Baking, Room for improvement

Carrot cake with something missing.

Leave a comment

Yum, just finished the first piece of it. Very nice indeed, if only I could be bothered to get dressed and go get some cream cheese to make the proper topping and make it look great. I decided I can’t be bothered though, as it’s raining, while at home it’s lovely and I have my tea and will just leave the cake  the way it is.

Recipe from GF, picked for its numerous 5 star reviews- that always helps. I’m glad it’s risen nicely and is as light and tasty as promised, I cocked up a few carrot cakes in my life before.

For this one I used 175 g of muscovado sugar, 150 ml of veggie oil, mixed it with 3 beaten eggs. Then I added 175g of grated carrots, a zest of one orange, plus some of that sweet, cooked orange peel I still have from my Mum’s visit for Christmas. 50 g of raisins and same amount of chopped walnuts. Then 175 g of self raising flour with an extra tsp of bicarbonate soda and finally a big fat tsp of cinnamon and a bit less of freshly grated nutmeg. Once I combined all that, I added yet more cinnamon, which I adore on everything, apart from my kitchen rug- I had an accident yesterday and even Dyson didn’t manage to get all of it off.

The cake baked in 180 degrees for 45 minutes, filled the house with great smell. When it cooled a bit, I made the frosting out of some icing sugar, orange juice and the remaining Cointreau I had in the pantry- that bottle lasted me years! The recipe said that it should be as thick as single cream, I don’t like stuff sickly sweet though, so I stopped adding sugar when close to that point.

Very nice cake, the recipe is a keeper, next time though- proper creamy frosting.

Good Food

Chicken parmigiana.

Leave a comment

Very nice meal at the end of a productive day. I washed and ironed 3 bags full of quality baby clothes I inherited from Aska yesterday. My daughter is not yet born, but she already owns 2 pairs of jeans! 😉

I took 2 chicken breasts and flattened them, seasoned, washed in egg and then covered in breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan. Then I made a simple tomato sauce, sweated a shallot and  crushed garlic, threw in  a can of tomatoes and a handful of cherry tomatoes onto it, some sugar and dried oregano ( fresh oregano is looking very promising in the garden this early into spring). I also added a little herby jelly, new from Knorr, which lifted the sauce up nicely. It all went onto the bottom of the baking dish, then I quickly grilled my chicken, placed it on top, topped with grated parmesan and a bit of cheddar( maybe mozzarella next time) and finished in the oven until the cheese melted and the sauce was bubbling.

The chicken is lovely and moist, sauce tomatoey and herby, good pat on the back.

I served it with French bean salad and red rice, which my mum calls “Egyptian”, not sure why. Made in a similar way like risotto, minus the wine, the shallots and parmesan. Just quickly sweat the rice on olive oil, mix in a tbsp of tomato paste and then keep on adding chicken stock, until the rice is cooked. The taste might be enhanced by a touch of ketchup and vegeta. I like it reheated the next day for lunch, I made sure I’ll have some for tomorrow. 🙂

 

Dessert, Good Food

Sweet potato and goats cheese ravioli.

Leave a comment

I was looking for something nice to serve Jedrus and Aska, who came over this weekend and picked this recipe from GF magazine, unaware of the fact they both disliked goats cheese (!!).

When it comes to home made pasta, we’re a great team, Florek and I. Florek makes the pasta – and the mess -I make the filling and put them together. This time I sexed up the recipe a bit, apart from a cooked and mashed sweet potato and mashed French goats cheese, I added parmesan, half a chopped red chili, some toasted pine nuts, fresh basil and lots of seasoning. I served them with chili infused oil and more pine nuts.  Both Jedrek and Aska enjoyed it in spite of their previous reservations, therefore- a success.

For dessert I made pannacotta just like in the previous recipe, all the same, only I infused the milk/ creme combo with good 2 tsps of green tea powder. The result was lovely- a bit like those green Kit Kats we were treated to whenever any of the Chiefs in Dinings went to Japan. Will be done again this way. DSC_5427

Dessert

White chocolate pannacotta.

