Posts tagged dinner party

Apricot and Vanilla Pannacotta with Rosemary Shortbread

March 22, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

There’s something about using herbs like thyme and rosemary in sweet desserts which I always think feels really sophisticated. Getting the right balance is essential as an overpowering flavour such as rosemary, while forgivable with lamb, will not be so delicious if overused in a dessert. It goes so well with the sweet, juicy plump apricots here and I created this recipe after being inspired by an apricot bar by a company called Baked. However, this recipe is more suitable for a after dinner dessert!

Serves about 5

Apricot Jam

200g dried apricots
350ml water
100g caster sugar
60g honey
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped

Combine the ingredients in a pan including the vanilla pod once the seeds have been removed.
Simmer gently for about 40-45 minutes until the apricots are plump and soft. Remove the vanilla pod and discard
Puree in a processor until you form a thick sticky jam. Store in a jar int he fridge and use for the pannacotta recipe or one croissants and toast!

Pannacotta

250ml double cream
250ml whole milk
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
50g caster sugar
Splash vanilla extract (optional)
2 ½ gelatine leaves
Aprioct jam

Combine the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a pan and gently heat to dissolve the sugar.
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft.
Get ready 5 ramekins, wine glasses, shot glasses or tumblers or whatever you want to serve your pannacotta in. Fill the base with a thin layer of apricot puree and smooth out evenly. There will be more jam than needed but add as much as you like.
Just before the cream mix begins to bubble, remove from the heat, and remove the vanilla pod. Squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine leaves and whisk into the hot cream.
Begin gentle, pour over a generous layer of the cream mixture onto your apricot puree. Leave to cool before leaving to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Serve with the rosemary biscuits and topped with some cinnamon sugared almond flakes if you like!

Rosemary Shortbread

125g butter
175g flour
50g caster sugar
½- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Rub the flour butter and sugar together or combine in a food processor until you just begin to get a dough
Add the rosemary and continue to mix to form a dough.
Cut into biscuits shapes and bake on a lined baking tray for about 10 minutes (depending on size) until just turning the palest of gold and they are still soft. Watch them carefully as they cook quickly.
Leave to cool before removing from the tray.

Slow Roasted Shredded Pork Cassoulet

March 7, 2013 Comments Off read Meat

So last year I entered a competition. I’m not going to lie, I did it because the prize money was £20,000 and all that was required was a classic British recipe. I thought, well hey, I can cook, I’m British, why not…..So that summer I was chosen to take part and went for some filming. Loyd Grosman was my judge. He tasted and commented on my dish while I sat apprehensively perched on the edge of my stool gazing intensely into his face like an interrogator. However, he handed me a shiny red rosette and I went on my way through….However, I’m afraid it stopped there. But BOY is it YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This recipe also appears in a cook book to accompany the TV series but for all you folk who don’t want to buy it- tut tut….here it is. Unfortunately they didn’t show my interview on the episode. I think I was too normal for Wednesday night entertainment…….

Serves 6

1kg pork shoulder, skin removed and reserved for cracking
1 red onion, chopped
200g smoked bacon lardons/pancetta
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 bay leaf
175ml red wine
Handful dried wild mushrooms, soaked in 200ml boiling water (reserved)
A few large rosemary sprigs, leaves chopped finely
7-8 large sage leaves, chopped finely
Handful of thyme, chopped finely
400g tinned tomatoes
400g haricot beans (2 tins)
Extra chooped herbs to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Heat a splash of oil in a heavy based casserole dish and brown the pork all over. Transfer to a plate and set aside
Add the onion and bacon and fry for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft and the bacon is crispy. Add the garlic and bay leaf and cook for a few minutes.
Increase the heat and pour in the red wine to de-glaze the pan and simmer for a few minutes
Drain the soaked mushrooms, reserving the liquid, and chop them roughly. Add to the casserole dish with a generous handful of the chopped herbs and cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and season.
Add the pork and top up the liquid using the reserved mushroom stock until it comes about ¾ the way up the sides.
Bring to the boil then place in the oven with a lid for 2 ½ hours
After this time, remove from the oven and add the drained beans. (If there is only a small amount of liquid in the tins, add this too as it will help thicken). Return to the oven without the lid and cook for about 30 minutes more to brown the meat and thicken the sauce.
Remove from the oven when ready and use forks to shred the pork among the cassoulet. If it needs thickening, reduce on the hob or add more mushroom stock if too thick.
Garnish with lots of freshly chopped sage and rosemary and a heart attack inducing shard of cracking!

