Novelty Pavlova

I'm having a serious case of PJD today - Post Jubilee Depression.  However, every cloud has a silver lining, as there is still plenty of our Jubilee pavlova leftovers in the fridge.  As I was meticulously nestling each union jack berry into the cream, a thought struck me that pavlova is the perfect dessert for any (remotely novelty) occasion - from drawing birthday balloons, flowers, text and even the odd cheeky phallic symbol, the world's your oyster when it comes to pavlova creativity - so I thought I'd share this easy peasy recipe!  This particular recipe is from Mary Berry - it was tried and tested yesterday and turned out beautifully!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 250g caster sugar
• whipping cream or double cream
• berries of your choice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean large bowl, with an electric whisk, until the whites are stiff enough to stay in the bowl when it is turned upside down - a risky test!
3. Keep whisking, while adding the caster sugar one teaspoonful at a time.  Continue mixing until all of the caster sugar has been added gradually, and the mixture looks stiff and shiny.
4. Cover a baking tray in baking parchment or grease proof paper and spread the meringue mixture evenly into whatever shape you fancy.
5. All ovens vary, so baking time cannot be exact, but usually the meringue will take between 1 hour and 1 1/2 hours to bake fully.  When the meringue is cooked, it can be lifted easily from the parchment.  Leave the meringue in the oven once it has been turned off to allow it to cool down gradually.
6. Whip the whipping or double cream in a bowl until thick and spread over the meringue base.
7. Place the berries onto the cream either in a shape or randomly and tuck in!!

Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Spring has sprung and I thought I would share a tasty, seasonal recipe with you.  We use Jamie's basic risotto recipe and add blanched peas and asparagus at the very end!  Although it is a bit time consuming, the end result is delicious and not too heavy for a Summer's evening.

Ingredients:

• approx 1.1 litres/2 pints stock (we usually use vegetable, but chicken and fish can also be used)
• 1 knob of butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

 • ½ a head of celery, finely chopped (I hate celery, so I leave this out)
• 400g/14oz risotto rice
• 2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine - we use dry Martini
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 70g/2½oz butter
• 115g/4oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Fresh bunch of asparagus  

• Handful of peas (frozen will do)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil and butter before adding the onions, garlic (and celery if you fancy it).  Fry very slowly for about 15 minutes, until they are very soft but not too coloured.  Add the risotto rice and turn up the heat.
2. It is important to make sure that every grain of rice is coated in the oil and butter.  Keep stirring it until it looks slightly translucent.  Add the vermouth (or wine) and keep stirring.
3. Trim the asparagus and chop into blocks of approx. 3 cm.  Add the asparagus stalks the rice.  
4. Once the vermouth has cooked into the rice, add your first splash of stock and some salt.  Turn down the heat so that the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside.
5. Gradually add ladles of stock, stirring as you go.  Wait until the rice has absorbed the moisture before adding the next ladleful.  This will take approximately 15 minutes - at this point, taste the rice, if it is still not cooked then keep adding stock/or boiled water until the rice is cooked but with a slight bite to it.
6. While waiting for the rice to cook, blanch the asparagus tips and peas.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, asparagus tips and peas.  Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes in order to make it delicious and oozy.
8. Check the seasoning and serve with some extra Parmesan and a glass of chilled white wine - Perfect!

When the birthday cake is finished...

A birthday weekend full of Colin the Caterpillar cake is bound to make my already extremely sweet tooth, even sweeter.  In the aftermath of Colin's face consumption, I neared a sugar low and obviously my thoughts turned to quick and easy desserts.  I thought I'd share one of my favourites with you.  Served at London's prestigious Ivy restaurant, this is the easiest dessert EVER and is delicious, both for an emergency pudding fix and for dinner party occassions.  Here it is folks: Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate (the clue's in the name).

