cake
In a suitable sized bowl cream the butter & sugar together until light & pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the almonds, flour, baking powder & almond oil.
Mix until smooth.
Spoon into the pre lined tin & roughly smooth the top, no need to be too fussy tho'.
Bake at 170-80 C gas 5-6 for aproximatly 20 minutes or until the sponge springs back when pressed. If you're unsure, insert a needle into the middle of the cake, if the needle comes out clean it's done, if not, give it another 5 minutes & check again.
Leave the sponge to cool for 5 minutes, then jab all over the top with a needle & pour over the syrup.
Serve straight away or let it cool completely,either way serve a slice with the compote & maybe some good vanilla ice cream, clotted cream or just as it is if you're being healthy.
Enjoy!
It's basically a rich almond sponge with syrup drizzled over & served with an accompanying compote. It's really nice either warm or cold.
For the syrup/compote
200g cherries
50g granulated sugar
50ml water
For the cake
230g butter
230g granulated sugar
3 medium eggs (should weigh around 220-230g)
170g ground almonds
60g self raising flour
1/2 Tspoon baking powder
1/2 T spoon almond oil or essence
Method
Firstly line a 20-25cm spring ring with baking paper
for the syrup & compote
Place the cherries & the sugar into a suitable pan & simmer for 10 minutes until the cherries are soft, pour off 150ml of the syrup & reserve for pouring over the finished cake.
Take the remaining syrup & fruit & pour through a sieve back into the pan. Press the fruit through the seive & then discard the stones. Bring back to a simmer for another 10 minutes & sweeten to your taste, I like mine quite tart, as long as it doesn't turn my face inside out! Thats the compote to serve with the cake.
Now you have the syrup to drizzle over & the compote to serve with the cake
For the cake
In a suitable sized bowl cream the butter & sugar together until light & pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the almonds, flour, baking powder & almond oil.
Mix until smooth.
Spoon into the pre lined tin & roughly smooth the top, no need to be too fussy tho'.
Bake at 170-80 C gas 5-6 for aproximatly 20 minutes or until the sponge springs back when pressed. If you're unsure, insert a needle into the middle of the cake, if the needle comes out clean it's done, if not, give it another 5 minutes & check again.
Leave the sponge to cool for 5 minutes, then jab all over the top with a needle & pour over the syrup.
Serve straight away or let it cool completely,either way serve a slice with the compote & maybe some good vanilla ice cream, clotted cream or just as it is if you're being healthy.
Enjoy!
Food Fanatic. A brief history
So, food fanatic, that's me. everything I do is squarely based around food. I'm a chef of twenty years & love what I do. I currently teach the next generation of chefs, which is a very interesting & engaging vocation. Recently I 've developed a more litterary creative streak, so I've put pen to paper (metaphoricaly) & started writing about food. Food writing seems a real nut to crack, almost a closed door unless you happen to be a TV dwelling 'celebrity' chef; but for me personally if I'm going to write about food, i'll only be happy if I can get it published. So I've spent a while emailing & contacting various food publications about some freelance work. Some have borne results & some haven't (yet!). I had a little appearance on the local BBC radio station last week, which was great fun & I write a column for a community magazine http://roundaboutmagazines.net/roundabout_warwick/index.php As an offshoot to that I began thinking about publishing things myself, so here we are, the begining of my blog. Exciting times.
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