Eat Your Greens, Leek and Pea Tart

Distinct and vibrant in appearance and incredibly edible even if you hate your vegetables. Took a couple of goes to master and to create the right texture, half way between soft cheese and souffle.  

600g garden pea's
600g leeks
300g cream cheese
4 eggs
4 cloves garlic
1 green jalapeno
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper
Parsley to garnish

METHOD:
Fill a large pot with water and place on high heat and bring to the boil. In the mean time trim the deep green stalks off the tops of leeks and remove the base, cut whats left of leeks into 2cm circles. Lay each piece of leek down flat on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper, cover with foil and place in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 20 minutes.
Once the water starts to boil pour in peas and cook for 3-4 minutes then drain and cool with cold water. Place pea's in food processor with cream cheese, eggs, garlic, jalapeno, tablespoon of olive oil, teaspoon of salt and a good cracking of pepper, blend together for 2 minutes. Using oil spray or butter grease a 30cm fluted flan dish with removable base followed by a good dusting of flour.
Pour the puree pea mixture into flan dish and evenly distribute pieces of leek around the tart (sit the leeks flat in pea puree). Fill a baking tray with hot water and place on bottom shelf of oven, place tart on the shelf directly above tray of water. Cook at 160oC for 30 minutes, once cooked leave to cool for 30 minutes before removing from outer casing. Cut the tart into 8 pieces and garnish with chopped parsley and extra cracked pepper.

Gelled Bloody Mary Salad

A bit of a retro classic deconstructed and made ultra healthy. And what better way to burn off the weekend hangover than with a hair of the dog in a salad. Very pretty and last weeks best seller in Kaffeine I highly recommend trying something different and going out of one's comfort zone.

2 gem lettuce
2 celery sticks
10 runner beans
Small handful of flat parsley
Sea salt and cracked pepper

TOMATO GEL:
800ml tomato juice
1 white onion
1 carrot
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 stick celery
1 dried red chilli
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon tobasco
Pinch of sea salt
8 gelatin sheets

DRESSING:
200ml tomato juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
4 dash of tobasco
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD:
First make the tomato gel, peel and cut the onion and carrot in half, slice celery into 4 piece's and place in a large pot with tomato juice, garlic, bay, chilli, worcestershire, tobasco and salt. Put the pot over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, in the mean time pour 2 cups of water in a small bowl and cut the gelatin sheets into smaller pieces and soak in water for 10 minutes.
Once the onion has softened and turned translucent strain liquid and discard the solids, place tomato juice back over a medium heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Squeeze the gelatin sheets of excess water and add to tomato juice, stir for 1 minute and remove from heat. Grease a square plastic container with a little olive oil and pour in the tomato jelly. Leave to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes then place in fridge uncovered for 6-8 hours.

Place a pot of water on to boil, top and tail the runner beans and slice very thinly. Once water is boiling add the runner beans and cook for 5 minutes, drain and blanch under cold water. Thinly slice celery, finely chop parsley and wash lettuce leaves.
For the dressing place all ingredients in a small bottle with lid and shake together to combine.
Now its time to construct salad, you can either make a large platter or individual plates. First turn out the tomato gel onto a chopping board and cut off a 2cm slice and lay flat, then cut into 3 strips length ways and carefully cut each length into cubes. On a platter or smaller plates tear and lay out lettuce followed by scattering over runner beans and celery. Gently distribute the desired amount of tomato gels and season with salt and a good cracking of pepper. Lastly sprinkle over the chopped parsley and and drizzle in dressing and serve as soon as possible.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli in White Syrup

More of a side dish than a salad, but I'd quite happily sit down and eat a whole plate but that's just me.
I originally used white sprouting broccoli which has a more delicate flavour and texture, but it can be quite hard to source which is why I have used purple sprouting broccoli.

800g purple sprouting broccoli
250ml white wine
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 dried red chilli's
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt
250ml vegetable oil
100ml extra virgin olive oil

METHOD:
In a sauce pan place white wine, bay, peeled garlic, chillies, rosemary and place over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the wine mixture for 20-30 minutes till a thick syrup forms and remove from the heat, strain the liquid. Pick out garlic, chilli, rosemary and place in food processor with the reduced syrup add the mustard and salt. Blend together for one minute then while still blending very slowly pour in the vegetable oil followed by slowly drizzling in olive oil.
Place a large pot of water on to boil then trim stalk base off the broccoli and cut the larger piece's in half lengthways. Once the water is boiling add a tablespoon of salt and plunge in broccoli, cook for 4-5 minutes till just tender. Drain broccoli and cool under cold running water then toss broccoli in the dressing and serve on a large platter.

Heritage Tomato Salad with Sea Purslane and Hedge Garlic

First of the french Heritage Tomatoes have just arrived, though very expensive I couldn't help myself. All winter I've been dreaming of tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes! Not the dreadful grainy, cloudy, watery, pale and almost artificial Tesco's Finest substitute I've had to put up with every week since September.
Also on the market are some wonderful new cress the first is Hedge Garlic which has an extremely peppery taste followed by a intense garlic flavour. However my favourite new discovery is Sea Purslane which is grown in the sea marshes and picked during low tied. Wonderfully salty leaves that actually taste of sea air and pair's nicely with ripe tomatoes and hedge garlic.

