Archive for September, 2009
Steak Pie Recipe Made Easy
Tender meat, rich gravy and golden pastry, there is something comforting and reassuring about a good steak pie. Served with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables it makes a hearty family meal. Individual sized pies are just as easy to make, for a picnic or packed lunch to savour.
To make a good steak pie you need to cook the meat slowly first until tender, just as if you are making a stew. Then it gets extra time in the oven with its pastry lid, getting even more succulent and tasty. Steak pies also freeze very well before you bake them and can be cooked straight from frozen, making a great supper with no fuss.
Recipe for Steak Pie
Ingredients
675g / 1 ½ lb stewing or braising steak
1 tablespoon plain flour
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 onion
1 carrot
4 stalks celery
bay leaf
sprig thyme
500ml / 2 cups beef stock
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 x 500g packet puff or shortcrust pastry
1 egg
Put the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Cut the steak into bite sized pieces and roll it in the flour till coated.
Brown the meat in 2 tablespoons oil. Set aside on a plate, then cook the onion in the same pan until softened. Add the carrots, celery and herbs and cook for a few more minutes until starting to soften. Return the meat to the pan.
Add the tinned tomatoes and stir. Add the stock. Bring to simmering point and cook over a low heat for two hours or until the meat is tender.
Check the gravy for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Leave to cool slightly, while you prepare the pastry.
By all means make your own pastry, using a shortcrust pastry recipe with lard as the main fat. The pie works perfectly well with bought pastry too, if you want to make things easier. Choose puff pastry or shortcrust, depending on your own preference.
Roll out the pastry to fit, overlapping slightly, one big or six small, individual pie dishes. Spoon the meat filling into the pie dishes, making sure that the liquid doesn’t come more than 2/3 of the way up the sides of the dishes.
Brush the rim of the dish with a little beaten egg and lay the pastry over the top. Press the pastry down around the edges to seal. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and make two or three small slits in the top to allow steam to escape, so the pastry will crisp nicely.
Bake at 190C / 375F for 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the filling is sizzling. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving your delicious steak pie.
Variations
Use a bottle of Guinness instead of the stock for a really deep, rich flavour.
Add mushrooms for a steak and mushroom pie.
Replace a third of the steak with an equal weight of kidney for steak and kidney pie.
Longing to bite into a perfect steak pie right now? Make for the Lord Nelson restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Hollandaise Sauce Recipe
A creamy, rich sauce with a tang of lemon, hollandaise sauce is the ideal partner for steamed asparagus and eggs benedict. It is also great with grilled and poached fish, especially salmon.
Emulsified sauces using egg yolks have gathered themselves a frightening reputation with home cooks, for being difficult and curdling or separating, but hollandaise is really quick and easy to make if you follow the first recipe here and use a blender. If you prefer the classic method with double boiler, directions for that are also below.
Hollandaise sauce should be served warm and made just before you need it, though it can be kept in the fridge for up to two days. It is usually served plain, with just the tang of lemon lifting the richness, but you can add some chopped fresh herbs or even a dash of mustard or Tabasco if you like to experiment and enliven the classics.
Recipe for Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
175g / 6oz unsalted butter
3 tablespoons water
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or more to taste)
salt and pepper
In a blender, process the egg yolks, water, lemon juice and salt and pepper for ten seconds at the lowest speed.
Melt the butter.
With the blender running on a high speed, pour the hot butter in a slow and steady stream onto the mixture, until it emulsifies and becomes thick and creamy.
If you are not serving the hollandaise immediately, keep it warm for up to 30 minutes by sitting the container in a pan of hot water.
Traditional Method for Hollandaise Sauce
This method uses a double boiler or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water without the water touching the bottom of the bowl. The ingredients are the same as for the blender method.
Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly.
Bring the water in the double boiler or pan to a steady simmer. Put the egg yolks, water and half the lemon juice in the bowl or top of the double boiler. Whisk over the heat until the eggs start to thicken (about 3 minutes).
Add a little melted butter at a time and keep whisking.
When all the butter has been added and the sauce has thickened, add the last of the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Feel like eating out instead of making hollandaise sauce? Why not try Le Mistral restaurant in Sherwood, Nottingham.
Quick and Easy Prawn Cocktail Recipe
Prawn cocktail is the ultimate, tongue in cheek, retro starter, which many of us secretly love. It takes us back to childhood, when a prawn cocktail was considered sophisticated and adventurous, but had the reassuringly familiar flavours of salad cream and tomato ketchup.
Nowadays retro food is cool again and you will find that prawn cocktails have graduated to using mayonnaise and are garnished with whole prawns in their shells. You might even find grown-up ingredients like vodka and horseradish added in an attempt to turn the prawn cocktail into a serious foodie interpretation of its Seventies self. This recipe goes back to the retro roots of prawn cocktail, with an easy Marie Rose sauce keeping it simple and tasty, as well as fun.
Recipe for Prawn Cocktail
Ingredients
300g / 9oz large cooked peeled prawns
one unpeeled prawn per person to garnish
Iceberg or little gem lettuce
Paprika to sprinkle on top
Lemon wedges to serve
For the prawn cocktail sauce
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 ½ tablespoons tomato ketchup
dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Mix together the sauce ingredients and taste to make sure it is right for you. You might like another dash of Tabasco if you like spicy food.
Shred your lettuce and arrange it at the bottom of your serving glasses or bowls. Pile your peeled prawns on top, then spoon over the Marie Rose sauce. Garnish with the unpeeled prawns and sprinkle with a little paprika. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Variations
You can use a mixture of salad cream and mayonnaise if you are hankering after that childhood memory of prawn cocktail.
Or make your own mayonnaise if you want to smarten up your prawn cocktail, and use tomato puree instead of ketchup.
Try making a sauce with mayonnaise, tomato chutney, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish and Tabasco, for a new take on the prawn cocktail.
For shrimp cocktail just use cooked peeled shrimps instead of the prawns in this recipe. The only difference is in that shrimps are smaller than prawns and can have a slightly blander flavour, so you might want to spice up the sauce a bit.
Feeling like Modern British food rather than retro tonight? Try eating out at one of the great British restaurants in Nottingham.
Easy Recipe for Guacamole Dip
Luscious ripe avocado with a hint of chilli and fresh spritz of lime, guacamole is a fantastic dip for a party or just to make for your family as a starter. Scoop it up with tortilla chips or even eat it heaped on crusty bread; it’s so moreish, you’ll have finished the bowl in no time!
The trick to really delicious guacamole is using properly ripe avocados. There’s no point trying to make it with tasteless hard ones. Perfectly ripe avos will give a little when you press gently on the outside. If they’re very soft they may be over-ripe, so check how they taste before using them.
There are hundreds of different recipes for guacamole. Most include chilli, lime juice and coriander, others add red onion and tomato and other spices too. Develop your own personal guacamole recipe from this basic one and decide how hot you like it, adding more chilli if this recipe is a little on the mild side for you.
Easy Recipe for Guacamole Dip
Ingredients
3 ripe avocados
1 lime
1 small red onion
bunch coriander
1 red chilli
1 ripe tomato
De-seed and chop the chilli finely. Chop the coriander leaves and stalks. Chop the red onion finely. Roughly chop the ripe tomato. Scoop all the avocado from its skin into a bowl and roughly mash it with the juice of the lime. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Keep back a little coriander to sprinkle on top. If you’re not serving it immediately put the avocado stone on top of the guacamole to keep it from turning colour, then cover and chill till needed.
Serve as a dip with tortilla chips or potato wedges.
Variations on Traditional Guacamole Dip
Some people add sour cream to their guacamole to make the avacados go further. Whilst not strictly authentic it still tastes good.
Cumin and ground coriander are extra spices you can experiment with.
A dash of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce is totally inauthentic but makes a great British version of guacamole!
In the mood for something spicy but don’t want to cook? Eat out at Chutney restaurant in Nottingham instead.
Simple Recipe for Quiche Lorraine
A classic quiche lorraine with its rich creamy filling balanced by the smokiness of bacon needs nothing more than a salad and a glass of wine to make a perfect lunch when friends come round. A home made quiche has none of the stodginess that can make bought quiches disappointing and is just as good cold as it is warm from the oven.
