Tag Archives: vegetarian

Fig Walnut Tart

24 Aug

This tart was something I dreamed up in my imagination, and it turned out better than I could ever have imagined! I made it for my sister’s birthday feast, but it would be phenomenal as a meal on its own – perhaps with a simple side salad of arugula + tomato. It would also be a stunning first course – served either in slices or in little individual tartlets – you could use muffin pans. Its savoury and sweet, incredibly rich, and yet surprisingly light. If you like figs, this is nirvana.

My sister’s husband, BSA, and I were chatting about how I would incorporate all the fresh purple figs that are growing on their tree into my sister’s feast. They are beautiful, and really needed to be used up … I also found some pretty green Calamyrna figs at Whole foods, and I added those too! BSA suggested walnuts – I have to admit I am not a huge fan of the nut in and of itself. I find it bitter and powdery in a funny way. But incorporated into a crust, now thats a different story!

And the figs had to sit in something. I first thought of smearing the base of the tart with blue cheese, but the blue goat’s cheese I found wasnt really blue, and didnt meet my fancy. So instead, I mixed together fresh mascarpone, ricotta and a touch of creme fraiche, with a few eggs. The eggs and ricotta lightened the base – it became almost fluffy, and yet retained a beautiful clean sweetness. Bland, but a perfect counterfoil for the rich luscious figs. I think I was inspired by the wonderful open faced ricotta and fig sandwich I had at Le Pain Quotidien!

I poached the figs in a bit of sweet dessert wine and then reduced the poaching liquid to a thick syrup. I sliced the figs in half, and stuffed each of them with strong soft goat’s cheese and literally tucked them into the pillowy bed of ricotta and mascarpone. They sunk in a little, and I baked the whole thing until the filling was puffed, and the centre didnt jiggle any more. About ten minutes before I thought it would be done, I poured over the poaching syrup and let it bake in.

This was wonderful at room temperature, and really superb the next day, cold. This tart will keep, and the figs are transformed by their bedmates. This is a sensualist’s meal – textural, full of tastes, layers of flavour, and silky smooth. Serve it to those you love. They will be wowed.

I baked the tart in a 9 3/4 inch springform cake pan, and just released the edges when serving. It made for a rustic beautiful tart, but use whatever you have!

Serves 8 – 12 people

For the walnut crust

  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (for extra nuttiness, but if you only have regular flour – use that!)
  • 1/2 – 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) butter
  • 1 egg

In a food processor (or, as I did, in the wonderful attachment mini processor that came with my sister’s new immersion blender!) pulverise the walnuts until they are a fine coarse meal. In a small bowl, mix together the walnut meal and the flour, and add salt and pepper. Use your judgement when it comes to the salt – I eventually added about 3/4 of a teaspoon, but I was using unsalted butter… you might find you need less if you are using salted.

Grate the butter into the flour mixture, and using your fingers, mix until you have sandy pebbles.

Crack an egg into the bowl, and using your fingers, combine the egg into the flour-butter mixture. You will get a slightly sticky dough. Knead this a couple times in the bowl, and then refrigerate to allow all to come together for about 10 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 190 C.

Take the dough out of the fridge, and on a floured surface, roll out. You might find this is difficult, but do your best. The dough will be crumbly. Transfer to a tart pan, or a 9 – 10 inch springform cake pan. Use your fingers to spread out the dough across the bottom of the pan, and up the sides. Its okay if the dough tears, just use slightly wet fingers to patch it up again.

Put the pan in the fridge for 5 minutes to let the dough set, and then prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the pastry is lightly browned. The butter will have foamed up on the surface of the pastry – this is okay, it will incorporate back in once you take the pastry out of the oven. Cool for at least 20 minutes before assembling.

For the filling + assembly

  • 1/2 cup sweet dessert wine (or port wine, or red wine, or white wine, or if youre not into wine, grape or apple juice!)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 10 – 12 ripe fresh figs, whole
  • 1 cup mascarpone
  • 1 cup fresh ricotta
  • 2 heaping tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup or so soft goat’s cheese (or blue cheese if you would rather – Cashel Blue might be wonderful here!)

Place wine, water, honey and figs in a medium saucepan that will fit all the figs snugly. Over medium heat, bring the wine to a boil, and then turn heat down, and simmer for about ten minutes. Remove the figs from the wine and allow them to cool separately.

Bring the wine mixture to the boil, and boil steadily until reduced to a very thick syrup. Set aside.

Beat the mascarpone, ricotta, and creme fraiche together until just combined. Beat the eggs into the mixture, and taste. You might want to add a little salt and pepper, but I didnt think it needed it.

Preheat the oven to 190 C

Pour the mascarpone mixture into the cooled walnut tart shell.

Chop the goat’s cheese into bite sized chunks, slice each fig in half from stem to bottom, and stuff the centres with a piece of goat’s cheese. Lay the figs into the mascarpone mixture gently, cut face side up.

Bake the tart for about 30 – 45 minutes, or until the centre does not wobble any more. About ten minutes before it is done (when you see a bare wobble), pour the reserved wine syrup over.