800g heritage tomatoes
100g watercress
100g hedge garlic
100g sea purslane
Cracked pepper

DRESSING:
small bunch of basil
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 red jalapeno
1 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD:
First make the dressing by placing all ingredients into a food processor and blending together for 1 minute, put the dressing to one side and start preparing salad.
Wash watercress, hedge garlic and sea purslane and gently pat dry with a tea towel or paper towels. Pick off the leaves from hedge garlic and sea purslane, discard the stalks. Mix watercress, hedge garlic and sea purslane together in a large bowl. Wash tomatoes and cut into uneven bite sized piece', lay half the green leaves over a platter followed by half the chopped tomatoes and lastly drizzle with the desired amount of dressing and cracked pepper. Repeat the layer and serve as soon as possible.

Carrot Marmalade

A revived version of one of my older recipes, like most things I cook over time evolution kicks in and I find ways to improve on the original. I first tasted this jam whist working in the Sahara, some of the local Berber people ate it on there version of a pan-cake. At first I wasn't sure what it was but after some miscommunication I learnt the vibrant orange colour came from carrots. Since I've developed my own version and has become a signature item on all the tables in Kaffeine.

1 kg peeled and grated carrots
3 un-waxed lemons
3 oranges
1 liter water
1 kg granulated sugar

METHOD:
Place the carrots and water into a large heavy based pot, using a peeler peel skin off the lemons and oranges, roughly slice peel and add to the pot. Over a strainer squeeze the juice out of the oranges and lemons and pour into pot.  Keeping the seeds and pith place in muslin cloth and tie into a tight bundle and lastly add to the carrot and citrus mixture. Place pot over a high heat and bring to a simmer, once simmering turn the heat down slightly and cooking for 1 hour.
After the hour is up remove the muslin bundle, add sugar and turn up the heat, once rapidly boiling cook marmalade for 20 minutes. To test if marmalade is ready place a tablespoon of jam on a cold plate and leave to cool for 1 minutes then run your finger through the middle of marmalade if the jam doesn't merge back together it is then ready. Carefully pour the marmalade into sterilized jars and cover with lids, leave marmalade to cool and set for a couple of days before using.

Jersey Mid Royal Rosti

 

Just on the market are jersey mid royals but they wont be round for long. In the month ahead they will grow bigger and become plain old jersey royals, slightly more expensive but well worth the price and time it takes to prepare my very popular rosti.

1.2kg jersey mid royal potatoes
200g mature cheddar
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt
Cracked pepper

METHOD:
Put potatoes in large pot, cover with cold water and place over a high heat, bring to the simmer and turn down the heat slightly. Cook potatoes for about 15 minutes till just tender and drain into a clean sink. Place plug in sink and fill with cold water and leave the potatoes to cool for half an hour.
Grate cheddar and finely chop the rosemary leaves, once potatoes have cooled grate and place in large mixing bowl with cheese, rosemary, oil, salt, good cracking of pepper and mix together using your hands. Grease a 30cm fluted flan dish with removable base using oil spray or butter, gently press potato mixture into dish and cook in pre-heated oven 200oC for 45 minutes.  Once cooked garnish with a little extra rosemary leaves and cracked pepper.

Raspberry and White Wine Muffins

Almost muffin'ed out with all the varieties I've posted in the last couple of weeks, having a mini 90's flash back! Not to worry the main reason I wanted to post this recipe is because of Etienne's awesome photo! p.s. Very yummy flavour combination.

450g plain flour
200g sugar
100g butter
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
100ml milk
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300ml white cooking wine
150g frozen raspberries

METHOD:
Place butter in sauce pan and melt over a medium heat once melted remove from heat and place to one side to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, raspberries and roughly mix together. Beat eggs into the butter and pour onto the dry mixture along with buttermilk, milk, vanilla and 200ml of wine. Using a butter knife cut through the wet and dry combining together till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with spray oil or butter and evenly distribute the batter between the molds and sprinkle each muffin top with a little extra sugar. Bake muffin's in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes.
In the mean time place remaining wine in sauce pan with 3 tablespoons of sugar and put over a high heat and bring to a rapid boil for 2 minutes then remove from heat.
Once muffins are cooked brush the tops with  reduced wine syrup and leave muffin's to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out.

Pulled Pork and Candy Beetroot Salad with Pork-Oli

I can't take credit for the name Pork-Oli that goes to James the lead barista at Kaffeine he's a meat eating carnivore who affectionately dropped that P bomb in the kitchen the other day. But I'll happily use it to describe the dressing on this salad, its essentially a mayonnaise made by reducing the roasting juices from the pork. If I could use some blue language to describe how yummy this dressing is I would but I've decided its best to keep this blog clean-ish.
Also worth noting are candy beetroot which have just had a resurgence and quite cheap if you can find a stockist, quite sweet and smaller than regular beets and have a lovely inner candy cane pattern flesh.
I must also thank Etienne for his fresh batch of pictures, I really love how this picture looks as though the salad has just hovered in from a Sci-Fi kitchen, delicious and hunting.

