Dairy & Eggs Archives - Page 20 of 23

Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Tart with Rhubarb and Blood Orange Compote

February 11, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 23 Comments

You can’t have Valentine’s Day without a little chocolate. This tart is great because you can make it in advance and leave it in the fridge so there is no last minute pudding fretting! It’s beautifully rich and very easy to make; made even easier if you use a food blender for the pastry. If pastry is your nemesis, it used to be mine, I have a previous post that will make you feel much more relaxed about constructing this tart.

Start by making the pastry. Blend 50g cold butter with 100g plain flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add 15g caster sugar and 25g chopped, toasted hazelnuts and then bring the pastry together with one small egg. Persevere it will get there in the end but you can add a little cold water if you think it needs it. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for half an hour. I would recommend making the pastry when you’re as sure as you can be that the phone won’t ring and the doorbell won’t go because otherwise there’ll be pastry all over the place. read more

Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

February 7, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

This is the first of a three part post for Valentine’s Day. It’s designed to be seasonal, sumptuous, divine and stress free. The quantities are meant for two. The dessert is one that can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge; the main is meant for long cooking so you have ample time to make the simple starter. All this spare time means you’re not rushing around desperately trying find that Barry White CD at the last minute. After all, it’s your Valentine’s dinner too. read more

Rhubarb and Custard with Blood Orange Sauce

January 29, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 16 Comments

Rhubarb makes a wonderful crumble and a devilishly good fool. Its astringency can cut through the most fatty of foods and its delicate colour is about the only thing around at the moment that isn’t green or brown. It’s also citrus season with Satsuma’s, tangerines and blood oranges galore. It seems a shame to eat all the members of the orange family just for their cold preventing benefits.

I was one of those children who would pick out the sourest, most mouth puckering and sharpest of sweets. Sherbert wasn’t quite tart enough for me and so rhubarb and custard sweets were my saviour when all the sour apple ones had gone. They soon became my favourite; when you were turning the sweet over in your mouth you never knew if you were going to get a burst of sour or a shot of sweet. Although I do enjoy one of these sweets occasionally I have moved on to a more grown up version.

This is the very first of the English forced rhubarb I could get my hands on. It was nestled amongst a load of potatoes, swedes and cabbages; poking its pink feet out asking to be picked up. Admittedly my first thought was crumble but on my travels I walked past a sweet shop and my thoughts turned to rhubarb and custard. read more

Candy Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Tart

December 18, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 13 Comments

It’s almost Christmas and that means indulgence and overeating. A candy beetroot and goat’s cheese tart is the perfect thing to have as a light meal amidst all the festive frivolities. Candy beetroot can’t fail to be eye-catching; pink and white circles which look like a humbug. Beetroot are fantastic at this time of year adding colour to an otherwise mostly green and white season. Whichever beetroot you have it is excellent with goat’s cheese and particularly delicious with caramelised onions.

Start by roasting the beetroot, boiling the beetroot will result in it turning pink and not retaining its wonderful stripes. Drizzle over a little oil before roasting and roast for an hour at 180C to 200C. While the beetroot roasts, caramelise the onions. Slice an onion and put into a pan over a low heat with a little butter. Leave to cook slowly for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste after 20 minutes to see if they need a little sugar or vinegar and season. While all this is taking place, prepare your pastry. For my rich shortcrust pastry recipe click here. read more

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Walnuts

December 9, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

The poor sprout. I don’t know of another vegetable that has to put up with as much ridicule. People turning their noses up at even the slightest mention of this poor brassica must be hard to deal with if you’re a sprout. Chances are those that turn up their noses have only tried them boiled to within an inch of their life. There’s much more to a sprout than as a soggy green mess at the side of the plate. There is a rumour that sprouts can cause side effects of the flatulent sort. This rumour is also rife for baked beans but it doesn’t seem to put people off. read more

Onion Squash and Blue Cheese Risotto

November 16, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

What is it about a squash that makes you warm from the inside out as you enjoy its beautiful sweet flesh. It could be the bright orange colour, a welcome sight amidst all the greens and browns of autumn. It could be the way it goes with pretty much everything: it can be soup, stew, curry, pudding; the list is endless, although I’ve not heard of anyone making squash gin or squash vodka. I had heard that the onion squash was the nicest of all the squashes as it has the most flavour. For me I think it is the sweetest and brightest of the lot. read more