I really liked this cooled to room temperature before serving, particularly in the hot summer night, but if you want to serve it warm or hot, please let it sit for at least 10 – 15 minutes before slicing and devouring!

Enjoy!!!

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Birthday Dinner!

23 Aug

Tonight was my beloved sister’s birthday dinner. It was a feast of feasts. I am so full I can barely type, let alone remember all the recipes! So am going to let the pictures do the talking. I will post recipes soon, I promise! Happy Birthday beloved MZ!

By the way, I decided that everything was going to be served cold or at room temperature except for the mushroom pie, which came hot from the oven. It is a hot humid summer’s day, and it was just so much nicer to eat things that were not burning hot. I also found that this really enhanced flavour… things just taste better, in my opinion, when they are not at extremes of temperature (the only exception to this is of course ice cream)… room temperature lets the full flavour come out undisturbed.

Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed the meal – family, friends, laughter and a whole lot of love.

Broccolini with lemon and almonds

Broccolini – very easy, and astoundingly delicious. Toasted almonds. Broccolini (basically baby broccoli with little flowers) given a boiling water bath for a mere minute or two until just tender. Cooled for a moment in ice water. Then dunked into about 1/3 cup olive oil + juice + grated rind of a lemon. Bit of salt and pepper. Toss with almonds and refrigerate overnight. The almonds make this dish really nutty and beautiful, and the lemon makes it bright and sparkly.

Roasted Butternut + Arugula

Roasted butternut on a bed of arugula. A simple olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper dressing sparingly poured over the top. Strewn with sprouts, which I dislike, but which the birthday girl adores!

Parsnip Mash with Truffle Oil

Parsnip mash with truffle oil and cracked black pepper…. easy peasy. Peeled, sliced parsnips, simmered in milk. When soft, drained, mashed with a bit of the reserved milk, some butter, salt and cracked black pepper. About a tablespoon of white truffle oil mixed in at the end. Sublime and silken.

Honey glazed carrots

Gorgeous organic carrots – honey glazed, with a touch of cinnamon and a heap of butter. A little burnt, and a lot delicious. Our Mum’s recipe…

Heirloom tomatoes

Chopped heirloom tomatoes, slicked with olive oil, salt + pepper, and chopped parsley and basil from the garden. So goood!

Fig, ricotta + goat's cheese tart

A fig tart from my imagination that turned out beautifully! A walnut crust, with a ricotta + mascarpone base. Sweet wine poached figs, sliced and stuffed with goat’s cheese. It was REALLY good. I will post the recipe tomorrow!

For the Birthday Woman!

Personalised mushroom pie 😉 Portobello, white button, shiitake, and truffle oil, bound with a bit of sour cream, panko and fresh parmesan, baked in a puff pastry crust.

:)

And finally a blackout birthday cake, with lashings of fresh cream.

Happy Happy Birthday to my most beloved sister. You are my heart 🙂

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Summer Stew

22 Aug

Perfect Bright Summer FlavoursWow, today was such a lovely day! Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien – perfect tart lemonade with loads of mint, and a gorgeous open face sandwich of fresh ricotta, mission figs, cracked black pepper, honey and chopped tomatoes. I know, it doesnt sound like it would all go, but oh boy, did it! Superb. And then home, and loads and loads of cooking. Dinner was a cold potato salad – roasted garlic and baby tomatoes, mixed as soon as they came out the oven with a few tablespoons of mayo. SO good. And summer stew – the best, brightest and tastiest of the summer veg, stewed briefly together, served with some rice. Vegan, and delicious. And for dessert, a strawberry fool – those gorgeous strawberries I bought yesterday, macerated with a bit of balsamico, and then folded into lightly whipped cream which had been sweetened just a bit, and flavoured with a bit of vanilla. Actually, it turned out to be an Eton Mess, because we also had some store bought meringue which we crumbled over the top. So bloody good!

And then of course, I had to do some prep cooking for M’s birthday tomorrow. I have decided that since it is summertime, I am not going to bother with huge numbers of hot dishes. Most everything can be served cold or at room temperature. Tonight I made broccolini with toasted almonds and a bright lemon olive oil dressing. Roasted butternut which will go into an arugula salad with a few shavings of parmesan. The stuffing for the mushroom pastry. The pudding for the chocolate cake. My feet hurt! And its late. But at least tomorrow, I can bake the cake in the morning, and do the mushroom pastry in the afternoon, and assemble all the salads in between, without having to worry I dont have enough time. Plus, we are planning on going to the farmer’s market! I cant wait! That should be wonderful fun.

So now, back to this summer stew. These are a few of the beautiful vegetables I found at Whole Foods. I didnt want to over cook them, as their bright clean flavours were just too delicate. Also, to be honest, I only put a tiny bit of flavouring into this stew – I wanted the veggies to perfume the gravy with their own fragrance, and I felt it really didnt need any additional enhancement. Please go to the market and see what is bright and fresh and tasty. Use that. If you dont see a squash, but there is a wonderful array of carrots, substitute! This stew is about using whats best in the summertime, and celebrating it. Enjoy!

