Lemon, Parmesan and Pea Pasta

You know those nights when you don’t have that much in the cupboards and you’re starving? Well this was created, on one of those nights, using whatever I had handy. And it was really good. As long as you keep a packet of pasta in the cupboard (it doesn’t matter which kind), a lemon and a bit of Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese in the fridge, you’re away. And who doesn’t usually have some peas in the freezer? I also keep a packet of chopped basil in the freezer, just for when I don’t have any fresh stuff. A sprinkling of this will give the dish a lovely sweetness that pairs well with the lemon.

Lemon, Parmesan and Pea Pasta
Serves 4
Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 100g Parmesan cheese, grated finely, plus extra to serve
• 350g pasta
• 2 handfuls frozen peas/petits pois
• 2 teaspoons frozen chopped basil, or a handful of fresh basil, leaves torn

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, When it’s hot and bubbling, add your pasta.
2. While that’s cooking, grate the rind of the lemon into a large serving bowl, and squeeze in the juice. Drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil and then grate in the cheese and the basil. Give it a quick stir, so that it becomes a zesty-smelling, grainy paste.
3. 5 minutes before your pasta is ready, tip in the frozen peas.
4. When your pasta is cooked, drain it and catch a mugful or so of the cooking water as you do so. Toss the hot pasta and cooked peas into the lemon mixture in the bowl and slosh in some of the cooking water as you go, so that you get a loose sauce that clings to the pasta. Taste, and season with salt and black pepper.
5. Scatter with more grated Parmesan and serve immediately.

What’s your favourite dish to cook when the cupboards are bare?

Persian Chicken Stew from the Stewed! Cookbook

I first fell in love with this dish at the Stewed! kiosk in Reading, when I tasted it about a month ago. It had a sweet/sour flavour, and as well as chicken, it contained walnuts, sour cherries and pomegranate molasses. To be honest, I’d never tried pomegranate molasses before, but the stew had a fruity but sharp taste which I loved, and so I happily wolfed it down.

Now, I have my own copy of the Stewed! cookbook and when I saw the recipe for Persian Chicken Stew in there, I couldn’t wait to try it. It’s really easy to make, and you won’t be disappointed with it. You can get bored with the same old dishes time and time again and this is something that’s really simple to make, but tastes really unusual. I loved it, and we’ll be making it again. Even the girls loved it (minus the crunchy pomegranate seeds – they were ALL MINE.)!


All you do is gently soften some onions, cinnamon and turmeric and then add in the chicken thighs. I really do think you need to use thighs here as they stay juicy and tender and don’t have as much of a tendency to dry out and go stringy like breast meat does. Then, in various stages, you add ground walnuts, stock and pomegranate molasses. This might be where you could come unstuck. In the recipe, the book’s author Alan Rosenthal suggests that you can pick up pomegranate molasses in supermarkets, and you can. You just need to search them out. If your local supermarket stocks it, you’ll find it in the aisle where they keep things like harissa paste, wasabi and porcini mushrooms. It’s a great ingredient – so sweet in flavour that it’s sour – and I can’t wait to find other ways to use it in cooking. (The label on the bottle suggests drizzling it over vanilla ice cream – I am going to HAVE to try that).


On Twitter, Alan suggested that I use 400ml of stock instead of the 500ml that the recipe states – and the consistency of the sauce was fairly thick – just right. The walnuts thicken it all up quite a bit – it’s just an amazing stew and I really loved it, scattered afterwards with scooped out pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley and served with Basmati rice, soya beans and peas. If you’re looking for a one pot meal that’s a bit out of the ordinary, then do try this.


For more details about the Stewed! cookbook click here.

Pork Shoulder Slow Cooked in Beer and What to Do With It

Cooking pork in beer gives it a deep, malty flavour, and over the long hours it takes to cook it means that by the time it’s ready, it’s meltingly tender and ready to be scattered into rolls, rolled up in burritos or just eaten as it is, with some vegetables. I use a slow cooker for this, just because I can put it all on at lunchtime and then forget about it for the rest of the day, until the place is filled with that meaty, aromatic scent. How did I know I’d got the recipe right? My daughter came home from school and before I had even turned the key in the lock, she looked up and said “Mummy, I can smell burritos.” Result!

Here’s how I do it:

Pork Shoulder Slow Cooked in Beer
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 1 x pork shoulder joint, about 1kg
• 500ml beer (I use something like Black Sheep Pale Ale)
• small handful of thyme springs
• half a teaspoon smoked paprika
• Good pinch of salt and black pepper

Method

1. Set your slow cooker to HIGH. Scatter the sliced onion along the base of the slow cooker crockpot. Remove all packaging from the pork joint and place gently on top of the onions.
2. Next, pour the beer over the meat and onions, throw in the thyme sprigs, the smoked paprika and season well with salt and pepper. Replace the lid and leave for 3-4 hours, until the meat is tender.
3. When it’s ready, lift the joint out of the slow cooker and transfer to a plate. Cut off any of the excess fat on the top of the joint and discard. Shred the tender meat with two forks and use in your recipe. A few suggestions….. 