According to Elizabeth David, the traditional quiche from the Lorraine area of France just has smoked bacon added to the cream and egg filling, no onions, no cheese. I’ve included cheese in this recipe just because it adds depth to it. You can adapt this recipe and add any fillings you like, but it’s best to limit yourself to just two or three so that your quiche retains the classic simplicity of the original recipe.
Recipe for Quiche Lorraine
Ingredients
For the pastry
125g / 4oz plain flour
60g / 2oz cold butter
4-5 tablespoons iced water
pinch salt
For the filling
3 eggs
250 -300 ml cream
200g / 7oz smoked bacon
pinch ground nutmeg
50g / 2oz gruyere or mature cheddar (optional)
Make the pastry first. Rub the chilled butter into the flour until it looks like crumbs. You can do this in the processor if you prefer, just make sure that the ingredients are chilled before you start. Add iced water a little at a time until the pastry will clump together in a ball (you might not need all the water, so just add 1 tablespoon at a time). Wrap the ball of pastry in cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Roll the pastry out to fit your quiche tin of about 23cm / 9 inches diameter. Blind bake, by putting some foil in the base and weighing it with dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and foil.
While it is blind baking prepare the filling. Fry the bacon until done. Grate the cheese if using. Beat the eggs with the cream, nutmeg and a little salt and pepper.
Scatter the bacon on the base of the pastry case pour in the egg mixture and scatter over the cheese. Lower the temperature to 190C / 375F and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Other good filling combinations to try:
Spinach and feta cheese
Bacon and onion
Mushroom and courgette with garlic
Don’t feel like baking your own quiche lorraine today? Why not try the lunch menu at 1877 restaurant in Nottingham for some tasty light lunches.
Nottingham’s First Food Festival Goes Down A Storm
An action-packed 5-day event has been heralded a huge success for the city as over 18,000 visitors, attracted by the celebrity chefs’ theatre and the speciality local and regional food and drink market in the Market Square, attended the first ever Nottingham Food & Drink Festival this month. Funded by the Nottingham Leisure Partnership, an organisation that represents the city centre licensees, and the Greater Nottinghamshire Partnership, the Festival took place from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th September to help showcase the city’s diverse offer of fine food and drink.
The new chief executive of the Nottingham Leisure Partnership, Sylvia Manser, commented: “We are delighted with the success of the first Food and Drink Festival. Nottingham has one of the greatest variety of food and drink venues in the country and the festival felt like a real celebration of that. It was fantastic to see so many people enjoying the wonderfully diverse programme of events that took place all over the city.”
The Rangemaster Chefs’ Theatre in the Market Square hosted celebrity chefs James Martin, host of Saturday Morning Kitchen, Nottingham’s own Michelin star chef, Sat Bains, Step Up To The Plate regular, James Tanner, Ready Steady Cook favourite Brian Turner and Something for the Weekend’s Simon Rimmer. Tickets for James Martin’s first demonstration on the Wednesday morning went before midday on the day of release, proving what a popular draw he is.
James commented “it’s good to be back in Nottingham and I’m delighted that they’ve finally got their own food and drink festival, my last visit here was as a judge for the Nottingham Restaurant Awards. It’s a great city and an event such as this continues to showcase the food and drink offering to its fullest.”
Another of the highlights in the Rangemaster Chefs’ Theatre over the five day festival, was the Ready Steady Cook style cook-offs with local chefs pairing up with radio, TV and sporting personalities. BBC East Midlands Today’s Sara Blizzard took on BBC Radio Nottingham’s Richard Spurr in a contest that ultimately ended in a draw. Lucky for Sara who didn’t seem to know her way around the kitchen too well and was found looking for butternut squash in a bottle! They were followed by Heart 106 breakfast presenters Sam and Amy and Smooth Radio’s Mike Ashley and Tim Gough. Assistant coach and captain of Nottingham Panthers, Bruce Richardson, who didn’t know what an aubergine was, took on the might of Nottingham Rugby’s Sam McDonald who had big shoes to fill as his father is a Michelin star chef! The contestants were all guided through their challenges by chefs from venues around the city.
Other activities in the Rangemaster Chefs’ Theatre included specialist classes led by city restaurants including Wagamama, YO! Sushi, The Curry Lounge, Kean’s Head, World Service, Memsaab and The Old Angel. Local producers and suppliers held master classes including meat by butcher Owen Taylor, fish by M&J Seafood, simply sausages by Johnny Pusztai, perfect pork pies by Stephen Hallam and cooking made easy by home economist Teresa Bovey.
Coping with all this work were the festival’s unsung heroes in the prep kitchen, ably managed by Teresa Bovey and supported by students and apprentices from New College Nottingham who are studying the new Professional Chefs Diploma Programme – what a great opportunity for them.
Sunday 20th was family fun day with Sunday brunch, perfect sausage making and fun and easy bread making demonstrations on stage, plus interactive activities for children including cake decorating with Homemade and pizza topping with Strada. The adjoining Smooth FM chill-out area also proved a popular retreat with deck chairs and parasols in the sunshine.
City centre restaurants and bars also held special events in-house making it a city wide event and attracting up to 100 customers at a time. The events included a 7 course gourmet menu at Tonic, a beer and food matching event with expert Richard Fox at the Pitcher and Piano, cocktail making classes at The Living Room and a chocolate and beer tasting experience at Bluu.
Owner of The Curry Lounge Razak Arfan, who first approached the Nottingham Leisure Partnership with the idea two years ago, spoke of their involvement during the festival: “It was a fantastic experience, from cooking in the Chefs’ Theatre to showcasing the restaurant to new visitors during our week-long events. It was also nice to see my idea finally get off the ground. I’m sure it will grow to become one of Nottingham’s must-visit occasions! Great to see so many Nottingham folk supporting this unique event, there was a real buzz in the city. We were delighted with the response and look forward to next year.”
Craig Sharpe-Weir, manager of The Bell Inn, commented: “We held a ‘Best of British’ beer and food tasting on Friday evening, offering a few tasters from our menu with different beers, with Phil Darby from Nottingham Brewery co-presenting it with me. The event was a great success, attracting around 50 customers. Among these, there were a number of new faces who’d not been into the pub before, including some local CAMRA members who we’re keen to engage with as we’re proud of our cask beers. And for the pub regulars, the event was a way of rewarding them, giving them another reason to come to the pub, and getting them to try something new. The overall marketing of the Food & Drink Festival definitely created awareness of our event, especially as we’re so close to the Market Square – there was a great buzz about the place while it was on.”
Elsewhere, the regional speciality food and drink market in Market Square proved a huge hit with visitors, with a number of stalls selling out of produce and having to rapidly re-stock.
Stuart Isbister’s The Worm that Turned was one of the extremely popular stalls. Stuart said “We thoroughly enjoyed participating the first Nottingham Food & Drink Festival and demonstrating our range of ‘grow your own’ seeds and accessories. We met some interesting new people and I’m sure that after this strong start, the Festival will only get bigger and better in future years. There’s loads to celebrate about our regional food and we look forward to playing our part.”
Pat Parkes, organiser of the event, summarised: “The Food and Drink Festival was a great initiative for the city centre restaurants and bars to lay on and is a great example of what can be achieved by businesses working together. The festival attracted people from far and wide to enjoy what our wonderful city has to offer. It was a fantastic event and it can only get bigger and better over the forthcoming years.”
Funding is already in place to make the Nottingham Food & Drink Festival an annual event for at least a further 2 years.
Delicious Green Thai Curry Recipe
Taste tickling spice with the creamy comfort of coconut milk, a green thai curry makes an easy and satisfying meal. It keeps well and the flavours are even better the next day, so it is a wonderful recipe to cook ahead the evening before, when you’ll be having guests to dinner after work.
It’s simple enough to make your own thai curry paste in the food processor, but to save time and make things simpler you can use a good ready-made brand. The vegetables you include in your curry are up to you: spinach, red peppers, bamboo shoots, green beans and mushrooms all work well, but you probably want to choose just two of those.