Serves about 6 – 8

  • 3 – 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 Vidalia onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 large (or 2 small) aubergines (eggplant), washed, sliced and chopped fine
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 yellow zucchini squash, halved and chopped
  • 1 zucchini, halved and chopped
  • 1/2 butternut, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
  • 2 ripe large heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 – 1 cup water
  • 1 package firm seasoned tofu, chopped roughly
  • Large handful baby spinach, washed well

In a large pan, over high heat, in about 2 tbsp olive oil, saute the onion until glossy and softened. Add the aubergine, and sautee until the aubergine starts to brown and burn a bit. Season with paprika, oregano, salt and pepper.

Add the yellow zucchini squash and zucchini to the pan, and sautee until slightly softened. You may need to add more olive oil.

Add the butternut, and combine well. You may want to put a lid on the pan to soften the butternut a bit, but I usually just let all the ingredients bubble and saute for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, and encourage the sauce that will start to form with the addition of some hot water. I usually add about 1/2 cup, and let the stew cook for about 5 minutes, and then check the butternut. If it needs more time, I add more water. Let cook and meld together for about 10 – 15 minutes, and taste and adjust seasonings.

Dont overcook. This is a delicate stew, and you want to really allow the clean fresh flavours of the vegetables to remain intact.

Add the tofu and baby spinach, and cook just until the spinach is wilted.

Serve warm over jasmine rice.

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Spinach Pie

20 Aug

Today, around 11am, I realised I had a houseful of hungry women to feed – me, my sister, our mother, and the Au-Pair Nation (3 in total, though in M’s house it seems to be in constant flux!)… So went to the fridge to have a mosey about to figure out what I could cook. The quickest, easiest, and freshest thing seemed to be a spinach pie, with basil from the garden, and a ripe tomato to add colour, prettiness, and sweetness. I love cooking on the fly like this. I love checking out whats fresh, what looks delicious, and thinking up creative ways to cook it. This kind of meal is my favourite – unplanned, and yet with a certain urgency to it.

We sat down to eat at around 1230 or so – and the cooking was really a series of pottering about, mixing, tasting, stirring, sauteeing… It was very organic (as were the ingredients), and even baby Z got into the equation when she went to the garden to help Essia pick the basil! This pie will serve 6 – 8 people for lunch, and is wonderful on a hot summer’s day as it really does taste wonderful lukewarm, or even cold. You can try it with lots of different toppings (sauteed onions or mushrooms come to mind), and you can choose to add or subtract cheese, as is your wish. I used some sour cream and a little milk with the eggs, but if all you have is condensed milk, water, cream – use that. Its a very forgiving dish, and will really adapt to what you have.

Its also best, in my opinion, looking very rustic. This is not fancy restaurant fare. This is healthy, delectable home cooking, and it shouldnt pretend to (or try to) look polished and refined. There is a certain lustiness to this kind of cooking and food that people really respond well to.

I baked this in a medium sized Corningware dish, but if you want to bake it in a pie pan, go right ahead. Its easy peasy, and so delicious. Plus, I find people love pie. It feels like you have done a huge amount of work, when you really havent – and they feel like you have treated them to something magical.

For the crust

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached organic flour plus extra for rolling out
  • 3/4 stick (6 tbsp) frozen butter, grated
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (or parmesan, pecorino, goats cheese, whatever you like)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 170C

Measure the flour into a small bowl, and grate the butter over. Use your fingers to mix the butter in well, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese and salt and pepper in, and using your fingers again, mix well.

Break the egg into the flour mixture, and mix well, until a dough forms. Knead this dough, using the heel of your palm, until it feels very soft and elastic.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes in the fridge, and then roll it out, very thin, flouring your rolling surface and pin first.

Transfer the dough to your baking pan, ensuring that its even, and goes up the sides of the pan, and prick all over with a fork, remembering to prick along the sides as well.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust has browned nicely. Remove from oven, and allow to cool, though if you are cooking the filling whilst baking the crust, its fine to assemble immediately upon removing the crust from the oven. Dont mind the sizzle 😉

Filling + Assembly

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 (Vidalia) onion, chopped well
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • 4 – 5 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped fine
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 1 large tomato, sliced into 6 even slices
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 1/3 cup milk, cream or half and half
  • 2 + 1 tbsp grated parmesan
  • A few rough chunks of goats or sheep cheese, roughly chopped (optional)

In a large frying pan, over medium heat, saute the chopped onion in the olive oil, and season well with salt, pepper and dried basil. Once the onion has become soft and glossy, add the white wine, and allow to simmer until the wine has almost completely reduced.

Add the chopped spinach all at once, and saute until wilted. Remove from heat, and let cool for a few minutes.

Chop the basil leaves fine, reserving 6 for the top of the pie, and mix the rest into the cooled spinach. Cut a large tomato into six equal slices, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat together the ggs, sour cream, milk and 2 tbsp parmesan.

Mix the egg mixture into the spinach mixture, and taste for seasoning. Adjust if needed.

Pour the spinach-egg mixture into the pre-baked crust. Lay the reserved tomato slices on top, and top them with the six reserved basil slices. Strew a few chunks of goat’s cheese into the pie, if you feel like it (I kind of poked them into the filling), and sprinkle about 1 tbsp parmesan over all.

