Okay, I hold my hands up, I didn't make this one. Lucy did. But, as it was made in my kitchen and eaten in my flat, from my bowls and with my spoons, I feel like I can share it here.
Every couple of months or so I meet with four friends and fellow artists to talk about the projects we're working on. It's all about mutual support and constructive criticism. All of us really enjoy those get togethers and, as well as the talk about our practice, of course we also involve food, drink and chat about life in general.
For our session a couple of weeks ago Lucy, who doesn't like coffee, made Fruity Tiramisu and we all couldn't stop ourselves from having a second helping. There was only a tiny little bit left at the end, which J's partner was lucky enough to get in a doggy bag. It's a good job that none of us is pregnant. It doesn't have alcohol in it like a regular tiramisu, but it does contain raw eggs, so make sure they are really fresh.
Oh, and I nearly forgot to take a picture, so all you get is a photo of the table with the half eaten tiramisu.
Fruity Tiramisu (serves 6)
4 really fresh eggs, seperated
150g caster sugar
30-40 sponge fingers
300ml orange juice
250g mascarpone cheese
2tsp vanilla essence
mixed fruit of your choice, such as starwberries, kiwi fruit, banana, blueberries etc.
a pinch of cinnamon
Place a heat proof bowl over a pan of boiling water and with an electric whisk beat the egg yolks and sugar in it, until pale, doubled in volume and creamy.
remove from heat and allow to cool, stirring from time to time.
Dip half the sponge fingers quickly in the orange juice, don't let them soak it up and use them to line the bottom of a square flat dish.
Once your egg mixture is cooled, gardually fold the mascarpone cheese into the mixture, using a wooden spoon.
Then carefully add the vanilla essence and fold in.
In a clean bowl and using a clean electric whisk, beat the egg whites until stiff.
Carefully fold them into the mascarpone and egg yolk mix.
Slice/chop your fruit, keeping a little aside for garnishing and carefully stir it into the mix.
Pour half of it over the sponge fingers.
Dip the rest of the sponge fingers into the orange juice and arrange in another layer on top of the mascarpone/egg mix.
Cover with the rest of the mascarpone/egg mix.
Cover with cling film and refridgerate for a minimum of 2 hours or over night.
Top with some more sliced fruit for garnish and dust with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Enjoy!
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Fruity Tiramisu
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Rockamole
Another month has passed without me doing much blogging. It looks like I'm having too much of a good time enjoying myself and no time left for much experimenting in the kitchen. My flat seems to be a transitional place at the moment, where I come to change, dump my stuff and sleep.
Last Friday part of the having a good time was inviting some friends round for a little food, drink and a bit of a boogie though, so I seized the oppertunity to try a couple of new recipes. One of those I found in Nigella's Express cook book. A really simple and of course 'express' recipe for a guacomole with a twist. The blue cheese goes brilliantly with the avocado. I went down a treat and I think the name makes it even more perfect for a party! I didn't have jalapenos in, so here is my version using dried chili flakes.
Rockamole
125gr Roquefort or St. Augur cheese
60ml sour cream
2 ripe avocados, peeled and stone removed
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
2 spring onions, finely sliced
a pinch of sweet parika
Crumble the cheese into a bowl and mix it with the sourcream.
Add the avocado and chili flakes and mash, using a fork until you reach the desired consistency and everything is combined.
Stir in the spring onions.
Sprinkle with a little paprika and serve straight away.
As with any guacomole, the avocado means that the dip will turn brown after a couple of hours, so it's best to make it at the last minute, but a minute is all it takes.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Carrot and Ginger Soup
It's been unusually cold here in Manchester. It looks like mid May outside, beautiful and green and fresh, but temperature-wise it feels more like March. Therefore soup is definitely still featuring on the menu regularly.
I was making books in Lucy's studio, while she was engaged in skill sharing excercises with M and as a thank you for letting me use her space and time I brought along Carrot and Ginger Soup for lunch. We all needed it as it was decidely brass monkeys in the studio and it helped to warm our bellies and the cockles of our hearts.
Carrot and Ginger Soup (serves 4)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
a large knob of butter
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
6 carrots, cleaned and chopped
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped very finely
1 litre vegetable stock
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
Melt the butter in a large stock pot and sweat the onions over low heat until softend, but not browned for about 15 minutes.
Add the potatoes, carrots, ginger and stock and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
Blitz in a food processor or with a stick blender until you have a smooth, creamy consistency.
Add this point I like to add a pinch of cayenne for a little extra heat, but that's entirely optional.
Serve hot with crusty bread.
Enjoy!
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Vegetarian Chili
On Friday night, L and H came round for pre-cinema dinner, before going to watch Io sono l'amore. (One of the best films I have seen in a long time by the way, so if you haven't seen it yet, do!)