Leave a comment

Nigella’s. I was debating this afternoon, whether to serve tiramisu with raspberries or a pannacotta this Saturday, when Jedrus and Aska come over for this weekend. It will be the latter, I think. Maybe some shortbread biscuit with it to posh it up, or maybe a different topping, we’ll see.

For 5 small ones in my regular silicone moulds I used 150ml of double cream, 100ml of milk, 75 g of white chocolate and 35 g of sugar, all heated up slowly, under supervision, as chocolate tends to stick to the bottom of the pan.  I added a touch of vanilla paste, couldn’t help myself, it just looks so nice with those tiny seeds when the whole thing is out of the mould.

When off the heat, I added 1,5 leaf of gelatine, this amount  seems to always work nicely, whatever the flavour. The wobble was just right.

On top, a few shavings of chocolate and mixed berry compote.

 

Good Food

Mac’n’cheese.

Leave a comment

I consider myself a decent cook, yet today I was looking at recipes of macaroni cheese, because I have never made it before (!!) . I wanted a budget meal and Jamie Oliver’s recipe sounded like a nice one.  I managed to put a nice meal on the table this evening in spite of having a really bad day, when everything was falling out of my hands, I was kicking pans in the cupboard and nearly cried, when a ball of nutmeg fell into my sauce whole, off the grater. I suppose I could just blame it all on the hormones, right?

So, macaroni; while the pasta was in the pan, boiling away, I made the white sauce, starting off like bechamel, plus a few thinly sliced bits of garlic and 3 bay leaves all in before the milk. The cooked pasta went in alongside some grated cheese, Jamie said cheddar, I used what I had in the fridge and needed to be used, a combo of comte and jarlsbeg, plus, to make it healthier and more tasty- some crispy fried bacon. Seasoned with the said nutmeg, which I finally fished out, a few drops of worcestershire sauce and salt/pepper. And into the oven for about 30 mins, to crisp up and turn nice and golden on top.

Served with a nice, green salad, it was a very pleasant meal indeed.

For dessert I made skubaniec, inspired by my mum, who sent me a parcel full of goodies for Izzie, plus 13 jars full of jams, preserves and stuff.  Gotta get cracking with those jars, I thought. Hence skubaniec. Recipe somewhere around, in 2010 I believe.

DSC_5397

Good Food

Pea, basil and pancetta tart.

Leave a comment

From GF online.  I thought pancetta and green peas can’t go wrong together. I made it the way I’d normally do  a quiche, plus a tiny improvement of infusing the cream with basil leaves and stalks. Not that it made an astonishing difference to the flavour, I needn’t have bothered.

The shortcrust pastry I’m particularly pleased with. 125 g of plain flour, 63 g of butter, an egg yolk and a splash of water to bind it.  Cooled briefly, pre- baked and then filled with fried pancetta, blanched peas, a couple of cherry tomatoes just for colour and extra chopped basil. Finished  with a mixture of 2 beaten eggs,  pseudo-infused cream, grated mozzarella, lots of grated nutmeg and seasoning.  Baked in 180 degrees until set and slightly browned on top.  Accompanied by a simple green salad.

 

Dessert

Mango mousse cake.

2 Comments

A spontaneous idea I had this afternoon, while bolognese sauce was bubbling away on the stove and I was wondering what should we have for dessert after lasagne.  I had a small bottle of a delicious mango juice in the pantry, which I warmed up just to be able to melt 2 gelatine leaves and left it to cool. Quickly magicked  up a sponge base with usual recipe and when it was cool and ready, I whipped some double cream with lemon juice and sugar. I was slowly adding the mango and gelatine mixture to it, then a touch more lemon juice to taste. On the sponge base I scattered some chopped peaches- I had no canned mango, which is a shame, onto the peaches went the cream and mango mixture.  4 hours in the fridge was enough for it to set nicely, sadly, having pigged nearly whole lasagne, we had no space for the cake last night, so it was only tasted today. Well pleased with it, I took some to Rob as a peace offering- more work is needed with our wall in the attic room, which he will have to sort out.  More cake will be enjoyed tonight with season 2 of “House of Cards”.

DSC_5325

Baking

Sunday Apple Pie with Custard.

