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

Double chocolate and raspberry cake.

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Inspired by a recipe from GF, but I baked it to take something to work tomorrow, the only Sunday this year that we have to work, some sugar will be welcome is Dinings, I think.

For 2 small cakes I used 225 g of good dark chocolate, 175 g unsalted butter melted together with a single espresso. I whipped 5 whole eggs with 140 g of sugar, until nice, thick and foamy, added 100 g of ground almonds to it, 3 heaped spoons of self raising flour and baked it all for 25 minutes in 160 degrees. The original recipe said the cake should bake for 15 minutes and be slightly underbaked. I didn’t want it to be a chocolate fudge, I wanted it not too heavy and easy to slice. When cooled, I sliced it and layered with raspberry jam. The topping is made of white chocolate and 100 ml of double cream, topped with fresh raspberries.  Rich, but not too heavy. Mission accomplished.

Dessert, Room for improvement

Baileys Creme Brulee.

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I loved the way it tasted. I managed not to overdo the amount of Baileys, what I cocked up, was overcooking it. Although I followed the recipe guidelines, 50 minutes in 150 degrees, gas mark 2, the texture was not right. It had nothing to do with the silkiness a good creme should have. Damn. I’ll do it again, but will take them out after 30 minutes or so.

For 2 large cremes I used 160 ml of double cream, flavoured with some vanilla paste, a tbsp or a touch more of Baileys, all heated up till nearly boiling. I whipped 2 egg yolks with a tbsp of caster sugar and then – new and efficient!- I switched from electric mixer to a whisk, while slowly incorporating the hot cream into the egg mixture. What I discovered, was that there was no need for straining, as the manual whisk did not generate so much froth as the electric one.  But still- overcooked. Maybe on Saturday I’ll do it again. It needs to be perfect.

Good Food

Chicken with an X-factor.

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I was hoping to make it look as good as some of the Masterchef stuff, it didn’t go THAT well, but it was a lovely, tasty dinner. I’d really like all the mess in the kitchen to clean itself now, but somehow doubt it will happen.

First, I roasted off some lovely winter veggies in the oven, I used a parsnip, some butternut squash, a beetroot and a few shallots, which I finished off with some truffle oil. It made a lovely side dish. Boneless chicken thighs I flattened and stuffed with chopped, cooked porcini mushrooms, rolled, seasoned and placed in the pot with my lovely sauce in the making. The sauce I made by frying some chopped shallots, adding mushroom stock and chicken stock cube. When the chicken cooked through, I finished the sauce by thickening it with some flour and cream, seasoned well and topped with fresh thyme. Served with creamy mustard mash.

 

Dessert

Chocolate & raspberry tart with hazelnut creme fraiche.

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I needed a dessert, that was a perfection. I needed it for 2 reasons. One, I made a cold cheesecake last night. Baileys cheesecake with a coffee jelly, bla bla bla, but I didn’t do a very good job with the gelatine, it didn’t set, it went down the bog this morning. An annoying waste. Two, Florian went shopping on Sunday and bought some cooking chocolate, as an indication perhaps, of what he had in mind, dessert wise. He made me laugh last night, putting together  a correct Polish sentence, saying “kupilem czekolade i co, i mam kurwa sernik”  🙂 I had to reward him with some chocolate dessert.  Irritatingly, when looking for a recipe on the net today, I found plenty of recipes calling  for ready short crust pastry. I can do better than that and I found the proper recipe. Pastry therefore, 250 g of plain flour, 75 g of caster sugar, 125 g unsalted butter, 2 beaten egg yolks all mixed together, then blind baked for 25 minutes on gas mark 4, extra 10 minutes minus the baking beans. Not the most show- stopping pastry case I’ve ever made, must be said.

The filling, zero calorie one, 200 ml of double cream heated up and around 300 g of dark chocolate melted in it, until thick and lovely. I added a splash of Kahlua as well, but can’t really taste it, to be honest. Fresh raspberries went on to the slightly cooled case, chocolate mixture onto it and into the fridge for a couple of hours. I finished it off with some chopped, toasted hazelnuts and to serve, a creme fraiche with the said hazelnuts and  touch of icing sugar. Rich. Nice.

Good Food

Cheesy Swiss bake.

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Random thing I made this evening, I came across the recipe somewhere, but had to Olutafy it a bit, as the original called for bacon, raclette cheese and so on. I thought, no bacon is better for this dish than pancetta, instead of onion, leeks will do a much better job flavour wise, and as for the cheese, I think raclette belongs with raclette, I used Gruyere.