All that’s left to do is sit down and enjoy with a leggy red wine and (hopefully) wonder why it wasn’t worthy of £20,000!

WINE: For a delicious and affordable treat, try a classic red Bordeaux. And what would be better than a glass of Château Grand Village, 2011 Bordeaux Supérieur. Being the second vineyard of the infamous Chateau Lafleur it a more economically friendly and delightful alternative if you haven’t got the budget for the real deal. Available at Armit Wines.

Best recipe in the book….certainly beats whats on page 157………..(bet you want to know what that is now….)

Rioja Lamb Shank with Mint Oil

March 2, 2013 Comments Off read Meat

You barely need a fork for this one as it will fall willingly, obligingly and delicately off the bone and into your welcome mouths! The better the meat the nicer it will taste but any meat bought on the bone will guarantee you with added tenderness and benefit from slow cooking. The rich punchy red wine sauce craves and benefits from the fresh cleansing addition of a nice homemade mint oil.

Serves 2 generously

2 lamb shanks
2-3 large carrots, diced
2 stick celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 bay leaf
Bunch thyme, chopped
Bunch rosemary, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 anchovies in oil
350ml red wine (Rioja is optional)
Bunch of mint, leaves picked
Olive oil
(1 tbsp) white wine vinegar or to taste
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy bottomed casserole dish or pan.Season your lamb shanks with salt and freshly ground pepper and brown on all sides for about 10minutes until caramelised and coloured. Reserve to a plate.
Slowly sweat your chopped onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf with some seasoning for about 15 minutes in the same pan, using the lamb juices. You want to get lots of caramelisation on the vegetables after about 10 minutes.
Add the chopped thyme, rosemary the bay leaf and the sliced garlic and continue to cook for about 5-10minutes more. Turn up the heat and add the chopped anchoives. Cook until melted into the mixture.
Now add the wine and bubble away to de-glaze the bottom of the pan. Simmer for a few minutes before adding the reserved lamb shanks. Add as much boiling water or stock to come ¾ way up the sides of the lamb so it is sufficiently submerged
Cover with a lid and place in the preheated oven for 3 hours, basting the lamb with the sauce occasionally.
Meanwhile make the mint oil. In a food processor or pestle and mortar, crush the mint leaves with a pinch of salt and sugar. Slowly add a splash of white wine vinegar to taste and enough oil to loosen.
After 3 hours, turn the heat to 180°C and remove the lid. You want to brown the top of the lamb and reduce the sauce a little for about 30 minutes but it will be ready whenever from this point. You can also thicken the sauce on the hob with a small knob of butter to add a shine to the sauce.
Serve with creamy mash or polenta and the mint oil drizzled over the top!

Pine nut, honey and rosemary tartlets

January 15, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I love the subtlety rosemary can add to a dessert. Added carefully it can be delicious and after a first trying it in an outrageously scrumptious recipe which included a vat of stewed sweet apricots and some crunchy textured crumble, pine nuts were inevitably due to work. This is a cross between a pecan pie with pine nuts and a treacle tart. Served at the end of a recent dinner party topped with a chocolate sorbet, it was a winner.

Sweet pastry

250g plain flour
50g sifted icing sugar
125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten
Splash milk

Filling

150g pine nuts
2 eggs
75g unsalted butter, cubed
100g runny honey
100g soft brown sugar
½ vanilla pod, seeds removed OR 2 tsp vanilla extract
1 small sprigs of rosemary (optional)

Make you pastry by rubbing the flour and icing sugar into the butter to form a breadcrumb texture. Add the egg and a splash of milk to bring it together to form a soft dough but make sure you are gentle. Wrap in cling and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Next, line 6 small or 1 large tart tin and bake blind (see here to do this)
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a large frying pan over medium high heat, toast your pine nuts until fragrant and golden. Leave to cool.
Add the honey and rosemary sprigs to a saucepan and heat gently over a low heat until warm and runny. All the honey to sit on a low heat for a good 10 minutes to let the rosemary infuse
Then remove and reserve the rosemary. Then whisk in the cubed butter until melted.
In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla until combined.
Strip the leaves from the reserved rosemary and chopped very finely to get about 1 tsp or less of the leaves and add back to the honey and butter (optional). Whisk the butter and honey mix into the egg and sugar mixture.
Now, space your pre-baked tart cases out onto a lined baking tray and sprinkle the pine nuts amongst the cases. Make sure you keep the tart case inside its metal tin (unlike I did) as this will add extra support for the thick mixture.
Fill with the honey mixture evenly and bake for 18-20 minutes until set. Remove and leave to cool and set.