Recipe for Green Thai Curry
Ingredients to serve six
6 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 onions sliced thinly
2.5cm / 1 inch fresh ginger root peeled and grated
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
75g green thai curry paste (see below to make your own)
2 x 400g tins coconut milk
1 tablespoons soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
8 lime leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 – 3 cups of the chopped or sliced vegetables of your choice from the list above
20 basil leaves
1 bunch fresh coriander
In a heavy based casserole, brown the chicken pieces in the oil. Set aside on a warm plate. Cook the onions and garlic in the same oil over a medium heat, until the onions are soft and starting to colour. Add the ginger and green thai curry paste. Cook stirring for 3 minutes. Add the vegetables you have chosen (except for the spinach which can go in at the last stage of cooking) and cook for 1 minute stirring.
Return the chicken to the pan and add half the coconut milk, the lime leaves and the sugar. Bring the green thai curry to simmering point and cook over a low heat for 40 minutes. (If you are cooking it ahead of time, stop at this point and cool, then refrigerate).
Add the remaining coconut milk, lime juice, basil, spinach (if using) and fish sauce and cook for 5 more minutes.
Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander accompanied by fragrant rice or noodles.
To make your own Green thai curry paste:
Ingredients
6 green chilis
2 stalks lemongrass
2 tablespoons fresh coriander with its root
1 teaspoon cumin
2.5cm / 1 inch fresh ginger root
2 shallots
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
Chop, peel and deseed the above and blitz to a paste in the processor or blender. You can keep the green thai curry in a jar with a film of oil over the top to store for a week or two.
In the mood for a Green curry? Taste the authentic flavours of Thai cuisine at Pretty Orchid restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Tomato Soup Recipe
Velvety smooth tomato soup can be comforting and tasty as a starter to a three course meal, or as a lunchtime meal in itself. If you’ve only ever eaten tomato soup from a tin, it’s time to try making your own for a revelation to your taste-buds. Remember though that you need ripe tomatoes with plenty of flavour to make a good fresh tomato soup otherwise you might as well use tinned tomatoes.
Look for tomatoes sold ripe on the vine, which should be at their best in late summer and early autumn. Plum tomatoes also work very well.
Tomato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1kg / 2.2lbs ripe tomatoes
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons tomato puree
½ teaspoon sugar
2 bay leaves
1.2 litres vegetable stock
Chop the onions, carrot and celery quite finely. Chop the tomatoes into chunks and remove any hard bits from their cores if they are the big beefsteak variety.
Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan over a low heat. Cook the onion, celery and carrot for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until they are softened.
Add the tomato puree and the chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle in the sugar, some freshly ground black pepper and the bay leaves. Stir it all together then cover and allow to cook gently over a low heat for 10 more minutes.
Pour in the hot stock, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the bay leaves and puree the tomato soup in a blender. You’ll probably have to do this in two or more batches. Check the seasoning. You can add salt to taste and a little more pepper if you like. Return the pureed soup to the pan and reheat gently when you are ready to eat.
Serving suggestions:
Sprinkle with some torn fresh basil leaves
Swirl in a little sour cream
Serve chilled in summer with cream.
Crusty white bread is an essential accompaniment.
Other things you can put in your tomato soup:
2 cloves garlic chopped and cooked with the vegetables
1 potato to make a thicker soup
In winter when ripe tomatoes are rare, use tinned tomatoes instead.
Should tomato soup be eaten as a starter to be followed by a Sunday roast? Why not eat Sunday lunch out at one of Nottingham’s British restaurants.
Recipe for Minestrone Soup Made Easy
A hearty, slow-cooked vegetable soup is just what you need to warm you up on a cold evening. Minestrone has an assortment of seasonal vegetables slowly cooked in meat stock and tomatoes until the vegetables are tender and all the flavours have amalgamated to a rich and mellow flavour.
There are as many variations of Minestrone as there are regions of Italy, or more. In the north, rice is a standard addition, beans in central Italy and in the south plenty of tomato and garlic. This minestrone soup recipe is a basic one, to which you can add other vegetables according to the season, and rice or small pasta shapes as you wish. It is even better eaten the next day and freezes well without the pasta in it, so make a big pot of soup, while you are about it.
Minestrone Soup recipe
Ingredients
Serve 6-8
6 tablespoons olive oil
40g / 1 ½ oz butter
3 large onions finely chopped
4 carrots diced
2 sticks celery diced
250g / 8oz potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tin cannellini beans
2 courgettes
200g / 8oz savoy cabbage, shredded
1.5 litres / 2 ½ pints beef stock
175g / 6oz tinned tomatoes, chopped with their juice
40g / 1 ½ freshly grated parmesan
Ina large pot put the oil, butter and chopped onion and cook gently over a medium low heat until the onion softens and turns a pale gold. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes, then add celery, followed by the potatoes and courgettes. Give each vegetable a minute or two, stirring occasionally before tyou put in the nexgt one. Lastly add the shredde cabbage and cook everything for 5 more minutes or so.
Add the tomatoes and their juice and the stock Bring to a simmer and cook over the lowest possible heat for 3 hours. A slow cooker is excellent for this. At the end the soup should be thick and not too watery. If it is too thick you can add water.
Check for seasoning and add salt if necessary, add the cannellini beans (you can use borlotti beans instead if you prefer) and pasta or rice if you are using them and simmer for 10 more minutes. Before serving stir in the parmesan cheese.
Other things you can add to your minestrone soup: bacon or pancetta, green beans, a little garlic, fresh herbs, any other vegetables in season. If you have the end rind of a hunk of parmesan you can throw that into the soup with the stock too for a really wonderful, mellow flavour.
Three hours cooking time too long for you? Why not try the minestrone at one of the Italian restaurants in Nottingham.
Delicious Shortbread Recipe
Plain but luxurious, shortbread has been a traditional teatime treat for centuries and was reputedly a favourite of Mary Queen of Scots. It was made all over Britain but is now often associated with Scotland, perhaps because it has always played a role in their traditional New Year celebrations when it was given to first footers.
Luxurious and rich because of the amount of pure butter in it, all its flavour comes from the butter itself, so on no account should you ever substitute margarine. Shortbread is quick and simple to make with only three ingredients in most recipes. It is great for tea but you can use this shortbread recipe as a base for a traditional summer dessert, strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and cream.
Shortbread Recipe
Ingredients
125g / 4oz pure butter, softened
55g / 2oz caster sugar
180g / 6oz plain flour
Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F.
Cream together the butter and sugar and beat till pale.
Work in the flour.
When you have a smooth dough, roll it out to about 1cm / ½ inch thick. Cut into fingers or rounds and place on a baking sheet. Alternatively press the mixture into a baking tin to the same thickness and cut into fingers after baking.
Sprinkle with more caster sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until pale golden.
Cool on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight tin.
Shaping shortcake
You can get lots of different moulds for baking shortcake, pressing it into various traditional shapes, such as the petticoat tails round, that is cut into triangles. Plain is often better though and you can get lots of different effects by experimenting at home.
Try making your own petticoat tails, effectively a circle with a fluted edge. Roll the dough in to a ball and then roll out into a circle. Press your thumb round the edge to make regular indentations and score across the centre to mark out the slices it will be cut into later. You’ll have made your own petticoat tails without using a mould!
Not in the mood for baking shortbread right now? Why not enjoy the teatime treats at Woodborough Hall restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple French Omelette Recipe
A simple and satisfying French omelette is a must in any cook’s repertoire. It takes only minutes to make, needs ingredients that you usually have to hand and can be filled with a variety of tasty vegetables or nothing at all according to your own tastes. Served with some salad and crusty white bread you have a fine lunch in minutes, with no trouble at all.
Much has been written about the importance of your omelette pan, which should be kept only for omelettes and never washed out with soap but just wiped clean. I find that a non-stick, all purpose pan of the right size does a perfect job, as long as you get it hot enough before you start.
Recipe for a French Omelette
Ingredients
Per omelette for 1 person
2 eggs
salt and pepper
knob of butter
filling of your choice – see below for suggestions
The ideal size for an omelette pan is about 22cm / 8inches with shallow, slightly curved sides to make it easy to slip out onto your plate when it’s done.
Get your filling ready before you start preparing the omelette. Most simple of all can be chopped fresh herbs including parsley. Grated cheese is next on the list of easy fillings. One of my favourite omelette fillings is mushrooms, sliced and fried in butter with plenty of black pepper. Otherwise your imagination is the limit – chopped ham and leeks, bacon, blue cheese – anything can go in an omelette as long as it is tasty.
