Category Archives: Food

Food

Rosemary, Olive Oil & Orange cake

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRYSTALLIZED ROSEMARY:

  • 10 small rosemary sprigs, no more than 1 inch/3 centimeters each in size (see note)
  • 1 egg white, lightly whisked
  • 2 teaspoons granulated or superfine sugar (caster sugar)

FOR THE CAKE:

  •  About 2 tablespoons/30 grams unsalted butter, softened, for greasing the pan
  • 2 cups/240 grams all-purpose flour(plain flour), more to flour the pan
  • ¾ cup/160 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon/120 grams superfine sugar (caster sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (from about 1 1/2 oranges)
  • 1 ½ tablespoons/7 grams packed finely chopped rosemary leaves
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup/130 grams sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

FOR THE ORANGE ICING:

  • 1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 ¾ cups/175 grams sifted confectioners’ sugar, or 1 1/2 cups/150 grams sifted icing sugar

PREPARATION

  1. At least 6 hours before you plan to ice the cake, prepare the crystallized rosemary: Brush rosemary on all sides with a little of the egg white and then dip it in the sugar, so the needles are lightly coated on all sides. Set aside on a wire rack to dry. Repeat with remaining rosemary.
  2. Make the cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit/160 degrees Celsius. Generously grease a 9-inch/23-centimeter Bundt pan with half the butter and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Butter again, generously, and then flour it, tapping away the excess.
  3. Put olive oil, superfine sugar, orange zest and chopped rosemary leaves in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until combined, then add eggs, one at a time. Whisk for another minute, until thick, then add sour cream and mix until combined on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the whisk.
  4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the olive oil mixture and mix until combined. Increase speed to high and whisk for 1 minute.
  5. Scrape batter into the Bundt pan and smooth the top with a small spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. (You may want to trim the cake at this stage, if it rises unevenly, to allow it to sit flat on the plate.)
  6. Prepare the icing: In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. When the cake has cooled, drizzle icing on top, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake, then top with the crystallized rosemary and serve.

Food

Cheese pastries

Sometimes all you want to do is eat so soft gooey cheesy pastries straight from the oven.

There really isn’t much of a recipe beyond find a bowl, mix some cream cheese with herbs of your choice (thyme works well) and wrap the mix in some filo pastry.

Most packs of pastry come with their own advice on oven temperatures so that’s about it.

You can choose to layer the cheese between pastry sheets or just roll them into rolls and then wrap the rolls like snails.

Food

Cider Apple Chutney

This is great with cheese and cold meats, served with good bread, toasted.”

Ingredients:

  • 360g apples (ie about 3–4 apples), peeled, cored and cut into 1cm pieces
  • 125g raisins
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 125ml white-wine vinegar
  • 125ml cider
  • 175g light muscovado sugar

Method:

Put the apples, raisins, onion, mustard seeds and ginger into a large saucepan and cook gently until soft. Add the vinegar, beer and sugar, lower the heat and simmer at a mere bubble for 2–3 hours, or until all is reduced and shiny. Decant into sterilised jars and use within a month once open.

Food

Miso Ginger sauce

Pan-Griddled Sweet Potatoes With Miso-Ginger Sauce

Think of this miso-ginger sauce as a universal sauce, because it’s so good on so many things: tofu, tempeh, winter squash and napa cabbage salads, for starters. This recipe, adapted from “In My Kitchen,” by the vegetarian cookbook author Deborah Madison, spoons the dressing over sweet potatoes, and suggests serving them with spicy Asian greens or stir-fried bok choy, and maybe soba noodles or brown or black rice. I usually just top with kale chips and serve as a salad. Not surprisingly, the sauce is good on them, too.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 (1-inch) knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  •  A few pinches of sugar or 2 teaspoons mirin
  • 1 heaping tablespoon white miso
  • 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon light sesame oil or other neutral oil, plus more for the pan
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons toasted black sesame seeds, for garnish

PREPARATION

  1. Add about an inch of water to a stovetop steamer or a pot fitted with a steaming basket. Add sweet potatoes and steam until tender, 30 to 40 minutes, depending on their size.
  2. While sweet potatoes are cooking, make the sauce: pound garlic and ginger in a mortar until very smooth and then stir in the sugar, miso, vinegar, sesame oils and 1 tablespoon water.
  3. Halve steamed sweet potatoes lengthwise and score the cut sides in a crisscross pattern with a small knife. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add a swirl of light sesame oil (about 1 tablespoon), then add sweet potatoes in a single layer, cut side down, and cook for 3 minutes, or until their natural sugars caramelize and turn an appetizing golden brown. (Depending on the shape of your potatoes, you may have to work in batches.)
  4. Arrange sweet potatoes on plates or a platter and spoon sauce over them. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve alone or with any accompaniment you like.
Food