Caramelised Apples

October 15, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

Apples are everywhere at the moment. They are falling out of trays at the market, falling off the trees along the road and falling onto my plate at any given opportunity. As much as I enjoy an apple on its own, it has to be a good one mind, sometimes you can have too many to know what to do with. Apple cakes, crumbles, pies and flapjacks are all lovely but I wanted to enjoy some apples at their very best and not shrouded by too many other flavours. read more

Vegetable Patch Recipes

October 9, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Recently it has become apparent that most of the meals I eat are vegetable orientated. There are two reasons for this; firstly I have a cornucopia of vegetables in my garden at present and each one needs celebrating in its own way and secondly meat is so expensive.

I can go into Sainsbury’s and pick up four chicken breasts for £6. Not the extra special ones, not the organic ones, just the standard ones. My alternative is to go to the farmer’s market and pick up two whole chickens for £10. These are free range chickens and I would still get four chicken breasts but I would also get four drumsticks, four wings, four thighs and two carcasses for making beautiful stock with. It’s a no brainer really. read more

Quince and Apple Pie and a Pastry Lesson

October 1, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Pastry has to be, without doubt, the best cradle, blanket or hat for any rich, sumptuous bed of fruit, meat or vegetables. It is that crunch, that warmth and that way it crumbles which makes it just so. I thought of pastry as my nemesis. Stupid stuff that was invariably delicious when prepared by anyone but myself. All this was to change when I met Jane.

Jane makes an awful lot of pastry. She is Jane of Jane’s Kitchen and prepares a marvellous amount of amazing pastry each week for different farmers’ markets around the area. There are trout and caper parcels, Moroccan mountains, seasonal fruit tarts and some classic pies. Best of all Jane uses as many ingredients as possible from the farmers’ market.
A few weeks ago I asked Jane if she would be kind enough to share some of her pastry knowledge with a complete and utter pastry dunce – me. She was more than happy to share her wisdom and I can now pass on this wisdom to anyone else who counts themselves as a pastry novice. read more

Damson and Apple Crumble

September 18, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Crumble is the food I turn to when the evenings start getting darker and it starts getting cooler. Especially this damson and apple crumble. The way the sweet, slightly tart fruit of choice bubbles and seeps through the crunchy, crumbly, biscuity top is a sure fire way to warm you from inside to out. What I love about crumble is that it’s so versatile; the fruit is whatever fruit you can get your hands on. I think that a person’s crumble is as unique as their fingerprint. Some crumbles are like a great wave of shortbread on top of the fruit, some are all big and little bits scattered willy nilly all over the place, some add extra sugar on the top, some add nuts and some add oats. Whatever your crumble style, it’s your own. Recently I bought some damson jam out of politeness at a local market. I don’t even like jam. When I got home I wondered what on earth I was going to do with it. I got some crusty white bread, some soft unsalted butter and a dollop of the damson jam and it was a revelation. I’m ashamed to say that the loaf and jar were consumed in one sitting. What have I been missing out on all these years? It turns out I do like jam but was left wondering where damsons had been all my life. When I noticed some lovely damsons outside my local greengrocer I just had to have them – I’d run out of jam for one thing. They were crying out to be made into a crumble. As I didn’t have that many of them I added an apple to make it go a bit further and add a little sweetness. This damson and apple crumble was absolutely fantastic. The damsons add such richness and gorgeous colour, the apple is just detectable in the background giving it a lovely homely feel. This crumble had extra caramelised bits on the edges of the dish and peeling them off and chewing them has to be one of the most enjoyable things there is. If you’ve not had damsons before or are unsure how to deal with them then I urge you to give this a try. Crumble is such a tried and tested favourite, how could it go wrong?

Top Tips

Just like the crumbliness of your crumble is rather personal, so is what you choose to serve the crumble with. Cream, custard or ice cream? If you go for cream is it single, double, Gold Top or clotted? If custard, ready made or home made? If ice cream should it be vanilla with or without vanilla seeds or should it be clotted cream ice cream? It’s all very complicated and someone will always be upset no matter which you choose. I always opt for cream because I can stir it all together in the bowl and pretend I’m 8 years old again. read more