When you are ready to eat, turn on the heat under the pan to high. Break the eggs into a bowl, add a grinding of salt and pepper and beat.
Hold your hand over the pan to make sure it is hot. Once it is, drop in the knob of butter, about the size of a walnut. It should sizzle madly and foam. Once the foam subsides and before the butter browns, it is time to pour in the beaten eggs. Immediately start drawing the cooked egg from the outside to the centre of the pan, allowing the liquid uncooked egg to run in and fill its place. Tip the pan slightly to help it. Go round the pan continuing with this until there is no more liquid egg left. Pile the filling in the middle of the omelette and as soon as the egg is cooked through to your liking, switch off the heat and fold the omelette over on itself then out onto a warm plate. Serve immediately
Feel like a more substantial meal than an omelette tonight? Try some delicious French cuisine at Le Mistral restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple and Delicious Recipe for Blueberry Pie
Blueberry pie with its sweet berry filling and rich shortcrust pastry is a glorious dessert for summer and autumn evenings. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche on the side, it is a feast to the eyes as well as to taste. Blueberries are now easily available in the UK and are grown in the South of England, so we can adopt this once all-American pie as our own. It can also be made with blackberries harvested from the hedgerows, to make it a true home-grown dish, in which case you will need to add more sugar than the recipe suggests.
Blueberry Pie recipe
Ingredients
250g / 8oz plain flour
125g / 4 oz butter
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons crème fraiche or yoghurt
600g / 10oz blueberries
120g / 4 oz caster sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon arrowroot or cornflour
To make the rich shortcrust pastry: Put the flour into a bowl and dice the butter into it, then put in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. Beat the egg yolks with a pinch of salt and the crème fraiche or yoghurt and put into the fridge. Have some iced water ready in case you need it. Put the flour and butter in the processor and blitz for a minute until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg mix and process again. Add a little iced water a teaspoon at a time until the dough starts to clump together, then switch off and form it into two balls, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap them in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling: Put the blueberries into a pan with the sugar and water. Simmer for 2 minutes. Dilute the arrowroot with a little water and add to the blueberries. Simmer for another 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 220C / 450F.
Roll out the larger ball of pastry on a floured surface to fit a 18-20 cm pie dish. Lift it in. Spoon the blueberries on top, leaving behind most of the juice. Roll out the pastry lid. Dampen the sides of the base, then lift the lid on top and seal by pressing your thumb down all round leaving a fluted edge. Trim the edges if necessary and use the pastry trimmings to decorate. Brush the top with beaten egg white or milk. Pierce the top a few times to allow the steam to escape.
Bake for 10 minutes, on the lower shelf of the oven or over a heated baking sheet, then reduce the heat to 190C / 375F and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden. Rest for 15 minutes before serving a slice of delicious blueberry pie.
Love pies but not making pastry? Try the delicious desserts at Cockliffe House restaurant in Nottingham.
Delicious Apple Pie Recipe Made Easy
Apple pie has a comforting and homely feel about it. It’s the perfect dish to make on a cold and blustery day for the family, so that they feel warm and cared for. Served with a dollop of cream or a pool of custard, its simple goodness will make you wonder why you bother with cooking fancy exotic ingredients when home-grown ones are so satisfying.
Pastry is often the intimidating factor when it comes to delivering a recipe for apple pie. If you really want to make it easy, you can buy ready-made pastry, but making your own pastry is actually very simple, if you remember the two key elements to it: speed and cold. A processor helps with the first and chilling the ingredients before you work them takes care of the second.
Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
240g / 8oz plain flour
125g / 4oz butter
pinch salt
iced water
squeeze lemon juice
3-4 medium cooking apples
125g / 4oz white sugar
3 cloves or 1 teaspoon cinnamon according to personal preference
egg white or milk for brushing the top
2 teaspoons caster sugar for sprinkling
To make the pastry: Sift the flour and salt into a small bowl and dice the butter into it. Put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill. Then tip it all into the processor and blitz until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. (If you don’t have a processor you can make the pastry by hand: rub the cold butter into the flour as quickly as you can and keep it as cool as possible). Add 3 tablespoons of iced water and the squeeze of lemon juice and process again, adding another tablespoon of water if necessary. When the dough looks like it’s about to come together, but just before it does, switch off and form the pastry into two balls, one slightly bigger than the other. Wrap in clingfilm or freezer bags, then rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the larger half of the pastry on a floured surface until it just fits the base and sides of a 20-22 cm round pie dish. Lift it on your rolling pin into the dish and trim the edges if necessary, leaving a little overlap. Roll out the last piece of pastry to make the lid.
Prepare the apples: peel core and slice the apples, then toss with the sugar and spice. If you are using eating apples instead of Bramley cookers, reduce the amount of sugar used. Pile the fruit into the pie dish.
Now dampen the edge of the pastry base with a little cold water and lift the pastry lid on top, pressing down with your thumb all the way round to seal and make a fluted edge. You can use any pastry trimmings to make decorations, such as leaves, to go on top. Dampen each piece with water to help it stick. Pierce the pastry lid a few times to make holes for the steam to escape when cooking. Brush the lid with the beaten egg white, or else with a little milk and sprinkle with a little sugar.
Bake on a low shelf of the oven, or with a heated baking sheet under the pie dish (to help crisp the bottom of the apple pie) at 220C / 425F for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 190C / 375F for 25-30 more minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp.
Hungry for good English food, but not feeling like cooking today? Why not eat out at Creme restaurant in Stapleford, Nottingham.
Simple and Delicious Recipe for Chicken Soup
Chicken soup has a huge reputation as a cure-all. Comforting and full of nutrients it is the recipe to turn to in winter to banish colds and flu and get invalids back on their feet. Garlic and ginger are great natural cold remedies and add plenty of flavour. Even if you’re not ill, chicken soup makes a great lunchtime or evening meal with some crusty bread and the addition of some noodles.
This chicken soup recipe creates its own chicken stock by starting off with a whole uncooked chicken. If you already have some home-made chicken broth from the Sunday roast, you can make a quick chicken soup by just adding the vegetables and some cooked chicken to your stock and simmering them till tender.
Easy Chicken Soup Recipe
1 whole chicken or equivalent chicken pieces on the bone
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2cm / 1 inch ginger root, peeled and grated
salt and pepper
bay leaf
sprig thyme
4 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
To this you can add any of the following vegetables according to taste: leeks, mushrooms, corn, courgettes, potatoes
Put the chicken in a large pot, cover with water and bring up to simmering point over a medium heat. Skim off any foam or fat that rises to the surface. Add the halved onion, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper, thyme and bay leaf.
Simmer for 30-45 minutes until the chicken is tender, continuing to skim off any foam or oil that rises to the top.
Prepare all the vegetables by peeling and dicing them into easy bite-sized pieces.
Take the chicken out of the broth and strip off all the meat, cutting it into bite sized pieces. Strain the broth and return it to the pan.
Bring the broth back to a simmer and add all the vegetables and chopped chicken, cooking for about 30 minutes until they are all tender. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve hot.
Other things to add to your chicken soup:
Sliced chili peppers added with the vegetables, just enough to give a little heat
Cooked noodles added at the last minute.
A handful of rice added 15 minutes before the end of cooking time
For a cream of chicken soup, liquidize everything and add half a cup of cream.
Don’t fancy staying in to nurse a cold? Get all the health benefits of ginger and garlic by eating out at one of the tasty Thai restaurants in Nottingham.
Simple Mushroom Soup Recipe
Cold autumn and winter evenings demand comforting, feel-good meals that you can make quickly, when you get home feeling chilled. Thick, sustaining soups will warm you right to your toes and are easy to make. Homemade soups taste so much better than tinned soups too. Cream of mushroom soup has the extra comfort factor of its velvety creaminess and tastes great with a hunk of fresh bread slathered with butter or some crunchy, garlicky croutons.
This mushroom soup recipe is made with plain button or field mushrooms, but you can equally well use the fancier sort, or get more depth of flavour by soaking some dried porcini mushrooms and adding them to the rest. As with all soups the taste is improved by using a really good stock. Here the recipe asks for chicken stock, but if you are using porcini mushrooms, the soaking water can be substituted for some of the stock.
Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe
Ingredients
500g / 1lb mushrooms
90g / 3oz butter
2 medium onions chopped
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 litre / 1 ½ pints chicken stock
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
½ cup cream
salt and pepper
Wipe the mushrooms clean and chop them into rough dice. Chop the onions and crush the garlic. Put the chicken stock to heat in a separate pan.
In a large pan cook the onions, thyme and garlic in the butter over a medium heat, until they are soft and translucent but not browned.
Add the mushrooms, raise the heat and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir it in so that it coats the mushrooms, then and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute.
Pour the hot chicken stock over the mushrooms and bring back to the boil. Add the bay leaf and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and thyme and use either a hand held blender or a food processor to process the soup until smooth.
Return the soup to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat. When it is simmering stir in the cream. Allow to warm through. Serve with garlic croutons or fresh bread.
Feel like a quick lunch out rather than making your own mushroom soup? Try the delicious lunch menu at Iberico Tapas restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Creme Brulee Recipe
Cream, sugar and eggs: the ingredients for crème brulee are so simple and yet many cooks don’t feel confident enough to make it at home. We’ll indulge ourselves at restaurants with the luscious scoops of rich custard, contrasting with the satisfying crunch of crisp caramel, without realizing that it is simple enough to make at home.
Recipes often recommend a mini blowtorch for caramelising the sugar topping, but you can just as easily do it under a hot grill if you don’t have one. These crème brulees can easily be made the night before a dinner party, leaving the caramel topping to be completed just before the meal.
Crème Brulee Recipe
Ingredients
500ml / 2 cups double cream
1 vanilla pod
5 egg yolks
100g / 3 oz sugar
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
In a small pan bring the cream to just on simmering point, then take off the heat, put in the vanilla pod, cover the pan and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Put four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin.
Beat the egg yolks with 50g of the sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric beater, until it turns pale in colour and starts to thicken. Reheat the vanilla infused cream but don’t let it boil.
Pour the hot cream over the beaten egg yolks, stirring as you do so. Remove the vanilla pod.
Pour enough hot water from the tap into the roasting tin, so that it comes 1.5 cm up the side of the ramekins. Fill each ramekin with the hot cream mix. Carefully slide the whole tin into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The custards should have set at the edges but still be a bit wobbly in the middle. You don’t want them to be too firm.
Take the ramekins out of the tray, cool for a few minutes, then chill in the fridge for at least four hours.
No more than one or two hours before they will be served, finish off the creme brulees. Sprinkle 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar evenly over each ramekin, making sure it completely covers the surface. Either place close under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes, or use a blow torch to caramelize the sugar, by holding it just over the sugar and moving it around and around until done. Give the caramel a few minutes in the fridge to cool and crisp before serving.
Not ready to attempt a crème brulee for yourself yet? Why not indulge yourself with a delicious dessert at Petit Paris restaurant in Nottingham.
Real Italian Style Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe
Spaghetti Bolognese has become a standard British dish that bears little resemblance to the traditional meat sauce from Bologna, known there as ragu. A true Bolognese sauce has been cooked slowly for hours until the meat is tender and the sauce thick enough to cling to the pasta. It is a rich and unctuous sauce that works well with fresh pasta like tagliatelle too.
A secret learned from Marcella Hazan, to keep the meat tender, is to cook it in a little milk before adding the tomatoes. If you have a slow cooker it would be perfect for this recipe, as the slower it cooks the better. The preparation time isn’t long, so it makes sense to make a big batch of the sauce and freeze part of it, so you can have quick and easy Spaghetti Bolognese another day too.
Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
350g / 12 ½ oz lean minced beef
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped carrot
3 tablespoons olive oil
40g / 1 ½ oz butter
250 ml / 1 cup dry white wine
8 tablespoons / ½ cup milk
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
400g / 14 oz tinned Italian chopped tomatoes
Use a heavy based casserole or a slow cooker for this spaghetti bolognese recipe.
Cook the onion in the oil and butter over a medium heat until just translucent. Add the carrot and celery to the pan and continue to cook gently for two more minutes.
Crumble the minced beef into the pan, add a little salt and stir. Only cook briefly until the meat has lost the raw redness, but it should not have turned completely brown or it will be tough.
Add the wine and raise the heat. Cook stirring now and then until all thewine has evaporated.
Reduce the heat and add the milk and nutmeg. Cook stirring frequently until the milk has evaporated.
Add the tomatoes and stir in well. When they start to bubble turn the heat to minimum, so that just an occasional bubble rises to the surface. Cook ideally for 3-4 hours, checking and stirring occasionally to make sure that it isn’t sticking to the pan.
This recipe makes enough sauce for six generous servings. When you are ready to eat, reheat the sauce while the spaghetti cooks in a large pan of boiling water. Drain the spaghetti, then toss it with most of the sauce. Serve immediately with the rest of the sauce on top and freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle.
Can’t wait for your Bolognese sauce to cook? Try the spaghetti Bolognese at Latino restaurant in Nottingham.
Delicious Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe
Quick and simple, spaghetti alla carbonara is the perfect recipe for when you want a delicious and satisfying meal in a hurry. The irresistible scent of bacon and the silken creaminess of eggs make a sophisticated pasta dish that is far removed from the English breakfast feel of the ingredients.
The traditional Roman spaghetti carbonara recipe uses unsmoked pancetta, but some Italian versions do use smoked bacon, so if you prefer the smoky flavour you don’t need to worry about lack of authenticity. What a true spaghetti carbonara recipe doesn’t use is cream, which tends to make the sauce too rich and heavy. It should be light, with the egg just clinging to the pasta, cooked only in the heat of the pasta and no hint of scrambled eggs in sight.
Carbonara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
225g / 8oz pancetta or smoked bacon
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
15g / ½ oz butter
4 tablespoons dry white wine
3 eggs
80g / 2 ½ oz freshly grated parmesan or pecorino romano (or a mixture of the two)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
450g / 1 lb spaghetti
Cut the pancetta or bacon into thin strips. Peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves.
In a small frying pan put the oil, butter and garlic and fry over a medium heat. Remove the garlic when it turns deep gold, then add the pancetta to the pan and cook until it starts to crisp. Add the wine and let it bubble for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil for the spaghetti. Salt it with 2 tablespoons salt to 5 litres of water approx. When the water boils again add the spaghetti.
In a large serving bowl break the three eggs. Beat them together with the grated cheese, freshly ground black pepper and the chopped parsley.
When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it, then immediately toss it in the serving bowl with the eggs, until all the spaghetti is well coated. The eggs will just cook enough in the heat from the hot pasta. Reheat the pancetta mixture briefly over a high heat, as you drain the pasta, then add to the egg coated spaghetti and toss again thoroughly. Serve immediately.
N.B. If you do want to make your spaghetti carbonara with cream, use just one small pot (60ml) of double cream and beat it with the eggs in the serving bowl.
Want to taste how the Italians make spaghetti carbonara? Eat at Vivo restaurant in Stapleford Nottingham.
Quick and Easy Recipe for Mulled Wine
The spicy wafting aroma of mulled wine on a chilly winter’s evening gives a festive air to even the gloomiest of weather. The warming spices of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and tangy zest of orange brighten up a plain red wine and put you in the mood for celebrating Christmas.
There are hundreds of recipes for mulled wine (or gluhwein) and everyone has their own secret ingredient. Maybe a little dash of cognac, or another spice added. The important thing is to get the amount of sugar right. Too much sugar makes it too sickly and cloying, too little and the tartness loses much of the comfort factor that makes mulled wine so warming and festive. So the golden rule is to add less sugar than you think you’ll need, then taste the wine once it is warmed through and add more sugar just until it tastes right for you. Each wine will be different and individual tastes vary, so bask in the heady warmth of wine and spices and stand over your mulled wine tasting little sips until it is just right!
Choosing a wine to mull is another important consideration. You don’t want to use total plonk, but it is a waste to use a well aged bottle of prize wine. Ideally you should use a red wine that is not too tannic, so avoid wines aged in oak, but it should have enough flavour and body to be drinkable on its own. A medium bodied claret, chianti or merlot works well.
