Tuesday 26 August 2014

Mushroom cobbler

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Clearly summer is over, like seriously over! Its been raining non-stop since yesterday and I've thoroughly enjoyed staying indoors, snuggling up on the sofa watching brainless sitcoms back to back. We are off to Devon day after and i have so much to do, so I'm not quite enjoying the wet and windy day today. 

Chilly days like these call for warm bakes and crusty bread. So i got around to making this tasty mushroom cobbler by Marcus Wareing, a first for me actually. I have never tried making a cobbler before- a fruit one especially- and was pleasantly surprised at how nice this tasted. The scone was so flavourful and the perfect topping for the creamy mushroom mix. It does take a bit of time, but hey nothing tasty comes easy right? I had the privilege of meeting Marcus Wareing in person and visiting his signature brasserie Gilbert Scott last year. The place is fab and I'm glad i picked this recipe which is straight off his menu at Gilbert Scott.

Great British Chefs has this amazing array of summer recipes, contributed by the experts in the field and i had a tough time choosing one. My first choice was the hokey pokey ice cream, but the husband definitely thought it wasn't ice cream weather. Second choice was the cobbler, closely followed by the new potato salad with bacon and broad beans (which I'm sooo making soon). I'm entering this post for the GBC Summertime Bloggers challenge and even though summer may be over, there is no harm in embracing the summer bounty that's still in abundance. Crossing my fingers. Wish me luck.

Recipe halved (serves 2)
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Scone topping
Plain flour- 87 gms
Baking powder 1 1/2 tsp
Cheddar cheese- 15 gms, grated
Dill- 1/2 tsp, finely chopped
Salt & pepper- to taste
Butter- 50gms, at room temperature
Ice cold water- approx. 1 tbsp
Egg white- for egg wash

Cheese sauce
Milk- 300ml
Bay leaf- 1
Cloves- 2
Thyme leaves- a small sprig
Shallot- 1 small, finely chopped
Butter- 20gms
Flour- 20 gms
Cheddar cheese- 25 gms, grated
Ground nutmeg- a pinch
Salt & pepper- to taste

Mushroom filling
Oil- 1 tbsp
Chestnut mushrooms- 250 gms, quartered
Flat mushrooms- 250 gms, chopped into chunks (same size as that of the chopped chestnut mushrooms)
Paprika- 1/2 tsp (optional)
Baby spinach- 100 gms
Garlic- 5 pods, crushed
Bacon bits- 5 rashers (optional)
Salt & pepper- to taste
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First get the scones ready.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, cheese, dill, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
Grate in the butter (i thought this was a really cool idea, to grate in the butter, especially if you have forgotten to take it out to bring to room temperature) and mix gently with your hands to resemble coarse breadcrumbs.
Pour in the water, a bit at a time, if you are doubtful, and bring the whole mix together to form a dough.
Don't over work this mix, or else the scone becomes tough.
Keep covered in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

While the dough is resting get the cheese sauce going.
Mix together the milk, bay leaf, cloves, thyme leaves and shallot shallot in a saucepan, infuse over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
At this point remove from heat and leave aside to infuse for about 20 to 30 minutes (or however long you'd take to prepare the mushroom filling)

Fry the bacon in a saucepan till crisp.
Drain on paper towels and chop into small pieces.
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Heat oil in a large frying pan and throw in all the mushrooms.
Season with paprika (if using), salt and pepper and stir fry on medium heat till it changes colour.
Throw in the spinach followed by garlic and continue frying till the spinach has wilted, the mushroom is cooked and all the water is absorbed.
Transfer to a baking dish.
Also stir in the bacon bits into the mushroom-spinach mix.

Preheat the oven to 180C at this point and get back to the cheese sauce.
Strain the infused milk into a cup and use the same saucepan to complete the sauce.
Melt the butter and add the flour.
Stir with a wooden ladle and cook the roux for about 5 minutes on low heat.
Add the infused milk, bit by bit, into the roux and whisk well to avoid lumps.
Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for about 10 minutes, to cook the roux.
Add the cheese, season with salt and pepper and nutmeg. Stir it all in.
Pour over the spinach mix. Keep warm.

Take the scone dough out of the fridge and give a nice knead.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough to 1 cm thickness.
Cut into 7 disks using a 3cm diameter ring and place on top of the mushroom mix .
Brush the scones with egg wash and bake the cobbler in the middle shelf of the oven for about 25 minutes or till the scones turn golden brown and the mixture bubbles.
serve with some crusty bread.
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Notes: You can roll out and cut the scones a day or so ahead and freeze them till ready to use.
Original recipe called for oyster mushrooms, i didn't have any, but certainly use them if you can.
I had to desperately use up some bacon and hence added that. Of course you can add chicken, beef or pancetta to the mix to make it a more heavy meal.
If you are using self raising flour for the scones, then reduce the baking powder to 1/2 tsp.
I did add/ omit some ingredients from the original recipe, just to suit our taste.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Basic vanilla sponge cake- the best so far

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Its been ages since I've posted a cake recipe here. Truth is, i haven't baked a cake in ages. In spite of tempting Ro every now and then saying, I'll bake a cake, I never get around to doing it. I did bake once or twice in between, but fetched not so nice results- that and the lack of motivation to take pictures left me hanging.

This cake was baked way back in June. My sister in law and family were throwing a BBQ party at theirs and I was in charge of dessert. I decided to make Ria's Tropical Mango Pudding Cake, and after harassing her with numerous questions, I was confident enough to go ahead with the recipe. It was probably one of the best desserts I've made so far. Got really good reviews from all the guests and even though it was a bit time consuming, I'm so totally going to make it again, and blog it. Managed to take some pictures with the phone, just so you get an idea of what it looked like. 

