Cake Trolley

At my work we have a cake trolley every Thursday, I volunteered to do it yesterday and as a treat, rather than shop bought stuff I made my own:


You'll recognise a couple of the pastries, the cake is a recipe based on my mum's cherry and almond sponge cake, though I added orange blossom water and pistachios on top. Will make it again soon and write the recipe up for you guys.

Pie Week

Was approached by Lurpak again for a recipe, this time to celebrate British Pie Week (1-7 March). I've sent them my mum's recipe for a tradition Maltese pie called an qassatat (the Q is silent, pronounced AHS-SAH-TAHT), it's kinda cross between a pastry and an open pie - basically street food in Malta. The easiest filling to do is ricotta the other is a beef and peas mixture (Mum's version included curry powder so it tastes a little like a samosa), there's also another traditional filling of spinach and anchovies - but I've never had a taste for hairy fish.

For the short crust pastry (or you can buy it ready made):

Ingredients:
1 lb plain flour
8 oz unsalted butter
2 eggs
pinch of salt
pepper to taste
Cold water if needed

Method:
Cream the butter, eggs, pepper and salt together, gradually add the flour, working it in until it turns into a dough, if the dough is too dry, add a little water, about a tablespoon at a time. Roll into a ball, cover in a damp tea towel and leave in the fridge for at least an hour.

For the ricotta filling:
1 lb ricotta
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp salt
a cup of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Optional: fresh broad beans, but make sure to peel off the outer skins)
Optional: a couple of heaped tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

For the glaze:
A beaten egg mixed with a couple of tablespoons of milk


Method:
Mix the ricotta in with the parsley, salt and if adding it, broad beans and/or parmesan cheese. Gradually add the beaten eggs so the mixture is still firm, but not runny.

To make the pies:
Take a small ball of dough and roll it out so it's about 12cm in diameter and about 3mm thick - use a saucer as a cutting guide.

Drop a heaped tablespoon of filling into the centre and wet the edges of the pastry with a little water.

Gather the edges of the filling and pleat it around the filling by pinching the edge around it, but not seal the top so the filling still shows. (this takes a little practice, it should look a little like a deflated balloon, here's a picture I ganked off another site: http://emod-content.crmondemand.com/2e0bae65-1670-42cb-a792-bbf6b6ff879b/images/Qassatat.JPG).

Glaze the pastry with egg yolk and milk.

Place on a greased baking sheet and back in the oven for 30mins at 200 deg, then turn it down to 180 deg, continue baking until they're a golden brown.

Lurpak's blogger of the week

Massive thank you to the folks over at Lurpak who have made me their blogger of the week, over on facebook.com. Here's the featured recipe:

Roast Chicken with a spiced honey glaze.

Ingredients:
1 Whole chicken (preferably free range)
3 cloves garlic
about a tablespoon butter
1 small onion
1 small lemon
a sprig of thyme
1 tbsp. honey
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
salt & pepper

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C for fan-assisted ovens).

To make the glaze:
mix the honey, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and the juice of a small lemon and season lightly. Set lemon halves aside.

Then...

Peel and thinly slice the garlic, mixing it into the butter with salt and pepper to taste. This will give the breasts in particular and lovely garlicky taste and keep them extra moist, the butter makes it especially moorish.

Take the chicken, neck facing you, and lift the skin away from the breast. Massage the garlic and butter mixture under the skin, pushing it along evenly. Rub any excess butter into the skin and on the thighs.

Season the cavity. Peel an onion and cut it into quarters, stuff the cavity with the onion, lemon halves and thyme.

Brush the glaze all over the chicken, then season with salt and pepper liberally.

Place in a roasting pan, breast side up and pour in half a cup of water to stop it drying out and make a gravy at the end.

Cook for 45 minutes per kilogram plus 20 minutes, basting occasionally (add more water if you find it drying out too much). You'll know it's ready when the juice from the thigh runs clear and the chicken's turned a nice golden brown.

Allow to rest for about 10 minutes and use the juices in the roasting pan as a gravy.

Lurpak photoshoot/recipe

A few months ago I was approached by a digital agency (and soon after the advertising agency) for Lurpak butter asking me to write a recipe for them, that soon turned into an invitation to a photoshoot so they could feature it (and being paid to boot!). It was great fun, here's the link to the pdf so far, I'll put more stuff up once I hear more from them.

http://www.lurpak.co.uk/downloads/Lurpak_Blogger_Recipes_2010.pdf

Hiatus broken

Far too much has gone on the last 6 months. The rhinoplasty went smoothly, we sold our old flat and bought a lovely 2 bedroom place in Highgate with a garden. I was invited along to write a recipe and attend a photoshoot for Lurpak butter and discovered how much I liked Nigel Slater's recipes (I never heard of him before this year, I know, I'm terrible!).

So here's a shot of one of his lamb shank recipes (with the addition of juniper berries) before I put it into the oven:

Hiatus

Hello my lovelies. Sorry about the lack of posting this week, but I'm off to hospital tomorrow (long awaited rhinoplasty) and probably won't be updating for a while.

In the meantime, enjoy what recipes I have up and let me know if you have tried any. And I shall be seeing you all with more posts and hopefully, a new nose soon. ;)

Much love,

Mer

xxxx

Dinner last night.

Since it's been a while since I made it (We're selling the flat, so I'm avoiding cooking fish), and The Tallest requested it. Here's a quick recipe for my cod with lemon and caper sauce and new potatoes with chilli and cumin:

I've used Cod fillets, but any white fish will do. Baramundi is my prefered choice, but hard to get a hold of in the UK.

Just dust the fillets with some flour and fry in a little olive oil both sides.

To make the sauce: into a small pan: squeeze a lemon, a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of capers, some chopped dill or thyme (which ever you prefer, I used thyme this time - haha) and some pepper. Simmer till the butter melts and has reduced a little.

For the potatoes: clean and halve some baby new potatoes, boil til soft in the middle. Drain, and a little olive oil back into the pan with some dried chilli flakes a sprinkling of cumin seeds, thyme and salt and pepper, toss the potatoes in it on a low heat for a couple of minutes and you're done. :)