Another Asparagus Salad

Shaved Asparagus Salad With Ginger and Sesame

A way to use older fatter spears of green asparagus that still tastes fresh.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic (in spring use wild garlic)
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and finely diced (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  •  Salt and pepper
  • 1 ½ pounds fat asparagus
  •  Salt and pepper
  • ½ cup slivered spring onions
  •  Squeeze of lime juice, to taste
  •  Mint leaves, for garnish
  •  Coriander sprigs, for garnish
  • 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

PREPARATION

  1. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, stir together rice vinegar, ginger, garlic and brown sugar. Add jalapeño and sesame oil, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
  2. Snap or cut off the tough bottoms of each asparagus spear. With a vegetable peeler, peel each tough-skinned spear, starting halfway down from tip and peeling toward bottom end.
  3. Cut the asparagus at a long diagonal into very thin slices (not paper thin — about the width of a thinly sliced onion). Place asparagus slices in a wide salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss lightly. Add the ginger dressing and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust. Add scallions and lime juice and toss again.
  4. Garnish with mint leaves and cilantro sprigs. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
Food

Charred Asparagus With Green Garlic Chimichurri

The NYT is a good source for recipes that I wouldn’t find in my normal hunting grounds. It seems that cooking provides another example of two countries divided.

Since I have two friends coming over for supper and cards this week, I was looking for recipes, thinking maybe of three salads to choose from. Although time consuming to prepare they can usually be prepared ahead and just dressed there and then, so are convenient for a busy day. And thenI though about what might be seasonal or topical, and came up with the idea of asparagus (just arriving at it’s best). The recipe below comes with a herb sauce based on wild garlic leaves, which have also just shown up in my shady garden so it all seems fated to be.

Chimichurri is the South American green herb sauce that goes with just about everything. Easy to put together, it tastes best freshly prepared. When green garlic is in season in spring and early summer, use that; or substitute 2 or 3 regular garlic cloves at other times of the year. To keep it green and fresh tasting, add the vinegar just before serving. Char the asparagus in a hot cast-iron skillet or griddle, over hot coals, or under the grill. Pencil-thin asparagus cooks quite quickly this way, but medium-size spears may be substituted.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped green garlic
  • ½ cup finely chopped parsley
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  •  Salt and pepper
  • 1 pound pencil-thin asparagus, tough ends snapped off
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 4 ounces crumbled feta
  •  Handful of olives
  •  Crushed red pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Heat a cast-iron pan or broiler, or prepare a charcoal grill. Make the chimichurri sauce: In a small bowl, stir together chopped green garlic, parsley, oregano, olive oil and 1/4 cup water. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  2. Spread asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle very lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt.
  3. Transfer asparagus to hot cast-iron pan or to a grill grate that is placed very close to live coals; alternatively if broiling, place pan as close to broiler element as possible. Let asparagus cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely charred, with a few burnt and blistered spots. Asparagus cooked this way tastes best if slightly undercooked and still bright green.
  4. Put cooked asparagus on a platter. Stir vinegar into chimichurri and spoon sauce generously over spears. Top with crumbled feta and olives, then sprinkle with crushed red pepper and serve.
Food

Roast Carrot Salad

Memo to self: Heritage carrots taste just like carrots. I was persuaded to use “heritage” varieties here, which for the record, cost an extraordinary amount of money compared to their everyday supermarket varieties. Don’t bother.

They taste more or less the same, perhaps slightly less sweet, perhaps just less taste but they are a rather pretty range of colours which does look good in a salad. But this salad looks good anyway having a nice sprinkling  of pomegranate seeds. As always with a salad the value is with the dressing, and the addition of some pomegranate molasses.

Salad:

  • Enough carrots, heritage or otherwise chopped into smallish pieces to fill your roasting tin
  • Sunflower oil or similar for roasting
  • Salt, aromatic herbs if you fancy (rosemary, thyme)
  • Large bag of washed rocket (arugula if you’re American)
  • 1 bulb fennel sliced very finely on a mandolin
  • 3-4 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Dressing:

  • 3 tbsp decent olive oil
  • juice of a lemon
  • 1-2tsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1tsp garlic puree
  • 1tsp mustard

Roast the carrots in a hot oven (200C) for around 30-40 minutes before leaving to cool.

Mix the rocket and fennel in a large salad bowl. Add the cold roasted carrots. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and shake to combine well. Toss the salad (hands are best) before topping with pomegranate seeds and serve.

 

Food

Pear and walnut cake

All to go in a 9in lined cake tin or tarte tatin dish – it’s an upside down cake!

Remember: while creaming the butter, beat it well enough for the sugar to dissolve but not so much that it becomes pale, as this will increase the chance of your cake sinking after it is baked.

