All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Lime Macerated Cherries with Caramelised Brioche

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Toasted Brioche with Lime Macerated Cherries
Considering how much I like cherries I don’t get the chance to eat very many of them. I have never had much success with a supermarket cherry preferring to take my chances at the farmers’ market where I might be lucky to nab a punnet if I am early enough. The cherries used for this spontaneous dessert were earned by my own fair hand. I was meandering through the market, deliberating how many doughnuts were too many for breakfast, when I was called to help one of the stall holders who couldn’t fill enough punnets to keep up with demand. My reward for much scooping was a big punnet of cherries all to myself.  

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 300g cherries, de-stoned
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • Juice 1 lime
  • 2 slices brioche
  • Butter
  • Demerara sugar

Method

I quite like de-stoning cherries. I find it a therapeutic thing to do and once you get into the swing of things it takes no time at all. I have to admit that my fingers were stained for days afterwards which is not something I’ve ever encountered with cherries before. Put the de-stoned cherries into a bowl with the caster sugar and lime juice and then leave to macerate overnight. Remove the cherries from the fridge an hour or so before you want to eat them so that they are at room temperature. Lightly toast the brioche and then spread generously with butter. Sprinkle over a little demerara sugar and then put under a grill so that the sugar lightly caramelises. Remove from the grill and top with the cherries.

For an impromptu dessert I was pretty pleased with this. The cherries create their own sweet and sour juice which soaks into the sweet bread. It’s crunchy at the edges and gooey in the middle. The lime freshens everything up and the cherries were a lovely shade of deep crimson which looked great on top of the sugar topped bread. Perhaps it was because these were free cherries, maybe it was because I had to work for them but there was something a bit more special about this sweet treat than normal. read more

Creamy Mushrooms and Wild Garlic on Brioche Toast

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wild garlic
Foraging for food is something I have started to do over the last few years. Hunting down blackberry bushes in the autumn is something I’ve always done but I’ve never considered it to be ‘foraging’. To me, proper foraging involves a wicker basket, curiously shaped knives and an innate ability to avoid thorns and nettles. Since I started to appreciate the other things that can be found outdoors I have added other wild foods to my repertoire: rosehips, sloes, plums, strawberries, elderflower and now, at last, wild garlic. Somehow this most pungent of wild foods has eluded me until a few days ago when I finally found an abundance of it not a ten minute walk from my house. Creamy mushrooms and wild garlic sounded just perfect for lunch and even better on brioche toast.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 250g mushrooms
  • 150ml single cream
  • 16 small leaves wild garlic, roughly chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter
  • Brioche, two slices

Method

Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for at least 15 minutes or until starting to turn golden at the edges. Increase the heat, you may need to add some extra butter, then add the mushrooms.

Fry the mushrooms until they are golden and sticky before turning down the heat to low and stirring in the cream. Simmer the cream, stirring occasionally, until it’s reduced then add the wild garlic and some salt and pepper.

Turn the heat off and let the garlic infuse with the cream while you slice and toast the brioche. Serve the mushrooms atop the brioche. read more

Gateau à la Crème

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This classic French dessert sounds so impressive but it’s so easy to make and I didn’t have a food processor with a dough hook either! I used my hand mixer and it did the job perfectly. Raymond Blanc made this recently on the television and I was determined to give it a go. Don’t be put off by the bountiful amounts of butter and the gargantuan number of eggs. It’s a treat and so worth the effort.

Ingredients

What you will need (for a Gateau à la Crème and a brioche loaf):

For the brioche dough
500g strong plain flour
A few pinches sea salt
4 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp yeast
7 free-range eggs
300g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

For the crème filling
6 free-range egg yolks
60g caster sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest
250ml crème fraîche

For the glaze
2 free-range egg yolks
1 tbsp caster sugar
25g/¾oz butter, cut into cubes read more

Chocolate and Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding

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I have had a request for this recipe but unfortunately I haven’t made it since I started blogging so I have no pictures to go with it! My apologies. 

Ingredients

What you will need:

220g Brioche
Butter for spreading
50g dark chocolate chips
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp caster sugar
410g can light evaporated milk

Method

Firstly, cut the brioche into thin slices and butter each slice on one side. Place a layer of brioche (butter side down) into an ovenproof dish. Throw a few chocolate chips on the top. Carry on layering the brioche and chocolate chips and then finish with a layer of brioche.

Put the evaporated milk in a saucepan on a low heat until it just starts to simmer. While this is heating, whisk together the egg, egg yolks and sugar. Slowly add the warm milk to the egg mixture whisking all the time.

Pour the egg/milk mixture over the bread and leave it to soak in for five minutes. Press the brioche down into the milk.

Make a bain-marie for the pudding. (Get a roasting tray and put the pudding dish in. Then fill the tray with boiling water until it is halfway up the side of the dish). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180⁰C/350⁰F/Gas 4 for about 30 minutes or until the custard has set.

This is such a nice variation on the standard Bread and Butter pudding. It’s so satisfying to make and eat.

Enjoy!

All That I’m Eating

This recipe came from a book my Granny got me ages ago called Chocolate, it’s a great book which I use all the time! read more


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