Sweet Treats for a Winter's Night

Lemon, stem ginger and cardamom sponge puddings

These are lovely at any time of year, however they make a delicious alternative to those who don’t like Christmas pudding as these are light enough to not need to lie down for an hour to digest. 

I do suggest upping the calorie content further with a generous amount of cream or custard so this is no diet friendly recipe.

I have made these with gluten free self raising flour but the recipe is equally good with normal self raising flour and the quantities are the same.  

Ingredients

100g golden caster sugar
100g softened butter
180 ml milk
2 eggs
200g gluten free self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
5 green cardamom, crushed seeds
5 stem ginger pieces, 3 sliced, 2 roughly chopped and a little of the syrup
Pinch of sea salt
Butter for greasing pudding bowls
Pudding bowls with lids, I made 4 individual 1/4 pint puds and a 1/2 pint pud from this mix, you could do a larger pudding and adjust cooking time. Always test with a skewer in the centre of the pudding, it should come out nearly clean.

Method

• In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together, add milk and eggs and whisk to a smooth batter.
• Sift in flour and bicarbonate of soda and add zest and juice of one lemon.. Whisk in thoroughly ensuring a lump free mixture.
• Add roughly chopped stem ginger, the crushed cardamom seeds and a pinch of salt and stir in gently.
• At the base of each pudding bowl place slices of stem ginger to cover and add mixture 3/4 of the way up each container.
• Put lid on securely and steam. The 1/4 pint puds took 70 minutes, the 1/2 pint just 85 minutes in an electric steamer.
• Serve with cream or custard. Delicious

Butternut Squash Risotto with Bacon Crumbles

I have the house to myself tonight and in cooking terms that can mean anything from a cheese and salt and vinegar crisp sarnie to something more adventurous. Tonight I’m going for the latter, not complex but a dish that requires attention. I love making risotto, it’s calming, therapeutic even, the constant stirring lets me mull over what I’ve got done, what’s still to do, at this moment my mind is taken up with the Christmas shopping list and whether it’s wrong to start on the wine this early, after all I need a glass for the risotto.

I’m also using the chicken stock made from poaching the chicken in the previously posted recipe but you can use any good stock for this, watch the cubes though, I find most of them too salty and they overpower the other ingredients. The measure for the stock is vague as it varies, however the dish should be slightly runny rather than dry.
I’m sure with more care this dish could look prettier but it tastes amazing, warming and a perfect dish to ward off winter chills.

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2 cm ish chunks
3 handfuls arborio rice
3 cloves garlic, crushed in their skins
1 dried mild chilli chopped (I used a dried cayenne)
Olive oil
5 sage leaves, fresh if you can get them
Salt and pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 glass dry white wine
1 1/2 pints hot chicken stock,
Parmesan cheese
Small knob butter

Method

• Heat oven to 180 degrees and add cubes of peeled butternut squash, 3 fresh sage leaves, garlic and chopped dried chilli to baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and leave to roast in oven for 30 mins.
• On a shallow tray, bake 6 rashers of dry cure bacon until brown and dry, about 6 minutes in a hot oven. Remove both squash and bacon and leave to cool.
• In a large shallow frying pan, heat oil and add chopped onion, fry until softened. Add rice and stir with onions for 2 minutes.
• Add wine and stir until the pan is almost dry.
• Add a ladle of chicken stock at a time, stirring until almost reduced before adding the next. After 15 minutes or so, test the grains of rice, they should be soft but with texture and the liquid should be thick and oozing. Once the rice is cooked, add the butternut squash, season to taste and add parmesan cheese to taste.
• Crumble bacon with fingers over the top of the dish and serve.

Poached Whole Chicken

The Perfect Chicken

I am not the first to claim the ‘perfect chicken’ and I won’t say this is the simplest or prettiest of recipes, however it does stay remarkably moist due to the poaching. The stock left over is also devine used as a base for gravy or as a stock for risotto and can be frozen for use later on.

You can use the poached chicken in a variety of ways, perfect for healthy low fat dishes just how it is, or for a Sunday treat, roast the chicken in a hot oven for 30 mins after the poaching time, it crisps up the skin while the meat remains exceptionally moist.

The perfect side dish to this is Pommes Boulangere made with the stock from the chicken, a dish that can go into the oven while the chicken roasts, this fabulous pairing wastes nothing and will be ready to dish up by the time the chicken is carved. I’ve added the recipe for the potatoes at the end of the post.

 

Ingredients

For the poaching liquid

1 chicken (weight about 1.2kg for my biggest saucepan with lid)
1 onion, chopped into quarters, not peeled
1 carrot, chopped into chunks
2 bay leaves
15 black peppercorns, 10 pink peppercorns
1 tsp sea salt
1 lemon
1 blade of mace
3 cloves garlic, just crushed in their skins
1/4 pint white wine, I used a Chenin Blanc

Method

• Add all the above into a large saucepan big enough to easily fit the chicken and poaching ingredients, top up with water to cover the chicken and bring to the boil.
• Once boiling reduce heat, place on lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave chicken to stand in stock for 30 minutes or 1 hour if not roasting.
• Remove from poaching liquid and drain well. If not roasting the chicken is ready to use. Discard the skin and enjoy the chicken hot or cold.
• If roasting drain as above, heat oven to 200 degrees and place on roasting rack. Stuff onions, lemon slices and garlic cloves into chicken cavity. Dot chicken with butter, season skin with salt and pepper and roast, breast side down on the roasting rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn chicken and roast for 15 further minutes breast side up.
• Cover with foil and rest for about 10 minutes and carve. Delicious, I hope you’ll agree.