800g pork belly
250ml apple juice
50ml tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
400g candy beetroot
Sea salt and cracked pepper
1 radicchio

PORK-OLI
200ml roasting juices
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon whole seed mustard
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
125ml vegetable oil
1 teaspoon water

METHOD:
Using a sharp knife score the skin of pork belly with a chris-cross pattern and place pork in baking tray with a 3cm edge. Pour apple juice over pork then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt over the skin and crack some pepper followed by drizzling over 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cover tray with foil and place in oven to roast at 170oC for 2 hours. Peel beetroot and slice into 2cm wedges and lay out on a baking tray, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and drizzle over the remaining olive oil. Place beetroot in the oven to roast with the pork for 45 minutes.
After pork has roasted for 2 hours remove foil and brush surface of pork with the juices then carefully pour off 200ml of roasting liquid into a measuring jug. Place pork back in the oven uncovered to roast for a further 30 minutes. Pour roasting juice's into sauce pan and place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Rapidly boil the juices till they reduce by 3/4 and turn into a thick brown syrup then remove from heat. Using a food processor blend together yolks, mustard and vinegar for 1 minutes, while the processor is still on slowly add the reduced pork juices followed by gradually pouring in vegetable oil to create a mayonnaise lastly add water.
Cut radicchio in half and remove the core then slice into quarters and wash the leaves.
Once pork is cooked remove the skin and using 2 forks pull apart the flesh. Lay some of the radicchio over a large platter and scatter over half the beetroot followed by half the pork meat then drizzle over desired amount of pork-oli and repeat the layer, serve as soon as possible.  

Blueberry Friands

Another friand variety and probably my favourite because they are blueberry flavoured. I'm going to repeat myself and recommend you buy flaked almonds and ground them in a food processor this will give the friands a better crumb and infinitely lighter. You can use pre-ground almonds but I find the final product too dry, dense and smacky on the pallet. Also this mixture will sit happily in your fridge for up to a week and yields around 48 friands.

600g flaked almonds
300g caster sugar
250g good quality salted butter
100ml buttermilk
10 egg whites
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
150g blueberries

ICING:
200g blueberries
400g cream cheese
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

METHOD:
Place butter in a small sauce pan and melt over medium heat till it becomes foamy then remove from heat and leave to stand. Ground almonds in food processor till fine like bread crumbs might take several minutes to get the right consistency. Then place almonds in a large mixing bowl with sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and mix together till combined. Add the buttermilk, egg whites, vanilla, butter to the dry mixture and beat together for 2 minutes.
To bake friands grease friand pan with either oil spray or butter and 3/4 fill each mold then dot 3 blueberries down each friand like buttons. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes.
To make the icing place blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in sauce pan and place over a medium heat, cook for about 5 minutes till a syrup forms then remove from heat and leave to cool till luke warm. Put cream cheese in mixing bowl and using a beater whip air into cream cheese. Pour half the blueberry syrup into cream cheese and beat till well combined. Using a tablespoon place a large dot of icing on top of each friand followed by 1 teaspoon of blueberry syrup, the cakes will keep in the fridge for a day.

Plum and Cherry Brandy Muffin

The picture sums it up! I could quite happily pick this muffin out of the screen and eat every last pixel.
Plums and stone fruit in general are very very gradually coming into season, most varieties are still rock hard. However you might find the odd squishy plum sent up from South Africa or South America at your local supermarche which are idea for cooking with. I've married the plum with cherry brandy which gives a lovely stumped, rustic look and taste hic...great.

450g plain flour
200g sugar
100g butter
100ml buttermilk
200ml milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 200g plums
100ml cherry brandy plus extra for brushing
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

METHOD:
Put butter in sauce pan and place over a medium heat to melt, once melted put aside to cool slightly.  In large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and stir together till combined. Slice plums in half and removed the stone's and cut plums into 1cm cubes, add to the dry mixture. Once butter has cooled slightly beat in the eggs, vanilla and add to dry mixture with milk, buttermilk and cherry brandy. Using a butter knife cut through the wet and dry combining together till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with oil spray or butter and evenly distribute the batter into pan. Sprinkle tops of muffins with a little extra sugar and place in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes. Once cooked brush the tops with a little extra cherry brandy, leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out.

Boisterous Salad

The summer tease is well and truly over and it seems winter is here for at least another week. Forget the diet and open a bottle of port or red and make my new boisterous salty, creamy and bitter salad! 

200g puy lentils
150g pancetta
150g gorgozola
2 white chicory
2 wet garlic
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves
Sea salt and cracked pepper

METHOD:
Wash puy lentils under cold running water, place in large pot and fill with water. Add bay leaves and a good pinch of salt, place over a high heat to simmer for 30 minutes till tender.
Cut the pancetta into 5mm strips and cut stalk tops off the wet garlic and place both ingredients on a baking tray. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over garlic and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, cover tray with foil and place in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 30 minutes.
Cut chicory in half remove the core and pull leaves apart, wash chicory under cold water and gently pat dry. Once lentils are cooked drain and cool with cold running water and place in a mixing bowl, season lentils with a pinch of salt and a good crackling of pepper and drizzle over olive oil, mix together.
When the pancetta and garlic has finished cooking  remove foil and leave to cook for 10 minutes before handling.
Cut pancetta into 5mm cubes and peel off the outer skin of wet garlic and pick off the whole clove segments of garlic.
Now its time to construct the salad, roughly tear half the chicory leaves over a large platter and sprinkle a couple handfuls of lentils over chicory. Evenly distribute half the garlic and pancetta over lentils and lastly break small piece's of gorgonzola over top, repeat layer and serve with in 2 hours.