Leave a comment

I have just come to a conclusion, that the best cooking and baking I do is spontaneous. I was planning on cooking the breast of lamb, as Tom Kerridge showed in Food & Drink, was thinking about it for the whole week, how I’d do it, discussed with the butcher and stuff and then I made it and it was ok, not good enough to blog it, I decided. Today at midday I thought- I want an apple pie, now. I made it using the recipe from “The Art of Pastry” book, half a portion, for 2 people to pig it, not 6 and I love it.

For the sweet shortcrust pastry I used 175 g of plain flour, 90 g of butter, a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp of cold water to bind it and, after a moment of consideration sexed it up with a tbsp of ground almonds and some sugar. Chilled it for 30 mins, while I peeled and thinly sliced 2 large bramley apples, sweetened and spiced them with cinnamon and lots of my mom’s fried orange peel and dusted with some flour, as the recipe suggested. I also folded through the remaining apple puree I made for souffles last night, it oozed out and on the photo looks like caramel on the edge of the pie.

My small 15″ tin was great again, this pie will be finished this evening, no doubt, enjoyed fresh and nothing wasted. The amount of filling was perfect and I even cut out some leaves to make it look nice on the top. Finished with egg white and a sprinkle of brown sugar it baked in 200 degrees for 30 mins, then in 180 for another 15 mins.

Custard- simplicity and no recipe. 2 egg yolks whipped with a random amount of sugar and a good tsp of corn flour, while double cream and milk with a vanilla pod were heating up on the stove. I whisked it through the egg mixture and returned to the pan, till slightly thickened.

Love the pie, that orange rind is sensational.

DSC_5286

DSC_5287

Dessert

Bramley apple souffle with berry coulis.

Leave a comment

Skinny Roux’s recipe from the latest “Food & Drink”. Proper souffle, I thought, when I was watching him making it, with creme patissiere and stuff, I had to have a go at it.

Hours earlier I made a simple bramley apple puree, just 1 chopped apple with some sugar, cinnamon and a splash of lemon juice, cooled and blitzed into smoothness. Then the coulis, simple again, frozen berries cooked off, sweetened to taste  and passed through a fine sieve.

From there I could warm the oven to 200 degrees with a baking tray as well, to give the beauties a kick of heat from the start.

For the creme pat I used 100 ml of milk, which I heated up with some sugar and vanilla paste. I whipped 2 egg yolks with 2 tsp of sugar, then stirred in about 12 g of flour, added the hot milk, whisked and returned onto the heat. It all thickened nicely and went outside onto the cold to cool quickly. I then folded in a fat spoon of apple puree. Next, 2 egg whites beaten up with 2 more tsps of sugar, a third of it briskly mixed into the creme pat, then the rest of it, gently, in order to keep as much air as possible.

This lovingly prepared mixture went into 3 ramekins, buttered  upwards, to encourage the souffles rising and dusted with sugar. And into the oven for 8-10 minutes.

The sink full of dishes was worth it. When they rose nicely in the oven I was jumping up and down, mistake, when 7 months pregnant, heheh, but hey. Good, goooooood dessert. 🙂

Baking

Coconut & mango slice.

Leave a comment

From the latest GF. I’ve made half a portion this afternoon, on the thought that Sunday without a home baked cake is just a tiny little bit shit. 🙂

For my small tin, which I greased and lined with parchment, while the oven was warming up to 180 degrees I used 100 g of soft butter, 110 g of soft brown sugar, creamed nicely together, 2 eggs added one by one, , 100 g of self raising flour, 25 g of desiccated coconut and about 70 g of Greek style yoghurt, coconut flavoured, ideally- mine was not, Co-Op is not that advanced. If I were to stick with the half a portion, I’d have used half a can of sliced mango, but I used it all, some on the bottom of the tin, the rest folded in. It was a good idea, made the cake moist and lovely, I need to work out some more coconut flavour in it next time. That yoghurt maybe, or some coconut cream, we’ll see.

I sprinkled a bit of desiccated coconut on top and whacked it in the oven for 30 minutes. Nice.

On the joys of cooking and eating