Monthly Archives: June 2017

Baking

Coffee and walnut cupcakes.

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I’ve been  looking at Bea Vo’s posts on FB,  mostly at her cupcakes and getting irritated- ok, she is a pro, but how on earth does one make a butter cream THAT smooth and beautiful looking?  I remember Bea very fondly, she used to be a pastry chef in Ubon at the time I worked there. Now she owns 2 restaurants and has quite a name in the industry. I asked her yesterday how to make such awesome butter cream, she replied the recipe is in the book. “Tea with Bea” has been ordered and will come next week, I’ve done some research in the meantime and learnt one thing morning- that super soft butter does wonders to the texture.  I made a few cupcakes as Lisa and Andreia were to come in the afternoon.

The cupcakes themselves were not the most amazing ones I’ve ever made, so no recipe here, but the coffee butter cream I’ve made to top them with is the beginning of new, exciting skill I’ll learn in cake baking. Looking forward to the book and more cake decorating. 🙂

Good Food

Duck in orange sauce.

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Much happier with it than with the scallops the other day.  I’ve made it and destroyed the whole lot, but I haven’t had the real thing as of yet, so can’t really say how authentic it was.

I used Hairy Bikers’ recipe for the sauce and only for the sauce, as they roasted the whole duck, I only pan fried the breast. Also, hasselback potatoes seemed like a nice idea to me, cooked in duck fat, they were a treat!

So the sauce; a shallot, thinly sliced, sauteed on duck fat, after a few minutes 2 tbsps of cointreau added and a good splash of white wine. Freshly squeezed orange juice, maybe half a glass. All this reduced a little.  Some orange bits to add texture to the sauce. 2 tsps of orange marmalade- that was a genius move, I loved the slight bitterness it brought in. And then finished with some cornflour to thicken it all up. Really nice. Duck breast made the usual way, all served with French beans, some broccoli and the mentioned hasselbacks. Eaten to the last bit. 🙂

Good Food

Coquilles St Jacques Parisienne.

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Wow, my French! 🙂

I had some frozen scallops from Whole Foods, looked through GF website for some inspiration and found this, all the ingredients apart from fish stock were in the pantry, bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge, so I made it. Only for myself, as Florek is in America.  It is a nice dish, but I think I’d have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t for the current heatwave, I could feel the sweat on my back as I was munching through it.  Might try it again in autumn some time.

Goemon Ishikawa, former sushi chef in Dinings once gave me some scallop shells, so I could serve them properly today. It does make a difference, I must say.

So first, a good, buttery mash, seasoned well and spiked with a touch of nutmeg, delicious, waiting for its turn in a piping bag.  I sliced all my scallops horizontally and poached them for 2 minutes in a mixture of fish stock and chardonnay, equal quantities. Removed the scallops and reduced the stock/wine while pan frying a shallot and 2 chestnut mushrooms in some butter, a tbsp of flour added to make  a loose roux, then the stock. Finished with a splash of double cream and seasoned. I piped the mash around the scallop shells, arranged the sauce in the middle and put the scallop pieces in it( I later realized I was supposed to mix them in with the sauce and then spoon it out), some breadcrumbs on top and into the oven for about 12 minutes, 190 degrees.

Nice, creamy, rich dish. But it couldn’t even dream of topping the scallops that are served in Dinings.

Eaten out

Koj, Japanese, but no sushi.

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A chap called Andrew Kojima,  Masterchef finalist in 2012 opened a joint in Cheltenham, called Koj. I wanted to go for a few weeks, as I am a Masterchef fan, I am Japanese food fan and the reviews were mostly very good. So we went.  The place has a small, but interesting menu, no sushi though, as Koj reckons it is to be a place for those, who want to try Jap food, but don’t like sushi.

Hendricks, cucumber and wasabi martini to start was very good, refreshing, as we are having a heatwave this week. I’d have 3 of those easily( I didn’t). 

We had some decent sashimi, then a couple of the steamed buns, one with nice, soft pork, but the soft shell crab one was excellent. If I ever go back, I’ll just have 2 of those and  some sake and I’ll be happy.

The lemon sole little wraps were fantastic too, we had to try, as everyone on TripAdvisor were on about it.

Then we ordered more, some crispy, spicy beef (ok) and some KFC, Koj Fried Chicken.  Fairly average, we agreed.

The place didn’t excite me enough to run back in a hurry, but we’ll be popping in to Wahaca Bristol again in 2 weeks time, for that passion fruit mojito I can’t wait! 🙂