 

 

Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Rolls

Split a mini bread roll and spread a little mayonnaise over both of the cut sides. Heap on the shredded pork and top with a spoonful of home made coleslaw. Sandwich the roll back together and eat straight away.

 

Burritos

It might not look like a lot, but a good burrito is filling and packs as many goodies as a ‘proper’ evening meal. Just scatter some cooked rice (I like to use Basmati rice if I have it, as it gives a more aromatic flavour) over a large tortilla wrap and top with the shredded pork. Sprinkle over some chopped cucumber, tomato and red onion, lettuce, guacamole, avocado and salsa and roll it up in a rectangle of foil, to keep it all together. I (and my fearless 6-year-old) love to dribble over some Cholula Hot Sauce as we eat.

 

 
 

 

What do you think? Reckon you’ll make this?  
 
 

 

Tesco’s Limited Edition London Sandwiches

When I went to my local Tesco supermarket in search of mince pie flavoured crisps last Christmas, I called over a shop assistant to help me find them. He, in turn, called over the store manager, who didn’t know anything about the crisps. But he did puff out his chest a little, stand up straight and say to me, “Tesco are very well-known for our unusual sandwiches, so if it’s weird sandwiches you need, we’re always at the forefront of that.”
 
It’s true, Tesco were the pioneers of sandwiches such as the lasagne sandwich (yes, it contained pasta as well) the strawberries and cream sandwich and the banana and chocolate sandwich. And, just in time to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, they’ve come up with a range of sandwiches inspired by the city of London.

West Ham and Cheese Sandwich. Photo: Tesco

Red Leicester Square Sandwich. Photo: Tesco

The sandwiches, which include Red Leicester Square sandwich, West Ham and Cheese Roll and Ham and Piccalilli Circus sandwich all come in eye-catching boxes, made to look like black London taxis, Red buses and an old-fashioned red telephone box. Except I couldn’t help but feel that they could have pushed the boat out a bit more, considering their earlier exploits. There’s nothing really unusual about the sandwiches themselves, just the marketing and their London-themed names; although in the Egg Hollandaise Park sandwich, hollandaise sauce replaces the usual mayonnaise.

Egg Hollandaise Park Sandwich. Photo: Tesco

 
It would have been great to see Tesco coming up with a new, updated Coronation chicken recipe or using regional British ingredients like Lancashire cheese, for example. Or, maybe a complete roast beef dinner sandwich complete with Yorkshire pudding* – I mean, if they can make a pasta sandwich…

Ham and Picalilli Circus Sandwich. Photo: Tesco

 
The Tesco range of London sandwiches are a limited edition, and will be available from the 28th May 2012, priced at £1.70 per pack.

What do you think? Am I being too harsh? Now they’ve set the bar, do we expect more from the third largest retailer in the world?

*ETA: Thank you to the reader below who told me that Tesco HAVE actually released a Yorkshire pudding and roast beef sandwich: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2141902/Supermarket-celebrates-250-years-sandwich–Yorkshire-pudding-wrap.html – This was the first filling that popped into my head while I was writing the post and I didn’t check *slaps wrist* – and that’s great from Tesco – but I still think they could have been a bit more adventurous with these London sandwiches; showcasing local produce, for example or real London favourites. Jellied eels anyone?  

Giveaway: Win a Selection of Drinks from Steenbergs!

Steenberg’s are a Yorkshire-based company that offer Fairtrade and organic products including spices, teas, and anything from baking ingredients to health and beauty products. They also sell sumac, which isn’t (at least to my knowledge) that easy to get in supermarkets.

They’re ‘passionate about organic’, and when they sent me a couple of their hot drinks to try out, I was hooked. Honestly.

The Gingerbread Chai Tea has to be my favourite drink, ever. It’s an aromatic blend of tea and spices, which you make with hot milk and a little water and sugar. It’s so soothing and refreshing and the ginger spice in it just gives you a little kick so you can carry on with the rest of the day. I love it.

The Organic Drinking Chocolate is sweet, chocolatey, and has a little boost of flavour from the vanilla in it – you also make this with milk. It has a really soothing aroma – perfect for winding down after a long day (I’ve had a few of those, this week!).

Each of these drinks comes in a lovely tin, which keeps the drinks fresh but also looks brilliant on the kitchen worktop. And, Steenbergs have offered to give a selection of their drinks to one lucky Comfort Bites reader, who will receive a tin of each of the following: Gingerbread Chai, White Tea with Lemongrass and Orange Blossom, Russian Caravan Tea and Organic Drinking Chocolate.

