Posts by Jess

Moroccan Slow-cooked, Shredded Lamb Tagine and a Tuscan Red

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Moroccan Slow-cooked, Shredded Lamb Tagine and a Tuscan Red

 

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Warming, spicy, comforting. Undertones of festive cinnamon and some punchy chilli. Sweet prunes, melting succulent slow cooked lamb and the freshness of lime all make this tagine one of my absolute favourites dishes! I once made this recipe when I catered for a 30th Birthday party for 70 people….needless to say, after repeatedly cooking up around 12 batches, my once favourite tagine recipe became a little hard to face again. However, enough time has passed and I couldn’t resist its tempting taste for my New Years Eve celebrations!

I give credit to the wonderfully wholesome and flavour laden style of Skye Gyngell for this recipe with a little adaptation from myself. I often serve mine, as recommended, simply scattered with fresh coriander on a creamy sweet potato puree. However, New Years Eve called for a glimmering jeweled rice salad and a tangy lime yoghurt.

NOTE: I’ve always used diced lamb shoulder for this recipe but this time I used a whole shoulder of lamb and cooked it on the bone for longer and shredded the juicy meat into the tagine sauce before serving. I highly recommend this if you’re willing to add a little more effort. If not, diced lamb shoulder works perfectly too!

Serves 6

  • 1 small shoulder of lamb, or about 1kg diced lamb shoulder
  • 3 red onions, chopped roughly
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3cm knob ginger, grated
  • Bunch of coriander, stems chopped, leaves picked for garnish
  • 1-2 red chillis (depending on their heat) finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp spice mix (made by toasting 1tbsp of each fennel, cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard seed with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamon pods and 1 star anise in a dry frying pan until hot, fragrant and beginning to pop. Grind in a pestle and mortar until fine).
  • 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1- 1.5 litres chicken stock
  • 1 lime, juice only
  • 200g prunes
  • Optional- Skye suggests adding a splash of maple syrup (about 70ml) and100ml of tamari at the end of cooking. However, I never had these to hand on my first attempt so I left them out- it still tastes delicious without so feel free to experiment. For my tastes, I think the prunes add enough sweetness as it is without the need for syrup!
  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. In a large heavy bottomed casserole dish, heat a splash of oil. Season the lamb and brown the shoulder/pieces well in the pan for about 10 minutes or so before setting aside to rest.
  3. In the remaining oil and lamb juices, fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
  4. Add the chopped garlic, chilli and ginger and cook for a further few minutes.
  5. Add the spice mix, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and cook out for a few minutes. Finally, add the chopped coriander stems and season.image
  6. Add the tomatoes and bring to the simmer. Add the lamb back in at this stage either in diced pieces or the whole shoulder.
  7. Cover with about 1 litre of the stock or enough to cover. I find the amount of stock varies and can be topped up during cooking for a thicker tagine once it has reduced
  8. Cover and place in the oven.If using a whole shoulder cook for about 2 hours. If using diced lamb, cook for 45 minutes.
  9. After this cooking time, add the prunes and remove the lid. Cook for a further 1 hour for the shoulder or 30 minutes or so for the diced lamb. This really cannot be overcooked so allow to cook away for longer on a lower heat if you like. Just keep checking/adding more stock if it gets too thick. (Essentially, cook until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced to the desired consistency. Add more stock is to thick (I usually top it up as it cooks) or remove the lid to brown and reduce if too thin)
  10. Once ready, add the lime juice and (if using the whole shoulder) shred the lamb meat into the sauce.
  11. Scatter with the coriander and serve!

I served mine with:

Lime yoghurt– ½ lime, juice and zest, and some seasoning per 150g plain yoghurt)

Jeweled Rice – Cooked wild rice, diced spring onions, chopped coriander, salted cashews and pomegranate seeds (or see here for similar recipe)

WINE: In terms of a wine to drink with this tagine, all I had to hand was this (below) delicious bottle from Italy that I received as a gift that I have been too tempted to open for some time! A Tuscan wine made from a blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Sangiovese. Lamb and the typical dried fruits in this tagine went really well with the juicy Merlot flavours as would perhaps a Rioja of sorts.