Bake for about 40 minutes in a 170 C oven, and allow to cool for at least 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

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Apple Berry Crumble

18 Aug

Its been a wonderful day of baby bliss and cooking – it was rainy outside today, so we had soup for lunch – a gorgeous mixed vegetable soup – butternut, asparagus, carrot, tomato, and green bean, simmered lightly, and then blitzed in the blender. And with it, four cheese grilled cheese sandwiches, on gorgeous brown bread, with a smear of mayo and mustard. Four cheese might sound overwhelming, but it really isnt if you use only little bits. I used all four because I was trying to use up ends of cheese – so we had brie, with the rinds cut off, which made the sandwiches silky and melty smooth, parmesan for its nuttiness, cheddar for its cheesy-ness, and Laughing Cow, because it was there! A little salt and pepper, and grilled them over a slow fire. Delicious.

For dinner, an angel hair pasta with spinach, zucchini, tomato, mushrooms, sliced garlic, white wine and sour cream. And for dessert, an apple berry crumble made with literally a handful of berries left over from a berry fest, and some gorgeous Braeburn apples. The berries tinged the apples red, and added a sweet berry tartness to the crumble. Perfection.

This crumble will serve six. Adjust as needed. Wonderful warm with cream, and leftovers make a great breakfast, with a bit of milk or yogurt poured over 🙂

  • 4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 – 1 cup mixed berries (we had blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)
  • 2 tsp + 1 tbsp granulated light brown sugar
  • 1 + 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 – 1 cup steel cut oats
  • 1/2 stick (approx 4 tbsp) cold butter, grated
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 170 C

Peel, core and chop the apples, and place them in a glass or metal baking pan. You can use a pie pan but I like those smallish rectangular pans. Sprinkle lemon juice over.

Mix in the berries, with your hand or a spoon, making sure that the berries are completely mixed up with the apples. Sprinkle over 2 tsp light brown sugar (or more if your apples arent that sweet), 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tbsp flour. Again using your hands or a spoon, mix well. The flour will thicken the juices of the apples and berries as they cook so you have a thick luscious crumble, instead of a juicy wet one! Ensure that the berry apple mixture is arranged in an even layer in the baking pan.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, the oats, grated butter, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the oats. The mixture will resemble sandy gravel. This is what you want. Taste – if it needs more cinnamon, more sugar, more butter, add.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the apple berry mixture, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes – 1 hour. Serve warm or cold.

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Frittata!

18 Aug

Ahhhhh… here I am in my “other” home, with my beloved M + Z + B + the AuPairNation of Essia + Julia. And of course, the King, Raai. Its wonderful to be back, and I am blissfully babied out. It was a 24 hour journey to get here, so I let myself off one day of blogging. But today, I cooked and so I thought it would be a good idea to start to blog again … I find that if I let anything go for more than a day, it becomes a habit NOT to do it!

I love cooking in my sister’s kitchen. Its large, airy, comfortable. Everything is so well organised, and its totally open plan. I love her knives, her pots and pans, and particularly, I love the contents of her fridge! There is always something interesting in there that will challenge me to create something delicious. Today, I was cooking for 6 people for lunch, so I decided on a frittata. Its a really simple open omelette, with the fillings added before the eggs. Its fluffy, and is finished in the oven, so that the cheese melts and browns a bit. Delicious – and it can contract and expand to take on whatever is in the fridge! Plus, its wonderfully easy to feed a hoard of people.

Along with the frittata, I made an apple berry crumble, and for dinner a very simple vegetarian curry with brown rice. The remains of the frittata were delicious sliced with dinner. Meals at my sisters are like this… I cook, and we always find ways to incorporate the previous meal into the current one. Simple food, cooked with organic and local ingredients. So much joy … And she has a huge basil plant, her own tomatoes, and a fig tree that is positively laden with swollen purple fruit. I think I am going to have fun here!

I am giving you the approximate ingredients for my frittata today. Use what you have in the fridge – and be experimental. But make sure you use your own judgement about what you mix together into the frittata. I wouldnt add blue cheese, but feta makes a wonderfully salty counterpoint to just about anything. Onions, peas and carrots go well with lots of things, but olives are quite a specific taste and might not meld well with parmesan, for example. Think about what youre putting together into the frittata, and then give yourself permission to experiment! Also be logical. I used 3 different kinds of cheeses because my sister had that in the fridge – but if you only have one cheese, then use that and dont go out and buy extra!

This is a wonderful dish to serve for lunch or breakfast, and its as tasty cold as it is hot, so its fantastic to serve at a picnic or in hot weather 🙂

This will serve six

  • 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
  • 2 – 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • salt and pepper
  • splash of balsamic vinegar
  • splash of port wine
  • 1/4 cup water (about)
  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 2 small carrots, sliced
  • 1/2 cup artichoke hearts, sliced
  • 1 cup mixed baby tomatoes (roma and plum), sliced
  • 4 vegetarian sausages, crumbled
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
  • 1/4 cup feta, grated
  • 4 tbsp hummus (optional, but it added lots of protein and it was delicious!)
  • 1/4 cup cheddar, grated

In a large, oven proof frying pan, heat the olive oil, over medium heat, and fry the onions and garlic until glossy and soft. Season with herbs and salt and pepper. Add a splash of vinegar and wine, and let the onions colour and burn just a little bit. Pour a bit of water into the pan, and scrape up the juices and burnt bits if any.

