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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Cacao

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , , on January 22, 2010| 17 Comments »

Having watched Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory on television recently, I was fascinated by the concept of these 100% cacao blocks – pure unsweetened chocolate with nothing else added to it.

They’re not available in Australia yet, so my friend Jo very kindly mailed me a couple of blocks, and they serendipitously arrived at the same time as the cookbook, which I’d ordered from Amazon in the UK.

The book is a great read – half autobiography and half recipes – although at £6 per 180g block, the cacao is an expensive ingredient to use regularly (even if I could buy it here).  It has a strong aroma of fine chocolate, and tastes as you imagine it would – dark and very bitter, without a hint of sweetness.

I couldn’t wait to try it, and began with a half sized version of Willie’s Tartuffo, which is basically solid ganache set in a loaf tin.  It needs to be refrigerated overnight before slicing, and it’s very rich, so a little goes a  long way.

  • 90g cacao, finely grated
  • 150ml heavy whipping cream
  • 75g pure icing sugar, sifted

1. Line a small loaf tin or bowl with cling film.

2. Melt the cacao in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  I actually used a microwave for this, and I’m not sure it worked as well as it could have.

3. Whip the cream and 25g of the icing sugar together until it forms soft peaks.

4. Stir the remaining icing sugar into the cacao and leave to cool slightly.  My mix seized up when I did this, but I was able to loosen it up again with the whipped cream.

5. Stir a scoop of whipped cream into the cacao mixture  until softened, then gently and gradually fold the remainder of the cream and cacao together.  Pour into the lined tin or bowl, and refrigerate until firm.

. . . . .

Here’s my reworking of Le Chocolate Chaud recipe from David Lebovitz’ The Sweet Life in Paris, using the cacao.  It creates a very different drink to one made with dark chocolate.

  • 50g of Willie’s 100% Cacao, grated into a small saucepan
  • 20g white sugar
  • 375ml (1½ cups) milk
  • pinch of sea salt

Gently whisk all the ingredients together in the small saucepan over a medium heat – keep whisking until the chocolate and sugar are melted and the mixture comes to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, and barely simmer the hot chocolate for three to five minutes until the liquid is thick and viscous, whisking regularly.  Pour into little demitasse cups to serve, and top with whipped cream if desired.

. . . . .

And with the last 30g of my first block, I made a scaled down version of Anna’s Jewel Bites, using cacao and tiny quantities (at least for my small batch) of cinnamon, dried fruits, nuts, vanilla, rum and a scant teaspoon of honey.  Very dark and delicious!

It’s amazing how many things I was able to make with a single block of cacao. Maybe it’s not such an expensive ingredient after all!

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Ricotta Gnocchi

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on January 20, 2010| 12 Comments »

This wonderful recipe comes from Tessa Kiros’ gorgeous cookbook, Apples for Jam.  Despite the fact that it’s printed in a faint font and therefore hard to read, it’s a very  appealing book visually, and I was instantly drawn to the cover, with its embossed overlay of flowers.

This is the first recipe we’ve tried from the book, and it was an absolute winner – messy, but delicious, and very easy to make.  It fed three of us very well, with Small Man dining on a plate of beef tortellini – he’s not much of a ricotta fan at the best of times..

  • 500g fresh ricotta
  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
  • pinch of Malden salt

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and have your sauce ready to go, as the gnocchi need to be eaten as soon as they’re cooked.  We served ours with Pete’s tomato sauce, garnished with a dollop of homemade pesto.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix gently with a wooden or silicone spoon.  You might need to get a clean hand in to gingerly encourage it to come together.  Don’t overwork the dough.

3. With lightly floured hands (you want to add as little flour as possible, or the gnocchi will be tough), shape the dough into thin logs on a large sheet of parchment paper.  This is messy work!

4. With a sharp knife, cut the logs into small dumplings, and drop them into the boiling water.  Allow them to cook for about 45 seconds to a minute, or until they float to the surface.   Scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and serve immediately with the sauce and a dusting of grated parmesan.

Slicing up the logs was a bit fiddly, and I suspect you could simply drop spoonfuls of the dough into the boiling water, providing you worked quickly enough.

