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.

Simple pineapple torte.

On the same note as the previous post, I must just add yesterday’s creation. My new cake tin, tiny and round is a perfect size, nothing gets wasted. And decorating cakes is lots of fun, I’m very pleased with the presentation. Simple sponge made of 2 egg whites, random amount of sugar, 2 egg yolks beaten in, 2 tbsp of plain flour, 1 tbsp of potato flour and a touch of baking powder, all baked for about 25 minutes in 180 degrees. Sponge cut in half and filled with whipped cream with chopped, tinned pineapple, on top toasted flaked almonds, glace cherries and a touch of love. Made us a lovely dessert to finish a very nice 2013. :-)))

 

How to use fresh raspberries in December.

I wanted to make a really fancy cake for Christmas, something between yule log and a Swiss roll, stuffed with cream and raspberries. I cocked up the base, which ended up in the bin but I really wanted to make up for it and use up the raspberries, it is after all December and I had 2 packets in the fridge ( they’re Spanish).

So I baked a simple cocoa sponge, whipped 2 whites with sugar, added the yolks, a heaped tbsp of plain flour, same of cocoa and of potato flour, a touch of baking powder and baked in my new small and cute cake tin. After 25 minutes I had a lovely brown sponge, which, when cooled and halved I generously covered with raspberries and whipped cream. To finish, I used my new decorating tips, what a joy to use!

Loving the cake, not to sweet, the base is light and tasty, the berries nice and sharp. Yum!

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Christmassy stilton new way.

Got this idea from The White Hart Inn festive menu, where we ate dinner with Ron a couple of weeks ago. Florek ordered it as a starter, I tasted some and thought he got the best deal of all of us. So I made it today as a starter on a Christmas Eve supper.

I mixed together crumbled stilton with some Philadelphia cheese, finely chopped toasted walnuts, a squeeze of lemon and  some pepper to taste. I served it with a toast and a simple salad of rocket, grapes, pear and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Very nice indeed.

Orange sponge cake, upside down.

Today’s the last day of quiet before the storm, mum and dad are flying in tomorrow to spend their first ever English Christmas with us.

I was flipping through the GF recipes looking for something I could do with oranges, some kind of nice dessert to give my Master Baking mum after dinner. Found this, done it, enjoyed doing it.

While the oven was warming up to 180 C, I grated orange peel out of 2 oranges, then peeled whatever scum was left and sliced them thickly. I layered them on the bottom of the tin, ready with generous amount of golden syrup. Kitchen Aid in the meantime was busy mixing 100 g of butter, same amount of self raising flour and brown sugar, 50 g of ground almonds, 2 eggs, half a tsp of baking powder,  the orange peel mentioned and roughly chopped 2 clementines. All that went on top of the oranges and baked for about 40 minutes.

I served it with whipped cream spiked with a bit of Cointreau.

Florek says it could have done with better quality oranges, he found it a touch too sour and even bitter at times, I’d say it’s a good, moist pud. As for the upside down cakes, nothing beats the pineapple.

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Rum n’raisin pannacotta.

Raymond Blanc winter menu features one of those. But as I’m broke and squeaking and I can’t really go to the Brasserie and give it a taste, I made my own. I soaked the raisins in Baccardi, some dark rum would have been better, but then again, not sure if Izzie would approve me feeding her  strong, dark rum through the umbilical cord, doubt it.

I used the usual recipe, 300 ml of double cream, 75 ml of milk, a bit less than 100 g sugar, 1,5 gelatine leaves. Just to make sure the flavour is there, I added about 6 tsps of the rum from the raisins. Ended up with a very pleasant, quite light dessert, the rum not too strong, raisins nice and soft, simple strawberry compote on top. 4 more small ones in the fridge.

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Homemade horseradish,Polish way.

The only culinary success on the day, when I cocked up a cake ( spiced date and coffee cake that worked out so nicely last time and today I managed to under bake it and it went to the bin). For dinner I had those lovely scallops from Whole Foods and some shrimps, which I served with rice and lovely broccoli, but I felt I haven’t done the scallops justice, for the first time ever I have not finished them and left 4 on the plate. I felt really bad about it!

But, as Christmas is fast approaching, I have found horseradish roots in Whole Foods, bought one and having asked my Mum how to make it as awesome as hers, I got cracking. Peeled the root first and then painstakingly grated it on the fine grater, with Florek’s help. Had to open the door to have fresh air, the smell is so strong. And so the grated horseradish, wet with our tears was sprinkled with some salt and then a mixture of boiling water, wine vinegar, sugar and more salt was prepared. Mum said it’s to be sweet- sour like, mixed into the radish. It’s ready to eat when cooled. We enjoyed it with some nice ham.