Asparagus, Cherry Tomato, Lemon and Parmesan Tart

Because of the random behavior of the weather lately some plants are unsure if its winter, spring or even summer. Usually British asparagus doesn't come through till mid may but this year it started very early in MARCH! Thanks to the little heat wave which has now well and truly disappeared England has a mini batch of wonderful asparagus.
Growing up my grandparents owned a asparagus farm and my first memory of eating this vegetable was during lunch at Nana and Grandads place. Nana had just bought a copy of Alison Holst (New Zealand's equivalent to Delia Smith) new cook book which had a recipe for cream of asparagus soup and she decided to give it a go. Being very young I was hesitant to trying new foods and flavours that weren't ice cream or tomato ketchup. But knowing that Nana hadn't once cooked me something I hated I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try this new flavour. Only thing I can remember after tasting the soup is that I liked it very much and wanted more!
This recipe isn't the soup however just a lovely little tart I made up last week.
 
500g asparagus
250g cherry tomatoes
50g butter
50g plain flour
250ml whole milk
100g parmesan grated
1 lemon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper to season
4 basil leaves 

PASTRY:
300g plain flour
150g butter
50g grated cheddar
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD:
Start with making the pastry, place flour, cheddar and salt in large mixing bowl. Cube the butter and add to dry mixture, rub butter into flour till well blended together then add egg and cold water, lightly knead together till only just combined. Wrap pastry in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
Grease a fluted flan tin with removable base 30cm in diameter and 3cm deep. Once the pastry has rested roll out on a floured surface till about 4-5mm thick and line the tin with pastry pinch and press down around the edges and refrigerate for a further 30 minutes.
Fill a medium pot with water and place over a high heat to boil and snap the ends off the asparagus. Once water is boiling plunge in the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes, drain and cool under cold running water, slice asparagus in half length ways and cut into 2cm pieces.
Place tomatoes on a baking tray and season with salt, pepper and drizzle over olive oil, roast in oven set at 200oC for 15 minutes.
Mean while with a folk prick the base of the pastry 10 times and line with grease proof paper and fill with rice or dried legumes, bake in oven set at 200oC for 12 minutes. When the pastry is baked remove parchment paper and legumes and bake the pastry for another 6 minutes till golden brown.
Zest lemon on the fine side of the grater then melt butter in sauce pan over a medium heat and add flour and lemon zest. Stir flour into butter till a citrus shortbread aroma fills the kitchen then pour milk in bit by bit all the time stirring to avoid lumps. Once all the milk has been added squeeze in the juice of lemon and add half the parmesan, remove sauce from heat and stir till parmesan has melted.
Pour parmesan sauce into pastry and smooth over evenly, distribute the asparagus over parmesan sauce, sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top and lastly place cherry tomatoes randomly round the tart. Bake in pre-heated oven set at 200oC for 15 minutes, once cooked tear fresh basil leaves over the tart.

Mediterranean Red, White and Green Salad

So recently I read a review on Kaffeine and they discribed my food as Mediterranean, this salad is the exception. I prefer to label my cooking style as nomadic and slightly dysfunctional (in a good way).
My ideas come from staring at a white wall for 3 hours every Friday afternoon then I write the following weeks menu. This salad however was a mistake, my vegetable supplier didn't come through with the goods one day, so I had to make something up with what I had in the larder. Thankfully I was on fire that day after a restful weekend and came up with this delightful, bright and healthy salad.

4 beetroot
2 red onions
2 red peppers
200g wild garlic washed
100g feta
50g green olives
Sea salt and cracked pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil

PESTO:
1 small bunch basil
25g pine nuts
30g parmesan
1 clove garlic
70ml extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD:
Peel beetroot and cut into 2cm cubes then lay out on a baking tray and season with a little salt, pepper and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Peel onions, slice in half and remove the top and bottom then slice 1cm lengthways and lay down one side of a separate baking tray. Cut peppers in half and remove the seeds and stalks, cut peppers into quarters and lay next to onions on the same tray. Season onion and peppers with salt, pepper and drizzle over 3 tablespoons olive oil. Place beetroot, onion and peppers in a pre-heated oven set at 200oC for 20 minutes, stir and roast for a further 15 minutes.
In the mean time toast the pine nuts in a fry pan over medium heat should take around 4 minutes. Grate the parmesan and peel garlic then place basil leaves, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, olive oil and salt in food processor and blend together for 1 minute.
Place large pot over medium heat and add a dash of olive oil followed by the wild garlic and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, cook till the leaves are just wilted and remove from pot into side bowl.
Once the vegetables have roasted and cooled slightly its time to construct the salad, lay half of the wild garlic over large platter followed by half the beetroot, onion and peppers. Crumble some feta over the roasted vegetables then distribute half the olives, lastly drizzle over desired amount of pesto
and repeat the layer, serve as soon as possible.

Orange, Apricot and Pumpkin Seed Loaf

3 to 4 times a year I change the fruit bread Kaffeine serves for breakfast from cinnamon'n'raisin to honey, milk and almond. However I've gotten bored with just these 2 varieties of fruit loaf and decided to mix things up a little and throw a third loaf into the mix. After a few trials and epic fails I've finally mastered the recipe, best served toasted with loads of artery coating butter.