I peeled and chopped the spuds into small chunks, quick boiled them for about 5 minutes, then mixed with fried pancetta lardons and fried leeks, some double cream, a splash of Chablis, grated Gruyere and seasoned all to taste nicely. I baked it for about 30 mins under the foil, then removed it to crisp the top up a touch. Worked a treat. It wouldn’t be amazing on its own, so I made a nice green bean salad to go with it, but it would make  an evil side dish, I think. To a roast, for instance.

Baking

Spiced coffee and date cake.

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Paul Hollywood’s recipe. The only one from the most recent edition of Good Food, the Christmas edition, that I felt like doing right away. Hollywood dude seems like he knows what he’s doing on The Great British Bake Off, so I gave this one a try. What I like about it is the lovely smooth texture, it seems light and yummy, I will be much more generous next time with the ground ginger, cinnamon, orange zest and nutmeg. I will in fact double it, I think!

For the cake I used 75 g of pitted dates, which I soaked in 250 ml of hot, strong black coffee, then one egg, 75 g of melted butter, 140 g of caster sugar and a zest of 1 orange I’ve beaten together, poured in the coffee minus the dates, then added 175 g of plain flour, the said cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, 2 tsp of baking powder, mixed it all in and poured onto the baking tray. The soaked dates went on top. It baked for 40 minutes in 160 degrees and the whole house smelled fantastic.

Towards the end I made the topping, which I think can be improved as well, Paul says 50 g of butter melted with 100 g of muscovado sugar, stirred on the low heat, with a tbsp of water to make it shiny, then a good handfull of pecan nuts.

It will be made again, but it will be Olutafied. 🙂

Good Food

In the mood for scallops.

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I went shopping today not knowing what I wanted to cook. But they had lovely fresh scallops, I couldn’t say no to, so I bought them. For the mash I roasted some butternut squash and a couple of parsnips, shallots and a chilli, then blitzed it nicely and seasoned to taste. Quickly panfried  them and served on that mash, along a nice bunch of asparagus wrapped in crispy pancetta. Quick, tasty, yummy.

 

…followed by a simple vanilla pannacotta with blueberries. Usual recipe.

Good Food

Chicken noodle soup with best tempura to date.

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The recipe inspired by the one from Good Food, but with my touch, as always. It’s a bit too thick, I said at the table, to which Florian responded by showing me his nearly empty bowl, clearly disagreeing, then went for the seconds. I used some good chicken stock, to which I added 2 boneless chicken thigs, some fresh chopped garlic and ginger and left to simmer for 20 minutes. When the chicken was cooked, I took it out and chopped to pieces, added some shitake mushrooms, pak choi, sweetcorn and too much noodles. I decided it was not flavoursome enough, so I seasoned it with soy sauce and a drop of sesame oil. It was filling and tasty, but not as nice as, for example in Wagamama.

My tempura this evening however was very good.According to Florian- best yet. I used  around 100 g of plain flour, a tbsp of cornflour, a pinch of salt and mixed it with 200ml of very cold water, with 2 ice cubes to be sure. I fried shitake ( in the restaurant this is my favorite tempura ), courgettes and sweet potatoes. It was crunchy and delicious. For the dipping sauce I improvised a bit and mixed soy sauce with brown rice vinegar, chicken stock and brown sugar. It was not astounding, but tasty enough. Overall, pleased. Tomorrow I’m baking a lemon custard tart nr 2 and taking it to work, to see if I can make a better one than Cathal’s.

Good Food

A simple, f…ing* good pasta! :-)

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Wednesday evening off, dinner must be on the table. And it’s got to be a nice dinner, after a few staff meals at work, not all of them amazing.

I had a piece of nice St. Agur in the fridge, so I bought some nice pasta, some pancetta lardons, fresh rocket, some courgettes. Oh, and I went to Selfridges as well. Their Food Hall is my favourite place in the whole of London. I walk around there, a bit intimidated by the tons of money the people who shop there have. Among other few treats I got a small of piece of parmesan, nearly 6 quid, when I grated it this evening it smelt like heaven. Excellent purchase, I need to make something on Sunday that will go with that cheese equally well.

I fried my pancetta, a shallot, a chopped courgette, half a chilli, a few cherry tomatoes, then threw cooked pasta in and tossed it with cubed St.Agur. Right before serving I added the rocket and parmigiano. It was really simple, but the cheese melted quickly and made it all creamy and lovely.