Wende

A while ago, I mentioned Wende Snijders here, a master of the French chanson. She was recommended to me by one of my classmates and I, well actually we, totally fell in love with her. As some of you know, I'm a huge softie when it comes to certain forms of art. This morning for example, I was watching a video with some of Rembrandt's self-portraits put to classical music and I was getting all choked up. But anyhow, this girl evokes the same feelings in me with certain songs. There are singers who sing and there are singers who go beyond singing. Wende does more than sing. She feels every word and in turn, makes you actually dive into the emotion behind the song, It's beyond captivating.

Last Thursday the three of us went to see her at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Unfortunately, I only got to get tickets very late. I got tickets the same day my classmate recommended her, just in the nick of time before they were sold out. Actually, I think ours were the last ones. We were sitting all the way in the back, which was a shame because the best part is actually seeing her face when she sings, but it didn't really matter that much to me. We were there and it was great. To see someone with this much passion is really something else. Something I really admire. The orchestra was also amazing.

Sunny Days

I try to make the most of the beautiful weather so we eat outdoors quite a lot. We have a lovely, big garden full of trees (also fruit trees) and flowers and there's nothing better than having dinner with a glass of wine under our huge, white parasol.

Salads are a favorite in this weather and I think no one makes salads as good as Jamie. Actually, in the summer, Jamie's Italy is the book I'm always turning to. I've not made one recipe out of this book that I did not like. Really, I can't understand people who say they don't like Jamie or that his recipes are too complicated. To each his own, of course, but I've said this before and I'll say it again, this man has a gift for flavor combinations. He just knows what works with what and how different flavors come together. A few weeks ago I made his Amalfi salad for dinner and it was delicious. A light, crisp little salad with lots of delicate flavors.

And now for something a little more substantial! Recently, I also made a very tasty goat cheese, red pepper and cherry tomato tart. I love roasted veggies and this tart, along with a chilled glass of white wine, really hit the spot.

A nice, summery bread was Tessa Kiros' olive oil bread. I added some sun-dried tomatoes and some dried herbs. One of the best breads I've ever baked!

A girl can't live just on salad you know!

PS: Here are two pics of some lovely flowers in my garden.

Banana Bread With Lots of "Depth"

I've tried quite a few banana bread recipes before but this one is definitely the best I've ever made. It is such an aromatic, beautiful loaf and SO easy to make! I basically just threw it together last Saturday in between making dinner. Everyone loved it, even those who don't really like banana bread found it to have a lot of "depth". Here's the recipe. Please try it. It's almost a sin not to.

Makes 8-10 slices

three-quarters cup golden raisins
6 tablespoons or 3 ounces bourbon or dark rum
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
half teaspoon baking soda
half teaspoon salt
half cup unsalted butter, melted
three-quarters cup superfine sugar
2 large eggs
4 small, very ripe bananas, mashed
three-quarters cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 x 5 inch loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert

Put the golden raisins and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.

Preheat the oven to 325ºF and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained raisins and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.

Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours. When it's ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

Spinach Pie

I'm very enthusiastic about the pie I made last week- Nigella's spinach, ricotta and bulgur pie. I managed to throw it together at the end of a hard day and that alone was a good thing. The pie was fantastic. Very thick and filling yet the taste was not heavy as with many other pies. I really loved what the lemon rind added to the pie. Just a hint of lemoniness to lift up the flavor.

I had some cold for lunch the next day and it was quite the treat!

Here's the recipe:

For the pastry:

250g/9oz Plain Flour
125g/4.5oz cold unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
2 egg yolks
2tbsp ice water
1 heaped tsp salt
1tbsp sugar

Put the flour and butter in a dish, and put the dish in your freezer for 10 minutes. Stir together the yolks, salt and water in a cup, and put the cup in the fridge.
When the time is up, tip the flour and butter into a food processor, add the sugar and pulse to combine, it will look somewhere between sand and porridge oats. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and pulse till it looks like it's on the verge of coming together (stop just short of it binding). You may need to add more water. Turn the dough out and mash together with your hands. Once it is all bound together, cut it in two, wrap in cling film, and let rest in the fridge (generally about half an hour, but will keep in there for a couple of days I think). If you are using it for two batches, cut in two evenly. If you are making a springform cake tin pie, then cut one piece slightly larger then the other (one for the base, one for the top).

