Chestnut, almond and cinnamon twists!

When my mum came back from her weekly food shop with a tin of chestnut puree, I was a little surprised as neither of us had any idea what it was, or what we are meant to do with it. While everything else was slowly getting eaten, it sat in lonesome in the fridge for a week after Christmas until we decided to put it to good use. I thought it might go well with cinnamon and consequently pastry came straight to mind (cinnamon + pastry = yummm). Along with some leftover ground almonds (which we originally used for our Christmas dessert) and a sprinkle of demerrera to sweeten it up, we created some perfect tea time treats.

·         1 sheet of puff pastry (I used Jus rol)

·         Approx 4 tablespoons of chestnut puree (ours had a hint of vanilla)

·         1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·         1 tablespoon of demerrera/brown sugar

·         A small handful of almonds, ground.

·         1 egg

Preheat the oven to 200C and line 2 trays with baking paper. Unroll the puff pastry sheet then carefully fold it in half as a guide to cut through the middle. Beat the egg and using a brush, egg wash one side of both halves of the pastry sheet.

One sheet should remain empty from any filling while you should spread the other half with a layer of the chestnut puree (just enough to cover the sheet but not too thick). In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and ground almond and sprinkle over the puree, to cover the whole sheet.

Carefully pick up the empty sheet and place it egg washed side down (this will help it stick to the other half) on top of the filling half of the sheet, to make a sort of sandwich. Then with a cutter or sharp knife, cut about 3 cm thick strips across the sheet. Pick up each strip carefully and twist from the ends and place on the baking sheet. Once all strips are twisted, egg wash the top of each strip before placing in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and puffed.

 
 For a guide on this technique, watch this youtube video, from Pepperidge Farm:

Enjoy!

A fiery affair with Spice Mountain curries...

Following on from the theme of curries, I thought I would tell you about my recent affair with a food ‘cheat’ product I received for Christmas. As one of my presents, I was eager to be given 6 Indian spice blends from Spice Mountain’s borough market stall, made from all natural ingredients which are personally selected and hand ground. Indian classics include Madras, Vindaloo, Korma and Tandoori as well as other traditional curries such as Sri Lankan curry and Goan Curry. Now, I’m not a cheat but I found this particular gift so appealing as I’ve never quite been able to successfully tackle Indian cooking. After burning some garam masala paste and nearly coughing to death over some to-hot-to-handle hot chillies, I gave up trying.

Fortunately, Spice Mountain make cooking curries easy and foolproof. Adding just 3 teaspoons of the blend to a tomato base created a mind blowing flavour; with spices already taken care of, there’s enough time to get creative with the base of the curry!

I’ve never been a huge fan of the regular old basmati rice so to make up for the lack of carbohydrates; I opted for chickpeas and sweet potatoes as an alternative. The two make a great pair- sweet, soft and appealing to the eye!

Sweet potato and chickpea curry

I served this as a side to some tandoori king prawns (recipe below), but this curry is substantial enough for a vegetarian main course with perhaps a bit of rice or some extra veggies.

·         1 tin of plum tomatoes (roughly chopped)

·         3 teaspoons of vinadaloo mix from Spice Mountain

·         1 small red onion, finely chopped

·         1 large sweet potato

·         1 can of chickpeas (drained)

·         A handful of chopped parsley

·         Vegetable Oil

Start off by chopping the sweet potato into medium cubes before boiling in lightly salted water for 10 minutes or until soft. It is better to peel the skin after boiling as it comes off quickly and easily. In a large frying pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil and add the chopped onions. Reduce heat to medium and sweat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the spice mix to the onion and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the drained chickpeas and cook for a further 3 minutes before adding the tinned tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the sweet potato and fresh parsley. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes so all the flavours have combined and potato and chickpeas tenderized.

Tandoori king prawns

·         De-shelled king prawns (cooked or uncooked) enough for 2 people.