However you decide to make them, do try this recipe – it’s really very simple and the results are surprisingly tasty!

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Joyous Figs

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , , , on January 19, 2010| 8 Comments »

We were overjoyed to find a tray of figs at the back door – left by our wonderful neighbours who had harvested their tree that very morning!

When you’re given such gloriously fresh fruit, it has to be eaten straight away, while it’s at its peak.  So we had figs for lunch, sliced in half and grilled, then wrapped in St Agur blue cheese and San Daniele prosciutto..

…and made Jamie Oliver’s fig and mozzarella salad for dinner. Oliver refers to this as “The Easiest Sexiest Salad in the World”, and I think he may be right. My friend El describes it as “a party in your mouth“…

Fig and Mozzarella Salad
(adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef)

Cut a criss-cross into the top of the figs, then pinch the base of each fig to open it up like a tulip.  Place them on a large plate, and drape slices of really good prosciutto around them, allowing about one slice per fig.  Rip up balls of fresh mozzarella and scatter them, along with torn up basil leaves.

In a jar, combine 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons  of lemon juice, 1 – 2 tablespoons of a good, runny honey, salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Replace the lid and shake well to combine.  Taste and adjust seasonings, and then drizzle over the salad and serve.

Happy Days indeed!

 

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Caramelised Garlic Bread

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on January 18, 2010| 10 Comments »

Inspired by Dan Lepard’s garlic bread recipe in Exceptional Breads, and with an abundance of Di and Ian’s homegrown garlic on hand, I made the filling and incorporated it into a one kilo batch of  my spelt sourdough.  Dan revisits the recipe on his forum – well worth a look if you’re thinking of making this!

Garlic Filling

  • 3 heads garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 50ml water
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves (or 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped)

1. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves in a saucepan and cover with boiling water.  Simmer for 3 – 4 minutes.

2. Drain well, and cover the cloves with cold water to cool, then peel them.

3. Heat the EVOO in a frypan over medium heat and gently brown the peeled cloves until lightly browned but not burnt.

4. Add the balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, salt, pepper and rosemary and simmer for 5 minutes until the syrup reduces to a sticky caramel.  Scrape the mixture into a small bowl to cool, then fold it into your prepared sourdough (or yeasted dough) as shown below.  Enjoy!

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Peppermint Creams

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on January 15, 2010| 19 Comments »

These peppermint creams are simple to make and very moreish! Pete, who  isn’t a fan of the commercial version, has eaten ten of these today…

I altered the original recipe slightly to simplify the handling of the peppermint cream and dipped the centres in tempered chocolate rather than the chocolate and shortening mixture specified.  The original recipe is here, if you’d like to cross-refer to it.

  • 375g sifted icing sugar mixture (confectioner’s sugar)
  • 25g softened unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons pepermint extract
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade)
  • 60ml heavy cream
  • tempered dark chocolate, for dipping (I used a mix of Callebaut 54% and 70%)

1. In a stand mixer, combine the sifted icing sugar mixture, butter, extracts, heavy cream and mix on low speed until combined, then beat at medium until the mixture is well blended and creamy.

2. Shape the mix into a long thin log (mine was about 2.5cm/1″ thick) and wrap in parchment paper, twisting the ends to seal.  Chill in the fridge for about an hour.

3. Unwrap the log and slice it into thin discs.  Lay these out on a tray lined with parchment paper and return them to the fridge while you temper your dipping chocolate according to the instructions here.

4. Dip the peppermint centres in the chocolate and allow them to set on a tray lined with parchment paper.  Store the finished chocolates in the fridge and try not to scoff them all at once!

. . . . .

I used up all my mint extract on the first batch of chocolates, and rather than buy more, I thought it might be nice to try and make some at home.

I’ve packed a sterile jar with as many washed spearmint leaves as possible, then topped it up with vodka.   The plan is to let this “brew” in a dark cupboard for a couple of months, after which time I’ll strain out the leaves.  It certainly looks promising – it’s only  been a couple of days, but the vodka is already picking up the mint flavours.  I’ll let you know how it goes…

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