For the filling: (NOTE: This is my version, for the original check Nigella's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess".

50g bulgur
1 tsp bouillon grains
1 450g pack of frozen spinach, thawed
250g ricotta
2 spring onions, chopped
grated rind of one small lemon
sprinkle of cayenne pepper
sprinkle of dried thyme
2 eggs
3 tbsp parmesean
2 tbsps bread crumbs

Make pastry and preheat oven to 200C. Put baking sheet in the oven.
Add bouillon to bulgur and cover. Let it swell for 10-15 minutes. Drain spinach. Mash spring onion, lemon rind, cayenne, thyme, spinach and ricotta, stir in the eggs, parmesean, bulgur and salt and pepper. Use the slightly larger piece of pastry to line the tin. Sprinkle with crumbs, fill and use smaller piece of pastry for the top. Roll in the edges, makes some holes for the steam to escape and brush with a little egg yolk. Bake 10 minutes at 200C and then lower temperature to 180C and bake a further 40-45 minutes. Nigella says it's nice if you let it stand for 25 minutes. We couldn't wait that long.

"Compliments to the wife"

This weekend Hans asked me to bake something gorgeous for him to take to work to celebrate his birthday (a little late). He wanted something to really show off with. I offered to make the Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake because... well, I guess by now you've heard me rave enough about this cake, so let's skip this bit. ;)

One recipe that never fails me is the chocolate chocolate chip muffins. They are so easy to make and really delicious. Everyone loves them, not just the kiddies! Needless to say, they were very well received. "Compliments to the wife". (And compliments to Nigella on my part!)

Here's the recipe, now go make them!

Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Special equipment: Muffin tin with paper muffin cases


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Unexpected Surprise...and a Lovely Easter Brioche

This Easter I thought of making a nice brioche to serve for breakfast. After searching for recipes in various books, I was set on making the lemon brioche from my Kitchen Aid book. However, Saturday morning I was looking through last year’s Easter issue of Good Food and saw another interesting recipe. The thing was, I didn’t have a nice brioche tin like the one in the magazine. I know, I’m picky. The lemon brioche was in the form of rolls so that wasn’t a problem, but if I was going to make this one, I needed that tin!

We had a hectic morning ahead. There was lots of shopping to be done before the stores would close until next Tuesday, so I settled for the lemon brioche and forgot about the one that used the tin. On our drive to pick up some 00 flour (yes, we have to go out of our way to do that) , Hans pointed out a cooking store we’d driven past before and asked if I wanted to have a look. As if! Now, I’m not joking when I tell you that MY brioche tin was the second thing I saw when I walked in! He took it from my hands, brought it to the counter and asked to have it gift-wrapped. I was thrilled! Even the gift wrapping was awesome! Between the ribbon, the shop keeper added a complimentary mini-beater hanging from a key chain. Very cute! Yes, I know I keep going on about what a fantastic husband I have, but how can I not?!

Anyhow, the brioche was delicious! I did notice though that it didn’t rise as much as I thought, so I put it in a barely warm oven to push it a little more and the result was excellent. Here’s the recipe:

250g plain flour

100g butter cut into small pieces

2 rounded tbsps caster sugar

1 sachet (7g) fast action yeast

3 eggs

beaten egg yolk to glaze

2-3 sugar cubes lightly crushed

1. Tip the flour into a food processor fitted with a plastic kneading blade and add the butter. Process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and a good pinch of salt and add the yeast.
2. Add the eggs and mix to a soft dough then knead in the machine for 2 mins. Butter and flour a brioche mould. Sprinkle a layer of flour on a work surface and tip dough onto it.
3. With floured hands, knead very briefly to form a ball, the drop the dough into the tin, smooth side up. Cover with cling film and a towel and leave to rise until doubled in size, about two hours in a warm place.
4. Heat oven to 200C/ fan 180C/gas 6. Brush the top with egg yolk and sprinkle with crushed sugar. Bake 20-25 mins, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Tip into a wire rack and leave to cool. Serve with butter and apricot jam. Yum!