·         2 teaspoons of tandoori marinade from Spice Mountain

·         2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt

·         A drizzle of olive/vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and leave to marinate for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, soak some wooden skewers in cold water (this stops them from burning in the oven). Once marinated, put on the skewers and under the grill for 5 minutes, turning twice.

6 spice blends cost just £12.50 from www.spicemountain.co.uk/ or visit their stall at the Jubilee market side of Borough Market where you will find a range of whole or ground spices from all over the world as well as other spice blends from the likes of North Africa and South East Asia.

Oh Ma Goa that was a good curry!

Everyone craves a good curry now and again. The nagging craving for something rich and spicy was how we ended up in Ma Goa, an elegant but nevertheless homely family restaurant in Putney.

My ventures to an Indian don’t normally extend past Brick Lane, where in my experience the food and service have been very much hit and miss. The food, ambiance and service exceed that of any Indian I have ever been to; did I mention they have Kingfisher on tap?

Once featured on a BBC show about traditional Indian cooking (Indian Food Made Easy), I chose Gallina Xhacutti, after watching the chef intricately blend the spices for the dish in the Ma Goa kitchen. This chicken dish was delicately tender, arriving on the bone, with a well balanced mix of roasted and ground sesame seeds, peanuts, cumin and coriander before being balanced with fresh ground coconut. The spiciness of the dish (which is warned as being hot) comes from Kashmiri chillies, as well as being used as a natural colourant for the deep brown curry. A selection of traditional breads is available, such as Sanna, Paratha and a selection of Naans. We shared the sweet coconut and chopped nut naan, which was fresh, light and to my delight, not overly chewy like the shop-bought ones typically are. I also sampled the Paratha bread, which is made with whole-wheat and fried in butter, an interesting alternative to the naan. I was reluctant to order poppadoms and chutneys, which I find only add to the final bill and not much else; boy was I wrong! The dips that accompanied the crunchy poppadoms were nothing as expected. The mint dip was light and refreshing while my personal favourite which I never got the chance to ask about tasted like an Indian version of satay sauce, so nutty and sweet! My side of coconut basmati was fragrant and fluffy with fresh coconut grated in for flavour (nothing unnatural in this meal!), garnished with curry leaves and arranged in a rustic porcelain pot.

The portion sizes are very fair, so much so that if I’d ordered a starter, a lot of good food would have been wasted. The decor is what you would expect in a modern restaurant, trendy with white table cloths, with attention-grabbing art and neutral decor. Our waiter was never without a smile and seemed very courteous. This Goan was traditional but with a modern twist, so next time you’re on a mission for a decent curry, forget about Brick Lane and head on over to Ma Goa!

I’m choosing to return to Ma Goa soon enough, but for those who are unable to make the trip, here is the recipe for my chicken xhacutti which can be found on the BBC website, straight from their kitchen:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/indianfoodmadeeasy/recipes/episode_5/xacutti.shtml

Ma Goa’s website: http://www.ma-goa.com

Happy New Year!

Having abandoned this blog after a gruelling amount of essays and festive catch-ups, it is time for me to return to the world of food blogging and promise to maintain the blog for the rest of the year- my new year’s resolution.

This really shouldn't be very difficult, after presents like 'Larousse Gastronomique' (THE cooking bible), a shiny new wok and Chinese cook book, a selection of borough market treats such as a range of hand mixed Indian spice blends, white truffle oil and a tangy chimchurri sauce.

For now, I will tell you what I had for my new year’s dinner, fashioned up by my mum.

A traditional Russian celebration dish, 'Kurnik' is a complex combination of shredded roast chicken, rice, boiled eggs, wild mushrooms, onions, parsley and pastry. Layer by layer the ingredients come together before being wrapped up in some homemade pancakes (Russian blini) before being rolled up in a homemade soda-based pastry. The pancakes stop the pastry from getting soggy and add that extra bit of indulgence. Kurnik, I'm afraid to tell my south west based audience, blows Cornish pasties right out of the water!