Add the vegetables, and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning. You dont want it too salty as the cheeses will add salt too. Crumble in the sausages and stir well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, parmesan and feta. When the vegetables and vegetarian sausage have been combined to your liking, arrange them evenly over the bottom of the frying pan. Lower the heat, and pour over the egg mixture. Using a wooden spoon, move the egg mixture around gently in the pan to encourage it to cook about half way through. DONT mix it though – you just want to kind of poke holes in the bottom that will be filled by uncooked eggs!

Spoon the hummus over, if using. Switch the oven broiler on, and sprinkle over the cheddar.

Slide the frittata in the oven for maximum 5 minutes. It will cook through, puff up a little, and the cheese on top will melt and brown a bit.

Serve immediately with fresh brown bread. Or wait a while, till its cooled, refrigerate and serve it sliced, for a summer meal that it light, and delicious.

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Lemon Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

14 Aug

I am leaving on a jet plane… and as usual, the packing, the sorting, the organising, is overwhelming. To shift from one home to another is always a major undertaking. Remembering basics – toothbrush, plugs, wires, passports (! I lost mine, and then found it again, but thats another story), tickets, money… I always forget something, but I have been traveling ever since I can remember, so I am used to the rhythm of it. Last night, at a farewell dinner, we were chatting about the sumptuous meal I will cook when I return home… and our thoughts turned to ice cream.

I love ice cream. If there is a single food that I want and crave, its ice cream. In all its forms, in its glorious cold, creamy sweetness. I dont think I have ever met an ice cream I didnt at least like… and there are some that border on obsession and adoration. My favourites are mint chocolate chip and coffee, mixed. I love how the bitterness of coffee is transformed by cream and sugar into a sweet dark note that tantalises the senses. And that sharp note of mint, bittersweet chocolate, cold and milky, oh beautiful layers of flavour. My last meal would definitely involve ice cream of some kind, and I really enjoy checking out different flavours and ideas – I think Ben & Jerry are visionaries, and I love visiting the website of Humphrey Slocomb – gourmet ice cream beyond most mere mortals imaginings… and I fully intend to visit them one day!

One of the ice creams I will be making is this lemon raspberry ripple ice cream. The raspberry curd has been featured in a previous recipe, and it is the perfect balance to the creamy yet tangy lemon ice cream. The lemon ice cream is a revelation. When I think of lemon and cream, I usually think of curdled milk! But the higher the fat content of the milk, the less chance there is of curdling. You really must use at the very least half and half in this recipe. Though I have to admit, I use 3 to 1, cream to milk 😉

You will need about 1 – 2 cups of raspberry curd (depending on how rippley you want it!) … the rest can be bottled, slathered on crumpets, or given as gifts.

Please allow this ice cream to ripen at least overnight in the fridge, it will taste so much the better for it!

For about 2 quarts, you will need:

  • 3 cups cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 + 1/4 cups fine granulated sugar, divided
  • Finely grated peel of 1 – 2 lemons (at least 1 tablespoon, very well packed, but I usually use 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla
  • 8 organic egg yolks
  • Juice of a whole lemon
  • 1 – 2 cups of raspberry curd

Please try and get an organic lemon if you can! They taste so much more lemony. There is no comparison. Wash the lemon well before grating too!

Combine the cream, milk, 1 cup of sugar and the lemon peel in a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Stir constantly, and bring the mixture just to the simmer, and ensure that the sugar has completely dissolved into the cream.

Take the cream off the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

In a bowl that you will use as the top of an improvised double boiler/bain marie, whisk together the remaining sugar, egg yolks and lemon juice. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and gradually whisk in the warm cream mixture. Continue to stir until the custard has thickened. Taste. It should be sweet and sharp all at the same time. I sometimes adjust by adding more lemon juice or peel if I think it needs it.

Strain the mixture through a sieve, and leave to cool. Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 5 hours, before processing in an ice cream maker.

Transfer about 1 1/2 cups of ice cream into a clean container. It will be very soft, so you need to work quickly. Spoon about half a cup of raspberry curd over, and repeat four times, finishing with ice cream. If you want a major ripple effect, plunge a knife into the container and pull upwards, therefore swirling and rippling the raspberry curd throughout the ice cream. I usually just leave the layers, because I like it that way!

Freeze for at least 12 hours, or overnight before consuming with absolute delight! The flavours of summer in one sweet rich gorgeous package. I think I could marry it! 😉

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Nigel Slater’s Perfect Summer Pudding + A Quick Nathalie’s Recap!