NOTE: I did all of this in my KA mixer. I also noticed that the dough was a bit wet so I gradually added a bit more flour until it looked right. Like I said, it didn’t rise so well, so I gave it a boost in 50C oven.

Hubby's Birthday Treat

It's hubby's birthday so I made him his all-time favorite treat, Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. I have raved SO much about this cake. It really is THE ultimate chocolate cake experience. Nothing fancy shmancy, just a real good chocolate cake. The thing with this cake is that it tends to get better the next day. The chocolatey flavor becomes more intense and the texture is also improved. The crumb is denser the next day. To anyone who hasn't made it yet, please give it a go sometime. It's bound to become your favorite cake!

Here's the recipe. I didn't use sugar pansies to decorate it though.

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup superfine sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup best-quality cocoa
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons good-quality vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream
Special equipment: 2 (each 8-inch diameter) layer tins with removable bases, buttered

Frosting:
6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract
Sugar flowers, to decorate, optional



Take everything out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.

Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25 minutes. Also, it might make sense to switch the 2 cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.

To make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.

While the chocolate and butter is cooling a little, sieve the confectioners' sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz to remove lumps.

Add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved confectioners' sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.

You may need to add a little boiling water, say a teaspoon or so, or indeed some more confectioners' sugar, depending on whether you need the frosting to be thinner or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.

Choose your cake stand or plate and cut 4 strips of baking parchment to form a square and sit 1 of the cakes, uppermost (i.e. slightly domed) side down.

Spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.

Spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with icing and leave a few minutes until set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.

I love to dot the top of this with sugar pansies, and you must admit, they do look enchanting, but there really is no need to make a shopping expedition out of it. Anything, or indeed nothing, will do.


Yum!

Custard Cream Easter

I love Nigella's Custard Cream Hearts. I had never heard of these cookies until Nigella. Actually, I'm not so much of a cookie girl and prefer a nice slice of cake or a good muffin over a cookie any day. These are an exception though. How can you not like a sweet, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth kinda cookie??? This past Valentine's Day I let Kirstie make them herself. All I basically did was help with the big stuff, like the oven settings and measuring for example. They came out really nice but just a bit thick, which means I got less. Boohoo! This time I decided to make them as a treat for Kirstie myself so I made them a wee bit thinner. Since it's Easter, I thought I'd make them in some fun Easter shapes like bunnies, chicks and eggs. I needed a good excuse to use the lovely cutters Kathryn sent me as well, you see! By the way, thanks again, Kathryn!! Here are the results. Same lovely cookies, just a new shape...oh, and as you can see, I tinted the cream with a squirt of bright pink to make the cookies extra cute!

Here's the recipe: (PS: See, Karin...I followed your advice!)

Custard Cream Hearts (or Chicks, Eggs and Bunnies!)

Ingredients

Biscuits:
175g Plain Flour
3tbsp Birds Custard Powder
1tsp Baking Powder
50g Unsalted Butter
50g Vegetable Shortening
3tbsp Caster Sugar
1 Egg
1tbsp Milk

Custard:
1tbsp Birds Custard Powder
100g Icing Sugar
50g Soft Unsalted Butter
1tsp Boiling Water

Method

Makes 14 biscuits

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180c

To make the biscuits, put the flour, custard powder and baking powder into a processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter, cut into smallish cubes and the vegetable shortening in mounded tsps and pulse to cut into the flour to create a crumbly mixture.

Tip in the sugar and pulse again. Beat the egg and tbsp milk together. Pour down the funnel of the processor with the engine running until it clumps into a ball. (Go cautiously, you may not need all of the egg and milk or you may need to add more milk to make it come together).

Form the dough into a ball and press down into a fat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 4mm. Dip a 5cm heart shaped cutter in flour and cut out your shapes. You need an even number of hearts to sandwich together.