 

What you have to do
The first step, which is compulsory, is to leave a comment below telling me either – which is your favourite variety of tea – or which of the teas on the Steenbergs website you would like to try the most. Feel free to also leave a comment on the Steenbergs website about any of their products if you wish. You will also get bonus entries for Facebook likes and Twitter follows. You will need to click on the Rafflecopter widget below to register your entry. Please don’t click on Rafflecopter and register entries if you haven’t commented below or followed/liked – I will check entries and remove those that aren’t complete.

The rules:

• One winner will receive a pack of Gingerbread Chai, White Tea with Lemongrass and Orange Blossom, Russian Caravan Tea and Organic Drinking Chocolate. The giveaway is being provided by Steenbergs, and their decision is final.
• The winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter on Friday 15th June 2012 and contacted via email, or Facebook/Twitter message.
• If the winner does not respond within 7 days, another winner will be chosen.

For more information on Steenbergs and their range of teas as well as other products, check out their website. 
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

This isn’t my first dalliance into the world of peanuts and vanilla – I got hooked on the combination after making my Peanut and Vanilla Cupcakes a few weeks ago. I wanted to make something with a similar flavour, that was more easily portable than a peaked, whippy-iced cupcake. Something that everyone would love in their lunchboxes. And here it is. Crumbly, soft cookies with peanut butter and white chocolate chips. The fact that these are so easy and quick to make makes them even more desirable.

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 18

Ingredients

• 180g unsalted butter, softened
• 180g light muscavado sugar
• 300g self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 90g peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
• 100g white chocolate chips
• half teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Next, add the peanut butter, vanilla essence and the flour. Sprinkle in the chocolate chips and mix until you get a smooth dough.
3. Pinch off walnut-sized chunks of the mixture and roll into balls with your hands. Place on the baking sheet, leaving a little space between each one. When they’re all lined up (you might have to bake them in 2 batches) press each one lightly with the prongs of a fork to gently flatten.
4. Slide into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

My Reviews of Miller and Carter and Tampopo, on The Oracle Website, Reading

I was invited to review a couple of restaurants in Reading by The Oracle recently and thought that I’d share them with you.

The first was Miller and Carter, on the Riverside. With its black and gold signage and cosy interior I had thought that this wasn’t the place to be grabbing a quick bite with the children, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s a gorgeous restaurant and we’ve been back quite a few times now. The steaks really are amazing – tender, generous and cooked just the way you ask. The fries that come with it are skinny, crisp and served separately in a little cup – I guess so the juice from the steak and sauces doesn’t make your chips soggy, which is a great idea. Check out my review, which is now up on The Oracle’s website.

Miller and Carter’s Rump Steak with Bearnaise Sauce and Chips

Miller and Carter’s White Chocolate Box dessert

The second place I tried, this time with the children in tow, was Tampopo. Just next to Miller and Carter, it was a great place for the girls to try some different flavours. I was a bit cautious at first when I saw their kids’ meals are vegetable tempura, a dipping sauce and a chicken skewer but they loved it. And no sooner had they polished off that, they were asking to try our curries and stir-fries and tucking into chilli prawn crackers. A great place, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take them back there again. Tampopo serve a wide range of Eastern foods, including Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese. Take a look at the full review, also on The Oracle website.


Have you eaten at Miller and Carter, or Tampopo? Or at any of the other restaurants at Reading’s Oracle? What did you think?

What’s All The Fuss About Peanut Butter KitKat?

When I saw this little baby lined up on the newsagent’s shelf, I didn’t quite get it. Didn’t we already have Kit Kat Chunky PEANUT flavour? And how was the peanut butter flavour any different? Well, in the interests of investigation, I bought one and tried it. (Aren’t I good to you, eh?)

The Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter flavour is different to that of the peanut flavour. While the peanut part inside the original ‘peanut’ version was quite firm in texture, this is softer and seems a little bit saltier and more peanut-like. It’s my new favourite chocolate bar at the moment.

Or at least it would be, if I could get my hands on another one. I went back to the shop to find that they’d sold out and didn’t know when they would be getting any more in. This made me more determined, and every time I’ve gone past a newsagents or corner shop I’ve poked my head inside to see if they have any. They never do. So I asked Nestlé what was going on. “All promotional stock was distributed nationwide at the start of this promotion,” they told me, “and demand for the limited edition Kit Kat Chunky bars was phenomenal!”

I learned that this particular variety was the winning flavour from a customer vote – kind of like X-Factor I guess for Kit Kats – called Choose a Chunky Champion. Nestlé added: “Peanut Butter Kit Kat Chunky has now become a permanent line and is available to buy from most stores.” Phew, that’s a relief.

What do you reckon? Have you tried the Peanut Butter Kit Kat Chunky? Can you get your hands on one? What do you think of it?