Pan fried swordfish on a simple home-made fish stock risotto

Last weekend involved me buying some whole fresh dover sole from Borough Market. I was nervous and excited at the prospect of learning some new fish preperation skills but once I filleted and skinned the poor things, there really wasn’t a lot left to eat (I did manage to make a nice dover sole linguini dish in the end but I won't go into that in detail). Feeling rather guilty at how much of the fish might go to waste, I saved the discarded bones, heads and skin and vowed to make some fish stock, so I can get the most out of this thought-after fish.

Simple Fish Stock

·         Heads, bones and skin of 2 dover sole

·         1 leek

·         ½ an onion

·         1 Carrot

·         1 bulb of fennel

·         About 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley stalks

·         6 peppercorns

·         A pinch of salt

·         3 dried bay leaves

All you need to do is coarsely chop up all the veg, combine in a large pan with the peppercorns, parsley stalks, bay leaves and the fish bits and top with about 1 litre of cold water (although I ended up adding an extra 300ml). Bring to a simmer and keep it on low heat and simmering for 35 minutes, or longer for a more intense stock. Using a fine sieve, gradually ladle the liquid from the stock pan into a large bowl/another pan, pressing down on the solid items from the pan to squeeze out any juices before disposing of them. Do this until all liquid has been transported into the bowl/pan, and you will be left with some lightly golden, shimmering fish stock.

I chose to freeze half of the stock while putting the rest into a clean pan to simmer; this will go towards my fishy risotto!

Seeing as I wrote a recipe for risotto just a few posts ago, I will not bore you repeating the same thing. I will, however, tell you what I’ve changed so you can vary your recipe accordingly. (To refresh your memory, here is my previous risotto post http://colourful-foodie.blogspot.com/2010/11/saffron-risotto-with-butternut-squash.html).

As earlier stated, I replaced the chicken stock with my own fish stock. As I was going down the simplicity route, I left out the saffron instead opting for a more fresh alternative by adding 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley (right at the end when the parmesan is added).  I bought 1 large swordfish steak, which I marinated in some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, chopped red chillies, salt and pepper. I cut this in half to reduce cooking time and pan-fried over high heat in 2 tbsp of olive oil for a few minutes on each side, serving on a bed of risotto!

Honeyed parsnip and celeriac soup

The roads are getting icy, snow is predicted and central heating is the only thing keeping me from turning into a human icicle. But I found another way to keep myself happy and warm, and it’s this soup.

Serves 2-3

·         2 parsnips

·         Half a celeriac root

·         Half a medium onion

·         3 tablespoons of butter

·         600ml of chicken/vegetable/ham stock

·         2 tablespoons of honey

·         3 garlic cloves

·         10g of root ginger

·         A pinch of nutmeg

·         Salt and pepper

·         Pancetta cubes to garnish

·         1 tablespoon of single cream to garnish

·         Croutons to garnish. I made my own by cubing some slightly stale bread then frying in some olive oil on all sides until golden and crisp.

(I also used some frozen chicken and saffron stock that I had leftover from my risotto, all that did was give the soup a slightly golden tint and a tiny hint of earthy saffron)

Start off by peeling and chopping the veg. Size doesn’t matter as it will all go into a blender anyway but nice 3cm cubes would be perfect. The onion should be finely chopped so it sweats and caramelizes more quickly. Heat a deep pan of 2 tablespoons of butter until melted and put in the onions. Leave on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the parsnips, celeriac, ginger and garlic and stir for a few minutes before adding the rest of the butter, coating the contents of the pan in it as it melts. The ginger will give off that delicate heat that we like to taste in a true winter warmer! After around 10 minutes, add the honey and stir to coat all the vegetables. This will also help the onions caramelize further. Reduce the heat slightly and cover with a lid for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the stock (I use chicken concentrate mixed with boiled water for an intense brothy flavour), then add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Add this to the pan and leave to simmer for a further 15 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft and can easily be crushed with a fork, take off the heat and cool before putting in a blender and pulsing.