Prick the outside edge of each heart all the way around on one side with a corn on the cob holder. Cook on a lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, and then leave to cool before sandwiching them.

To make the custard cream, put the custard powder and icing sugar into the processor and pulse briefly to combine and de-lump.

Add the butter and blitz together until you get a smooth cream. Add the tsp of boiling water and pulse again.

Sandwich each biscuit with about 1tsp of custard cream by gently spreading a layer of cream over the unpricked side of a biscuit and then wiggling a matching top on it.

Enjoy!


NOTE: I didn't use corn on the cob holders to make the edges this time. Too comlplicated with these shapes!!

Tessa's Couscous

I must be the last person on Earth to finally get my hands on "Falling Cloudberries". The book came in earlier this week and what a book it is! I am a visual person, so I was delighted to find so many bright, colorful pictures, and the food! It's one of those books where you can just imagine what the food will taste like by reading the list of ingredients. I was also thrilled with the section on South Africa, mainly because of the research I am currently working on. Yesterday though, I made my first recipe, the couscous salad. Absolutely gorgeous. Light and full of flavor! I had some for dinner as well and guess what? There's leftovers which I'll have for lunch...again!



Here's the recipe, which serves six. I've moderated it a bit. She uses oven-roasted tomatoes but I just used a jar of high quality sun-dried tomatoes. I left out the olive oil and just used a bit of the oil from the tomatoes. I also replaced the mint with coriander and served it with extra lemon wedges. A glass of chilled white wine on the side wouldn't hurt either.

Ingredients:

350g couscous
200g sun-dried tomatoes (halved or quartered if large, and their oil)
1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled and diced (I just used a normal one)
4 spring onions chopped
25g chopped mint leaves (I used coriander, ran out of mint!)
3 tbsps lemon juice
120g goat's cheese, cubed or crumbled

Instructions:

Put couscous in a large bowl and season well with s&p. Add splash of
oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and 500ml just boiled water. Stir,
cover and leave to cool completely, fluffing it up gently now and
then. Add cucumber, spring onions, mint or coriander and lemon juice.
Add tomatoes and some more of their oil and stir through well. Add
the goat´s cheese and stir through carefully. Serve with lemon wedges.


Enjoy!

Boozey Ice Cream

Here's the ice cream I told you about earlier. This is really SO good! The raisins were soaked in sherry and then it was served with a good drizzle of some more booze to kick it up that extra notch. Totally out of this world and so much more grown up than your average ice cream recipes.

Helado de Malaga
*600 ml double cream
*300 ml milk
*1 small cinnamon stick
*1 vanilla pod
*7 egg yolks
*85 g caster sugar
*100 g raisins covered with 100 ml Pedro Ximenez sherry or Pedro Ximenez Malaga wine

Place the cream, milk and cinnamon stick in a large saucepan. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape the tiny seeds into the pan. Heat until just below boiling point, then remove from the stove. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together for 5- 10 minutes until pale and thick. Loosen the egg with a little of the cream/ milk mixture, then pour the egg back into the saucepan, scraping the bowl out with a spatula. Whisk well to mix everything properly and return to a low heat, stirring constantly. Heat gently to cook out the egg but be careful not to curdle it. When the mixture thickens and just before it bubbles, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and place over iced water to cool.

Churn in an ice cream machine (in batches if necessary), adding the raisins and sherry towards the end of the churning. For those without an ice cream machine, try freezing the ice cream by hand, but remember to stir every half hour to prevent crystallization. Stirring well will also help distribute the raisins evenly as they tend to sink to the bottom before the custard hardens enough to suspend them. This process will take about two hours, depending on the temperature of your freezer.

Serve with a chilled glass of Pedro Ximenez on the side or poured over the ice cream.