 

The Ultimate Family Chicken Pie

I don’t know if there is a food so completely comforting as a good chicken pie. Creamy sauce with tender chicken pieces, mushroom slices and a hint of aniseedy tarragon, tucked under a flaky puff pastry topping. Give me a good chicken pie any day. I love it with veg – broccoli, peas or carrots – and any leftovers are finished off the next day for lunch, warmed up, with a blob of glossy, dark HP brown sauce.

 

This recipe is an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s chicken pie from 30-Minute Meals, but it is quite different in texture and in flavour than the original. I’ve added the tarragon, which I love – and usually use chicken thigh meat instead of chicken breast as it stays more juicy. I’ve also tweaked the quantities of creme fraiche and stock to make a richer, creamier sauce. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Ultimate Family Chicken Pie
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

• 4 spring onions, washed, trimmed and sliced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 4 chicken breasts, or 6 chicken thigh fillets, sliced into bite-sized chunks
• 150g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and stalks trimmed
• 1 heaped tablespoon flour
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 350ml chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 x ready rolled sheet of puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and drizzle in a little olive oil and fry the sliced chicken for 3-4 minutes. Throw in the sliced spring onions and the mushrooms and cook for another minute.
2. Scatter over the flour and then add the stock, mustard, creme fraiche and dried tarragon with a pinch of salt and grinding of black pepper. Stir to combine, and leave to simmer for 5-7 minutes more.
3. Take out an ovenproof roasting dish and tip in the creamy chicken mixture. Unravel the roll of puff pastry and lay over the top of the pie filling. Gently, without cutting through it, score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife, making a chequerboard effect. Brush with the beaten egg and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the creamy sauce is bubbling up around it.

 

What would be your ultimate pie? Shortcrust pastry or puff? Chicken, beef or vegetable?

The Rice Burger: The Next Big Thing?

The Toku Rice Burger    Photo: The Japan Centre

 

 

Imagine a burger and you might think of juicy beef, pickles and melted cheese inside a sesame seeded doughy bun. Not exactly healthy, you might admit. But chefs at Toku, in London’s Japan Centre might just have the answer – in a rice burger. The rice burger contains no bun, but consists of two patties of rice filled with meat, fish, vegetables or salad, wrapped in a sheet of nori seaweed. They describe the new, healthy burger as ‘mouthwatering’ – served with lettuce, onion, nori seaweed, teriyaki or sesame lemon sauce, and Japanese mayonnaise. You can choose between brown or white rice patties and any of the following: Piri Piri Yakiniku Beef, Hot and Spicy Chicken, Hot and Spicy Pork, Teriyaki Chicken, Chicken Cutlet, Prawn Kakiage Tempura, Kinpira Gobo, Salmon Tempura and Vegetarian Tempura. It’s certainly healthier than a regular burger – it’s not dripping with melted cheese, for one thing. The Japan Centre says that the rice burger has taken London ‘by storm’, but can it really compete with the standard burger for the lunchtime rush? The rice burger is much healthier, and cheap too – at £3.49 each. But do we love a burger purely because it feels naughty and somehow a special treat? If so, while there’s no doubt it’s healthier, it might be defeating the object a little. Personally I’m up for anything new, and healthier foods can only be a good thing. I’d definitely try a rice burger if I got the opportunity. Those flavours – the teriyaki sauce, spicy meats and crunchy tempura sound amazing. Toku is at the Japan Centre in London’s Regent Street. For more information visit their website. What do you think? Have you tried a rice burger? Do you think it could ever replace the traditional burger?

Win a 50 Flavour Jelly Belly Gift Box and Check Out my Union Jack Diamond Jubilee Jelly Belly Cake!

When I was browsing on the Jelly Belly website I came across the amazing Union Jack cake created for Jelly Belly by Helen at the Fuss Free Flavours blog. It looked stunning and I knew that I wanted to have a go and make one myself. And while Helen’s cake is square, I wondered if it would work just as well in a smaller, circular shape. And it did!

 

I made a classic Victoria Sponge cake and when it was cool, sandwiched it together with raspberry jam. Then I made up a batch of basic buttercream icing and spread it, fairly thinly, over the top and around the sides of the cake. Then, before the buttercream was dry, I used red, white and blue Jelly Belly jellybeans to create the Union Jack effect on the top, using a Union Jack printed napkin as my guide. It wasn’t as fiddly as I thought it was going to be and the result was totally brilliant. You might need a little more buttercream in some places as you stick the jelly beans on so that they stick in place and don’t tumble off when you move it.

It’s already been suggested that I could make one of these for the school’s summer fayre and I think it’s a great idea. You can buy packs of the red (cherry), white (coconut) and blue (blueberry) jellybeans at the Jelly Belly website. My cake was 23cm wide and I needed just over one pack of the jellybeans to decorate it, so bank on buying two packs to be safe and to allow for any naughty nibbling (sorry, quality control procedures) while you work.