Mulled Wine Recipe
Ingredients
2 bottles of medium-bodied red wine
1 cup sugar and more to taste
6 cinnamon sticks
15 cloves
grated nutmeg
2 oranges
Push the cloves into the skin of the oranges, then cut the oranges in half. Pour the wine into a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan and warm over a medium heat. Add the sugar, spices and clove studded oranges. Keep an eye on the wine and turn the heat to very low as soon as it gets close to simmering. You don’t want it to boil or it will lose its alcohol content! Taste for sugar and add more until it tastes right for you. Keep it steaming over a low heat for an hour or so to allow the spices to infuse. Ladle it into glasses or mugs and breathe in the spicy aroma.
Other things you can add to mulled wine:
Star anise, bay leaves, mace, ginger, cardamom, lemon, lime, brandy.
Feeling like celebrating? Try one of Nottingham’s finest restaurants for a really great evening out.
Simple Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
Nothing spells summer like strawberries and when you want a great dessert that is quick and easy to make for a barbeque or party, a strawberry cheesecake is the perfect answer. The rich, creamy filling on the biscuit base is lifted by the lively flavour of the juicy fruit and the bright red of the strawberries looks very festive against the cream of the filling.
This is an easy no-cook recipe and just needs to set overnight in the fridge, so is a great dessert to make in advance and just bring out all ready to serve.
Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
250g / 8oz digestive biscuits
100g / 3oz melted butter
600g / 1 ¼ lb cream cheese
100g / 3 oz icing sugar
275 ml / 1 ¼ cups double cream
1 vanilla pod
400g / 1lb strawberries
25g / 1oz icing sugar
Grease and line a 23cm / 9inch loose bottomed cake tin with baking paper.
Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs and then mix in the melted butter thoroughly. Make sure that all the crumbs are well coated otherwise the base won’t stay together. Press the crumbs well into the base of the tin in an even layer, then chill in the fridge for one hour.
Put the cream cheese and sugar in to a bowl. Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod and add, then beat with an electric beater until it is really smooth. Add the cream and beat some more until the mixture is well combined. Spoon the filling onto the biscuit base and smooth the top. Leave in the fridge overnight to set firmly.
Half an hour before you want to serve the cheesecake, remove from the fridge to come to room temperature. Puree half of the strawberries with the extra icing sugar and prepare the rest by slicing or halving them.
Un-mould the cheesecake by slipping a hot knife around the edge, then loosening the sides and slipping off the ring. Slide the cheesecake onto a serving plate, then pile the strawberries on top and drizzle the puree over them.
If you need the cheesecake to set more quickly or more firmly, then you can use 2 sheets of gelatine dissolved in water or lemon juice and mix it into the cream filling. Then the cheesecake should set in just a few hours.
Feel a craving for a luscious dessert and can’t wait for this cheesecake to set? Try the dessert selection at Tonic restaurant in Nottingham.
Recipe for Orange Marmalade
Seville orange marmalade has been a traditional fixture on the English breakfast table since the eighteenth century. Other countries may find its bittersweet tang incomprehensible, but we have a taste for it that never fades. Nowadays the bitter Seville oranges are grown specifically for the English marmalade industry and the short season means that if you want to make your own traditional marmalade recipe you have to do it in January when the oranges are briefly available for a few weeks.
You can however make excellent marmalade with any combination of citrus fruits and if you can’t get hold of Seville oranges, I suggest a combination of sweet oranges, grapefruit and lemons to make a really satisfying three fruit marmalade with just the right tanginess for your breakfast toast.
Seville Orange Marmalade Recipe
Ingredients
1kg / 2lb Seville oranges
2kg / 4lb sugar
1 lemon
2 litres water approx
Wipe or gently wash the oranges. Don’t scrub hard or you will lose the essential oils that give a lot of the flavour. Cut the fruit in half, remove pips and then slice the fruit into small shreds. You get to decide whether you like your marmalade with chunky peel in or finely shredded. For fine shreds you can use the processor with care not to pulp it, but cut your chunky peel by hand.
Put all the cut fruit into a large heavy based pan with the water. Tie up the pips in a muslin bag (for easy removal later) and add them too. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 – 2 hours until the peel is soft and tender. How long it takes depends on how chunky you have cut the peel. The water will have reduced, but the fruit should still be covered. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Once all the sugar has dissolved, raise the heat and boil briskly for 20-30 minutes until the marmalade reaches setting point. Check after 15 minutes for the first time as some mixtures are quicker than others to jel.
Test this by putting a drop of the liquid onto a cold saucer. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then see whether it has jelled, by pushing a finger through it – if it has formed a skin which wrinkles it is ready. Pour the marmalade into warm sterilized jars and seal.
If you can’t get Seville oranges for your marmalade then substitute 3 sweet oranges, 1 grapefruit and 2 lemons and reduce the amount of sugar used to 1.5kg, then proceed as above. You can experiment with your citrus fruit and try a variation including limes if you like a more fragrant marmalade.
Feel like eating breakfast out before you start to make marmalade today? Why not try a traditional English Breakfast at Chatterley House restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Recipe for Roast Beef
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is one of those classic English dishes that we hardly ever cook for ourselves. We’ll eat out at a pub or restaurant for Sunday lunch instead of cooking our own, because a roast lunch with all the trimmings can seem a bit intimidating.
However cooking your own roast beef is actually quite simple. It’s mostly a matter of buying good quality meat and not overcooking it, letting it rest before carving it and then serving it up with some crispy roast potatoes and steamed vegetables.
If this is your first attempt at serving a Sunday roast at home, then leave the Yorkshire pudding out of the equation till next time. It is usually the stress of timing so many dishes to come out of a hot oven and onto the table at the same time that puts us off cooking a Sunday roast at home, so just concentrate on getting the meat and potatoes right for now.
Roast Beef Recipe
Ingredients
1-1.5kg / 2-3lb sirloin beef joint
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or beef dripping
1 onion
1 glass red wine
Preheat your oven to 200C / 400F.
Calculate the time needed to cook your roast beef to the pinkness you prefer.
30 minutes per kilo / 15 minutes per pound for medium rare
40 minutes per kilo / 20 minutes per pound for medium
50 minutes per kilo / 25 minutes per pound for medium well done
1 hour per kilo / 30 minutes per pound for well done.
Heat the oil or dripping in the roasting tin, then place the seasoned joint in the roasting tin fat side down. Turn it in the hot fat to seal and colour it on all sides for about 5 minutes. Add a halved onion into the roasting tin with the beef, then place the tin on the middle shelf of the oven. Turn the joint halfway through its roasting time.
Once the time is up, take the meat out of the roasting tray and put it on a warmed carving dish, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before carving, while you make the gravy and crisp up the roast potatoes.
To make a thin gravy of the juices: pour off the fat from the roasting tin (you can keep it to use as beef dripping another day), then put the tin over a medium heat and pour in the red wine, let it bubble and loosen any cooking residue in the tin. The onion will have left some lovely caramelised buts that will add a real depth to your gravy as well as giving it a brown colour. Add a cup of the water saved from par-boiling the potatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Taste to see how strong the flavour is, and add a little more water if necessary.
Tips for really great roast potatoes:
Par boil for 5 minutes. After they have drained shake the potatoes in the pan with the lid on, to rough up their edges.
Heat enough olive oil or sunflower oil to cover the base of the roasting tin and add the potatoes when it is sizzling. Turn them in the oil and roast for 1 ½ hours, turning once or twice. Leave them in the oven till the last minute, so that you serve them crispy and hot.
Not ready to cook your own Sunday roast at home? Try a traditional Sunday lunch at Bluu restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Dense, moist, pure chocolate sensation, really good chocolate brownies are every chocoholic’s idea of bliss on a summer picnic or a rainy winter’s afternoon. Serve them warm with a blob of creamy vanilla ice cream for Sunday lunch and wow your family and guests, or stash them away as a secret supply of indulgence and share them with the chosen few, whenever you need a chocolate fix with a cup of coffee.
Of course the chocolatiness depends on the chocolate you use. For best results use a dark 70% chocolate which has the intensity of flavour but is still sweet enough to give the melty, chewy texture a true chocolate brownie should have. This recipe is the basic recipe to which you can add walnuts, pecan nuts, chocolate chips or dried berries to your own taste.
Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
250g / 8oz dark chocolate
250g / 8oz butter
300g / 10 oz golden caster sugar
3 large eggs plus one extra yolk
60g / 2oz flour
60g / 2oz cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Grease a 23×23cm / 9×9inch non-stick baking tin and line the bottom with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar together until white, fluffy and creamy, either by hand or in the food processor.
