So I’ve finally finished my exams for the year and so I can finally start posting again and it’s just in time for summer which is perfect. As you can see the blog has had a little makeover, as I wanted to change things up just in time for summer. I’ve been gone for 3 months and I did promise you summer recipes. Here is the first recipe to kick of your summer. A simple Lemon Curd.
Put the lemon zest and juice, the sugar and the butter into a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture every now and again until all of the butter has melted.
Lightly whisk the eggs and egg yolk and stir them into the lemon mixture. Whisk until all of the ingredients are well combined, then leave to cook for 10-13 minutes, stirring every now and again, until the mixture is creamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the lemon curd from the heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally as it cools. Once cooled, spoon the lemon curd into sterilised jars and seal. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
I haven’t blogged in a while. Really sorry, I’ve been super busy. But don’t worry I’ll be bringing more delicious meals and recipes your way. This meal is Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodle. I used a ready-made sweet chilli sauce and ready-made noodles and cooked the chicken using red onions and flora cuisine. It tasted really good and will definitely be trying it again some time.
So today is pancake day and I’ve had a lot of pancakes.
Unfortunately I can’t share the pancake recipe with you as it is a family (Secret) recipe. But fortunately I can share with you the recipes of what I had my pancakes with. I enjoyed a Crepes Suzette and some harden caramel pieces.
Crepes Suzette-
150ml/5fl oz orange juice (from 3-4 medium oranges)
1 medium orange, grated zest only
1 small lemon, grated rind and juice
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp Grand Marnier, Cointreau or brandy
50g/2oz unsalted butter
a little extra Grand Marnier, for flaming
Method-
Mix all the ingredients – with the exception of the butter – in a bowl. At the same time warm the plates on which the crêpes are going to be served. Now melt the butter in the frying pan, pour in the sauce and allow it to heat very gently. Then place the first crêpes in the pan and give it time to warm through before folding it in half and then in half again to make a triangular shape. Slide this onto the very edge of the pan, tilt the pan slightly so the sauce runs back into the centre, then add the next crêpe. Continue like this until they’re all re-heated, folded and well soaked with the sauce.
You can flame them at this point if you like. Heat a ladle by holding it over a gas flame or by resting it on the edge of a hotplate, then, away from the heat, pour a little liqueur or brandy into it, return it to the heat to warm the spirit, then set light to it. Carry the flaming ladle to the table over the pan and pour the flames over the crêpes before serving on the warmed plates.
Hardened Caramel-
Ingredients
150ml water
300g caster sugar
Method
1. Put the water into a heavy-based, deep saucepan, preferably stainless steel as this will allow you to see the colour changes in the caramel. Sprinkle in the sugar and, over a low heat, slowly dissolve the sugar, stirring occasionally. It is important to dissolve the sugar completely, as once the syrup starts to boil any sugar crystals can turn the caramel grainy. Use a wet pastry brush to brush any crystals from the sides of the pan.
Increase the heat and bring the syrup to a simmer.
Continue to simmer briskly and after around 15 minutes the syrup will start to colour.
Swirl the pan occasionally to ensure an even colour, but don’t stir. Once it is a deep amber (4-5 minutes more), take off the heat and immediately place the base of the pan in a cold-water bath to stop the caramel cooking (it will hiss). It is now ready to use.
To set the caramel, pour it on to an oiled baking sheet to harden, then break into pieces or crush into crystals. Use these to top ice cream or other desserts. To make elegant caramel ‘springs’, lightly oil a thin metal cylinder (a knife steel is ideal) and use a fork to wrap a fine strand of caramel around the metal like a coil. Let it harden, then carefully remove. Use to top cakes or ice cream.
As you can see above I made a master piece from pancake, ice cream and the caramel.
53g Egg white (about 2), at room temperature, left out overnight
33g caster sugar
2-3 drops pink food colouring
Lemon Curd filling (Will upload recipe soon)
Method-
Process icing sugar and almond meal in a food processor until finely ground, triple-sift into a large bowl and set aside. Whisk egg white in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (1-2 minutes).
Add caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until incorporated and mixture is thick and glossy (2-3 minutes), then add food colouring. Stir in almond mixture in batches until incorporated and mixture slowly slides down sides of bowl when bowl is tilted.
Add remaining egg white to loosen mixture, spoon into a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle, pipe 3cm-diameter rounds of mixture onto heavy baking-paper-lined oven trays, stand until a crust begins to form (4-5 hours).
Preheat oven to 140C. Bake macarons until firm but not coloured, swapping trays halfway through cooking (10-12 minutes), set aside, cool completely on trays.