First Attempts

In the last post, I told you all about my new cookbook, Moro. Well, today I tried my first few dishes...wonderful! So full of flavor and such a pleasure to make! Really the type of thing you make when you're in the mood for a bit of pottering about in the kitchen. I started off by making the flatbread. The dough was soft and great to work with which made the bread very easy to make. I decided to follow the book's tip and brushed the flatbread with a little olive oil and sprinkled them with nigella seeds. What better way to eat these breads than with a gorgeous salad. The aubergine and red pepper salad with caramelized butter and Greek yogurt was absolutely divine. The veggies were first grilled and then their skin was removed. After that the aubergine was mashed with garlic paste, a squeeze of lemon and some good olive oil. Then the roughly chopped peppers were placed on top of the aubergine. A bit of Greek yogurt poured on the side, some warm caramelized butter on top and a good sprinkling of coriander. Yum! We had this godly meal with some cream sherry and at this very moment dessert is in the freezer (picture soon to come!). I made the 'Helado de pasas de Malaga' or Malaga raisin ice cream. The raisins were soaked in sherry so this ice cream is bound to rock! So far, so good! I'm loving my new book!

Foodie Bliss and Warm Spring Sunshine

This morning I woke up dreaming of summer vacation in a lovely, warm place. Italy, France, maybe Spain. While everyone was still in bed, I went downstairs and tore open my French cookbook, a beautiful huge book with gorgeous pictures of lovely traditional dishes and the French landscape. The panoramas seemed to entice me more than the food today for some reason, so I pulled out the book that stuck with me all through last summer- Jamie’s Italy. I practically lived off this book last year. So many beautiful pasta dishes, salads and soups. Italy has always drawn my attention. Italians have one of my favorite kitchens and don’t even get me started about their art!

With that inspiration in mind, I headed to my local organic farmer’s market. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. It’s on days like this that the market is even more appealing. We got there a little late after having had a sumptuous breakfast of Belgian waffles (Yay! I found a recipe!), so the choice was a bit limited. Still, I managed as usual to return home with a few bags full of goodies. Since I was in the Italian mode, I got some plum tomatoes, some buffalo mozzarella, which by the way, is THE best mozzarella anyone can get their hands on, and of course, a new basil plant. I had an insalata caprese in mind. But let me first tell you about the mozzarella. It is made locally by the kind Italian man who sells it. He really has a passion for his cheeses and is very keen on giving you some complimentary basil along with some great tips about how to use the product. The taste is exactly everything mozzarella should be, mild and pure with a fresh, clean flavor. Later that evening I prepared my salad with a basil dressing made with a special treat Hans got for me, a beautiful bottle of Gianni Calogiuri Affiorato olive oil. The oil is produced in Lizzanello and its history goes back to the early 19^th century. In that time, the Calogiuri family dedicated themselves to olives and oil and this continued for generations to come. Gianni Calogiuri, is the latest generation of the Calogiuri family. This oil is still made according to family traditions, and in the month of November, their crusher cold crushes the olives with care and extracts the oil with the method of “Affiorato” (surfacing). I used my lemony, peppery sea salt blend to finish off my insalata. Yum!

Among my usual produce, I also got some garlic mustard, a bottle of red South African wine, some potted herbs, and some gorgeous French plates made by Maison d’Etre. After a lovely morning of shopping we decided to go out for lunch and then have a walk around our city, where Hans not only bought me the above mentioned olive oil, but also surprised me with a new cookbook: Moro! I’ve heard a bit about this book, and especially now with the warmer days upon us, I was so happy to find it. The dishes seem warm and inviting, like a perfect summer’s day, not to mention the smart use of gorgeous spices! My darling husband even had it gift wrapped for me. I’m sure the first meal cooked from this beautiful book will please him to bits…a culinary “thank you for being the wonderful guy that you are”.

At the end of my Saturday, I realized I had, in a way, been to Italy, France and Spain, all during the course of one day. Of course, the best part was I didn’t even have to leave my wonderful city. Happiness in life can be so simple.

Again, I awoke to clear blue skies today. I know I have to get working on my research but perhaps I’ll take the day off again and spend it outdoors with my family. Perhaps I’ll cook that first meal from my new book and enjoy it with a glass of wine and the realization of how lucky I am.

PS: The animal products sold at our market all come from the animals that are raised and bred on this farm. We were also lucky enough to see the first baby lambs and goats. So sweet!