650g strong flour
250ml whole milk
50g sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
250ml buttermilk
3 tablespoons olive oil
100g dried apricots
100g pumpkin seeds
1 orange
1 teaspoon cinnamon

METHOD:
Place milk in a sauce pan and warm the milk over a low heat till about 40oC (Luke warm) and remove from heat. Add sugar and yeast to milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes in the mean time roughly dice the apricots and zest orange on the fine side of the grater. Put flour in a large mixing bowl with apricots, pumpkin seeds, zest and juice of orange, cinnamon then pour in the fermented milk, buttermilk and olive oil. Knead together for at least 10 minutes, if you don't want to knead it yourself you can always use a cake mixer and attach a dough hook. Grease a separate bowl with a dash of oil and place bread dough into bowl, cover with cling film and leave to ferment in warm place for an hour.
Grease a loaf tin 24x12cm (8cm deep) with butter or oil spray then dust by tapping a little flour round the tin. Roll the dough onto a clean bench and knock back the air, knead for a minute or 2. Mold the dough into a shape that roughly resembles the size of the tin and place in side. Cover bread dough with either a clean damp cloth or tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove again for 1 hour and pre-heat oven to 180oC.
Once the dough has proven for a second time fill a small tray with warm water and place on the bottom shelf of oven and place the bread dough on the shelf just above, bake for 35 minutes. Once cooked leave bread to cool for 10 minutes before turning out, when the loaf has cooled completely you can slice. I like my slice's of bread very chunky and I usually get 7 piece from this recipe, best toasted and served with butter.

Raspberry, Savoury Oats, Hazelnut and Red Wine Dressing Salad

Ok you're either thinking I've completely lost it and have an IQ of a teaspoon or I'm a mad genius? Either way you're probably right.
This salad is personally the highlight of last weeks menu visual, unusual mix of flavours, texture, low in calories, full of vitamins and fiber. If you're questioning the combination I'll give you a little run down, raspberries go with hazelnuts, rolled oats and red wine. Watercress goes with red wine and the shallots which are in savoury oats, all flavours are perfectly married and balance.
I must also apologize for not writing any recipes this weekend I had a little accident turns out my mac doesnt like drinking gin and tonic. After trying to get the lightweight fixed I had to trade it in for a new mac. An expensive mistake I wont be repeating again, I've spent most the weekend up dating my fancy new toy and not had the time to write my recipe a day. I'll hopefully catch up later in the week.
Also once again I must thank Etienne for these amazing pictures, make's me emotional just looking at them.


150g raspberries
70g watercress washed
70g hazelnuts

SAVOURY OATS:
150g rolled oats
70g grated cheddar
1 egg
100ml milk
Small handful flat parsley
25g butter
1 shallot
Sea salt and pepper to season

200ml red wine
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 bay leave
4 peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
70ml vegetable oil
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon water

METHOD:
Start with making savoury oats, peel and dice shallot then place butter in a fry pan and place over a medium heat to melt and add shallots, saute till shallots turn translucent and soft. Roughly chop parsley and place in mixing bowl with oats, cheese, good pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. Add onions, milk and egg to the bowl and using your hands mix together till evenly combined. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pour cold water into a small side bowl, wet your hands in the water and start rolling small oat balls and place on baking tray. You should get around 16 balls, bake in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 15 minutes. In a separate baking tray place hazelnuts and using one end of rolling pin roughly bash the nuts so they break in halves, thirds and quarters bake in the oven with savoury oats for 8 minutes.
Next make the dressing, place red wine, vinegar, bay, whole garlic clove, honey and salt in a sauce pan and put over high heat. Bring dressing to the boil and reduce till the liquid turns to a syrup should take around 15-20 minutes, strain the syrup into a large mixing bowl and discard garlic, bay and peppercorns. Add dijon to syrup and using a whisk beat mustard and syrup together then slowly drizzle in vegetable oil while still beating the dressing with whisk. Once vegetable oil is fully incorporated beat in water followed by very slowly drizzling in olive oil while still beating the dressing. The final result should resemble an elastic jelly like substance.
Now its time to construct the salad, lay out half watercress over a large platter followed by a sprinkling of hazelnuts. Evenly arrange half the raspberries and savoury oat balls over salad then using a spoon drop small amount of dressing over the top and repeat layer. Serve as soon as possible.

Lime Friands

A french almond based cake, usually quite dense however my technique is slightly different and I use flaked almonds and ground them in a food processor just before making the batter. This makes for a moist and lighter end result. I find the pre-ground almonds at supermarkets are too finely ground and dries out.
Also this mixture will make around 24 friands and the batter will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

600g flaked almonds
300g caster sugar
250g good quality salted butter
10 egg whites
100ml buttermilk
2 limes
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

ICING:
300g cream cheese
2 limes
150g sugar

METHOD:
First melt butter then leave to cool at room temperature. Place flaked almonds in a food processor and blend for around 2 minutes till finely ground, put almonds in a large mixing bowl. Add to the bowl sugar, baking powder, soda and cinnamon and stir together till evenly combined.
Zest limes and add zest to the dry, in a separate bowl juice limes and add buttermilk, egg whites and vanilla and beat together. Pour wet mixture into the dry and add melted butter and stir together till evenly incorporated.
Grease your friand pan with butter or oil spray and spoon in friand mixture till 3/4 full and place in pre-heated oven set at 180oC cook for 25minutes.
To make icing zest limes using a zester and keep skin peeling to one side for later. Juice limes into a small sauce pan and add sugar then place over a high heat and boil for about 5 minutes till you have a syrup and remove from heat. Put the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and  beat till fluffy then slowly pour in 3/4 of the lime syrup while still stirring cream cheese, mix together till evenly combined.
Once friands have cooked and cooled for around 20 minutes turn out from the pan and leave to cool for another 10 minutes. Using 2 tablespoons quenelle cream cheese icing and place on top of each of the friands. Using a teaspoon place a small amount of reserve lime syrup on top of the friands and finally garnish with a few strips of the lime zest.