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt all except for 50g of it in a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat as soon as it has melted. Chop the remaining 50g of chocolate into small chunks.
Beat the eggs into a small bowl and then beat gradually into the butter and sugar mix. Stir in the melted chocolate and chocolate chunks with a metal spoon.
Sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt then fold in carefully to the batter with the metal spoon.
Turn mixture into the cake tin, smooth the top and bake for about 30 minutes.
It is important not to overcook brownies or they will be dry and lose that moist, chewy texture that is their hallmark. So check after 25 minutes. The top should have risen but it will appear softer in the middle. Test with a skewer in the middle. It should come out a bit sticky but not with liquid raw mix on it. If it does, put back in for another 3 minutes and check again. What you don’t want is for the skewer to come out clean, as the brownies will be overdone.
If you want to add nuts or any other bits and pieces, add them to the mixture immediately after you have stirred in the melted chocolate.
Feeling like a chocolate brownie with your coffee, but you’re all out of ingredients? Visit Belle and Jerome Beeston restaurant in Nottingham for one of their luscious teatime treats and pastries served all day.
Quick and Easy Beef Stroganoff Recipe
Tender beef fillet quickly sautéed with a sour cream sauce, beef stroganoff is an ideal recipe for a quick weekday supper or as an elegant meal for last-minute guests. Originating in 19th century Russia, this simple recipe has since made its way all around the world, adopting additions of mushrooms and onions on the way, until we have the classic dish that we know and love today.
The secret of a good beef stroganoff is in the cut of meat you use. Beef fillet is the best, as it gives tender slices of meat that can be cooked very briefly so that they don’t toughen. Whatever you do, don’t try to use stewing steak, which needs long slow cooking to soften it.
Serve beef stroganoff with rice and a salad or try it with the crisp potato straws or matchstick potatoes that are the traditional garnish in Russia.
Recipe for Beef Stroganoff
(Serves four)
Ingredients
675g / 1 ½ lb beef fillet
1 large onion, thinly sliced
350g button mushrooms, sliced
65g 2 ½ oz butter
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
300 ml / 1 ¼ cups soured cream
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
small bunch parsley, washed and chopped fine.
Cut the fillet across the grain into thin slices about 1cm / ½ inch wide or less.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter and cook the onion with the paprika over a low heat until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook gently for about three minutes more. Using a slotted spoon remove the onions and mushrooms to a plate.
Use the same pan to heat 1 ½ tablespoons of sunflower oil until hot. Quickly fry half the beef fillet strips, turning and adding salt and pepper as you cook for about one minute. Remove to another plate and fry the rest of the strips in the remaining oil. Transfer this batch of meat to the plate.
Return the onions and mushrooms to the pan and pour in the cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for one minute until it thickens slightly. Return the beef fillet strips to the pan and heat gently for one more minute, without letting the mixture boil.
Stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley, then serve immediately.
Want someone else to do the cooking for you tonight? Try the beef stroganoff or one of the many other tasty dishes at Latino restaurant in Nottingham.
Easy to Make Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Creamy, luxurious homemade vanilla ice cream, made with real cream and a vanilla pod, is a treat that beats supermarket ice cream any day. Not only do you know that the ingredients are pure but it tastes so much better, and you can make up a batch and keep it in the freezer for an impressive instant dessert whenever you have surprise guests. Grate some bitter chocolate over it, or serve it with summer berries for a delicious bowlful of sweet satisfaction.
An ice cream maker does make it easier to produce a really creamy smooth texture, as its constant churning prevents ice crystals forming. If you don’t have one, you can still make this simple homemade ice cream recipe by hand quite easily, but you will need to whisk as much air into the custard as possible before freezing, and then remove from the freezer every hour to whisk some more, up to about three times, as it freezes.
Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
500ml / 2 cups double cream
1 vanilla pod
100g / 3 ½ oz caster sugar
150 ml / 2/3 cup water
4 free range egg yolks
Pour the cream in to a heavy bottomed pan and warm over a medium heat until not quite boiling. Remove from the heat when you see bubbles starting to rise around the edge. Split the vanilla pod and add it to the cream. Leave it to infuse until the cream has cooled completely. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the cream and discard the pod.
In a small pan dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat. Once it has dissolved bring to the boil and let boil for about five minutes to form a syrup. Cool for 1 minute.
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl with an electric whisk, trickle in the hot syrup, steadily but gradually, as you whisk. Keep whisking until the mixture is thick and moussey. Whisk in the cooled cream.
Either: churn in an ice cream maker according to its instructions.
Or: freeze in a shallow container, remove every hour, turn into a chilled bowl and whisk to break up the crystals. Repeat two or three times until it is almost completely set. Some recipes recommend using 1 teaspoon of gelatine dissolved in hot water added to the custard, to help soften hand-churned ice cream, but I find that whisking as above gives a creamy enough result.
Want all the flavour and goodness of homemade ice cream without the wait? Try the delicious ice cream at Iberico World Tapas restaurant in Nottingham.
Award Winning Head Chef Joins Home Restaurant…
Richard Donohue, former head chef of Harts Hotel, Nottingham restaurant of the year 2009 and Heart fm award winners of ‘Best Hotel’, has taken the head chef role at Home restaurant in Arnold. The high profile move affirms Home’s strong intent to establish itself as one of Nottingham’s finest eateries and has sent echoes to the city centre that Home is in the ascendancy.
Prior to Harts Richard worked at Gordon Ramsey’s Michelin star gastro pub ‘The keys Inn ‘, Hampshire where he attributes much of his knowledge and culinary prowess to his mentor celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal who he worked alongside.
Richard has also worked at Hambleton Hall (part of the Harts group) under Michelin star chef Aaron Patterson who gave him a new perspective on fine dining.
Richard intends to progress the current theme at home of classic British cuisine with a contemporary twist whilst introducing exciting new world dishes. His focus will be on blending new flavours and textures in seasonally inspired dishes executed to perfection using only the finest local seasonal produce. He also states his priority of maintaining a balance between customer value for money and quality insisting dishes will be priced cheaper than home’s city rivals as reflected in the 2 course £11.95 deal (Mon-Thurs)
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Simple to Cook Herbed Salmon Fillet Recipe
Salmon fillet is the ultimate in fast and delicious food. You can be tucking into a meal worthy of a top French restaurant in less time than it takes for a take-away pizza to make it onto the back of its motorbike for delivery. Simple to cook, it is also very versatile. Salmon fillet is delicious grilled or baked in foil with a sprinkling of herbs if you are watching your weight, but can easily be transformed into a slice of luxury served with a rich creamy sauce when you want to spoil yourself.
This easy salmon fillet recipe takes five minutes to cook and served with some new potatoes and fresh steamed vegetables makes a meal fit for a king. By all means leave out the cream if you find it too rich, otherwise go wild and let the velvety sauce massage your taste buds with sumptuous good living.
Salmon Fillet Recipe with Cream and Herbs
Ingredients
(to serve two generously)
450g / 1lb salmon fillets
6 tablespoons fresh herbs chopped:
tarragon, parsley, dill, chervil
50g / 2 oz butter
1 clove garlic, squashed flat
4 tablespoons double cream
a squeeze of lemon juice
Cut the salmon fillets into finger about 4cm / 1.5 inches wide, across their width. Chop the herbs quite finely and roll the salmon fillets in them, pressing down so that the herbs stick to the surface of the fish.
In a shallow pan, which will take all the salmon fillet pieces in one layer, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the crushed clove of garlic. When the butter starts to foam, put the herbed fish into the pan. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, until you can see the flesh turning opaque right into the middle of each piece.
Stir in the cream until it has mixed in with the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze a dash of lemon juice into the sauce to lift the flavour, stir and then serve immediately.
Variations on the recipe:
Instead of the cream you can also use creme fraiche or mascarpone if you have them to hand, or else leave it out altogether and let the flavour of the butter and herbs carry the dish.
Want to taste freshly caught salmon cooked by the best chefs? Why not eat out at Woodborough Hall restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Tandoori Chicken Recipe
Authentic tandoori chicken should be cooked in the traditional clay tandoor oven, but there are still ways that we can get the flavours and taste of our favourite Indian dish at home, even without our own clay oven. Two things are important for good tandoori chicken: first of all a long time in the spicy marinade, so that the flavours soak right into the meat and tenderize it; second having really good fresh spices.