Serve with some crispy pancetta cubes along with home-made croutons and a drizzle of single cream.

  

Some left over? This is what I did with my leftover soup.

 Boil some pasta in hot water, once al dente, drain and return to the pan. Pour over 5 tablespoons of the soup, some grated cheese and single cream before mixing in some basil pesto. Add some cooked bacon or chicken for an easy lunch and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil!

Saffron risotto with butternut squash, scallops and pancetta cubes.

Risotto has often been described as a tricky dish to master. I, for one, don’t see how occasionally ladling some stock into a pan of rice and stirring is particularly challenging. It really is what you choose to put in your risotto that can make it or break it. So in an attempt to live up to the complex and (somewhat pompous!) reputation of risotto, I chose to combine a range of diverse flavours and textures to create a beautiful dish, not just to taste but to look at, too!

Before you doubt me and think “there’s far too much going on!” there is something I would like for you to consider; the earthy aroma and golden glow of the saffron combined with the sweet taste and vivid colouring of the roasted squash to elevate the delicate scallops before topping with smoky and crunchy pancetta cubes. If that’s not a dish filled with complimentary flavours, textures and seasonal beauty, I don’t know what is!

For the base risotto

·         ¾ cups of Carnaroli rice (or Arborio if you cannot source Carnaroli)

·         1 litre if good chicken (or vegetable) stock. I was naughty and used 4 teaspoons of chicken concentrate and mixed with boiling water. I don’t regret it for a second!

·         ½ a cup of white wine

·         ½ a medium onion

·         1/3 a cup of parmesan

·         A pinch of saffron threads

·         Butter

·         2 tablespoons of olive oil

For the topping (feel free to improvise!)

·         ½ a butternut squash (approx. 400g)

·         Scallops (I used 1 pack of tesco’s scallops about 16)

·         Pancetta cubes

·         Olive oil

10 simple steps to risotto success!

1)      The first job is to preheat that oven to 200C, so we can get that squash roasting. To do that, prepare it by peeling and dicing it (about 3 centimetre cubes), before coating in olive oil then into a roasting tray- and into the oven.

2)      Peel and finely chop up half an onion, then gently sweat in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

3)      Meanwhile in a separate pan- prepare your stock by adding the saffron threads before simmering on a low heat.

4)      Once the onions are soft, add a further tablespoon of olive oil before pouring the rice into the pan, stirring to coat with the oil and onions, until translucent in colour (about 1 minute).

5)      Add the wine and simmer until the liquid has evaporated completely. Choosing a good quality wine is essential as it’s the first flavour your risotto is hit with! Reduce the heat to a low simmer then ladle by ladle, add the stock to the risotto, stirring occasionally. Don’t overwhelm your risotto, wait for most of the moisture to soak up before adding the next ladleful. This process should take around 25 minutes.

6)      While that’s simmering, fry your pancetta cubes in a hot pan until almost completely crispy and set aside.

7)      Check on your squash- take out of the oven and turn the cubes, basting with oil if necessary. Then top with the pancetta cubes and put back in the oven, this will keep the cubes warm and complete cooking them as well as infusing the squash with their smokiness!

8)      Once the risotto is oozy in appearance but still in rice form, taste it and if it tastes ready (soft with not even a slight crunch) take off the heat. Stir in some freshly grated parmesan and about 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

9)      Meanwhile, use the frying pan used for the pancetta cubes (with all the juices still in the pan) and heat until very hot. Then, one by one (I choose to do this in concentric circles so I know which ones went in first so not to overcook) put the scallops into the pan and fry for 1-2 minutes on each side (follow the correct timings for your scallops size)

10)   Plate up your risotto then top with the squash, scallops and pancetta cubes. Season with a grinding of black pepper and an extra grating of parmesan, just for luck!