A brief strike of genius… 🙂 I defrosted that remaining pork pibil from last time and wrapped it up in all butter puff pastry, added a bit of cheese inside and served pork pibil empanadas with guacamole this evening. We ate the lot and enjoyed it a lot. 🙂
All posts by Ola
Rhubarb and strawberry slice.
Exactly as in the previous post, but no gooseberries and instead a combo of rhubarb from the garden and strawberries from Sainsbury’s. A winner. One of the nicest and easiest cakes. Ewa will love it tomorrow. 🙂
Gooseberry slice.
I saw the recipe while browsing mojewypieki.com at my Mum’s kitchen table a few weeks ago and only just made it yesterday, having found gooseberries in Budgens. Funny thing, gooseberries, while growing up in Poland I was never a fan, they could be found in gardens of grandmas and aunties, but they were never special in any way. Here I have to pay nearly £2 for 200 g.
The cake is worth it, I just had 2 slices and I love it, I was a touch too stingy with sugar though.
Simple and quick sponge out of 2 eggs, whites whipped with 4 tbsps of sugar, yolks added, 35 ml of sunflower oil slowly poured in. 75 g of plain flour, 0,5 tsp of baking powder. Baked for about 20 minutes in 190 degrees.
About 250 g of gooseberries cooked with some sugar- here’s room for improvement. I left some of the fruit whole, hoping to improve the texture, didn’t want it too mushy. Mistake. The whole gooseberries didn’t get any of that sugar, they’re sharp when bitten through and they cut in the cake leaving mess. I’d say at least half a glass of sugar next time and cook them till they all fall apart. A vanilla budyn added, mixed with less than half a glass of water. It thickened the mixture immediately and it was ready to be whacked onto the sponge, hot and all. Flattened and cooled in the fridge.
Onto that stiff whipped cream, spiked with vanilla and sweetened with icing sugar. Butter biscuits on top and then lemon icing- just icing sugar rubbed with lemon juice. Lovely the next day, when the biscuits have softened. Very good indeed.
Pistachio cupcakes.
My favourite nuts, by far. Shame they’re so expensive, but every now and then I order a packet of salted ones for munching in the evening and non salted, for baking. I’ve done half a portion today, in order not to go overboard, like with the Valrhona brownies- Florek took half of that load to work yesterday and was rather popular. 🙂
For 6 small cupcakes I used 90 g of soft, slightly salted butter( I can taste it and I love that saltiness). 40 g of plain flour, 70 g of pistachios, ground, but not too finely. Finely enough to be able to have that crunch when eating. 0,5 tsp of baking powder. 60 g of caster sugar, 1 large egg, a splash of vanilla extract and a splash of milk. Into the kitchen aid, into the muffin cases, into the oven for 20 minutes in 160 degrees.
When cooled, I covered them in icing made with 100 g of Philly, 20 g of soft butter and 30 g of icing sugar. Very nice indeed. 🙂
Valrhona Brownies.
Apparently it is World Chocolate Day today, I didn’t know that when I baked this beauty in the morning. The recipe comes from “Tea with Bea” book and is one of my most expensive bakes so far. 1 kg pack of Valrhona chocolate got delivered yesterday, ours for only £35, but it seems that at 66% of cocoa it’s perfect for me, not too sweet and not too bitter. In fact, it might be the best brownie I’ve ever eaten. 🙂
Recipe and method not too complicated. 250 g of this posh chocolate got covered by 250 g of hot, melted butter and got stirred into velvet by Izzie.
In the bowl of kitchen aid I had 250 g of caster and brown sugars, 4 eggs and a pinch of salt, all briefly mixed. Melted chocolate and butter in, plus 250 g of plain flour. All that went into a prepared lined baking tray and then 30 g each of pecan and hazelnuts on top, gently pressed in. Peanut butter, crunchy, here and there as well as salted caramel spread- Bea’s recipe called for dulce de leche, but Florek couldn’t find it in Sainsbury’s. Also, some posh form coconut was to be added, expensive on Amazon and not a favourite anyway, so skipped. 🙂
The brownie baked in 180 degrees for the first 10 minutes and then another 15 in 160 degrees. Once out of the oven for 10 minutes, it then went into a freezer for an hour. And then I could taste it and liked it so much, that I called Florek to tell him about it. He was home 3 hours later to share the enthusiasm.
Thumbs up!
Coffee and walnut cupcakes.
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. 🙂
Duck in orange sauce.
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. 🙂
Coquilles St Jacques Parisienne.
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.
Koj, Japanese, but no sushi.
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! 🙂
Focaccia.
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.