All posts by Ola

I love eating. Even more than I love cooking. My Mum got this thing into me, being a working woman with two kids and still managing to put a two course dinner on the table for us every day. My meals are a lot simpler, I cook for two, with Florian being my most devoted fan and audience. There is nothing more rewarding than a nicely turned out meal. There is nothing more enjoyable that a great plate of food in a decent restaurant with a glass of great red in a nice company. Hence this blog, to share ideas and joy of good food. Bon Appetit.
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! 🙂

Baking

Focaccia.

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Focaccia had to be made and it will be made again, as it’s not very complicated, but it will not be served as a starter before pasta dish, it will be served as a main course, with maybe some parma ham on the side and some wine, unless there are friends over. Neither Florek nor I could keep our hands off it, which resulted in lack of enthusiasm for pesto.

Paul Hollywood’s recipe, with a touch of Jamie Oliver- 250 g of strong bread flour, 50 g of which was a fine semolina, that was the Jamie bit. 14 g of fresh yeast, Hollywood likes dry stuff, I don’t. 1 tbsp of olive oil, a good pinch of salt. 200 ml of cold water. All this worked in kitchen aid, left to prove till doubled in size. Knocked down, flattened out in the tin generously greased with olive oil. Proved again for about 40 minutes.  Then olive oil on, a nice drizzle, sea salt, fresh rosemary, kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes. Tiny bit of grated parmesan. 220 degrees, 20 minutes.

I love the crust, I love the saltiness of it. It will be done again, maybe with some friends, as perfect for sharing.

Good Food

Spaghetti alla puttanesca.

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Sunday, therefore fresh pasta.  Yesterday in Saturday Kitchen puttanesca was somebody’s food heaven, accompanied by fresh focaccia, so I looked it up. I looked at Nigella’s and read a nice little article comparing what Gennaro, Jamie and Angela Hartnett had to say on “whore’s pasta”.  We gave up on focaccia this evening, we decided we’re not hungry enough for both, but it might still get done mid week. While Florek The Husband was getting on with fresh spaghetti, I made the sauce. Simple, delicious, flavoursome and moreish. 4 anchovies chopped and fried on olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves in. Half a tsp of chili flakes in( could have taken more), a handful of chopped capers. Kalamata olives, pitted, chopped, about twice as much as the capers. And then tomatoes; I used half a can of Italian tomatoes, a tsp of tomato puree and about 15 cherry tomatoes, blanched and skinned- all blitzed together into a flavoursome passata. Nigella just recommends tinned tomatoes, I didn’t see why not use the lovely, sweet cherry tomatoes. It all reduced for a few minutes, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, some basil and that’s it.  We loved it and would have pigged more if there was more.  Fab!

Good Food, Room for improvement

Eggs benedict with a successful hollandaise.

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I tried last weekend, a disaster. The sauce split, I used all the worst words in my vocabulary to let it know what I thought about it and we ended up with poached eggs with ham on a toasted muffin.

This time I did my research. I know that last time I made it too hot and that’s why it took 3 seconds to go to hell. Today- barely simmering water, 2 egg yolks in, a tsp of white wine vinegar whisked gently, making sure the bowl does not touch the water surface.  I didn’t bother with clarified butter this time, just about 90 g of it melted, added slowly to the yolks. And it split. And I cursed. And I added another yolk trying to save it- internet’s advice. That did nothing, so I cursed some more, but that also did nothing. So I threw 2 ice cubes in and whisked and….miracle happened, the mixture turned into a lovely, thick, glossy sauce, that just needed seasoning and a splash more vinegar and lemon juice and it was ready to cover my poached eggs. Which I did differently today as well, Jamie Oliver’s way. Skipped the vinegar in the water, had it barely simmering and therefore 3 minutes in. Not bad overall, but more practice needed.  🙂

Eaten out

Dinings SW3.