Sage, Mushroom, Cider and Cheddar Muffins

I have a small confession, I cant stomach mushrooms! I know its a terrible statement coming from a chef but mushrooms honestly make me ill. Usually twice a year I'll attempt to eat them in some dish but the end result is me getting intimate with stomach acids.
However I do love cooking mushrooms and love the musty smell they give off (odd I know).
I'm pretty good at pairing mushrooms with complementary flavours such as these muffin's sage, mustard and cider all work perfectly. Tried and tested on customers and co-workers, no complaints just praise.

450g plain flour
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
50ml milk
100ml cider
150g grated mature cheddar
2 tablespoons pommery mustard
100g butter
200g button mushrooms
6 sage leaves
2 teaspoons baking powder
Sea salt and cracked pepper

METHOD:
Slice the mushrooms and roughly chop sage then place a fry pan over a medium heat and melt the butter. Once butter has melted add mushrooms, sage and season with a pinch of salt and a good cracking of pepper. Cook the mushroom till they start to turn golden brown and remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl add flour, baking powder, cheese, pinch of salt, crack of pepper and stir together till evenly combined. In a separate bowl beat eggs, buttermilk, milk, mustard and cider together, pour the wet mixture in to the dry and add mushrooms. Using a butter knife cut through both the wet and dry combining together till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with either butter or spray oil and evenly distribute batter into the muffin pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Tuna Bake with Rouille

In Australia this is quite a common menu item in health conscious cafes. However my version is slightly more jazzed up with a few extra ingredients and topped with Rouille which is a Mediterranean dip traditionally served with seafood.
A complete meal in one and full of fiber and protein and a great lunch time substitute best served at room temperature and will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

300g brown rice
200g canned tuna in olive oil
150g grated cheddar
8 eggs
100ml double cream
1 courgette
2 plum tomatoes
1 red pepper
2 sticks celery
1 red onion
4 sprigs of spring onion
2 carrots
200g desiree potatoes
Small handful dill
Small handful flat parsley
Small handful coriander
1 red chilli
1 teaspoon sea salt

ROUILLE:
3 red peppers
1 red onion
1 plum tomato
4 cloves garlic
100g stale white bread
Small handful dill
3 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon
1 red chilli
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

METHOD:
Put rice in a pot, fill with water and place over a high heat, once the water has started to boil the rice will take around 25-30 minutes to cook. Cut potatoes into 2cm cubes and place in another pot and cover with cold water then put on a high heat and cook till the potatoes are tender around 15-20 minutes then drain and leave to cool.
Grate courgette, peel and dice carrots, roughly dice tomatoes, cut pepper in half and remove the stalk and seeds then dice, slice celery, peel red onion and cut in half then remove the top and bottom and thinly slice length ways. Slice spring onion into small circles, finely dice red chilli  and lastly roughly chop dill, parsley and coriander together.
Once rice is cooked drain under cold water and leave to sit for about 10 minutes then place the rice in a large mixing bowl, add tuna, cheese, courgette, carrot, tomato, pepper, celery, red onion, spring onion, chilli and herbs and mix together with your hands till evenly combined.
Line a 20x30cm (3cm deep) baking tray with parchment paper and lay out tuna mix evenly in the tray. Beat eggs, cream and salt together and pour over the tuna bake, using your fingers poke egg mixture into the tuna bake till roughly combined. Place tuna bake in oven set at 180oC for 30 minutes, once cooked leave to cool.
In the mean time make rouille, cut peppers in half and remove the stalk and seeds, peel and quarter the red onion, quarter tomato and place all on a baking tray with whole garlic cloves. Season vegetables with a pinch of salt and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place on top shelf in a pre-heated oven set at 200oC for 30minutes. When vegetables have cooked place in a food processor with broken up bread, dill, capers, vinegar, chilli, salt and olive oil and blend together till almost smooth.
Cut tuna bake into 8 piece's and when serving place a large spoonful of rouille on top of each tuna bake and garnish with a little extra chopped herbs and some freshly cracked pepper.

Spiced Lamb with Roasted Rhubarb, Broad Beans and Salsa Verde

If you've got the post Easter blues and some left over lamb from the weekend this might cheer you up. Two of my favourite ingredients have just come into season, marsh grown rhubarb which is sour and sharp, the other is young broads beans which are smaller and sweet. Incorporated with spring lamb lightly roasted and dressed in Salsa Verde this salad is not only bloody yummy its also healthy. Good news after a long weekend of chocolate and heart burn!
I must also mention Etienne has taken some amazing pictures for me this week and I'm very very grateful for his services.