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Chocolate-torte-mousse-fudge-stlye-brownie-cake

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Chocolate-torte-mousse-fudge-stlye-brownie-cake

 

This is an original Green & Blacks recipe with original G&B chocolate from my thumbed and chocolate covered copy of their first recipe book. I cannot take the credit for this decadent creation so I hail the writer of the book and the creator of the recipe….if I ever meet you, you deserve a big kiss….assuming you’re male, tall, dark and handsome that is….

In the original recipe, this ‘cake’ has been royally dusted in a shimmering sheen of gold dust. I didn’t get hold of any in time but to make it as glamorous and irresistible as the famous bond girl then go for it. I also chose to flavour mine with 1/3 ‘Maya Gold’ chocolate as suggested- an orange and spice flavoured bar. However, an orange, lemon or even salted bar (I’m dying to try that as I write) would be amazing too. Served with my marmalade and cocoa nib ice cream, the festive orange was a soothing addition.

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Serves about 12

  • 200g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
  • 100g Maya Gold chocolate (or orange, lemon, salt, etc…)
  • 275g caster sugar
  • 165g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 tbsp ground almonds
  • Icing sugar to dust
  1. Grease and line a springform cake tin (20-23cm wide). Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Place the butter, sugar and chocolate with a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of barely simmering water and heat gently until all melted and combined. Set aside to cool a little.
  3. Whisk the eggs with the almonds. When the chocolate has cooled slightly, fold the eggs in and mix well to combine. It will look like it won’t combine at first but pursue it until smooth and creamy.
  4. Pour the mixture into the tin and level off. Bake for 35-45 minutes until set but with a small amount of give when touched in the middle.
  5. Leave to cool completely in the tin before removing and serving at room temperature. Scatter with a generous snowy blanket of icing sugar or a bond-girl-style sheen of gold dust and serve voraciously with cream or ice cream.

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Marmalade and Cocoa Nib Ice cream (and a new ice cream scoop)

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Marmalade and Cocoa Nib Ice cream (and a new ice cream scoop)

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Boxing day- a day to relax with the pressure and expectations of Christmas faded comfortably into the crevices of your cosy sofa. Or in my case, a free kitchen to russell up more delicious and decadent creations. A gloriously sunny and biblically beautiful walk in the crisp Wiltshire morning air to begin the day. Overlooking my precious village covered in a blanket of drifting cloud, it was all I could do not to take off into this pillow-like sea. Back home to the warmth of the kitchen I spent the afternoon in my own sheer bliss. Blogging contently in the sunshine which cast lovely welcome rays over the days creations.

This ice cream goes beautifully with Christmas pudding with its citrusy festive flavours. However, for Christmas 2013 dessert it was paired loyally with a dense, rich slice of chocolatey heaven which can only be described as a chocolate-torte-mousse-fudge-style-brownie-cake (see here for the full recipe). Decadently delicious!

This recipe has been adapted from a Nigel Slater version I have in a recent book. As an extreme dark chocolate fan (90%+ I am religiously found munching at about 9pm most evenings) I love the bitter and pure taste that it offers. Enter cocoa nibs, chocolate’s purest and most wholesome form. On a recent quest to find my similarly dark chocolate appreciating Pa a tasty Christmas treat, I stumbled upon the Rabot 1745 estate collection , a cocoa plantation in Saint Lucia and a branch of Hotel Chocolat. While Hotel Chocolat congers up thoughts of sugary praline and liquer filled chocolates, this range is pure bliss and original. Chocolate shopping by region- from Vietnam to Venezuela I lost blissful hours perusing the shelves only to be helped knowledgably by an enthusiastic assistant who allowed me to try the raw form of the bean used in the shop cafe.