Me, adding the Jelly Belly beans to the cake… check out that concentration!

But while the cake is something I’m hugely proud of, the best part is this. Jelly Belly have offered to give away one 50-flavour gift box to one lucky Comfort Bites reader. If you’ve ever tried Jelly Belly jellybeans you’ll know that they really are full of flavour and with this gift box you can try flavours such as Juicy Pear, Lemon or even Toasted Marshmallow. Jelly Belly describe this as the ‘A-list of flavours’ – you don’t want to miss out on this!

To win a Jelly Belly 50-flavour Gift Box:
All you have to do is visit the flavours section of the Jelly Belly website and tell me which flavour jellybean you would most love to try. There’s quite a range so be adventurous! This step is compulsory. You can gain extra entries for Twitter follows and Facebook likes. You must click on the Rafflecopter widget to register your entry, and entries will be verified. A winning entry will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter on June 6th, 2012 and the winner will be contacted. If the winner does not respond within 7 days, a new winner will be chosen. The gift box can only be delivered to a UK mainland address. Good luck!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Research Company MMR Find the Perfect Way to Enjoy Coffee

 

Think you know how to enjoy the perfect cup of coffee? Here’s a clue: sitting down, tucked away at a tiny (probably wobbly) corner table strewn with sachets of milk and sugar isn’t it. Oxfordshire-based consumer research company MMR have conducted some research into the perfect way to enjoy a cup of coffee, and the results are fairly surprising, if not also quite specific.

As part of their investigations, MMR asked coffee lovers about vision, odour, touch and sound and how they can be brought together to create the ultimate coffee-drinking experience.

MMR concluded that “sitting at home on a quality leather chair, listening to the silky tones of saxophone-based jazz, surrounded by the deep colour purple, with the coffee in a porcelain mug, accompanied by a slice of Victoria sponge cake was found to be the ideal situation for enjoying the blend.”

Seeing as most of us enjoy a quick coffee on the go in a paper cup or we’re squeezed into a bustling coffee shop it goes to show that we could be missing out on the whole coffee ‘experience’.

This research has recently been used by Carte Noire to create The Silk Rooms, which they say, is the world’s first Wholebean Instant coffee tasting experience, accounting for flavour, texture, aroma and sounds. Check it out, in the video below:



Do you think it makes a difference how we drink our coffee? Does it really matter what we see, smell or touch when we’re eating or drinking?

Full English Breakfast Pasties

For the Six Nations rugby tournament this year, O2 sent me a couple of pies from Pieminster to celebrate, as part of their O2 Rewards scheme. We wolfed them down, while watching the match, and ever since then, I’ve been intrigued by the thought of filling a pie or pasty with the ingredients from a full English breakfast. It took me a while (the tournament was back in February) but I eventually did it.

There’s sausage, black pudding, baked beans, smoked bacon, mushrooms and smoked cheddar in there. There are no eggs – unless you’re counting the egg wash which went over the top – because I just felt it didn’t need it; the pasty was already very rich. These are really very easy to make, especially if you use ready-made shortcrust pastry (although it would be even better if you made your own) and I usually have most of the ingredients in the fridge so no special shopping is required.

Here’s how I made them:

Full English Breakfast Pasties
Makes 5-6

Ingredients

• 1 x 400g tin baked beans (reduced salt ones if possible)
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 100g smoked cheddar (I used Applewood), grated
• 100g chestnut mushrooms, stalks trimmed and mushrooms sliced
• 5 good-quality pork sausages
• 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, rind removed and rashers chopped
• 100g black pudding, diced into small squares
• 1 x block of shortcrust pastry
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line two baking trays with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
2. Measure out the 100ml vegetable stock in a glass measuring jug. Tip half of the tin of beans into it, and blitz with a blender until smooth. Tip in the rest of the beans and stir in the grated cheese. Put to one side.
3. Chop the bacon and fry in a dry frying pan until crisp. Squeeze the sausages out of their skins and add to the bacon, breaking it up into small chunks with the spoon or spatula you are stirring with. Tip in the mushrooms and the black pudding pieces and gently fry for about 3-4 minutes.
4. Tip the liquid into the measuring jug and stir well. Leave to bubble for another couple of minutes and take off the heat.
5. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to a thickness of around 3-4mm. Take a spoonful of the meaty mixture and fill one half of the pastry circle. Dip a finger in a mug of cold water and run it around the outside of the circle, folding it to make a semi-circle shape. Press the prongs of a fork around to seal, and carefully lift onto the baking tray. Brush with the beaten egg, and make a hole in the top of the pasty with a fork. Repeat for all the other pasties.
6. Bake, until the contents are bubbling and piping hot and the pastry is golden – about 25 minutes.

What do you reckon? Not just for breakfast, eh?

