A few weeks ago Ewa served quesadillas to us as a starter on Sunday lunch, they were lovely and enjoyable, but left me thinking- they can be even better. I thought bbq pulled chicken would be a winner in a nice, warm tortilla wrap, with melted cheese oozing out. And I wasn’t wrong. A meal like this is easy to make when one’s at home in the afternoon and can simply throw a couple of chicken thighs in a marinade to the oven, alongside 2 sweet potatoes and go give Izzie a bath, while they roast. After about 1-1,5 it’s just a matter of making chunky guacamole, then assembling the quesadillas. I used jalapeno flavoured tortilla wraps, filled them with shredded chicken and sauce, mashed sweet potato,grated cheese and some sweetcorn to finish, then folded in half and gently fried on a dry pan. The crappy photo does not do justice to the dish, we loved it.
All posts by Ola
Squash and bacon soup.
This is a good opportunity to mention some difficulties we experience as parents of a toddler, who says “no” a lot, especially at meal times. I read an excellent article recently on Italian methods of teaching kids to eat exactly what the adults do. No such thing in Italian restaurants as “children’s menu”, they say. Kids are supposed to eat what ever there is on the table and should they chose not to, they skip a meal and several hours later there are no complaints. It does appeal to me, as I remember being forced to eat when I was a kid. It took me years to get over the dread of cold, yukky soft boiled eggs that were staring at me, as I could not leave a table before I ate them. So we agreed long time ago, there will be no forced feeding, but also, no shit will be taken from a 2,5 year old picking what she will and won’t eat.
This beautiful soup was made for lunch, while the said toddler was napping. A banana shallot fried, a couple of rashers of bacon finely chopped and fried too. The whole butternut squash peeled, chopped, added, alongside a single potato. Chicken stock onto that. It all boiled for about 30 mins under cover, then blitzed into a lovely, orange smoothness. A splash of cream. Finished off with crispy bacon bits and sunflower seeds and…a drizzle of maple syrup. Beautiful, autumnal soup.
Needless to say, Izzie decided she won’t be having it and threw a teary fit at the table. We returned to this subject 2 hours later, after a bit of shopping therapy. Soup was reheated and eaten within 10 minutes with no single complaint. Thumbs up.
Cinnamon Buns.
Perfect with a cup of tea on a rainy day like today. After girls night out last night, overflowing with wine. I’m about to get cracking with beef cannelloni for later, which were to go with a good looking Amarone I bought a few weeks ago, but not too sure about the wine at this very moment….. .
I used the recipe from mojewypieki, but should have made half a portion, we might struggle with the amount I made. Should have known better, 540 g of plain flour is a lot. With that 80 g of sugar, a touch of salt, 20 g of fresh yeast, 250 ml of warm milk, 2 eggs, 75 g of melted butter. I made zaczyn first- 3 tbsps of flour, all the yeast, some sugar and most of the milk, 20 minutes later added it to the rest of the ingredients and let Kitchen Aid do the work. It proved for over an hour, then I knocked it down and rolled onto a rectangle. Brushed it with melted butter, then generously sprinkled brown sugar mixed with cinnamon, MUCH less than suggested in the recipe and I still have lots left, I’ll use it for coffee. Rolled it and sliced into 12 buns, very sticky and tricky to handle. Placed into a lined baking tray and left to prove for another 30 minutes. Then baked in 180 degrees for 20 minutes. The house smelled fabulous.
The glaze is ok, not in any way brilliant. Again, could have made half of it and it would have been enough. 60 g of soft butter, 4 tbsps of icing sugar, vanilla paste- whipped. 120 g of Philly added. A splash of milk to make it runny.
Perfect buns for someone who gets up at 6 am and wants to make a family happy with such breakfast. Needless to say- I don’t get up at 6 am to bake. 🙂
Gennaro’s ragu.
I watched Saturday Kitchen yesterday and saw Gennaro Contaldo making the ragu his way. It seems all the famoso Italian chefs have their own, THE ONLY PROPER way. I tried Antonio Carluccio’s, wasn’t convinced by the white wine, for the science I had to try to Gennaro’s. Ended up with a fantastic ragu, a keeper, most likely, although knowing my cooking style, I will take the best of all worlds and do it my way.
Today it was chopped red onion, celery and carrot sweated on olive oil with a bit of butter, we’re not scared of flavour in our house. Half and half minced beef and pork added and browned well, before a glass of good cab sav added. Some chopped pancetta was suggested, but I had none, will do next time. Rich beef stock next, about 300 ml and then the most different of all – goodbye canned tomatoes, hello tomato puree, about 2 tbsps of it. Gennaro said no herbs, which I can live with, though a bay leaf from the garden is awesome in a ragu, no mushrooms, he also said, but this time I ignored it- a handful of porcini from Poland is a must.
The sauce cooked slowly under cover for about 2,5 hours and needed no seasoning at the end- thank you, good beef stock. Served with fresh tagliatelle and parmesan. Very good, dare I say, quite authentic. 🙂
Coconut and lime macaroons.