The beans,in their shelled form, are ground like coffee beans in a conching machine until silky, fine and smooth. Little is added for the super dark stuff especially no sugar like your standard Cadbury’s bar which couldn’t taste further from the real thing. I cheekily asked for a couple of bags of the raw beans which I was kindly granted with. One for dad and one for my own personal experiments….

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Marmalade and Cocoa Nib Ice Cream

  • 500ml single cream
  • 4 eggs yolks
  • 2 large tbsp caster sugar
  • 300-400g marmalade (depending on how strong it is. I used half thick cut peel and half thin….this is optional)
  • A handful or cocoa beans/cocoa nibs – available from Hotel Chocolat or some super dark chocolate chopped.
  1. Heat the cream in a saucepan until just below the boil and remove from the heat.
  2. Whisk the sugar and egg yolks together in a shallow bowl and sit it on a tea towel to stop it slipping. Whisking constantly, pour the hot cream over the yolks in a steady stream and whisk until smooth.
  3. Return to the pan and continue to whisk or stir on a low heat to allow it to thicken a little. It will thicken a little, enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  4. Chill thoroughly before stirring in the marmalade.
  5. Churn in an ice cream maker for about 30 minutes until thick and beginning to set. Before decanting into a box, rumble in your cocoa beans/nibs or your chopped dark chocolate.
  6. Alternatively, freeze in a container and whisk every hour or so until set to break up the ice crystals. Once nearly set, stir in the chocolate.

Served with my ‘chocolate-torte-mousse-fudge-style-brownie-cake’ it went down a treat!

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Sprouts with a Makeover

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Sprouts with a Makeover

 

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Sprouts are such a controversial topic. Whether you truly hate the unique taste or you have simply had their unfairly stereotyped reputation brainwashed into you as an impressionable child. Sprouts are very bitter by nature and this is accentuated with the cooking time. This I painfully discovered after using a few of the festive leftovers in a gratin last year along with some freshly boiled ones. The unlucky guests to get the odd effectively double cooked sprout soon knew…..excruciatingly bitter and metalic and unworthy of my delicious and creamy gratin.

So, this year I cooked them differently. Risky -my dad being a traditional man grew this years batch on his precious allotment and harvested within the day of eating. But safe to say I heard no objections as soon as the word bacon was batted around. As a member of the cabbage family I decided to cook them like cabbage or savoy cabbage to be precise. Shredded and sauteed lightly in garlic butter with some salty gems of bacon lardons. Chestnuts, had we had some, would have also been delicious here. By keeping them as raw and crunchy as possible to reduce the cooking time but enough to soften them, they were a welcome change to the Christmas lunch which will be continued from here on….plus, much less risk of choking for the health and safety conscious among us!

(I’ve left out quantities here depending on the number of guests you’re obligingly cooking for)

  • Sprouts, shredded
  • Smoked bacon/pancetta/bacon lardons
  • Butter
  • Garlic
  • Optional- cooked chestnuts
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Start with making your garlic butter. Crush 1-2 peeled garlic cloves into a chunky paste with some coarse salt and the back of a knife and mix with a generous knob of butte (about 25g for 1 large garlic clove if you need a rough measure)
  2. Heat a large frying pan and add the garlic butter and heat until it begins to foam. Cook slowly so the garlic doesn’t burn.
  3. Fry the bacon in a separate pan until crisp. (You can do all this in the same pan but the bacon will soften and you loose that crunchy texture. If you’re not fussed then add the bacon to the foaming butter and cook here)
  4. Add the shredded sprouts to the garlic butter and turn to coat. Add a splash of water to help steam things along a little and cook for a few minutes until as softened as you like them.
  5. Add the crispy bacon and its oil and chestnuts if using. Coat in the delicious juices and serve immediately!

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Chewy Date Slice

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Chewy Date Slice

 

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However delicious, I was unsatisfied with churning out another generic batch of star-topped, icing-dusted mince pies this weekend. Before you bar-humbug me (as those who know me know I a Christmas LOVER) these have the festive touch of chewy sweet dates, punchy orange zest and warming cinnamon that make a welcome alternative to the mince pie. Especially if, like my glamorous Gran, you are raisin hater. Devour after a cold walk with some warm mulled wine to warn off the teasing sniffles of a brewing cold that threatens to sabotage your Christmas day..