For the topping (which starts life as the base)

  • 4 small pears
  • 60g dark brown sugar
  • 30g butter

For the cake batter

  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 300g light brown sugar
  • 175g ground almonds
  • 140g ground walnuts
  • 1/2tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 whole medium eggs
  • zest and juice of one orange
  • 150g easy cook polenta
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  1. Heat your oven to a medium low setting (160C in a fan-assisted oven would be best). Line your cake tin with paper going up the sides as the melting sugar will try and escape if you use a loose base tin. .
  2. Peel the pears and halve them. Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds. Sprinkle the sugar on the base of the tin. Cut the butter into eight small pieces and place them in the pear cavity you created by removing the seeds. Place the pear on to the bottom of the tin in a flower formation so the butter touches the sugar and the flat part of the pear also touches the sugar. It should look like seven petals around and one in the middle. You may need to trim the pears so they fit snugly.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar, using a mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand with a large spatula, until they are well-combined but not too fluffy. Add two of the eggs and mix well, then add the remaining ingredients including the last two eggs and beat together until you have a smooth mix. Spoon the mix over the pears to cover entirely and use the back of a spoon to smooth it out as much as possible.
  4. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30 minutes before rotating to assure an even bake, and continue for a further 20-25 minutes. This cake is a little tricky; the texture will feel rather soft when it comes out but it will settle and firm up after 20 minutes. Our suggestion would be to check the cake after the provided times — the centre of the cake should feel like the outer rim. The best way to tell if it’s ready is to poke the sides, then poke the centre — they should feel the same. If your finger sinks immediately, add another 10 minutes to the baking time.
  5. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in the tin. If you try and turn it out straight away, it will collapse. Set a timer for 20 minutes, then take a serving plate and place it on the baking tin, flip the cake and ease it out, peel away the baking paper and serve. It is lovely warm but will also keep well at room temperature.
Food

Ginger Stout Cake

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 125 grams raw (Demerara) sugar (1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup stout
  • 1 cup molasses/treacle
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 340 grams plain flour (2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 210 grams dark brown sugar, lightly packed (1 cup)
  • 200 grams granulated sugar (1 cup)
  • ¾ cup sunflower oil

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan well with the softened butter. Coat the entire pan with raw sugar so that it sticks to the butter. Turn the pan over to dump out any excess sugar.
  2. Add the stout and molasses to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Carefully whisk in the baking soda and let cool to room temperature. Be careful as the stout mixture will bubble up.
  3. Sift together the flour, ground spices, pepper and salt. Set aside.
  4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the fresh ginger, eggs, vanilla extract, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed for five minutes.
  5. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the oil. Mix for another 5 minutes. Slowly add the stout mixture and mix for another 5 minutes.
  6. Carefully add the dry ingredients in two parts, mixing well in between each addition.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes and then flip upside down to release while still warm. Let cool completely.

Food

White Chocolate Cake

In my 40s I developed an allergy for peanuts so was interested in this recipe where tahini is substituted making a rather fudge tasting cake. Next time around I might actually add fudge pieces in place of white chocolate, or caramel pieces to decorate. It’s worth bearing in mind that the cake is large (each piece weighed 750g wet going into each tin) so probably one for an afternoon tea or very light main course.

Ingredients

  • 320g caster sugar
  • 350g plain flour
  • 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 70g chopped white chocolate
  • 2 eggs
  • 120ml vegetable oil
  • 230g tahini paste or peanut butter
  • 1 tbs vanilla essence
  • 200g yoghurt with 40g milk (or 240g buttermilk)
  • 180g boiling water

For the icing

  • 250g mascarpone
  • 200g double cream
  • 200g full-fat plain cream cheese
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 1 tbs vanilla essence
  • Optional sprinkling 30g chopped white chocolate/lemon zest

Heat oven to 170C fan (190C /gas mark 5). Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl mix the eggs with the oil, tahini, vanilla and buttermilk, then combine the two mixes, before slowly adding the boiling water. Mix until everything is well incorporated.

Line the base of two 9in cake tins with a round of baking paper. Divide the mix evenly between the two tins, place both in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Rotate for an even bake and return to the oven for a further 10-20 minutes. The cakes should feel bouncy and have a good golden colour all over. Remove from the oven and carefully flip the cakes to flatten the tops. Allow to cool upside down.

Make the icing by mixing all the ingredients together with a small whisk until well combined and thickened. If you are using an electric mixer, use a paddle to avoid overworking the mix and splitting it.

Place the first cake on a serving platter, top with half the icing, spread around and top with the second cake. Add the rest of the icing on top, spread and, if you wish, sprinkle with chopped white chocolate and lemon zest.

If serving on the same day, it is best to avoid placing the cake in the fridge. If you are keeping it for longer do place it in the fridge, but allow it to come to room temperature before serving.