Spices tend to lose fragrance the longer they are stored, especially once they are ground. Purists will grind their own individual spices only when they are ready to use them, but for convenience you can buy a good garam masala or tandoori masala mix for this dish. Just make sure you use it while it is still fresh and throw away any musty old packets of spice that have been hanging around for years on the back of your spice shelf.
Tandoori Chicken Recipe
8 pieces of chicken, breasts, thighs and drumsticks, skinned
250 ml / 1 cup plain yoghurt
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2.5 cm / 1 inch cm ginger root finely chopped
1-2 green chillies sliced
3 teaspoons garam masala*
*If you want to make your own spice mix, instead of the garam masala use ½ teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, black pepper and salt or, better still, grind up those quantities of the whole spices for a really fragrant blend.
Make deep cross cuts in the meaty part of the chicken pieces, right to the bone. Rub the lime and salt into the chicken. Combine all the other ingredients into a smooth marinade. You can whiz them all together in the processor if you like. Rub the marinade into the chicken and refrigerate it in a covered bowl, or sealed in a ziplock bag, for 8-24 hours.
A quick cooking option is to cube breast meat and marinade as above, then thread on to wooden skewers and grill.
In the absence of a tandoor clay oven, you can choose between cooking the chicken pieces on a griddle pan, barbeque or in a hot oven.
In the oven bake at the hottest temperature (220C / 450F) in a shallow baking tray for 20 -25 minutes until cooked through.
On a barbeque or griddle pan, cook turning occasionally, for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
Want to taste the really authentic version of tandoori chicken, before you make your own? Eat at Laguna Restaurant in Nottingham where they cook in the genuine clay tandoor oven.
Easy Recipe for Chocolate Cake
There’s nothing like a thick slice of chocolate cake with a cup of coffee or tea to cheer you up on a winter’s day. Rich and indulgent, it is the perfect thing to bake for birthdays for kids and adults alike at any time of year. Who doesn’t like a chocolate cake slathered with chocolate icing or decorated with brightly colored Smarties and blazing with candles?
A really foolproof chocolate cake recipe is an essential element in any home cook’s repertoire. This one rises beautifully and stays moist for a few days, if it lasts that long! You don’t even have to wait for a birthday to come along to make this. It can turn an ordinary weekend into a special occasion, so bake it even if you aren’t expecting guests and treat yourself to a sumptuous slice or two with your tea.
Recipe for Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
125g / 4oz soft butter or margarine
300g / 10oz white sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
125ml / ½ cup boiling water
40g / 1.5 oz cocoa
125ml / ½ cup milk
250g / 9oz plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F. Grease and line two 20cm / 8” cake tins.
The butter and eggs should be at room temperature so take them out of the fridge beforehand to give them a chance to warm. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It is important to take the time over this, so that the sponge will be light and rise well. Add the beaten eggs one at a time, beating well, and then stir in the vanilla essence.
Dissolve the cocoa in the boiling water then add the milk to it.
Sieve together the dry ingredients to get rid of lumps and add air to the mix.
Add a couple of spoonfuls of flour to the cake mixture stirring in gently, followed by a couple of spoonfuls of cocoa mixture. Continue alternating, cocoa and flour, until it is all stirred in.
Divide the cake mixture between the two lined cake tins, smooth it evenly and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes then turn onto racks to finish cooling.
Sandwich the cake together with chocolate butter icing or ganache. Top with ganache and then decorate with grated chocolate shavings for adults and Smarties and silver balls for kids. I often just use butter icing on top as well as in the middle, especially if the cake is for kids, when it will be smothered in brightly coloured sprinkles and hundreds and thousands.
Feel a chocolate craving coming on? If you can’t wait to bake your own chocolate cake go to Shaw’s Restaurant in Nottingham and try theirs.
Simple Recipe for Lamb Samosas
Samosas are the ultimate street food. Crisp, light pastry parcels of spicy meat or vegetables make great snacks when you need a burst of flavour in the middle of the day. A selection of samosas works well as part of a buffet meal or a starter too.
Why make them at home when you can buy them so easily ready made? With home-made samosas you can use whatever filling you like, vegetable, meat, spicier or milder, according to your tastes. Traditionally samosas are deep fried, but if you want a healthier and simpler option you can bake them in the oven instead and get all the flavour with much less of the fat.
This recipe uses a simple spicy lamb filling, but you can use beef instead or a mixture of vegetables, including potato to hold the spices. To keep things simple you can use bought filo pastry, but I’ll include the recipe for making your own pastry too, as it’s not very complicated at all.
Lamb Samosa Recipe
Ingredients:
300g / 11oz minced lamb
1 medium onion, finely chopped
100g / 4oz peas (frozen or fresh)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves chopped
1 egg beaten
5 sheets filo pastry about 25×50cm / 10×20inches
or
To make your own pastry:
225g / 7oz plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
80ml / 1/3 cup warm water
Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion over a medium heat until soft. Add the spices and cook, stirring, for one minute. Stir in the minced lamb and continue to cook until it is cooked through. Add peas and remove from heat. Stir in the chopped coriander.
To make your own pastry, mix together the flour, oil and salt, then add the water, a little at a time until you have a stiff dough. Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces. Roll each one into a ball, then roll it out to form a circle of about 15cm / 6 inches in diameter. Cut each circle in two. Brush the flat edge with a little water and press sealed, then fill the cone with a tablespoon of the meat mixture. Dampen the top edge and press to seal.
If you are using filo pastry, cut each sheet into four equal rectangles. Use a damp cloth to stop the others from drying out while you fill the first one. Put a tablespoon of mixture onto the end of the rectangle, roll the pastry over once, then fold in the long sides and roll over again and again until you have made a parcel. Use the beaten egg to seal the final edge.
To bake in the oven: preheat it to 220C / 425F, brush the samosas with beaten egg and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.
To deep-fry; heat the oil to medium hot, add the samosas and fry on both sides until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
Feeling hungry for a spicy snack but don’t have the ingredients to hand? Try the samosas at Laguna Restaurant in Nottingham.
Simple Caesar Salad Recipe
Crisp green leaves, crunchy garlicky croutons and flavoursome creamy dressing: the Caesar salad is a triumph of simplicity. Satisfying as a starter in the original form dreamt up in 1924 by Italian chef Caesar Cardini in his restaurant in Mexico, it can easily be transformed into a meal in itself with the addition of strips of smoked chicken.
Simple as it is, the success of the salad depends on a really good dressing. Once you’ve tasted it freshly home-made, you’ll never be happy with bottled dressings again. New York restaurants often make a show-piece of a Caesar salad whisked up at your table in front of you, but at home you can make it easier on yourself by using a food processor if you prefer.
Recipe for Caesar Salad
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
pinch salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 anchovy fillets, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
25g / 1 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cos lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
For the croutons:
2 garlic cloves
pinch salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 thick slices of white bread cut into cubes
First of all make the croutons. You could buy them ready made but if you are going to the trouble of making a really good dressing then the croutons need to live up to it, and home-made are much tastier than bought ones. Crush the garlic and toss with the olive oil and salt, then add the bread cubes and mix until well coated. Bake at 175C / 350F until golden, which should be about 10 minutes. Alternatively you can fry them in the oil until golden on all sides.
Now for the dressing:
Bring a pot of water to the boil, and boil the egg for just 45 seconds. This is what is called coddling an egg. Take it out of the water and put it in cold water to cool.
Mix the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, anchovy (if using), capers, and mustard, either in a processor or by hand in a bowl. Add the coddled egg and whisk until smooth.
The next step is important to get right. The oil needs to be added in a slow but steady stream as you whisk. If you are using a processor, add it in a trickle down the funnel while it is switched on. If you are hand whisking, just keep one hand beating as the other pours the oil in. This will make sure the oil amalgamates into the dressing without separating.
Serve in a large salad bowl, a wooden one is the classic choice, with the lettuce torn into rough pieces and tossed with the dressing, parmesan cheese and croutons. It should be served immediately, while the leaves and croutons are still crisp.
Love Caesar Salad but not ready to make it for yourself? Why not try the Caesar Salad at Latino Restaurant in Nottingham.