Pommes Boulangere

3 large Maris Piper or Baking Potatoes, thinly sliced
150ml chicken stock
10 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Butter
Salt and pepper

• Thinly slice the potatoes, I use a mandolin for this as it makes uniformly thin slices ensuring the potatoes cook through evenly. If you get one, beware... tops of fingers have been lost by the best of cooks on these things, use the safety guard if it has one.
• Drain chicken stock through a sieve.
• Butter a baking dish and place a thin layer of potatoes, a few slices of garlic and a sprinkle of thyme leaves and season, repeat until all potatoes are used. Ladle on stock and add a few dots of butter to the top.
• Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes. Potatoes should be cooked through and tender, with a crusty top.
• Serve.

A Foodies Day Out BBC Good Food Show

On Friday we spent a gluttonous day out at the BBC Good Food Show, now a regular event in our Foodie calendar and I had been counting down the ‘sleeps’ like a child waiting for Christmas. I went with my usual intentions of getting a few gourmet treats for friends and family and had last year been overwhelmed by the array of small artisan producers who were enthusiastically selling their wares. The highlight last year however had been the Dining Experience where those coming from outside London could sample delights from upper end restaurants without waiting weeks or months on end for a table. Indeed a pork belly dish last year blew my mind and I had high hopes of being as impressed on this visit.

Lets start at the beginning.
Kensington Olympia is massive and we 
arrived just after lunch armed with rucksacks 
for goodies, empty bellies and elasticated trousers 
wholly prepared for a day of eating, 
drinking and shopping.

It didn’t seem as busy as last year and queues were small so we had a quick wander before deciding on our first Dining Experience choice.
I have to say this was the only disappointing part of the day, the choices seemed more
limited than last year.


We started with ‘The Bowler Gourmet Balls’, a street food van making hand rolled meatballs
and tried both options, a Thai flavoured pork and beef meatball with a delicious coconut curry
sauce, not too spicy but in my opinion spoilt by the addition of sweet chilli sauce drizzled over
the dish. 



The other was a beef and bacon meatball, tasty with a tomato sauce, nice but not a patch on the Albondigas I posted last week. As street food, a tasty option I would go for if I was out and about, but not something most people could not achieve at home.

With sated bellies we wandered around the food-stalls for a while, doing a preliminary scout for our likely purchases tasting delicious cheeses, meats and getting slightly tipsy from gin flavoured with orange, chocolate wine and toffee vodka.

Many purchases were made over the next couple of hours, I won't bore you with every one, here's the picture of just some of them.

There were many producers selling wonderful delicious treats, too many to mention. I will just mention a couple that stood out for us in terms of product and enthusiasm for their craft. The Artisan Smokehouse, where we bought smoked duck, beef fillet, smoked Stilton and my favourite, smoked goat's cheese. I could have bought more but stopped myself. Mr Vikki's, seller of hot hot hot sauces, we particularly liked the XXX Hot Chilli Jam and Piri Piri Mustard.
If you like Irish Cream particularly at Christmas, you have to try Coole Swan. An Irish Whiskey blended with white chocolate, cream, cocoa and vanilla, it has a more grown up taste as the whiskey is the star.
Finally another boozy offering, Thunder Toffee Vodka. I must admit, I resisted this last year as sounding too sweet. Served ice cold it is delicious, syrupy, sweet with a kick. Other customers were asking if it could be mixed to make a long drink, I say don't spoil it, it is perfection just as it is

Lastly, all the producers I have mentioned are online so if you feel inspired to try anything you can do so.

Albondigas aka Mexican Meatballs

Albondigas (AKA) Mexican Meatballs in a Chipotle and Tomato Sauce

I tweeted advanced warning that some fiery recipes may be posted soon due to the arrival of two large packages of chipotle chillies from the postman. They are still quite difficult to get hold of in local supermarkets, I have stumbled across them occasionally but as my addiction to these hot smoky delights grow, I need a steady and more reliable supply that the internet provides.

Without meaning to bang on about these particular chillies, they are pretty integral to this dish. I have, when the need has arisen, made the sauce with alternatives but it never quite lives up to the smoky flavour, heat and rich earthiness that the chipotle adds to it. Feel free to reduce the quantity if you like or be brave and go for it. I'd give this a medium heat rating but I have built up a tolerance

This recipe makes enough for 4 hungry people but I’ve made this for parties of 10 or more, it’s quite time-consuming but well worth the effort. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

For the meatballs

300g lean beef mince
300g pork mince
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
50g breadcrumbs
1 egg
Oil to fry meatballs
Salt and pepper
Mixture made 28 meatballs, they may look like nothing special now, but read on.


For the sauce
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 soaked chipotle chillies, roughly chopped, seeds removed
¼ pint beef stock
¼ pint red wine
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100ml sieved passata
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley to serve

Method

• Soak chipotle chillies in hand hot water for about 20 minutes until softened. Retain soaking water.
• Fry off finely chopped onion with 1 bay leaf until softened, remove from heat and leave to cool completely.
• Once the onions are cool, mix beef, pork, onion, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs and egg in a large bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave to firm up in the fridge for an hour.
• Roll small balls of the mixture and fry gently in batches in sunflower oil until browned. See picture above.
• Set aside while making the sauce.
• In a clean large frying pan with a lid, saute the onion and garlic until softened but not brown. Add chopped chilli and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
• Add beef stock, red wine, tinned tomatoes, passata and soaking water from the chillies and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Carefully blitz the sauce in a blender until smooth (I say carefully as I have sprayed my kitchen with chipotle sauce on more than one occasion).
• Return to pan and simmer until reduced and thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Gently add the meatballs, without stirring leave on low heat until cooked through, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.
• Serve with rice or bread to soak up the delicious sauce.