Makes about 12 slices

  • 175g plain flour
  • 125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 250g dates
  • 1 orange
  • 75g butter
  • 150ml water (maybe a bit more)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 100g flaked almond
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  1. Start with the shortbread base. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and the cold cubed butter until a dough forms. Alternatively, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you form a dough.
  2. Line a tin (about 25cm x 16cm) with parchment and mold the dough into the tin pressing it down with the back of a spoon. Chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the shortbread for about 15-20 minutes until golden but it doesn’t matter if not completely cooked as you will cook it again with the topping. Leave to cool while you make the topping.
  4. Put the dates, cinnamon, 25g of butter, water and the zest of the orange in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Leave to cool and puree in a food processor. Add a splash more water if too thick.
  5. Combine the flaked almonds, vanilla, sugar and remaining 50g of butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter melts. Coat the almonds in the melted butter and leave to cool a little.
  6. Spoon the date puree over the shortbread base and spread out evenly. Scatter over the buttery almonds and bake for about 25-35 minutes until golden.image
  7. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into slices and dusting with icing sugar.

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Herby Halloumi Wrap

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Herby Halloumi Wrap

 

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These are an enticing, comforting and friendly hug inside a warm pitta on a rainy December afternoon with the prospect of a Christmas feast approaching. A perfect semi-healthy lunch in the lead up to Christmas. I’m back home in the country air with a day of present wrapping, card writing and general festivity on the agenda. With the house and, more importantly, the kitchen blissfully to myself I welcomed the peace and solidarity and devoured these for a welcome lunch break mid Christmas chores. Alone I’ll admit but I don’t regret a thing…..a thing.

Serves 2

  • 4-6 slices of halloumi (cut thickly)
  • 2 pitta breads (For my homemade pittas see here) or warm wraps
  • Small bunch parsley/coriander
  • Small bunch basil/mint
  • Small bunch dill
  • 4 tbsp thick yoghurt
  • ½ lemon juice and zest
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  1. If making your own the pitta breads start with these (see here) and keep warm while you deal with the halloumi. If not, lightly toast the pitta breads or warm the wraps.
  2. Chop your chosen herbs finely and add the lemon zest. Mix the yoghurt with the lemon juice and some seasoning and set both aside.
  3. Heat a frying pan until hot and add a drizzle of olive oil. Fry the halloumi slices for a few minutes each side on a high heat until golden. Add the honey and remove from the heat and coat the slices in the syrup.
  4. Now assemble your pittas. Cut each open and spoon in a some yoghurt and a handful of herbs. Add your warm sweet halloumi slices and stuff with some more of the herbs and yoghurt.
  5. Devour while warm!

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Wrapped appropriately in a festive napkin….and eaten appropriately with a festive appetite!

Roasted Duck, Carrot and Orange Puree, Red Wine Sauce

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Roasted Duck, Carrot and Orange Puree, Red Wine Sauce

This week I christened the kitchen of my new London flat. I bagged myself a feathery topped bunch of bargain carrots from Portobello Road market in my fleeting lunch break; a seasonal orange for companionship and festivity; a couple of fatty winter warming duck legs and some obliging red wine (of which I am not short of these days…). Flat hunting had evoked far too many saddened hours separated from my apron and camera so a free evening midweek was the perfect time to be reunited. Whilst it tasted delicious, I’m still to work on the lighting in my new environment….