(The first time I did this, I took the tart cases out their metal tins and the sides collapsed (disaster) so I strongly recommend leaving them in the tins to add support for the heavy honey mixture) Served with a generous and glossy scoop of chocolate sorbet, they were the perfect finish to a lovely dinner party.

Pannacotta with salted caramel

January 1, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This was everything you’d could want in a dinner party dessert for a special occasion such as New Years eve where this little treat made a welcome appearance. It’s creamy, sweet, satisfying and elegant and will fill that sweet spot when you think there is just no room left after, perhaps an evening full of decadent dinning and some good fizz. Naturally as the choice for the hidden surprise I had to add salted caramel due to my love of salt and its increasing popularity as the foodie trend of 2012! Served alongside some mini tartlets filled with hazelnut or ginger mascarpone topped with diced pear and shards of honeycomb, I think its safe to say these were crowd pleasers…..

Pannacotta (serves 6)

250ml double cream
250ml milk
1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
2 ½ gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar

Salted Caramel

200ml single cream
125g caster sugar
2 tsp runny honey
2 tsp water
Large pinch of maldon salt

Begin with the salted caramel. Place the cream in a saucepan and warm gently on a low heat.
Meanwhile, heat the runny honey in another saucepan for a few minutes. Add the water and the caster sugar and allow to dissolve.
Once dissolved, let it bubble for about 5 minutes and it will begin to turn golden. Watch it closely, giving it a swirl every so often.
Continue to bubble until golden and caramel coloured. Do not let it get too dark or it will begin to burn and taste bitter.
Once it reaches the right golden colour (being VERY careful as it will splutter at you) stir in 1/3 of the warm cream and stir. Add the rest of the cream and stir, keeping it on the heat and bubbling for about 2 minutes until syrup-like and smooth.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool (this can also be used for smothering over ice cream to heart attack inducing levels or to line a pastry case for a twist on banoffee pie. It also goes really well with salted peanuts, peanut butter or chocolate)
Now begin on the pannacotta. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, warm the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla seeds (pop the pod in as well) on a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring up to the near boil and then remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla pod.
Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine leaves and whisk into the the hot cream until dissolved.
Get your serving glasses or ramekins (glass works well as you can see the layers) and spoon about 2 tbsp of cooled salted caramel into each base. Top with the panncotta mixture, carefully to avoid it disturbing the lower layer but this is not a problem if you do.
Place in the fridge and leave to set for a minimum of 3 hours

Mini sweet pastry tart cases filled with a hazelnut mascarpone and a ginger mascarpone cream, topped with diced pear and honeycomb…..

Dukka

August 15, 2012 Comments Off read Extras

I’ve never been to Egypt but this is how I imagine it tastes…….Dukka is a ground blend of spices and nuts and is eaten in Egypt as a pre-dinner nibble with bread and oil. The idea is to dip chunks of bread into some good quality peppery extra virgin olive oil then dunk greedily into the dry spice mix and gobble in one! However, I also add it to salads and roasted vegetables such as carrots and beets. It can also be used as a dry rub for lamb or to top fresh bread dough before baking.

I first saw this recipe in Hugh’s River Cottage Everyday book and immediately loved it! Hugh we love you but I have adapted the recipe and added some extra flavours of my own which I think go nicely. As we found out this sunny summer weekend, this nibble goes down a bit too well with a chilled glass of pinot and some jovial company….

