Category Archives: Food

Food

Lemon Bars With Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Traditional lemon bars balance the tangy sweetness of lemon curd with a rich shortbread crust. This recipe adds the bitterness of good olive oil and a touch of sea salt sprinkled on top. They lend a mild savoury character. Choose an olive oil with personality, otherwise you’ll miss the point. Something herbal and fresh tasting with peppery notes works best. Although the bars will last up to five days when stored in the fridge, they have the brightest flavour when eaten within 24 hours of baking.

FOR THE SHORTBREAD CRUST:

  • 155g all-purpose flour
  • 50g granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons icing sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 142g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

FOR THE LEMON CURD:

  • 4 to 6 lemons
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs plus 3 yolks
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cornflour
  •  Pinch of fine sea salt
  • 57g butter
  • 60 ml fruity extra-virgin olive oil
  •  Icing sugar
  •  Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oven to 180C and line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with enough parchment to hang over two of the sides (to be used as handles later to lift the bars out of the pan).
  2. To make the shortbread base, pulse together the flour, granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor, or whisk together in a large bowl. Add butter and pulse (or use two knives or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour until a crumbly dough forms. Press dough into prepared pan and bake until shortbread is pale golden all over, 30 to 35 minutes.
  3. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the lemon curd: Grate 1/2 tablespoon zest from lemons and set aside. Squeeze lemons to yield 3/4 cup juice.
  4. In a small saucepan, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, eggs and yolks, cornstarch and fine sea salt over medium heat until boiling and thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Make sure mixture comes to a boil or the cornstarch won’t activate. But once it boils do not cook for longer than 1 minute or you risk the curd thinning out again. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Whisk in butter, olive oil and lemon zest.
  5. When the shortbread is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the lemon curd onto the shortbread base; return the pan to the oven. Bake until topping is just set, 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with icing sugar and flaky sea salt right before serving.

Food

Savoury Bread and Butter Pudding

As a vegetarian I’m happy with bread and cheese for this, but you could also add some decent ham or gently sautéed leeks (say 400g roasted to be added into the recipe along with the cheeses).

Bread pudding with Comté and Taleggio

Don’t feel tied to tracking down Comté or Taleggio, even though they feel perfect for this. You need a firm-textured, punchy cheese for slicing and another that will melt into strings, such as Fontina. (Mozzarella is a bit on the mild side for this.)

Serves 4-6
bread 400g, crusty white and rustic
butter 150g, softened
Comté 300g
Taleggio 200g
thyme 12 small sprigs
Parmesan 50g
egg yolks 4
double cream 250ml
milk 300ml, full-cream

You will also need a baking dish measuring approximately 20x24cm, lightly buttered.

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the bread into slices, leaving the crusts on, about 1cm in thickness. Lay the slices flat on a baking sheet place in the oven for 10 minutes, turning once, until lightly crisp.

Remove the bread from the oven and spread generously with the butter. Cut the Comté and Taleggio into 1cm thick slices. Tear the ham into large bite-sized pieces. Pull the thyme leaves from their stems.

Place a single layer of the buttered bread on the bottom of the dish, tucking the slices together snugly. Place some of the cheese on top, add a little black pepper, some thyme leaves then another layer of buttered bread and more of the cheese. Continue until the ingredients are used up.

Finely grate most of the Parmesan into a small mixing bowl, add the egg yolks, then mix in the double cream and milk with a fork or small whisk. Season with a little salt then pour over the bread letting it trickle down through the layers. Grate the reserved Parmesan over the surface.

Cover the top of the dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for a further 10 minutes until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to settle for 10 minutes before serving.

Food

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Sometimes a dense American chocolate cake is just what you need, though this one is probably a Nigella in disguise.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE CAKE:

  •  Butter for pan
  • 1 cup Guinness stout
  • 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups caster sugar
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda

FOR THE TOPPING:

  • 1 ¼ cups icing sugar
  • 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • ½ cup heavy cream

PREPARATION

  1. For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.
  2. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.
  3. For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix icing sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.
  4. Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

Food

Cheese Soda Bread

Soda bread is the easiest bread recipe I know, especially this one with floury potatoes added in for extra oomph. Makes one large loaf

25g butter
1½ tbsp light brown sugar
1 small bunch lemon thyme, leaves picked, plus a few extra branches
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and cut into 1cm-thick rounds
1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
100g extra-mature cheddar, finely grated
250g maris piper (or other floury potato), peeled and cut into quarters
300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
300g wholegrain spelt flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
568ml buttermilk (ie two large pots)
40g parmesan, finely grated

Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Heat the butter and sugar in a large frying pan, season generously with salt, pepper and the lemon thyme, then saute the leeks for 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time, until sticky and caramelised. Leave to cool and, once completely cool, stir in the cayenne, if using, and all but a tablespoon of the cheddar.

Meanwhile fill a small pan with cold water, add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, until tender, then drain and leave to steam dry in the pan. Once dry, mash and leave to cool.

Lightly flour a clean work surface. In a large bowl, mix the flours, bicarb and salt. In a second bowl, lightly whisk the leek mixture through the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of the flour bowl, then pour in the leek mixture and whisk to combine. Tip out and knead briefly, just until the dough comes together: the more you work soda bread dough, the heavier it will be, so the quicker you can get the loaf into the oven after mixing the wet mixture with the dry, the better.

Shape the dough into a ball and put on to a floured baking sheet. Cut a deep cross into the top of the dough with a very sharp knife, then dust with flour and scatter with the remaining cheddar and parmesan. Press the remaining branches of lemon thyme into the loaf.

Bake for an hour, until the loaf is cooked through. To check that it’s done, turn the loaf over and tap the underside: once cooked, it will sound hollow. If it still sounds solid, pop the bread back in the oven for 10 minutes more, then test again. Leave to cool before tearing apart and serving with a crisp salad and a plate of cheese and ham.
Thomasina Miers’ cheddar, leek and maris piper soda bread.

Food

Citrus Pickled Veg

Bright tasting and fresh, these pickled vegetables can be used as a side dish for cold beef above or any main course.

Enough for 4 as a side salad

carrots 3 medium
mouli/whiteradish half
radishes 8
shallots 3
lime 1
oranges 2
lemon 1
white wine vinegar 2 tbsp

Peel the carrots and the mouli and slice them into very thin rounds. Slice the radishes, too. Peel the shallots and cut them into quarters, toss the radishes and shallots gently together and place in a shallow layer in a mixing bowl.

Make the dressing: squeeze the lime into a small bowl, add the juice of the oranges and the lemon, then stir in the white wine vinegar. Season with a generous pinch of salt. Pour the dressing over the sliced vegetables, then cover with cling film and leave for at least 3 hours. They should be bright, crisp and slightly sour.

Pickled vegetables