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Last week I got a call from a certain Nicolo Sandrini of Dinings, who asked if I could bring my man and daughter to London on Wednesday the 17th. Dinings team were to open their second location in London and were inviting “friends and family” to join them and have dinner on the house.  Just for being considered “friends and family” more than 4 years after leaving the company, I’d have walked to London if I had to.  The idea of seeing all the lovely people again was even more appealing than the food, the Jap food heaven that Dinings has been for years. So I didn’t have to beg Florek to take a day off, we went, in pouring rain, back to Scumdon.

Nicolo sent me a video of the restaurant at about 1pm earlier yesterday, still basically a building site, expressed his doubts about the success of the coming evening and also said he wanted to die ( he’s from Verona). 🙂

When we arrived in Knightsbridge, still in pouring rain, the place was still a mess, but there was Nick, my former Chief, the most awesome and knowledgeable man in catering, as well as one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. If he ever asked me to work for him again, I’d shelve my macarons and run back, sadly all the business is either in London or Tel Aviv. There was the other Chief, Masaki, there was Fuku, with his stunning little daughter, I also saw Grace and Alex and Mika, whom I’ve not seen since Ubon.

The food took ages to arrive, but that was understandable. Probably because of the circumstances the food itself was not as mind blowing as I remembered, plus our eel and foie gras sushi roll never materialised( I was dreaming about it for a week). Our wagyu sushi never arrived- that was probably due to the girl who took our order, not sure if she knew what wagyu was. There was lovely fresh and beautifully presented sashimi, shrimps in tempura as light and fab as only these guys can do.  Lovely sake.

We had to pass on dessert, as it was getting close to 9.30 pm and Izzie was showing signs of tiredness.  Going back would be fantastic, dinner in Dinings is nothing but cheap though. Great evening!

 

Dessert

Fraisier, first attempt.

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I saw it being made on Creme de la Creme, I saw it in my posh Laduree book, it had to be made. Especially with a jar of pistachio paste sitting in the pantry. Ewa and Co were to come yesterday for the last installment of Izzie’s birthday, so there was a great excuse.

Almond sponge; 3 large eggs whipped with half a glass of caster sugar. 3/4 glass of plain flour and same amount of ground almonds plus a 1/2 tsp of baking powder gently mixed in. All baked for 20-25 minutes in 170 degrees. I’ve made the sponge the day before, the filling  and the rest today.  5 egg yolks whipped with half a glass of sugar again, while 130 ml of milk was being heated up on the stove. 4 gelatine leaves soaking in small amount of water as it happens. Half of the milk added to the yolks, the whole thing returned to the pan with the remaining milk, slowly warmed up till slightly thickened. Gelatine added with its liquid. Pistachio paste added, about 2 tbsps. The colour didn’t amaze me, so I added a little green colourant.

Finally 500 ml of double cream, whipped. Combined with cooled pistachio cream.

I sliced the sponge horizontally, soaked with some Grand Marnier, arranged strawberries along the form. There’s got to be a  better way of doing it, so that the cream didn’t get in between the strawberries and the form and ended up looking as awesome as on the picture.

All left to set overnight. Before serving some crushed pistachios were added on top and it was ready to be sliced.

Opinions are divided. Florek loved it. Izzie had quite a lot and kept on asking for more. The guests liked it, but they are the guests who like everything. I think it’s pleasant, but I’m not blown away. With better strawberries, not those I had and maybe more pistachio flavour it would have been better. Might have another go at it  when strawberries in season properly.

Ps. I must add on Monday evening, this cake does not keep well. Strawberries seem to start fermenting and the whole thing tastes funny. Shame, quite a chunk of it down the bin. 🙁

Good Food

Squash and blue cheese ravioli.

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As pledged ( election in the UK next month), fresh pasta on Sunday evening happened again. This time roasted coquina squash, blue cheese( St Agur), roasted garlic, shallot and pine nuts made into a filling.  Served with a simple tomato sauce and basil. Once again, rather excellent. Next fresh pasta will be spaghetti or tagliatelle. 🙂