I felt like all I'd been feeding them the last few times they'd been round was roast vegetables with couscous, so I wanted to do something different. My problem was that I'd left my purse in the bookbindery and only had a few coppers in the penny jar, so I had to make something that didn't involve much shopping. I checked my cupboards and found that they contained most of the ingredients needed to make a chili. All I had to go and buy was a courgette and a red pepper and there was enough change for those. Perfect.
Vegetarian Chili (serves 3-4)
olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 onions, diced
3 cm ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 red peppers, diced
1 courgette, diced
1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1/2 can canned chopped tomatoes (with jalapenos)
1 can kidney beans, 400g
1 small can sweet corn
pinch salt and black pepper
In the oil in a large frying pan and add the onions. Sweat for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the garlic and the grated ginger, together with the cumin and the paprika.
Fry for another couple of minutes, before adding the tomato puree. Stir well and fry a little longer (the tomato puree should turn dark reddish brown), before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Serve with rice, as a topping for a jacket potato, or just in a bowl with some torillas or nachos.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
Torta di spinaci (Spinach Tart)
Okay, it's about time I got this show back on the road. Sorry for the prolonged absence. I'm not sure what happened. Usually when things are a little crazy and don't go according to plan I seek refuge in the kitchen. So far this year that has not seemed to happen, despite there being quite a few stones cast that caused ripples of varying magnitude.
But enough of the prose, back to cooking. I've been invited to H's surprise birthday meal tonight and was asked to bring some food along, so what better opportunity to try and get my cooking mojo back. I got some of my cookbooks out for inspiration and decided to make Torta di spinaci from Angela Hartnett's Cucina. Well, I don't want to comment on the book just yet, as it has great reviews and as this the first recipe I tried from it, but it needed a bit of adaptation to make it work. The ingredients are fine, but if I didn't already have a clue what I was doing in the kitchen (well, at least most of the time), I think it would have left me very frustrated. The recipe calls for 1kg of roughly chopped fresh spinach to be mixed with some other ingredients and then placed into a 20cm shallow flan dish. There is no way that would ever fit without wilting the spinach first, so I cooked my spinach and also reduced the amount to 750g and it just about fit.
I also didn't have any '00' flour, so used normal flour, but of course that made the pastry more bread dough like and maybe wasn't the greatest idea I ever had. So next time I'll get on my bike to get the right flour. See, I don't always know what I'm doing in the kitchen, or to put it correctly, I'm aware that I'm doing not quite the right thing and carry on despite my better knowledge. I seem to do that a lot in life. It was good anyways though.
Anyways here's the recipe with my own cooking instructions and adapted measurements, but with the correct flour:
Torta di spinaci (serves 8-10)
400g '00' flour
1/2 tsp salt
4tbsp olive oil
100ml ice-cold water
for the filling:
750g spinach, washed, stems removed, roughly chopped
4tbsp olive oil
200 fresh parmegiano reggiano, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a large bowl ix the flour with the salt and add the olive oil and water.
Mix lightly until it comes together to form a smooth ball.
Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
In the meantime you can make the filling.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the spinach, stir until wilted quite a bit.
Remove from the pan and set aside to cool, pour off excess liquid.
Add the grated parmesan, the eggs and nutmeg and mix well.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Preheat your oven to 200C/Gas 6.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out quite thin on a lightly floured surface. It needs to become big enough to line a 20cm shallow pie dish and fold back over the top of the filling.
Once it's rolled out, carefully line your pie dish, letting the dough hang over the edges.
Spoon the filling into the dish, it should fill it all the way to the top.
Then fold the dough over the top to cover the filling and bake in your preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until golden.
This can be served hot or cold.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Glazed Carrots with Thyme and Garlic
Okay, this is me trying to get my mojo back. I've still not really been cooking much new stuff, but here is one I made earlier (and it didn't involve fairy liquid bottles, scissors or glue). Oh, and before I forget, thanks for hanging in there with me.
The recipe comes from Gordon Ramsey's Sunday Lunch cookbook. I know many people don't like him because of the language he uses, but that doesn't bother me and I've never yet tried on of his recipe to be left disappointed.
Glazed Carrots with Thyme and Garlic (serves 4)
600g small carrots, peeled (I used Chanteney, so no need for peeling)
1-1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 bulb of garlic, cut horizontally
1 bay leaf
olive oil
salt
black pepper, freshly ground
a few knobs of butter
1-2tsp caster sugar
Place the carrots in a large pan and cover with vegetable stock.
Add the thyme, garlic, bay leaf and simmer for 8 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow the carrots to cool in the stock, before draining well.
Use some kitchen towel to pat them dry.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the carrots. Sautee for a few minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the butter and sugar and baste the carrots.
Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes until the carrots are glazed well and tender.
Serve as a perfect side with roast lamb or beef.