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Choux buns, as seen on tv.

Masterchef The Professionals is back.  The show that inspires me to get into the kitchen and do stuff. And makes me scream at the tv, when a bint, that calls herself a chef can’t make a choux pastry, “cause she didn’t really work with the pastry that much yet”. And entertains me, when the boy faces Food Critics for the first time ever and serves them duck with squid and chantilly cream with…black olives. William Sitwell said it was revolting. :-))))

Last week Michel Roux asked them to make choux buns with mornay sauce and a beer and onion soup. As for the soup I wasn’t excited, so I made one of my favourites, carrot and coriander, but the buns I had to try and they worked great. I used the same recipe like for profiteroles, minus the sugar, so 50 g of butter with 150ml of water heated up, 75 g of strong white flour added and worked until it came of the side of the pan, then transferred to Kitchen Aid to fininsh the job, with 2 whole eggs added slowly. Baked in 220 degrees for about 22 minutes.

Mornay sauce, just like bechamel, but with added grated cheese, Michel says gruyere, I had grated cheddar, so in it went, lots of nutmeg and seasoning plus chopped serrano ham. Next time will chop it more finely, as it was getting stuck in a pipping bag exit and it took me 10 minutes to fill the buns.

All in all, very good, very filling, very tasty with sweet soup. Yum.

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Tortellini, as remembered from Florence.

It was time for a home made pasta again, so we opted for the dish, that I so loved in Florence 2 years ago. The problem was I didn’t quite know in details what went into the filling. I asked Michele, my fellow foodie friend born in Sicilly, therefore a bit of an expert. Miky suggested adding some ricotta to the potatoes, as not to overpower the flavour of truffles. He also mentioned gorgonzola, as a nice combination in a potato filling, minus he truffles then, but as I can’t have blue cheeses at the moment, this idea will be returned to.

Florian made fresh pasta, as always, I made the filling and all the labour. To the potatoes I added some ricotta, a handful of parmesan, finely grated, a pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper and a bit of truffle oil.

Having shaped the pasta I boiled it for about 3 minutes, then served with some melted butter, parmesan shavings, more truffle oil and some chopped parsley. Not a single one was left, we pigged it all. It was a lovely dish, not as mind blowing as the one in Florence, but nevertheless we’re pleased with it. Yuzu possets awaiting in the fridge for dessert.

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Wild mushroom risotto with a cheesy ending.

There’s one thing that my favourite food store in Cheltenham could improve on, that’s fresh mushrooms. Restaurants can obtain UK grown girolles, chanterrelles or hedgehogs, the most exotic I could find in Whole Foods this afternoon were shiitake and chestnuts. Had to make do with dried porcinis from Mum, which I cooked for the stock as well. I fried all my ‘shrooms with a shallot, then added the arborio and got on with the usual procedure of wine, stock ( I sexed it up with extra chicken bulionette) and stirred until the rice cooked. Finished with some butter, grated parmesan, fresh thyme and truffle oil. Excellent with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

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For dessert some grapes and a couple of excellent cheeses. Comte has been on out Top List ever since Moka introduced  it to us years ago, the other one we couldn’t remember the name of, but we knew we liked it last time and that it was great with the beer. Even without it it’s got deep, buttery flavour that makes one go mmmmmmmm. No wine to accompany it, as one is allowed a small glass a week due to a baby in one’s belly. 🙂

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Custard Tarts.

Paul Hollywoood’s, the recipe is in the latest GF mag, the contestants of Great British Bake Off were making them a couple of weeks ago.

For the sweet pastry I used 165 g plain flour, 25 g of ground almonds, 120 g unsalted butter, 55 g of sugar and 1 medium egg, made into a dough and chilled it for 30 mins, while preparing the muffin tray and the custard.

Paul’s recipe said the dough would have made 12 pies, I made 10, but lesson’s learned, the dough didn’t shrink as much as I thought it would. The custard however, made of 7 egg yolks and 700 ml of fat milk and  90 g of sugar was too much, by half, at least, for my muffin tray. I made 4 spontaneous creme brulees with the remaining custard, while the pies baked in 180 degrees for 15 mins, then I lowered the temperature to 160 degrees and baked them for a further 10-12 minutes. Oh, the final touch was a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.

I took them out when still slightly wobbled and were a bit domed . As a result we have beautifully set custard in yummy, crumbly sweet pastry. Very much enjoyed.

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