Chocolate and Almond Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Caramelised Almond Topping

 

 

 

You may be used to my experiments in chocolate by now, for the We Should Cocoa Challenge run by Chocolate Teapot and Chocolate Log Blog. Well May’s challenge is hosted by Laura from the How to Cook Good Food blog and the aim is to create a recipe using both chocolate and almonds. It took me a while to dream this up, but when I finally got round to making it I knew that it would be good. The cakes are made with ground almonds and cocoa powder in the mixture, drizzled with a glossy dark chocolate ganache and then topped with a caramelised whole almond for decoration and crunch. The recipe has quite a few extra steps in it, but don’t let that put you off. Making the ganache is even easier than your average buttercream icing and it doesn’t even take very long to dry. It’s all very easy and so worth it for the flavour of this cake, nibbled alongside sips of your favourite cuppa. My children also loved this, but for them I just removed the whole almond.

Chocolate and Almond Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Caramelised Whole Almond

Makes 12-16, depending on the size of the muffin tin/cupcake cases

Ingredients

For the cakes:

• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 100 soft light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 70g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 140g plain flour
• 80g ground almonds
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• half teaspoon French almond extract
• 2-3 tbsp milk, to loosen the mixture

For the ganache:

• 100ml single cream
• 80g plain chocolate (I used Bourneville)
• quarter teaspoon almond extract

For the caramelised almonds:

• 12-16 whole almonds (one for each cake)
• 70g demerara sugar
• splash of water (about 1 tbsp)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases – I used a silicone cupcake mould for these, without cases.
2. Cream together the butter and the two sugars until smooth. Crack in the eggs and mix well. Add the other ingredients and stir to create a smooth, dark batter. Divide between the cupcake cases/moulds and bake for 25 minutes, or until a cocktail stick emerges clean when speared into the cakes.
3. While they’re baking, get on with the caramelised almonds. In a small frying pan, heat the demerara sugar and a splash of water until it forms a sticky caramel. Tip in the almonds, turning each one with a spoon or tongs to make sure they are all coated. Lift each one out and leave to dry on a piece of greasproof paper.
4. When the cakes are completely cooled, make the ganache. You can do this in a saucepan over the hob or I do it in the microwave. Just pour the cream into a glass jug and break in the chocolate pieces. Microwave for about 30 seconds, until the cream is hot and the chocolate has started to melt. Stir in the almond extract until smooth, dark and glossy.
5. Spoon the ganache over the cupcakes, letting it dribble down the sides, and before it sets just place a caramelised almond on the top. Leave to cool completely.

Have you tried chocolate and almonds together? What are your favourite chocolate/almond foods?



Giveaway: Win a Stewed! Cookbook

You may remember that I popped along to the Stewed! kiosk in Reading and tried out one of Alan Rosenthal’s one-pot meals. Well, Stewed! have given me one of their cookbooks (worth £15.99) to give away to one lucky winner. In fact, I’m going to order myself a copy of this book, because we love stews, curries and one-pot dinners and there are so many recipes in here that I want to make!

Firstly, I was near-ecstatic to find that the Persian Chicken Stew that I tried at the kiosk was in the book, full of shredded chicken, pomegranate molasses and sour cherries. There honestly is something for everyone in here – from British beef and ale stew to Thai green chicken curry. There’s a massaman curry, stews with chorizo and chickpeas and – well, basically loads of stuff. If you’re a fan of one-pot dinners, and good soothing comfort food you won’t want to miss out on this.

The tone of the book is relaxed – you feel as if Alan Rosenthal is chatting with you as you read through it – and as well as over 80 of his recipes, he lets us in on the reasons he started Stewed! and how it has progressed. There are also handy tips in there, such as which cuts of meat work best in stews and which ones to avoid to get the right texture and flavour in your meal. The photography is colourful, atmospheric and just makes you want to eat. If you are bored of the usual stew and curry recipes doing the rounds do check it out – there is so much inspiration in here to perk up your dinner times.

Here’s how to win:
All you have to do is leave a comment below (click on the Rafflecopter widget to register your comment into the giveaway) and tell me what is your favourite one-pot meal. It can be a curry, chunky soup or stew – basically anything, as long as it’s cooked in one pot. You can get extra entries for Facebook and Twitter ‘likes’ and follows. Do remember though that entries will be verified so please don’t register your entry on the Rafflecopter widget if you haven’t followed those instructions. Any false entries will be disqualified.

The rules:

• The giveaway prize is one Stewed! cook book, worth £15.99.
• The closing date for all entries is Saturday 26th May, 2012.
• You must enter your comment, follows, Facebook likes etc onto the Rafflecopter widget below. Entries will be verified.
• The winner of the cook book will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter and will be contacted within 24 hours of the close of the competition. If the winner does not respond within 7 days then an alternative winner will be chosen (so please check your emails/Twitter/Facebook messages!)
• The book will be posted to a UK mainland address only.