13 Aug

Tonight we had an amazing dinner at Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio – good food, wonderful company, and the inspiration of a truly passionate chef. I had the tomato crumble with a goat’s cheese cream for starters – sublime, out of this world decadence. Just gorgeous. Goddess had a crab mille feuille which was just stunningly beautiful in its construction. JoB had a reconstructed salad nicoise which had the most perfectly simple (and simply perfect) dressing. And Goddess’ Spouse had a scallop tart with absolutely sublime deeply simmered onions. For mains, the table was split evenly. Carnivores devoured a steak in a gorgeously lush looking red wine reduction, with grilled vegetables and the delicious-est polenta I have ever had – cheesy, crisp on the outside, meltingly creamy inside. We vegetarians (or otherwise) had home made tagliatelle with a mushroom foam and a tangle of wild mushrooms. Surrounding the tagliatelle was this simple seeming, brave, delightful mushroom broth. Amazing taste. Amazing balance. So smart it made me joyous!

And dessert! Again, we ordered everything on the menu. A mango cream under a shortbread crust with a deep blazing yellow mango sorbet. A “big mac” of a huge chocolate macaron, with strawberries, and a perfect scoop of strawberry basil sorbet in the centre. A litchi combination – raspberry and litchi espuma, litchi sorbet, and a raspberry litchi mille feuille. A trio of a caramel vanilla cream puff, a salted caramel macaron, and a chestnut chocolate mousse. And a green tea mousse with a chocolate ribbon running through it. Needless to say, we devoured it all, so happily, with the joy and comfort of good friends and family.

So tonight, I just didnt have time to cook. I am packing for the US (slightly frantically, but trying to be calm). But I have been wanting to try this recipe, so I decided it is going to be a “cheat” night. I share this recipe with you, which I bookmarked in 2001. Its a perfect summer pudding recipe, written with wit and passion and opinion and love by one of my favourite food writers, Nigel Slater. I hope it inspires you. I am going to try a version of it soon and will report back. But for now… enjoy the writing of a brilliant cook. With love, from a very replete and sated me 😉

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Perfect Summer Pudding

By Nigel Slater

The Observer, August 5, 2001

One of the things that exasperates me about the insatiable demand for ‘new’ recipes is that it doesn’t give anyone time to get something well and truly right. I see nothing wrong with tinkering with an idea until it is as good as it can be; in fact, I see everything right about it.

I just don’t understand the desire (or is it desperation?) for snatching up a new recipe, rushing through it, then dashing off for the next cookery magazine, book or television programme for the next new thing. What is it exactly that these cooks are frantically searching for? Wouldn’t it be better to find a dish that they know and like and then to work at it until it is absolutely to their taste?

There is much, much pleasure to be had in honing a dish to perfection. To get to know the little nuances and pitfalls, the tricks and the intimacies of a recipe, and add your own signature if you wish. If this is a search for perfection – and I suppose it is – then we have to work out the crux of it all: the real reason why an idea appeals to us. We need to identify the heart and soul of a dish and get that part of it right. In some ways you can get this from a well-written recipe. But the truth is that there is more to it than that. Some of it is intuition, a gut feeling that you have understood what I like to call the ‘essence’ of the thing. The part of something that really rings your bell. If you like, the whole point. Identify, and then pursue.

By identifying that point, you will know what you are aiming for and why you are cooking something. I would argue that in a risotto, say, it is not just the grains of stock-saturated rice that are the essence of the dish, but the way in which the limpid stock holds those wet grains together on your fork. (Which is why vegetarian stock never makes quite the perfect risotto, because it lacks the gelatinous quality of chicken stock.) In a piece of roast pork it is the contrast between the sweet, rich meat, succulent fat and crisp, salty crackling. And in a chocolate brownie it is (for me, at least) the contrast between the crisp crust and the moist, but not wet, cake beneath.

I could go on, and indeed I will – at least once a month over the next few weeks.

We are not talking about textbook perfect here, as in the arrogant and often misguided notion of how something ‘should be’ (usually by self-styled tin gods of the cookery world, who are hiding their ignorance behind a smokescreen of arrogance), but in that it will give you as much pleasure as you can possibly get from it. So, not only have you had the pleasure of sniffing, stirring and tasting, but the end result is as near to perfection as you can ever imagine it being. You have found and understood the very reason for that dish, that recipe. Now that is what you call cooking.

And so it is with summer pudding, that rough’n’tumble of raspberries, currants and bread. I rank it with Christmas pudding as one of the best recipes ever, except, of course, that the weather is usually better. It matters not one jot if you make it in a shallow dish, a pudding basin or, charming this, in individual china dishes. What is important – no, essential – is the juice and how the bread soaks it up. This is your ‘essence’. The crux of the matter.

We must work out our own preference for the ratio of the three different berries.

I like a proportion of blackcurrants, a tart counter to the ever-sweeter varieties of raspberries and redcurrants. Purists will not accept a blackcurrant in a summer pudding. I add them for their glorious colour and for the extra snap of tartness that they bring. The sweet of tooth can leave them out. Then again, too many blackcurrants will overpower the raspberries. My perfect berry count is 150g blackcurrants to 250g of redcurrants to 500g raspberries.

