Monthly Archives: January 2020

Good Food

Mash to die for.

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I binge watch the first edition of Australian Masterchef on Amazon Prime. Much fresher edition than the one on the BBC, nicer format, funnier, more interesting. No Gregg Wallace. Yesterday the contestants watched a masterclass on how to make a fabulous mashed potatoes. I had time, I had potatoes, I had dinner to make for my family, I thought- alwite, let’s see if it’s worth the effort. First of all, the potatoes were baked in the oven, not boiled, the way I do it. Once baked,still hot, they were mashed through a drum sieve, which is not a gadget I own at the moment, I do have a nice ricer though, which makes a great job too. Which doesn’t mean I won’t ever get myself a sieve like that. 🙂 Also, new to me, but very effective is the use of balloon whisk. So the baked spuds once squeezed through the ricer go into a sauce pan, some hot milk on the side added bit by bit, alongside salted butter. Lots of salted butter. And whisked!!! Hard work that, but boy, once well seasoned that mash was top dollar. For me, a good mash is the sort that makes me stand by the stove and munch on it, while everything else can wait. And I just have one more taste. And one more. And then just a lick.

I had some meatballs from Ikea, which I baked on a bed of mixed roasted veggies. Plus Aussie mash. The child raised both her thumbs up. 🙂

Baking

Scones. From Hollywood.

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Santa brought me Paul Hollywood’s book “How to bake”. The chap might not be my favourite man on the tv, but he certainly knows his baking and the book is packed with useful information. The first recipe I tried from it were scones. Kitchen aid sat this one out, as I actually did as I was told and used my fingers to mix the flour and butter and then the rest of the ingredients and made sure I’m not overworking the dough. I ended up with a plate of scones much lighter than the shop bought ones, a few too many though, maybe 500 g of flour will not be needed next time, unless there will be more than 2 people eager to eat them.

450g of strong white bread flour was used, rubbed with 80 g of unsalted, soft butter ( I might use salted next time), 80 g of caster sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 5 tsps of baking powder and a bit less than 250 ml of milk. The remaining 50 g of flour was to be used for dusting and adjusting the runny batter as required, but I ended up putting most of it back into the bag and not using all of the milk. As above, it is important not to overwork the dough, which I was careful not to do, when ready, I cut out the scones with round cookie cutter, placed on the baking parchment, gently washed the tops with beaten egg and baked for about 12 minutes in 220 degrees.

Served warm with French butter and blackcurrant conserve.

Good Food

The best lunch in years!

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And the person responsible for it is Moka, who cooked us moules mariniere, but without cream, her way, just wine and seafood juice. Before she cooked we visited a very well supplied fish shop, which made me want to eat nearly everything.

We’ve bought a massive bag of moules and some prawns for Orson, then visited a cheese shop. Exceptionally good service and a cheese selection we can only dream of in the UK.

Moka cooked the moules in 2 pans, lots of shallots, lots of parsley, we had a bottle of champagne with them and the baguette and it took us quite a while to finish the lot, but we battled on and succeeded.

And then Moka brought the cheeses out, including this super light and creamy number with truffles (she a trufflefile too, which is very promising for the times I get to cook for her!), a bottle of red was had alongside. We sat by the table for over 2 hours, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and having the best time, while the kids played on the floor with a train set.

I loved every minute of it and returned the next day to the cheese shop to take some home.

11 out of 10. And a standing ovation.

Eaten out

Paris 2019, a capital of food heaven.

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Right after Christmas we boarded Tesla and headed for the Eurotunnel to see Moka, Ivan and Viktor in Paris after 5 years. I’m very sure we will not be waiting another 5 years to do it again, as it was the most enjoyable couple of days since, I think, Italy?….

We drank lots of wine within those 3 days, we’ve eaten very, very well. I had to visit Laduree, but I think I might skip it next time and spend 25 euro on the cheese or wine instead! It was the first time ever that I tasted a macaroon I disliked- rose flavoured one. It was like biting a bar of soap. Yuk. I have not managed to tasted the real Opera cake, but I’m sure they’ll have some next time when we’re there.

On Saturday night Moka took us to La Petite Perigourdine, where superb meat dishes were eaten. Ivan had steak, Moka liver, Florek one of the most delicious beef tartars I’ve ever tasted.

I had my beloved confit duck leg with a side that I’ve not tried before or ever heard of, Tomme d’Aligot; potato puree with cheese, brought to the table in the pan and served straight onto the plate, pouring! Very creamy, very delicious and super filling, Ivan and Viktor had to help me manage it.

For dessert we shared a creme brulee, a grand marnier soufflet, which I found eggy and heavy and some vanilla ice cream. We’ve left after 10 pm and spent a few enjoyable minutes by The Pantheon, where Izzie and Viktor ran around the Christmas trees. Lovely evening.