Thank you, and good luck!   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream: Best Ever Chocolate Ice Cream with Hazelnuts

So, Kavey’s theme for this month’s Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream Challenge is chocolate. And that’s quite lucky, because ever since I bought my ice cream maker about a month ago, this is one of the flavours I’ve made most often. I kept adjusting the recipe each time I made it, until it was perfect. This is the thing my children ask me to make the most. The trick is to use a good quality bar of chocolate – you’ll really taste it in the finished ice cream.

 

Best Ever Chocolate Ice Cream with Hazelnuts

Makes about 650ml

Ingredients:

• 200ml double cream
• 200ml full-fat milk
• 160g caster sugar
• 100g bar good quality dark chocolate
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons chopped, toasted hazelnuts, to serve

Method:

1. Pour the cream and the milk into a saucepan. Tip in 80g of the sugar and heat gently. Break the chocolate up into small pieces and also add to the pan. Bring to just below boiling point.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, the vanilla and the rest of the sugar together in a large bowl, until it thickens. You’ll notice it might go quite dry first – like a paste – don’t worry, keep whisking and it will loosen up.
3. Pour the chocolatey milky mixture onto the whisked egg yolks into a thin, steady stream, whisking all the while.
4. Leave to cool completely and, with the paddle running, pour into an ice cream machine and churn for 25 minutes. Transfer to the freezer for another hour or two to firm up a little, if you wish. Sprinkle with hazelnuts just before serving. Delicious!!

What are your favourite ice cream flavours?

Stewed! Kiosk at Reading Railway Station

I’ve been waiting ages for this. The news was announced towards the beginning of the year that Stewed! were building a kiosk in Reading. The date kept getting delayed and now finally we have our kiosk, which opened just after the Bank Holiday weekend. And I couldn’t wait to get down there and see what all the fuss was about.

The kiosk is situated just in front of the main entrance to Reading station – there are a few tables and chairs, although most of the people buying their one-pot meals were grabbing them and heading away – probably back to the office, station or on the bus home. The concept of the nourishing, one-pot meal while out and about is an alternative to fast food – the choice often grabbed by hungry commuters on their way home. And while the Stewed! kiosk is new, the brand isn’t. Set up in 2008 by chef Alan Rosenthal, Stewed! hit farmers markets and then supermarkets to provide quick and easy stews, curries and one-pot meals to shoppers that had become bored of plasticky, tasteless ready meals in moulded trays. A cook book followed in 2010, which is already on its third print run, and the meals are stocked in many Sainsbury’s and Waitrose stores, online at Ocado and at various fairs and farmer’s markets around the country.

I love how Stewed! pleases the ‘Thai Chicken Curry’ and ‘Beef and Ale’ crowd and also caters for those who want to try newer, more unusual flavours. When I went along to the kiosk, on a drizzly, overcast day (perfect weather for this kind of food, I would be tempted to say), there was a Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Feta stew and also a Persian Chicken Stew with walnuts and pomegranate molasses. You can choose between mash, couscous or rice to go with your meal and you also get a little sprinkling of veggies over the top – in my case chopped cucumber, red pepper, soya beans, spring onions and peas. It really is, literally, a one-pot meal. And it’s filling and satisfying; I ate at 1pm and it kept me going all afternoon, which makes it really good value as you’re not snacking on naughty things between lunch and dinner.

My Stewed! pot of Persian Chicken Stew with couscous and veg

I was really pleased with my Persian Chicken stew, which came loaded with pomegranate seeds, walnuts and, of course lots of shredded chicken. Alan Rosenthal was on hand when I visited and was happy to talk through the different varieties of stews on offer and what the ingredients were – after all, he was the one who created the recipes.

The kiosk also offers coffee, porridge and other options. I can see commuters queuing up to get their breakfast before catching their train to work, or on their way back, picking up a handy evening meal for the way home. And it might as well be a filling, warm meal that soothes after a busy day than a floppy, lukewarm burger that disintegrates all over your lap. Offering this kind of food with such convenience is something that Alan and the Stewed! team should be praised for. I’m really pleased that Stewed! has come to Reading and for me, it was definitely worth the wait.

If you’re ever in Reading, do check out the kiosk, just outside the entrance to Reading Station. If you’ve been, let me know what you think in the comments below.

ETA: 1/5/2014: The Stewed! Kiosk is no longer at Reading Railway Station. 

The Ultimate Burrito Eating Race at Mission Burrito

If you love burritos, and you fancy your own Mans vs Food moment, then you’re in luck. Mission Burrito have announced this year’s eating ‘relay race’ where the winning team will win a Burrito and Corona party – other prizes are also up for grabs for the winners from each store and for the fastest individual burrito eater.

My first ever Mission Burrito… it was a hefty one, but I loved it!