Historically, this pudding was made with a raspberry to redcurrant ratio of 4:1. (The idea goes back to the 18th century and was a favourite of health spas, the bread being a substitute for butter-rich pastry.) Purists will stick to this. But our tastes move on, and this balance is now considered a little insipid; a few blackcurrants turn up in most versions now.

The fruit

My suspicions about the wisdom of solemnly following a recipe were once again founded this week. The currants I bought for my summer pudding from a large supermarket chain looked bright and fresh, but were flabby and flat-tasting, and sweet rather than sharp. To have followed a recipe blindly, ‘yes, sir, no sir,’ would have resulted in a sweet and flat-tasting pud. Luckily, I tasted the fruit and added less sugar by way of compensation – though, ideally, I would have preferred tarter currants. The offending redcurrants, by the way, were Rovada, the oversweet raspberries Tulameen.

The bread

The bread is more than just a case to hold the fruit. Its texture is crucial to the whole pudding.

Without it you would have nothing more than a compôte – stewed fruit. Soft, ‘plastic’ bread turns slimy rather than moist. God knows why it turns so nasty – it’s like eating a soggy J cloth. No, the bread needs enough body to hold its shape should you decide to turn your dome of fruit out, and the closeness of texture not to turn to pink pap.

A well-made white sandwich loaf will work.

Dense bread such as sourdough is often too tight to soak up the juice. Brown bread is disgusting in this instance. Come to think of it, brown bread is disgusting in most instances.

The juice

The centre of attention, the difference between a good pud and one that is utterly sublime is the juice that soaks into the bread. It is this – its flavour and sheer abundance – that will make or break this dessert. It does need sweetening though, so a shake of sugar over the berries is essential. I use 3 tablespoons for fruit of normal tartness. This doesn’t sound a lot, I know, but you will have, at the table, the tempering effect of the cream.

The cream

A jug of cream is a necessary part of a summer pudding. Don’t even think of offering crème fraîche, the pudding is tangy enough as it is. You want pouring cream, not whipped or extra thick, but good old-fashioned double cream. And preferably unpasteurised. You will need a 1l pudding basin.

850g mixed raspberries and currants, with an emphasis on raspberries
7-8 slices firm, good quality white bread
3 tbsps white sugar
3 tbsps water
cream to serve

Sort through the fruit, tenderly, picking out any that are unripe or mouldy. There’s nearly always a few. Pull the currants from their stems then put them, with the raspberries, in a stainless-steel saucepan over a low heat. Taste the fruit for sweetness and add sugar accordingly. For normal, sweet raspberries and slightly tart currants, I add 3 tablespoons or so of sugar. Sometimes you may need slightly less or more. Use your own judgment, bearing in mind that the finished pudding should have a bit of sharpness to it. Pour in a little water, a couple of tablespoons will do, then bring it to the boil.

The currants will start to burst and give out their juice. They need no longer than three or four minutes at a cautious simmer. The fruit should be shiny and there should be much magenta juice in the pan. Turn off the heat.

Slice the bread thickly. Each slice should be about as thick as your little finger. (Thinner if you are making several smaller puddings in individual moulds.) Cut the crusts off the bread. Set one piece aside, then cut the rest into ‘soldiers’, that is, each slice of bread into three long fingers. Using a glass or cup as a template, cut a disc of bread from the reserved slice and push it into the bottom of the pudding basin.

Line the inside of the basin with the strips of bread, pushing them together snugly so that no fruit can escape, and keeping a few strips for the top. Fill the bread-lined basin with the fruit and its juice – it should come almost to the rim. Lay the remaining bread on top of the fruit, tearing and patching where necessary, so no fruit is showing.

Put the basin in a shallow dish or bowl to catch any juice, then lay a flat plate or small tray on top with a heavy weight to squash the fruit down. Some juice may escape, but most will soak into the bread. Leave overnight in the fridge. (You may have to remove a shelf depending on how deep your fridge shelves are.)

Remove the weights, slide a palette knife around the edge, pushing carefully down between bread and basin so as not to tear the bread. Put a plate on top, and then, holding the plate in place, turn quickly upside down and shake firmly to dislodge the pud. It should slide out and sit proud. Pass a jug of cream around – it is an essential part of the pudding. Serves 6-8.

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Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

11 Aug

perfect happy memoryI wrote in an earlier post about my late father’s love of white buttered toaste with a sprinkle of sugar. He ate it as a treat, even though he could have most any gourmet food he wished. This taught me that food is about memory as much as it is about taste… And one of my earliest memories is staying over at an Aunt’s house, one sharp sparkling autumn day, with my sister. We woke up in the morning, and she offered us cinnamon toast. We had never had it before (I think I was probably 6 to my sisters 4 years), and eagerly accepted.

What a taste. What an amazing combination. White toast, crispy and warm, melting butter, crackling sugar … and cinnamon. Its a dark scent, almost woody and powdery. Hits of spiciness, sweetness, flowers. Its not a description that comes easily, but when you taste cinnamon, especially for the first time, its as if your taste buds wake up. I have always loved the scent and taste of cinnamon, and its warming fragrance brings memory of autumn, cider, Christmas. When I sat down to write about the actual taste of cinnamon, I realised this is another taste which is intricately wrapped in memory for me.