Serves 2

  • 2 duck legs
  • Bunch carrots (About 4 large carrots), peeled and chopped
  • 25g butter
  • 1 orange
  • 250ml red wine
  • 250ml beef stock
  • ½ onion, diced finely
  • 1 small carrot, diced finely
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Bunch of thyme
  • 1 knob butter
  • 1tbsp flour
  • Handful of greens to serve
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Season the duck legs generously on the skin side and roast for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until crisp and tender. Turn the heat down to 190°C after about 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, fry the diced onion and carrot in a little oil until soft. Add one of the garlic cloves finely chopped and the thyme leaves and fry for a further few minutes.
  3. Turn up the heat and add the red wine and simmer for a few minutes. Add the stock and simmer briskly for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced by half.
  4. Once reduced by half, sieve and discard the vegetables and return to sauce to the clean pan. Season to taste and simmer very gently while you do the puree.
  5. Heat half the butter in another saucepan and add the chopped carrots. Add a whole clove of garlic (in skin) and 2 big strips of orange peel. Add enough water to just cover the carrots and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until really soft and almost all the liquid has been reduced.
  6. Puree the drained carrots in a food processor with the remaining knob of butter and some seasoning. Add a splash of the reserved liquid if you like to thin it out and then keep warm.
  7. Return to the red wine sauce. Mix together the knob of butter and the flour to form a paste in a small bowl. Whisk this, bit by bit (as you may not need all of it) into your simmering sauce which will thicken and turn glossy. Simmer until thick enough and ready to serve,
  8. Serve the puree topped with the roasted duck legs and a liberal drizzle of your red wine sauce. Serve with some cooked greens.

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Parsnip Puree, Honeyed Parnips, Seasbass, Hazelnuts

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Parsnip Puree, Honeyed Parnips, Seasbass, Hazelnuts

 

A welcome and precious escape home to the wonderful freshness of my Wiltshire countryside home for the weekend. After a day embracing the beginning of December and with scarfs wrapped tightly around our chilly necks, my sister, mum and I headed home to a blushing fire and dinner as darkness landed.

However….not without entertainment. As realisation hit that we’d forgotten to pick the allotment parsnips for supper, a comical scene unfolded. My sister (with iphone torch) mum (dressed unsuitably in fur and boots) and myself with makeshift garden fork attempted to scavenge the stubborn homegrown parsnips from the depths of their cosy blankets in the tightly packed allotment soil like thieves. Covered suitably in mud and with freezing hands, the kitchen beckoned and dinner tasted even the more delicious as a consequence….

Serves 3

  • 3-4 large parsnips, peeled
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  •  Milk
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2-3 black peppercorns
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 2 large knobs of butter
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • Grating of nutmeg
  • Handful skinned hazelnuts
  • 3 seabass fillets
  • Green vegetable of choice- green beans, curly kale, wilted spinach..
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cut at least one of your parsnips into long chunks for roasting. Drizzle with oil, season and roast in the oven for 30 minutes tossing half way through. After this time, drizzle with honey and return to the oven for 10 minutes or so until crisp.
  2. Meanwhile, for the puree, chop the remaining parsnips into chunks. Place them into a saucepan and cover with ¾ milk and ¼ water- just enough to cover. Add 2-3 black peppercorns, bay leaf and the whole sprig of rosemary. Bring to the simmer (being careful the milk doesn’t bubble over) and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until really tender when pierced with a knife.
  3. Once tender, drain reserving the cooking liquor and puree in a processor with plenty of seasoning, a knob of butter and add a splash of cooking milk to loosen until your liking. Add a grating of nutmeg and keep warm while you fry the seabass.
  4. Heat a frying pan until hot and toast the hazelnuts for a few minutes. Add a splash of oil and fry for a further few minutes until fragrant. Remove from the heat and lightly crush or chop the hazelnuts. Set aside with the hazelnut oil.
  5. Add a splash more oil to the pan. Score the skin side of your seabass fillets to prevent them curling up and season well. Fry in the hot pan for about 3 minutes on the skin side until crisp and then turn for the final minute.
  6. Add a knob of butter to the pan and a squeeze of lemon and baste the fish. Let the butter brown a little as it turns nutty and delicious- beurre noisette.
  7. To serve, divide each plate with a spoonful of puree and top with some green beans, kale or spinach. Place the fish on top with a spoonful of the beurre noisette and add a handful of the roasted parsnips. Finally, scatter over the hazelnuts and a drizzle of their oil and enjoy!