Ingredients:

• 2 half-pints fresh raspberries
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thick
• 1 cup of cream
• 10 ounces good white chocolate (not chips), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. You can either spread the berries on a sheet pan in a single layer early in the day and place them in the freezer.  Once they’re frozen, store them in a freezer bag.  
2. OR you can cheat (like we always do) and just buy frozen fruit from the supermarket.  It's way less hassle and they can be stored so they're ready for when you most need them!
3. In a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, heat the cream, white chocolate and vanilla just until the chocolate melts. Don’t let the bowl touch the water and heat the mixture until it’s warm to the touch.
4. Put the frozen berries in little pudding dishes and allow to defrost a little (for about 10 minutes.)  Pour the hot white chocolate evenly over the frozen berries and DIG IN!

The mixture of hot and cold will blow your mind!  It only takes about 15 minutes and is AMAZING so give it a go and let me know if you love it as much as I do!

The easiest Carbonara in the world!

This is seriously the easiest dinner ever!  Thanks to a pot of Philly - It only takes 25 minutes, uses very few ingredients and is a seriously tasty mid-week dins.  Although it doesn't taste as if it is fresh out of Italy, it's a pretty good cheat.  This bad boy serves 6, so give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

- Spaghetti 

- 6 rashers bacon cut into strips

- 180g Philadelphia Light 

- 2 egg yolks 

- 3 stalks flat parsley leaves, chopped 

- 300 ml veggy stock 

- Parmesan cheese to serve 

Method:

1. Cook the pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, fry bacon strips in a large pan and simmer with vegetable stock until the liquid has reduced by half.
3. Beat together the Philly and egg yolks in a bowl or mug.  
4. Drain the cooked pasta, and return to pan.  Add bacon bits and stir through the egg and Philly mixture until well blended.  (The heat from the pan will cook the eggs enough.)
5. Serve with a generous helping of Parmesan and parsley and hey presto!

The Sun has got his hat on!

 It's official - Summer is here!  Not only have I spent a fabulous weekend having my first barbecue, Pimms and picnic of the year, the clocks say so too!  Before the weekend, I had never really thought about making my own burgers - but as a friend whipped them up in no time with delicious herbs and spices, I wondered why anyone would ever buy them?!  

So I thought I'd spread the Summer cheer and spice up your barbecues by sharing a quick and simple recipe for your own home made burgers. This particular recipe is from good old Jamie, and, as he says, once the basic recipe is down, you can customise your burgers with your own additions.

This recipe makes approximately 8 burgers.

 

Ingredients: 

- 1kg/2lb 3oz minced steak

- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

- olive oil

- a pinch of cumin seeds

- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds

- salt and pepper

- a handful of freshly grated Parmesan

- 1 heaped tablespoon English mustard (Dijon is also good!)

- 1 large egg

- 115g/4oz breadcrumbs

- 8 burger buns

Method:

1.  In a big frying pan, slowly cook the onion in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes until softened but not coloured. Add the onion to the meat. 

2.  Using a pestle and mortar, bash up the cumin and coriander seeds with a pinch of salt and pepper until fine and add to the meat.  Add the Parmesan, mustard, egg and half the breadcrumbs and mix well. If the mixture is too sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs.

3.  Lay some greaseproof paper on a tray or large plate and sprinkle over some of the remaining breadcrumbs. Shape the meat into 8 fat burgers and place these on top of the crumbs on the tray. Sprinkle more crumbs on top and press down gently. 

4.  The burgers are better if they are chilled before cooking, so put them in the fridge for an hour or so.

5. Take your burgers out of the fridge and fry them in a little oil on a medium to high heat for about 8-10 mins, depending on the thickness of the burgers and how you like them, turning occasionally. Alternatively, shove them on the barbecue!

Serve on tasty burger buns, get your friends round, soak up the Sun and enjoy!

Thai Prawn Fishcakes with Sticky Chilli Sauce!

I thought I'd share this little gem from BBC Good Food as it is super easy, tasty and healthy!!  This recipe serves 2 and should only take about 20 minutes so is perfect for a quick mid-week dins - give it a whirl and let me know how you get on!