So today, on the first day of the Ramadan, after an exceedingly hot, busy day, I wanted comfort. Food that is a combination of memory and laughter, and wonderful easy taste. I turned to this recipe for cinnamon sugar cookies which I think I have been making as long as I can remember cooking. These cookies are really delicious, quick to put together, and delightful to give away. The recipe makes a very soft dough. Dont over beat it or you will get tough cookies. Just let it sit, in its creamy buttery sugary-ness, and handle with care when you dip in cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy with much love, and the memory of warmth during the cold…

Makes about 32 cookies, depending on how big or small you want them!

  • 3 tbsp fine granulated white sugar
  • 1 – 2 tbsp cinnamon (depending on how deeply cinnamon you like your cookies – I always use 2 tbsp!)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar – a mix of dark brown, light brown, and white (I use 1/2 cup of each)
  • 1 cup / 2 sticks butter, slightly softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups pastry flour
  • 1 scant tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 160C.

Mix the 3 tbsp sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl, and set aside. Make sure you combine thoroughly – the sugar will be a dark brown when done. You will roll the cookie dough in this just before baking.

In a stand mixer bowl, combine your three sugars. I usually beat the sugars together to ensure they are combined well. If you dont have a stand mixture, use electric beaters.

Once the sugars are combined, add the butter, cut into chunks. Let your mixer beat the sugar and butter together until very well combined. This could take a few minutes. Just have some patience.

Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until completely combined. The mixture will be a little soft and fluid. Let it sit for a few minutes minutes. This gives the butter and sugars time to melt into each other.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl, and little by little, mix into the butter sugar mixture. I use a spoon or spatula at this point as I dont want to over mix the cookies! A tender cookie is one which is allowed to come together of its own accord! Again, let sit for a few minutes before moving on to the next step.

Line baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Using a tablespoon, measure out spoon sized pieces of dough (you can make bigger or smaller, according to your preference – this is just how I like to do it!). I usually get about 8 cookies to a sheet.

Using your thumb, drop the dough straight into the sugar/cinnamon mixture, and gently roll it around to coat it completely. Place on baking tray, and pat down gently, so it is not a ball shape, but a little flatter.

Bake for about 15 – 18 minutes. The cookies will rise, and then fall. They are done when they have turned a slightly darker shade of brown.

Let cool in trays for at least 5 minutes before cooling completely on racks.

You will have a wonderfully soft cookie with a crispy crunchy crust. Perfect balance.

Share! These are too good not to – and you can make sure other people will make wonderful cinnamon memories too 🙂

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Tomato Water

10 Aug

Tomato WaterYes, it seems I have tomatoes on the brain. When they are in season, local, bright red, juicy and fresh, there is absolutely nothing better. This fruit, which is commonly treated like a vegetable, is the base of so many gorgeous dishes. I love tomatoes, and I would have them every day, in so many different ways, if I could. But I have always been fascinated with one tomato preparation. A soup of a sort, tomato water, clear and lightly yellow in colour, but completely imbued with the scent and taste of tomato. You can serve this cold or hot, as a clear vegetarian consomme. You can also use it as a drink, adding it to gin and vermouth in a dirty martini, or with vodka, for a bloodless Mary!

I have always been fascinated by the science of this preparation. You use egg whites as a filter – boiling the egg whites with tomato puree. The egg whites become thick and pink, and suck up all the colour in the tomato puree while at the same time leaving behind all the flavour. When making the tomato water, I used the egg yolks to make a phenomenal garlic aioli which I used as a base for an open faced grilled cheese sandwich. Suddenly, grilled cheese and tomato soup have a whole new presentation – and its amazing! Your taste buds recognise what you are eating, and enjoy it, but this is not your old school dish. Its new, and fresh, and totally delicious.

This takes only a few minutes to put together. Its really fun to do with young people because they are very pleased with the alchemy and magic of the cooking. Easy, and haute. A perfect synergy 🙂

For about 2 – 3 cups of tomato water, you will need:

  • About 3 lbs / 1.2 kg / 6 – 7 cups chopped tomatoes (I used a mixture of ripe roma and plum) – seeds and skins and all
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 egg whites, beaten a little

Chop your tomatoes well, and then puree them, using your food processor, immersion blender, or blender.

Place the tomatoes, salt and egg whites in a medium saucepan. Over medium high heat, whisk the egg white – tomato mixture until it all comes to a boil.

Immediately reduce the heat to low, and allow to simmer for five minutes. Dont touch it, mix it, stir it or annoy it in any way.

While the tomato mixture is simmering, prepare a bowl, with a sieve over it. Line the sieve with very fine damp cheese cloth.

After about five minutes of simmering, you will see a thick, foamy, white crust over the water. Pour everything into the sieve, and allow to drain for at least 15 – 30 minutes.

You will have a perfectly clear tomato consomme. Delicious, healthy and a joy to present to those you love.

Make a fantastic grilled cheese and tomato soup that will blow people’s minds!

The tomato water will keep for up to 1 week, covered, in the fridge.

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