Quinoa Salad

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Quinoa Salad

 

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I love grains and pulses like quinoa, bulgur wheat and lentils. I’ve always had an appreciation for good food and using interesting ingredients, solidified even more so after painfully watching 3 years-worth of university flatmates religiously eating and buying couscous, pasta and pesto for most meals. So, I thought I’d draw attention to other grains that can offer a little more interest than couscous. Don’t get me wrong, I know couscous is cheap and goes a long way…but its not particularly nutritious. Just by mixing grains like quinoa, bulgur wheat, rice or lentils with a few tasty additions like herbs and lemon with some protein packed nuts and some greasy cheese is a healthy and hearty lunch!

Serves about 2

  • About 120g quinoa/bulgur wheat or a mix (or as pack instructs)
  • Bunch basil leaves, chopped
  • Bunch of mint leaves, chopped
  • Bunch coriander, chopped
  • ½ red onion, diced finely
  • 1 large tomato, de-seeded and diced
  • Handful of pistachios
  • 1 lemon, juice
  • Olive oil
  • Halloumi
  1. Prepare you quinoa/bulgur wheat (or even couscous?) as instructed on your pack. Usually about 10 minutes in boiling water.
  2. While still a little warm, mix with the tomato, onion, lemon juice, a small drizzle of olive oil and mix well and season to taste
  3. Add the herbs and the pistachios and mix.
  4. If serving with halloumi, fry chunky slices in a splash of oil until golden and serve alongside.

Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pizza

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Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Pizza

 

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Ok so it’s a tomato-less pizza…don’t shoot me. This was also pointed out by my (notably) satisfied and well fed but rather unjustifiably disappointed dad? A night of using up all ingredients littering the fridge, clinging on for dear life before labouring into town for a weekly food shop. One of my favourite challenges….make something from what you have left. Its a great way to be creative, prevent waste and come up with new ideas! Challenge accepted, I created this. Spinach forced its way into the base while the topping was a mix of mushrooms, lemony ricotta and some lovely fragrant thyme. Give me ready steady cook anyday?

Serves 4 lightly

Base

  • 1 mug self raising flour
  • ½ water
  • 100g spinach
  • Pinch cumin seeds

Topping

  • 200g mushrooms, chopped
  • Small bunch thyme leaves
  • Knob of butter
  • 250g ricotta
  • 150g mozzarella, sliced
  • Handful pine nuts
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • Olive oil
  1. Start on the base. Wilt the spinach in a hot pan with a splash of water. Once wilted, drain and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. Chop finely.
  2. In a food processor, add the flour, cumin seeds, plenty of seasoning and the spinach. Blend together and slowly add the water, stopping when the mixture forms a soft dough. You will need to use your instinct with the amount of water being used.
  3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead to form a smooth dough. Put aside to rest.
  4. Melt the butter and a splash of oil in a hot frying pan and add the mushrooms. Fry over a medium high heat until they have released their juices. Add the thyme leaves and continue to fry until golden. Set aside.
  5. Loosen the ricotta in a bowl with the juice from ½ a lemon and the zest.
  6. Heat the grill to high. Next, heat a large frying pan over a high heat and add a splash of oil. Roll out the dough thinly and add to the pan pushing into the oil. While the bottom begins to cook and crisp,spoon over the ricotta and spread out evenly. Grate over the lemon zest. Top with the mozzarela and finally the mushrooms. Scatter with the pine nuts and continue to cook the base on the hob until the bottom is beginning to crisp and turn golden (you will need to lift it up now and again to check).
  7. Once you’re happy with a crispy base, pop under the grill and cook for 8-10 minutes until the top is melted and the rest of the dough and crust has cooked.
  8. Remove from the grill and devour drizzle with some good quality grassy green extra virgin olive oil.

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