Coming to the genoise cake. I suck at it. Like I've never ever got a sponge that is so so soft and spongy, but always managed to over bake it, over fold it, under fold it, under bake it and whatever can go wrong with it, it always used to happen to my sponge cakes. I love eating sponge cakes, and every time i try a new recipe, its a disaster, hence absolute deprivation of sponge cakes.
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I was petrified about Ria's sponge cake recipe and since i was baking for a party, I couldn't afford to screw up. So i searched and searched and searched for a less intimidating one and the search led me to Jo Pastry website which i must say is a treasure trove of information on pastries. His recipe and description and comments on tackling the genoise put me at ease and i decided to go ahead with it. I was so so nervous while the cake was in the oven, but the moment i took it out, i knew id nailed it. It was soft, spongy, evenly/perfectly cooked and all what a sponge cake was supposed to be. There was a bit of left over batter that i used for 2 cupcakes and they were immediately consumed without any regret. 

I had to record this recipe for posterity and its certainly one I'm going to be fall back on for all my sponge cake bases. For those intimidated by the whole genoise cake making process, this is for you. Try it and I'm sure you wont need to look elsewhere.

PS. I baked 2 cakes with the above measurement. Didn't want to take a chance and double it.

Recipe adapted from here (Makes 1, 9x12" sheet cake) 
Milk- 1/4 cup
Butter- 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Eggs- 3, at room temperature
Egg yolks- 3, at room temperature
Sugar- 6 oz (1 cup minus 2 tbsp)
Plain flour- 3/4th cup
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Preheat oven to 205C and grease a 9x12 inch jelly roll pan and line with baking paper.
Mix together the milk, butter and vanilla extract in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. 
Take off heat and keep aside.
Into the bowl of your free standing mixer, add the eggs, egg yolks and sugar and beat on high using your paddle attachment for about 8 minutes or till the mixture is really thick and when the paddle is lifted the batter falls down in ribbons and hold its shape for about 5 seconds before dissolving. This step is very very important, don't skip.
Slowly trickle the warm milk mix through the side of the bowl.
Sift in the flour in 3 additions, folding well after each. I did this using the slowest speed on my mixer, just until incorporated. But if you are not comfortable doing this in your mixer, do it by hand using a spatula.
Make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl while folding, but not too harsh that you deflate the mix.
Pour into the prepared pan and using an offset spatula spread the batter around, making it into corners etc. Even the top so there is consistency in the baking
Bake in the middle shelf of your preheated oven for about 12 minutes till golden and springs back to your touch
Take it out of the oven and when still hot, loosen the sides using a blunt knife.
Turn it out into a wire rack carefully, cool completely and use as required.

Sunday 17 August 2014

Minced beef kebabs- Summer BBQ with Waitrose

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Summer has been fab, like really fab. I also say it 'has' been because, its gone back to sunless, chilly days and cardi's and jeans. I've also been so busy the past 2 months, this is the first weekend off after ages and i wanted to just vegetate on the sofa. Of course after about 2 hours catching up on Pretty Little Liars and Orange is the New Black, i started getting withdrawals. I realised that I actually like being busy, but not so busy it messes up with my mind.

This year BBQ parties have been scarce, with me working on weekends and with our favourite BBQ couple off on holiday. We still managed a few, and we also did our first BBQ at home as well, thanks to Waitrose. The deal was to get some food recipe inspiration from celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, do a twist on it and serve it at your BBQ. I scouted around Heston's Ultimate BBQ page and wanted to make almost everything there. My first option was the Asian style ribs, closely followed by the steak and parsley sauce. But after some brainstorming (read arguing) with the husband, we finally decided on Hestons beef kebab. A quick shopping spree on Waitrose online, and we had kick started our BBQ weekend.
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I did my own (no fuss) version of it, slightly Indian seekh kebab in nature, and served it with a side of pickled onions, cucumber and tomato salad, asparagus wrapped in parma ham, cous cous, pita bread, a yoghurt sauce and some Indian style corn on the cob. I also made a pitcher of raspberry vodka spritzer and for dessert, a meringue roulade with strawberry coulis. I invited some friends over and held the BBQ party in our common park next door. It was a laid back evening with great company, good food and fab weather.

Summer is still not over, so if you are looking for inspiration to whip up a BBQ feast, then you know where to look.

Serves 4
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Beef mince- 400 gms
Onion- 1 small, finely chopped
Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
Green chilli-  2, finely chopped (adjust according to preference)
Almond powder- 20 gms
Coriander leaves- a handful, finely chopped
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Ground cinnamon- a generous pinch
Egg- 1 small, lightly whisked
Salt and pepper- to taste
Oil- 3 tbsp

Wooden skewers- 1o to 12, soaked in water for abut 2 to 3 hours
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In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients until well combined.
make sure you break down the beef mince and nicely incorporate all the masalas and ingredients into the meat, mixing with your hands if possible.
If you think the mix appears to be a bit loose, add some more almond powder.
take small portions of the meat in your hand and press on to the skewers, binding well.
make sure you don't use too much meat on the skewer, or else the weight would make it fall off.
Fire up your bbq and place them on the hot grill, rotating them every couple of minutes.
They should be done in about 10 minutes. Do a check by slicing off a bit and if you don't see any pink meat, you're good to go.
Remove from heat and serve warm.
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I wrapped my kebabs in a pita bread along with cous cous and salad and doused some yoghurt sauce on top whereas the husband kept dunking his kebab in the sauce, which he said brought out the flavours much better.

Recipe for the Meringue Roulade can be found here

With thanks to Waitrose for the bbq grill and the voucher for the food and ingredients.