A handful of hazelnuts OR a large handful of chopped roasted hazelnuts
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ tsp sea salt
Small handful shredded mint leaves

Toast the hazelnuts in a hot oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and roll them in between a tea towel to remove the skins. Add to a pestle and mortar and crush coarsely or chop into small pieces
Toast the seeds spices in a dry frying pan until fragrant and they just begin to crackle. Add the to the nuts in the pestle and mortar along with the chilli flakes and salt. Grind coarsely
Shred some fresh mint and stir into the spices.
Enjoy with oil and bread for dipping

Lime and Coconut Pannacotta with Lime Melts

August 12, 2012 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Next weekend I’m helping cater a sit down Birthday lunch and this is the dessert……so……..naturally I had to greedily sample the recipe for myself before inflicting the sweet, creamy and fresh mouth watering dessert on the poor awaiting guests. The sampling was hard. I may have to do it again tomorrow too.

If you’re fed up with the rainy English weather, this will help you melt away into the tropical Caribbean…

250ml double cream
250ml coconut cream/milk
2 ½ gelatine leaves
55g caster sugar
1 lime, zest and juice of ½

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water
On a low heat, warm the double cream, sugar and lime zest and juice in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves, and the mixture is thin and smooth and bring up to near boiling point
Just before the boil, remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk/cream. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and whisk into the hot cream until dissolved.
I served mine in ramekins to remove the hassle of having to turn them out but if you want to do this then fill into a greased mould (makes about 4 large or 5 small ones)
Once the mixture has cooled, chill in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight!

Lime Melts

6 oz unsalted butter
110g Icing sugar
Grated zest of 3 limes
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
200g flour
2 tbsp cornflour
¼ tsp salt

(I have converted this from American cups to grams so hopefully it works out, although use your instinct to get the right consistency of the dough which should be like shortbread)

In a food processor, cream the butter and 40g of the icing sugar until fluffy. Add the lime zest, juice and vanilla and cream again
Sieve the flour, cornflour and salt into the bowl and process until combined
Split the dough in half and roll into logs of the size biscuit you want and wrap in parchment
Chill for 1 hour
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with parchment. Slice the dough into rounds and place on the baking tray
Bake for about 12minutes until barely golden and then leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
While still warm, sieve the remaining icing sugar into a sealable bag and place the cookies inside. Toss in the sugar-filled bag until coated.

(The logs also freeze well!)

Hazelnut Frangipane Tart

August 2, 2012 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This tart is, I must admit, courtesy of the infamous Skye Gyngell, whose seasonality, simplicity and quality of recipes I admire. This is the most moreish and sophisticated dessert that will leave you on cloud nine with no leftovers. Its delicious….what more can I say apart from I recommend you make two to save yourself the anguish of realizing how quickly the first one was eaten. I served mine with a sweet rhubarb puree and creamy vanilla ice cream.

Shortcrust Pastry

125g butter
250g plain flour
2 tbsp water

Filling

300g shelled hazelnuts
300g caster sugar
3 eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
300g unsalted butter, cubed

Begin with the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour to form a breadcrumb like mixture
Add the water and mix with a knife to form a dough (you will probably need more water but add it little by little to prevent it becoming too wet)
Knead lightly on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Grease and line a fluted tart tin with a removable base (25cm diameter and 2.5cm deep tin)
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 3mm thick into a large round. Lift the pastry onto the rolling pin and drape into the tin.
Press the pastry into the well greased tin and up the sides and prick all over with a fork. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Preheat the oven to 190°C and when the pastry case has rested, line with parchment, fill with baking beans and blind bake for about 15-20 minutes and a further 5 minutes without the beans until the case is precooked and golden.
To make the filling, roast the hazelnuts in the oven for about 5 minutes until warmed to release their flavour. To remove the skins, wrap in a tea towel and roll lightly and they should come away easily.
Tip the nuts into a food processor with the sugar, eggs, lemon zest and butter. Pulse to combine.
Fill the precooked case with the filling and bake for about 35-40minutes until golden and set, but still soft in the middle. Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much.
Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar with a rhubarb and vanilla puree and ice cream.

Rhubarb and Vanilla Compote

700g rhubarb
15tbsp dark brown soft sugar
½ vanilla pod, halved and seeds removed

Cut the rhubarb into 2cm chunks on the diagonal and place in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the sugar and the vanilla seeds and the pods.
Heat gently to begin with until the sugar begins to melt and the rhubarb releases its juices. Then cook covered for about 15minutes
Remove the lid and bubble gently for a further 15minutes until the rhubarb is broken down and sauce like. Discard the vanilla pod and serve warm with the tart.