Darek and Beata came over for a week. I love having them here, have been thinking about what to cook for them for a while and this evening decided to make tarte tatin, but with plums. Taste – wise, yes. When it comes to texture, shit. The plums released so much juice that the puff pastry stood no chance. It baked, but it had nothing of the delicious crunchiness on the edges. We ate it with vanilla ice cream, regardless. Maybe different kind of plums next time, me thinks.
After a weekend of slaving in the kitchen, I wanted something super quick for dinner. I had a packet of green tagliatelle, so pesto was an obvious choice. I had no basil though, but what I had was lots of coriander, so I whizzed it along with all the pesto ingredients, toasted pine nuts, grated parmesan, garlic, olive oil and seasoning, plus half a red chilli.
What I got was a nice pesto, but not as awesome, mouth smacking pesto, as the one made with basil.
Ewa and Jedrus came over this weekend. We spent quality time drinking cheap wine, eating rubbish, having nothing to talk about and we were sad most of the time. 🙂
To kick off our banquet I made some lovely scallops from Whole Foods, served them on celeriac puree, which tasted good, but the texture could have been smoother. Scallops got fried on butter, of course, topped with crispy pancetta and fresh thyme. I. Love. Scallops.
We went to South Cerney this evening to see Jimbo and Louise. They rented out a nice house right by the lake with a lovely kitchen, that I wouldn’t mind at all. With 2 little Blackhams now, Louise has rather little time to cook and entertain, so I made starters and a dessert and the boys cooked (!!!!) the steaks on a gas BBQ. I’ve taken no photos of steaks, as they turned out to be super well done, but the meat was good quality, so we ate them all regardless, plus some nice sausages and lovely white bread.
For the starter I’ve made a classic roquefort, pear and walnut salad with my own addition of parma ham, to make it a bit more substantial. I used rocket salad, rather than poncy frissee, like Janet Street-Porter in Masterchef. The walnuts, when slightly toasted have another flavour dimention and the dressing was Raymond Blanc’s, minus measuring stuff, haha. Some roquefort mashed with olive oil, chardonnay vinegar and black pepper. Parmesan shavings on top.Done. Liked it a lot, might make it for the upcoming Weekend Of The Year.
For dessert I’ve made a wild cheesecake, again, with no scales or other equipment in sight. Made the base out of crushed biscuits, amaretti and butter and flash-baked it, then melted most of a white chocolate bar in some double cream with vanilla paste and 3 gelatine leaves, added that to a tub of ricotta cheese and blizted, sweetened to taste and threw lots of fresh raspberries in. All that went onto the base, fresh raspberries on top, a touch of raspberry coulis and into the fridge to set. Right before serving I sprinkled some toasted flaked almonds on top. Was enjoyed.
The book “The Art of Pastry”, which Nikosia gave me a few years ago has been used today. I forgot what a great book it was, the recipes from it just work!
This tart was supposed to wait until dessert time, but has been sliced and tasted and I am very pleased indeed.
So, the pastry base, with walnuts, lovely flavours and texture. Made of 175 g of flour, 2tbsp if icing sugar, 115 g of butter, 75 g of walnuts, 1 egg yolk and 2tbsp of cold water. Kitchen Aid made it into a nice pastry, which I chilled for 30 minutes and then blind baked for 10 minutes in 200 degrees, then another 10 without the baking beans.
While it baked, I made the custard out of 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks, 50 g of sugar. 300 ml of single cream and 150 ml of milk got infused with vanilla paste and about 50 ml of strong coffee and added slowly to the egg and sugar mixture. I’ve done a decent job straining it, as it baked evenly and left no shitty foamy residue, like most of my creme brulees. It took about 45 minutes in 180 degrees ( I lowered it, as the pastry started to smell a bit too intense). Finished off with icing sugar and a touch of nutmeg.
Clap, clap, clap. 🙂
I had some lasagne sheets sitting in the fridge. But I didn’t fancy the traditional, meaty lasagne, wanted something different. I looked up a few ideas on food.network. co.uk, and came up with a green lasagne, not quite a veggie one, as pancetta is involved. I fried it first, then threw a good few chopped tomatoes, seasoned it well and then put the asparagus on top and covered the pan, just to cook it very,very lightly. Not that it needed it, I decided later. I made the bechamel usual way and a little layer of whizzed basil and sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, as suggested in one of the posts. It didn’t contribute massively to the flavour overall, but must have been tried.
It was more filling than I expected, we have half of it for lunch tomorrow, but quite pleasant overall. Nothing beats lasagne bolognese though.
And it’s difficult to make it look pretty on the plate!
I felt like good fish and chips for the whole day. That place in Broadway came to mind straight away, recommended by lots of people, plus young Matt is moving there in less than a month and good for him!
I approve of this place. I do. Lovely service, friendly, polite. Loooooooovely chips, fried on oil, greasy and flavoursome, just what I wanted. Lovely haddock, as pictured, nicely presented, fresh and for less than a tenner. Definitely going back.
As I’m eating it and writing, I can’t stop thinking about my Mom’s apple pies. It can’t be just apples, Mom’s pastry is just so much better than mine. I must give her a call tomorrow and find out the details. For my pastry today I used 250 g of flour, 125 g of butter, 2 egg yolks and 50 ml of cold water. According to GF, it is supposed to be a universal recipe, for sweet and savoury dishes. Bollocks. It needs sugar. And I’m going to add it next time. My apples, Bramleys, I flavoured with brown sugar and lots of cinnamon, threw a couple of strawberries for the colour, not – I must say- amazing addition. I pre- baked the base a little to avoid the soggy bottom, that worked nicely. A little bit of egg white spread on top before baking made it lovely and golden. It is nice, but it’s not sensational. To be improved.
We’re enjoying a heat wave for the last few days, lovely. I spent a few delightful hours this afternoon sipping Sangria and frying me very front and reading.
Dinner must have been eaten in the garden. Just simple chilli garlic marinated shrimps( soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli garlic paste and brown sugar in random quantities) with loadsa coriander, served on pea rice. Yum.
Made this evening as an experiment, to see if I can change my mind about not liking cooked salmon. For years I’ve been of the opinion that salmon is best as sashimi or sushi, no need to spoil it by cooking. But the fillet Ocado brought me was not fresh enough to wrap in nori, so I griddled it, well seasoned plus a splash of sesame oil. My teriyaki sauce worked nicely with the usual recipe. The extras on the plate involved rice, cooked with a dash of turmeric, some French beans and a simple cucumber and apple salsa, for the crunch.
I quite liked it, Florian said the teriyaki was lovely, but the smell of fried fish bothered him. Yet he ate it all. I will share my leftovers with Stefan the cat, whose owner Becky is mentally disturbed( not Stefan’s fault). 🙂