Ingredients:

• 100g golden caster sugar
• 175ml rice vinegar
• 2 slices of root ginger
• a handful of chopped coriander
• 2 thinly sliced shallots
• 2 red chillies, seeded and diced (I'm a spice wimp, so only use 1!)
• 400g raw, peeled prawns
• 1 lime, zested
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• vegetable oil
• 1 carrot, finely diced

Method:

1. Heat the sugar and vinegar with a pinch of salt in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy and leave to cool.
2. Put the ginger, coriander, half the shallots, and half the chilli in a food processor and blend until fine. Add the prawns, lime zest and fish sauce and blend until chunky.
3. Grind in plenty of black pepper, mix and make 6 little, flat cakes. Brush both sides of the cakes with a tiny bit of vegetable oil and put on a baking sheet and grill for 3 minutes on each side.
4. Add the remaining chilli, shallots and chopped carrot to the vinegar syrup and mix. Serve the warm cakes with the sauce (if you can't be bothered with the saucy bit, they are deelish with shop bought sweet chilli sauce.)
5.  I usually serve them with greens or a crunchy salad - bon appetit!

Hot Mulled Apple (with optional rum!)

The snow has finally arrived and there is no better way to warm up than by grabbing yourself a glass of hot mulled apple.  My sister introduced this to me at her Christmas film screening and I cannot get enough of it!!  It's super easy and is cosiness in a glass.  So give it a whirl and let me know what you think:

Ingredients:

• 2 cartons of cloudy apple juice (some recipes say use clear but I think cloudy's much better!)
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled using a teaspoon (there's your McWhinney tip!)
• 1 lemon, cut in quarters
• 1 orange, cut in quarters
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Grated nutmeg
• A pinch of allspice (optional)
• 4 cloves
• As an alternative option, some supermarkets have spiced teabags specifically made for mulled drinks.  You can use these instead of adding the spices individually, although they're often only available around Christmas time.

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan
2. Place over a medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
4. Strain the mixture and serve hot in mugs.
5. Make sure you let it cool a little and add an optional shot (or two) of rum - I know which version i'm choosing!

So get cosy and enjoy!

Leftover Turkey Solution!

Sick of having left over turkey filling up your freezer?  Well good ol' Jamie has the answer, with his delicious, super easy leftover turkey, leek and bacon pie.  It can be made with chicken too, so it is suitable all year round, but it really is a great way to use leftover turkey. 

As we have had such a mild winter so far, I reckon snow will be arriving in January and February, so what better way to cosy up than with a tasty, winter warmer pie?

Serves 6-8

Ingredients: 
• 2 packets of smoked bacon lardons (I don’t normally like smoked bacon but it makes such a difference!)
• ½ bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• olive oil
• a large knob of butter
• 2kg leeks, washed, finely sliced

• 800g cooked white turkey meat, torn into big chunks (brown too if you want) – this can also be chicken
• 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 pints turkey, chicken or vegetable stock, preferably organic
• 2 tablespoons of crème fraîche
• 1 x 500g packet puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten

Method: 

     1.     Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. 

2.     Put your bacon lardons in a large pan on a medium heat and add thyme leaves. Add some olive oil and the butter and let it all fry off a few minutes. 
3.     Add all of your leeks and fry them off for about 10 minutes so they are well-coated in the butter. 
4.     Season and put the lid, turn the heat down to medium and let them cook away gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they don’t stick to the pan. 
5.     When the leeks are ready, add the turkey meat to them and stir (you can add any leftover stuffing too). Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. 
6.    Add the crème fraîche and turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil.  Season to taste. 
7.     Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry. 
8.    Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your pastry out so it’s the size of your dish. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there. 
9.    Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top, tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. I normally cut out little shapes to decorate the pie with the left over pastry. 
10.  Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg then paint the egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. 
11.  When the pie is ready, re-heat the gravy and serve with your pie – DELICIOUS!!