The aim is to eat four burritos in the fastest time possible, in a team of maximum four people (one burrito each). If you have less than four people in your team, your team still needs to eat all four burritos. Oxford teams have won the previous two years, with times of 3 minutes 59 seconds (2010) and 5 minutes and 20 seconds (2011). Personally, I love them and I’ve become a bit of a regular in my local Mission Burrito but they are hefty things. And, as you can imagine, there are rules to the contest. If you want to check out more, or fancy a go, head down to your local Mission Burrito on 11th May 2012. See more details or get an entry form from www.missionburrito.com or alternatively pick one up in your nearest restaurant.

How quickly could you finish off a burrito? 

White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake with Ginger Butterscotch Sauce

I had my first bite of white chocolate and ginger together at Wagamama – it was their cheesecake dessert, which is drizzled with a ginger and chilli toffee sauce. The combination was mind-blowing – and, despite the differences in the two flavours – it was really refreshing and light. The tingly warmth of the ginger works with the vanilla-sweet white chocolate in the wobbly cheesecake so well, that I decided that I hadn’t seen the last of it yet. So I took on the task of creating one myself.

I wanted the base to have a stronger ginger flavour, so made it with gingernut biscuits. If you wanted it to be more subtle, you could use half gingernuts and half digestives, I suppose. The cheesecake filling is based on a standard recipe: mascarpone, double cream and cream cheese – but it has 400g of melted white chocolate whisked into it. The white chocolate doesn’t hit you straight away – there’s a hint of its milky, vanilla flavour as you eat. And I love the gingery topping – drizzled over the cheesecake at the last minute – sweet, buttery and full of flavour. Enjoy!

White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake with Ginger Butterscotch Sauce

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the base:

• 300g gingernut biscuits
• 100 unsalted butter

For the filling:

• 300g Philadelphia soft cheese
• 250g mascarpone
• 150ml double cream
• 400g white chocolate, melted

For the ginger butterscotch sauce:

• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 120ml double cream
• half a piece (about 10g) stem ginger from a jar, chopped finely + a drizzle of syrup (about 1 tablespoon)

Method

1. Cut a strip of greaseproof paper and lay across the base and up the sides of a 20cm circular cake tin. This will make it easier to lift the cheesecake out when its finished. Line the tin and the sides with a double layer of cling film, pressing it gently into the corners to create a defined shape.
2. Blitz the biscuits in a processor until they resemble sandy crumbs. Melt the butter in a medium-sized frying pan and add the biscuits, stirring to coat. Cool slightly, and then press the biscuit base into the lined cake tin. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
3. To make the filling, mix together the Philadelphia, mascarpone, and double cream until smooth and all combined. Pour in the melted white chocolate and whisk together. Pour this over the biscuit base and smooth down with the back of a spoon of palette knife. Return to the fridge for a few hours – until set – or, even better, overnight.
4. Once your cheesecake is set, make the sauce. Heat the sugar in a pan – not too hot or it will burn and taste bitter – until it just starts to form a golden caramel. Take off the heat and swirl in the butter. Pour in the cream, whisking all the time and finally add the chopped stem ginger and a tablespoon of the syrup from the jar. Stir, until it’s all combined and smooth and drizzle over the finished cheesecake. This will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

What do you think? Have you tried white chocolate and ginger together? What are your favourite white chocolate combinations?

Diamond Jubilee Vanilla Cupcakes Filled with Berries and Whipped Cream

We’re fast approaching June, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I’ve already made the coronation chicken voluvents, and now I needed something diddy and bite-sized for pudding. I loved the look of a traditional Victoria sponge cake so decided to make these little bite-sized cakes filled with whipped cream and crushed berries.

All you do is basically make some vanilla cupcakes in a silicone muffin tray, without paper liners. The muffin tray gives the edges of the cake a crispness that contrasts with all that soft cream. Then, when they are stone cold, you split them horizontally with a serrated knife and fill. Don’t be tempted to try and cut them when they are even the slightest bit warm – they will disintegrate into a pile of soft crumbs.

 

Diamond Jubilee Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients

• 125g soft unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g golden caster sugar
• 120g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• half teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 tbsp milk
• 100ml whipping cream
• handful of raspberries
• handful of blueberries
• icing sugar, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Beat together the butter and sugars, add the eggs and mix well. Tip in the flour and baking powder, trickle in the vanilla essence and milk, and mix well to a dropping consistency.
2. Fill a 12-hole silicone muffin tray with the mixture and bake for 15 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire tray.
3. Whip the cream until stiff. Place the raspberries in a small bowl and crush with a fork. In another bowl, do the same for the blueberries.
4. Swirl the raspberries into the cream and then the blueberries – don’t mix too much, you want a little bit of marbling rather than a consistent colour.
5. When the cakes are cool, split them in half horizontally and fill with the cream and berries mixture. Dust over some icing sugar and serve.
   
   

What are you making for the Diamond Jubilee this year?