SPICED LAMB:
400g diced lamb
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 dried red chilli
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

ROASTED RHUBARB:
3 thick stalks of rhubarb
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

SALSA VERDE:
1 small handful of rocket
1 small handful flat parsley
2 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons fine capers
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic
2 anchovies
1 red chilli
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
100ml extra virgin olive oil

500g of fresh broad beans
100g baby spinach washed

METHOD:
First thing is to make the lamb, place a small pan over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds and dried chilli broken into several smaller piece's and toast till the cumin becomes fragrant then remove from heat. Place the cumin, chilli and salt in a mortar and pestle and ground together till a powder forms. Place the lamb in a baking tray and sprinkle with the cumin spice and drizzle with olive oil and mix together with your hands rubbing the spice mix into the lamb. Cover the tray with foil and place in oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes.
While lamb is roasting wash the rhubarb and cut into 5cm length piece's and lay over a baking tray with sugar and olive oil and roast in the oven with lamb for 20minutes.
In the mean time bring a pot of water to the boil and start shelling the broad beans from the pod, place in boiling water for 3 minutes then drain and blanch under cold water. The outer skin of the broad beans will have turned a pale grey colour, pinch one end of the broad bean skin with your fingers and the fleshy part of the broad bean will pop out. Keep the vibrant green flesh of the broad beans and discard the grey shells.
To make the Salsa Verde place all ingredients in a food processor and blend together for 1 minute.
Once the lamb has cooled slightly and rested its time to construct the salad, lay out half the spinach leaves followed by torn piece's of rhubarb. Lay out several piece's of lamb and sprinkle the top with broad beans and finally drizzle some of the Salsa Verde all over the top of salad. Repeat the layer and serve as soon as possible.

Jonogold Apple Salad with Mature Cheddar and Valencia Dressing

I was going to publish my lamb salad recipe next but seeing as its not healthy I decided to type up another of this weeks highlight. I'm sure you've had too much roast and chocolate this long weekend anyway.  
Jonogold or Jonagold apples are a cross between golden delicious and blush crimson varieties of apples they have a crisp, tart and juicy texture and great pickled and served with aged cheddar and drizzling of sweet orange dressing.

4 jonogold apples
1 red onion
100ml white wine vinegar
100ml water
50g sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
2 cloves garlic
1 dried red chilli
2 valencia oranges
1 tablespoon dijon
100ml vegetable oil
100ml extra virgin olive oil
200g unpasteurized mature cheddar
50g walnut halves
70g rocket washed

METHOD:
Peel the red onion and garlic, slice into circles and place in a large pot with vinegar, water, sugar, salt, bay, peppercorns and chilli.
Put the pot over a high heat and bring to the boil, in the mean time slice the apples into 8's and cut out the core. Once the liquid is boiling add the apples and cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat and leave to cool.
To make the dressing measure out 100ml of the pickling liquid used to cook the apples and place in a sauce pan with the juice of valencia oranges.
Put the sauce pan over a high heat and boil till the liquid reduces to a sticky honey like syrup. Place the reduction in a food processor with mustard and blend together for 1 minute then start to pour in the vegetable oil bit by bit followed by slowly pouring in the olive oil. The dressing should resemble a orange translucent mayonnaise.
Finally cut the cheese into 1cm cubes then its time to construct the salad. Lay out half the rocket over a serving platter followed by half the apple piece with bits of the onion and garlic as well. Then break up some walnuts in your hand and scatter over the salad followed by some cubes of cheddar, finally a drizzle of dressing and repeat the layer and serve soon as possible.

Sweet Piccolo Parsnips with Wild Garlic and Tarragon

I've used 2 rather rare ingredients in this recipe, piccolo parsnips and wild garlic. Usually you'll find them in season for a short time during the end of winter and start of spring. Piccolo parsnips are lovely once roasted and will become very sweet and tender. Wild garlic is a deceiving name and not a bulb that you could rummage for in the woods but rather a leafy spinach like green with white flowers. Raw it has a peppery taste and once sauteed a pungent garlic and slight menthol flavour comes out and marries very nicely with some caramelized parsnips. Simple to make and just the antidote to cure the Easter chocolate come-down.

1.5kg piccolo parsnips
1 teaspoon sea salt
Cracked pepper
60ml extra virgin olive oil

DRESSING:
400g wild garlic washed
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper to season
4 sprigs of tarragon
1 tablespoon brandy

METHOD:
Wash the parsnips in water and drain. Lay piccolo parsnips over 2 large baking trays and season with the salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Place the parsnips in the oven set at 200oC and roast for 25 minutes then remove from oven and toss around in tray and place back in the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes.
To make the dressing place a fry pan over a high heat and add the olive oil once hot add the wild garlic and season with a little salt and pepper, cook for about 30-45 seconds till the leaves start to wilt. Tip the wild garlic in a bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes, then pour the excess liquid from the wild garlic back in to the pan and add brandy, leaves of tarragon, a little extra salt and pepper. Place the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil for 1 minute and remove from heat.
Now its time to construct the salad, lay out half the piccolo parsnips on a serving platter followed by half the wild garlic then drizzle over with some dressing and repeat the layer again. You can serve this salad warm or at room temperature.

Hot Cross Buns

Considering the weather in London this Easter is slightly more rubbish than usual why not crack into some baking! Put down the chocolate and screw on your kneading gorilla arms and BAKE!