The flavour combo is Aska’s idea. We’ve been exchanging ideas, as to what would be the best way of making a good coconut macaroon. Aska obtained coconut flour from Whole Foods, but had doubts about quantity, I was of the opinion the macaroon should be made with nuts, not flour, even if it’s a fine, coconut flour. So I toasted some desiccated coconut, ground it and added 100 g of it to 50 of almonds and proceeded with the usual recipe. The filling is made of mascarpone, lime curd( Sainsbury’s own brand, next time I might splash out a bit more, this one did not wow me), fresh lime juice and zest, as usual, adding and tasting until I was happy.
They’re nice. Florian loves them, but he loves anything with lime, for me the texture is a touch chewy. But one must try things, for science. 🙂
Tuesday Cupcakes.
I hardly ever bake cupcakes, as I find them overrated and not that special. But if there is nothing sweet to have with a cup of tea in the evening I get annoyed, so this morning I searched mojewypieki.com for something simple and yummy to have after dinner. I found these in a posh version, with dried pineapple flowers on top, which I couldn’t be bothered with. So I reduced Dorota’s recipe by half and made 8 small muffins, which is a perfect amount- we enjoy them, nothing’s wasted and there is no time to be bored with the flavour.
I creamed 60 g of soft butter with about 4 tbsps of sugar, added 1 whole egg, 1 mashed ripe banana, 110 g of plain flour, less than half a tsp each of bicarb soda and baking powder, 1tsp of cinnamon and at the end just added 2 chopped, drained, canned pineapple rings. And baked 8 small cupcakes, 160 degrees, about 22-25 minutes.
Yummy and LOW CALORIE buttercream, as in the name consists of 25 g of soft butter, 2 tsps of icing sugar, 90 g of Philly cheese and a splash of vanilla paste.
They’re sweet, not not sickly and there are 3 left. 🙂
Miso marinated cod.
Jason Atherton was making a similar thing on Saturday Kitchen recently, that brought back memories of a Nobu signature dish. People pay £22 for a portion of Black Cod with Miso, which is quite something, stunning on the plate, silky smooth and unusually sweet. I found a recipe online that was supposed to be a simplified version of that Nobu recipe, I bought a bottle of sake, as the recipe called for it and made a marinade on Friday, as soon as Ocado delivered the fish.
I used 1/4 cup of sake and same of mirin, 4 tbsps of white miso paste and 3 tbsps of sugar and cooked the whole thing off quite quickly, then cooled and drowned my cod in it. It enjoyed it for 2 days and this evening it went to the oven, 200 degrees for about 13 minutes, then a quick treatment of a blow torch to add the colour. The most exciting was the smell of sake coming out of the oven, it brought Ubon back to mind. The taste, I must say did not. Ok, it was a nice plate of food, but it lacked a wow factor. It lacked the sauce to carry it, something vivid, maybe a salad with sharp dressing. I felt like I was eating a healthy, light, good for you thing, that is all ok, but I know I’ll be hungry in 2 hours. There’s got to be a way to improve it.
“Steamed” chocolate cake.
By a certain Nigella. Made specially for Florek, who’s been busy these days making plans and thinking about stuff, but first of deciding to take us on holidays next Monday. He deserved a chocolate cake.
I made half a portion, as making a cake of 8 eggs for 2 people did not seem like a good idea. First melted 100 g of dark chocolate, 70 g of milk chocolate in 90 g of butter. Whipped 4 egg yolks with 50 g of caster sugar and 50 g of muscovado, while kitchen aid was busy whipping the whites stiff. Added the chocolate and butter mix into the yolks, a pinch of salt there too. Then egg whites in, bit by bit and gently. What makes this cake different and better from the other ones is the way it baked- in bain marie. 180 degrees, tin secured with aluminium foil, about 50 minutes. It rose like a soufflet, but came down significantly when out of the oven. Still, it did not affect the quality of it, the cake is fantastically light and super moist. And by now, half eaten. 🙂
Black Forrest Macaroons.
Best ideas come to my head in bed either right before I fall asleep or early in the morning. This is one of them, a macaroon that’s a bit like Black Forrest Gateaux, a chocolate shell and cherry filling. I baked the shells usual way, but replaced 35 g of icing sugar with cocoa. And that was the colour sorted, as well as a lovely, comforting taste. For the filling I cooked 200 g of frozen cherries with some sugar, but should have skipped the sugar really, because as I blitzed the cherries with half a mascarpone and 50 g of melted white chocolate- I could hardly taste the cherries. The colour was there, lovely and purple, but I had to spike it all with lemon juice and a few fresh strawberries to bring it to life. And the result is much to my satisfaction. The shells are nearly perfect, like those for Lisa, the filling could have been more cherry than berry, but once Florian is home, the macaroons will be going. Quickly. 🙂
Serious macaroon business.
I’ve done my first ever “order”. I haven’t taken a payment for it, as it’s for Lisa, but I’ve made over 60 rather perfect macaroons, that will be served on Bessie’s christening tomorrow. Lemon-yuzu, blackcurrant and raspberry. Facing an audience tomorrow, rather just family and friends. It does feel good, I have to say. 🙂