Then sandwich the macarons with the lemon curd filling and serve.
For the rub, peel and crush the garlic to a paste, stirring in the soy, dried chilli flakes, groundnut oil, salt and five-spice powder. Spread this paste over the skin and underside of the pork belly. Leave it to marinate for a good 4 hours, if not overnight.
When the pork has marinated, preheat the oven at 220C/425F/Gas 8. Place the pork in a roasting tin then cook, skin-side up, for about 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and continue cooking for a further 40-50 minutes, or until the skin is dark and crisp. Leave for 10 minutes to rest, then carve.
Meanwhile, to make the mango salsa, trim and finely chop the spring onions, finely chop the chilli, peel, stone and chop the mango and halve the tomatoes. Mix gently then dress with the lime juice and the olive oil.
Sweet pastry dough: Rub the butter into the dry ingredients, add the egg and combine. “fraiser” - mix the dough evenly by smearing it with the fleshy part of the palm of the hand. Form into a ball and refrigerate approximately 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Roll out the sweet pastry dough to a thickness of approximately 3 mm and cut disks 12 cm. Line tartlet molds and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake the tartlet cases in the preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes.
Soft chocolate filling: Melt chocolate over a bain-marie, remove from the heat and mix in the softened butter. Add the ground almonds. Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the egg whites are smooth, shiny and stiff peaks form. Delicately fold in the meringued egg whites, followed by the flour. Fill the tartlet shells to 2/3 and bake for 3 to 4 minutes.
Ganache glaze: Put the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the whipping cream, butter and sugar, pour onto the chocolate and add a little water to obtain a smooth consistency. Coat each tartlet with ganache glaze.
To serve: Present the chocolate tartlet warm or cold with fresh raspberries.
I found this recipe on the Le Cordon Bleu Website and it sounded really nice. Hopefully will be making it soon.
2.Put the flour, margarine and lard in a mixing bowl and use your fingers to blend together into breadcrumbs.
3.Whisk egg, then add to the flour/fat mixture to make into a stiff dough. Add milk, if necessary and then roll out to fit a 7” (18cm) quiche dish. Gently place the pastry in the dish.
4.For the filling, cut up 4 rashes of bacon and cook. While the bacon is cooking grate the cheese.
5.In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs. Add the milk to the eggs and mix.
6.When bacon is cooked, mix with sweetcorn and put in the quiche base. Then add the grated cheese on top. Finally pour the egg mix evenly over the quiche.
7.Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes at 180 degrees C.
1 large or 2 small mangoes, peeled, pitted & chopped
115g/4ozs sugar
Juice of 1 lime (extra lime if solids not sieved)
Pinch of salt (or leave this out and use salted butter)
4 large egg yolks (or 2 whole eggs)
30g/2ozs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For the meringue-
6 medium free-range egg whites
300g/10½oz caster sugar
Method-
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.
Add the butter to the flour and then rub between your fingertips until a fine breadcrumb consistency is achieved.
Add the sugar to the flour and butter. Using your hands, mix to a firm dough with the egg yolk and a splash of cold water.
Wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before using.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and grease a 22cm/9in fluted loose-bottomed tin. Place the tin onto a baking tray.
Roll out the pastry until it’s big enough to generously fit the tin, leaving excess pastry falling over the sides of the tin onto the baking tray underneath the tin – don’t trim at this stage.
Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (I had no Baking beans so I used kidney beans). Now trim the excess pastry using a sharp knife. Bake the pastry case blind for about 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is pale golden and dried out – remove the paper and beans for the last five minutes. Lower the oven heat to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
For the Mango Curd, Remove the large stone from the mango, cut into small pieces and purée, preferably in a food processor.
Combine with the sugar, lime juice and salt (if using). Add egg yolks or lightly beaten whole eggs. Purée for a little longer to thoroughly combine.
Push through a sieve into a large metal bowl with a large spatula or wooden spoon, pressing down well to obtain as much puree as possible. Discard the solids that remain in sieve.
Place the metal bowl over saucepan of simmering water (but do not allow the base of bowl to come into contact with the water). Add the butter and continue to simmer the mixture gently, stirring regularly, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Beat the curd until it is creamy.
For the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric whisk until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the caster sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking well and at a high speed between each addition. (If Piping) Transfer the meringue into a piping bag (with a plain nozzle) and pipe the meringue on top of the lemon curd.
Bake for about 35-45 minutes until the meringue is crisp on the outside and soft and marshmallow-like underneath.