800g strong flour
50g caster sugar
50ml olive oil
250ml buttermilk
250ml milk
250ml water
1 oragnge
1 teaspoon cinamon
1/2 teaspoon groun clove
1 tablespoon dried yeast
50g rasins
50g dried cranberries
20g flaked almonds

EGG WASH:
1 egg
100ml milk

CROSS:
300g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1 egg
25g butter
250ml milk
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

GLAZE:
2 tablespoon apricot or plum jam
50ml water

METHOD:
Put water in a jug with sugar and yeast and leave to ferment for 10 minutes. In a large bowl place the flour, cinnamon, clove, rasins, cranberries, almonds and zest of orange and roughly stir together.
Add the fermented liquid to the dry ingrediends with milk, buttermilk, olive oil, juice of orange and olive oil and knead togther for 10 minutes. After kneading place in a bowl and cover in cling film, leave to ferment for a hour in warm place. Once the dough has proven knock back and knead for 5 more minuts and devide into 18 piece's and knead each piece into a ball. Line baking tray with parchment paper and place dough balls on the tray 3x6 (or you can split between two baking trays 3x3), then beat the egg and milk togther to make a egg wash and brush each bun with the wash. Place the buns in a warm place to prove for another hour.
Once the buns have proven its time to make the cross, melt the butter and place flour in a mixing bowl with sugar and baking powder. Add the butter, egg and milk and stir with a spoon till a paste forms, fold the mixture into a pipping bag with a 2mm nozzle attached and pipe a line down each row of dough balls followed by pipping horizontal lines across the buns. Place buns in a pre-heated oven at 200oC for 15 minutes. Put the jam and water in a small sauce pan and bring to the boil for 1 minutes then remove from heat. Once the buns are cooked brush with the jam and leave to stand for 15 minutes before pulling apart. Best toasted with loads of wonderful butter and apricot jam!

Beetroot Salad with Orange Soured Cream and Pickled Horsradish

Growing up I was never a fan of beetroot but mainly because they usually came from a can and tasted too sweet and sour for my liking. Then one day in my late teens I watched someone roast beets on TV and decided to give it a go. Beetroot are sooooooo much better eaten either grated raw or roasted in olive oil, whoever destroyed my first impression with beetroots by pickling and using to fill soggy sandwiches and burgers should have their food science degree taken from them! Here's one of my favourite beetroot salads which is simply and perfectly balanced with orange sour cream and a little horseradish.

1.2kg raw beetroot
70g rocket washed
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper to season

SOUR CREAM:
300ml double cream
1 lemon
1 orange
Pinch of sea salt

PICKLED HORSE RADISH:
20g finely grated horseradish
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD:
First make the sour cream placing the cream in a container with salt and juice of the lemon then using the fine end of a grater grate the zest of the orange and place in the container and stir till combined. Cover and place in the fridge, for best results leave over night.
Peel the beets and cut into 2cm cubes and lay out on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the beets in a oven set at 200oC for 30 minutes then remove from oven and stir around the tray and place back in oven for another 20 minutes.
Place the horseradish in a bowl with vinegar, oil and salt and roughly combine.
Now its time to construct the salad, lay half the rocket leaves over a serving platter followed by half the roasted beetroot. Using a tablespoon dot the sour cream round the salad then sprinkle with some horseradish, then repeat layer and serve as soon as possible.

Butternut, Mayple and Chilli Muffins

Another wacky combination of ingredients yet they all work together and that's a fact!

450g plain flour
100g butter melted
2 eggs
150ml buttermilk
150ml milk
100g grated cheddar
150g grated butternut
50ml maple syrup
1 tablespoon baking powder
Small hand full of curly parsley chopped
1 red chilli diced
Good pinch of sea salt
METHOD:
In a large mixing bowl place the flour, baking powder, cheddar, butternut, parsley, chilli, salt and roughly combine together. After the butter has melted leave to stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly then beat in the eggs and pour into the dry muffin mix along with the milk, buttermilk and maple. Using a butter knife cut through the wet and dry ingredients till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with either butter or oil spray and evenly distribute the muffin mixture into the pan. Bake the muffins in a pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes. Once cooked leave to stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm with butter.

Edamame in Hot and Sour

Edamame is the healthier version of popcorn I could quite easily sit and watch a movie while grazing on soy beans for 2 hours. If you haven't heard of edamame they are the pods that grow on a soy tree and the Japaneses equivalent to pea's or green beans.
Naturally smooth and have a slightly creamy taste which marries well with salty and spicy ingredients. Very simple recipe to make and I recomend you find a vac-pac of fresh tamarind at your local Asian supermarket as its amazing smokey sourness makes all the difference.

800g edamame beans
4 plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 dried red chilli
small knob of ginger
1 lemongrass
The roots from a bunch of coriander
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons of tamarind soaked in 200ml boiled water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lime
4 dashes of tobasco

METHOD:
First make the sauce, crush the garlic, grate the ginger, roughly chop the coriander roots, crush and dice the lemongrass and place all in a sauce pan with tomatoes, liquid from the soaked tamarind, chilli, soy, fish sauce, sesame oil and juice of lime, place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook the sauce for around 15-20 minutes till the tomatoes start falling apart then remove from heat and put sauce in food processor with tobasco sauce and blend till smooth.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil and add the edamame and cook for 5 minutes then drain. It's up to you but you can either blanch the beans with cold water or you can have them warm with the hot and sour dressing. Place the beans in a mixing bowl and stir in the hot and sour dressing then its quite simply ready to eat.