Cardamon buns

This recipe is a spicy twist on the swedish classic, the cinnamon buns. Easy to make, although a little time consuming, but once you tried them warm directly from the oven it’s well worth the wait!

For the buns

150g unsalted (or slightly salted) butter

500ml milk

50g fresh yeast

100ml r sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cardamon

1.4 litres plain flour

Filling

120g melted butter

150ml sugar

2 tbsp ground cardamon

Melt the butter in a pan and add the milk, warm until you’ve reached 37C. Take the fresh yeast and crumble it into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the warm butter milk and stir until the yeast has fully dissolved. Add teh sugar, salt and cardamon. Slowly add the flour bit by bit and save a bit for when rollling out the dough. Knead the dough with your hands or in a machine for 5 to 10 minutes, until elastic and shiny. Add the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let it prove until doubled in size.

Roll the dough out into a large rectangle and cut it length wise into three equal sized rectangles. Brush each rectangle generously with melted butter. Spread the sugar and cardamon all over the rectangular bases. Fold the longer side of each rectangle over, so they are still as long but not as short. Then cut 2 cm strips lengthways. Twist each strip of dough and twist into a bun with the fold underneath. Brush each bun with melted butter and sprinkle sugar all over.

Put on a baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel, let it prove for 30 minutes. Bake in 250C for 5 to 7 minutes.

Chinese feast

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, I tried cooking some of my all time favourites at home, so we had some crispy pork belly, egg fried rice and yak sung. The pork belly takes some time to prepare in order to let the skin dry out but apart from that pretty easy to sort.

Yak sung

500g mince meat (I use pork or turkey mince)

1 iceberg lettuce

125g preserved vegetables (jars you can find in most Chinese shops)

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or sherry)

2 tsp sesame oil

2-3 tsp sugar

1 bunch spring onions (finely sliced)

2 tbsp ground nut oil

If the vegetables are preserved in oil, rinse them in cold water in a colander and pat them dry with kitchen towel. Finely chop and set them aside. Heat the oil in a wok until it’s smoking hot. Add the mince and continue to stir fry until golden, stirring continuously to break up and lumps. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry until the pork or turkey mince is well done.

Serve with individual iceberg lettuce leaves, roll up and eat!

Crispy pork belly

1 piece of bone-less pork belly (not scoured)

2 tbsp sichuan pepper corn

2 tbsp Chinese five spice

1 tbsp sugar

First you need to prick the skin all over with a sharp knife. Then put the pork belly in a clean sink (skin side up) and pour over some boiling hot water from the kettle over the skin. Then pat the piece of meat dry on both sides and place skin side down on a chopping board. Roast the pepper corns in a pan until slightly toasted, add to a pestle and mortar with the sugar and five spice powder and mix it all together. Rub the spice mixture all over the meat side of the pork belly (not the skin) and put the meat on top of a wire in a roasting pan skin side up. Let the meat dry over night in a cool space. The skin should feel like parchment and look all crinkled up before starting to roast it. Heat the oven to 200 and cook the pork for 20 mins, then turn down to 175 for 1.5 hours and finish off at 230 degrees until the skin is cripsy.

Egg fried rice

250ml long grain rice

2 eggs – whisked in a bowl

spring onions (a handfull sliced)

3 tsp sesame oil

3 tbsp ground nut oil

Cook the rice and at the end let it steam with a lid on for 15 – 20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Turn out the rice onto a flat roasting tray and pat dry with kitchen towel. Let it cool down slightly and chill in the fridge until before frying. Once ready, add the oil to the wok and add the rice. Let it get crispy and fry for a couple of minutes before turning over. Then after about 5 to 7 minutes add the eggs and sesame oil and fry until the egg has cooked. Add some spring onions and serve immediately.

Cardamon cake

This is one of the easiest and tastiest sponge cakes you can make. Great hot from the oven or frozen and eaten at a later date. A staple cake of mine for when friends come around.

600ml plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

200ml caster sugar

2 tsp ground cardamon

250ml milk

1 egg

100g softened butter

Pre-heat the oven to 200°. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and ground cardamon. Beat in the softened butter. Fold in the milk and egg and pour the mixture into a prepared cake tin (ideally with a removable bottom).  I usually prepare my cake tin by brushing it with melted butter and adding a couple of tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs that will stick to the melted butter. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let the cake cool a bit in the tin before cutting into it.

Red hot beetroot

Beetroot is a great versatile veggie and I use it in anything going, from baking to salads. It gives you a really good earthy background flavour an dit the perfect accompaniment to oily fish.

This lunch takes a couple of minutes to prepare and it’s good for you.

Take a couple of slices of smoked fish, such as salmon or mackerel. Cut pre-cooked beetroot in it’s own juices (not in vinegar) and quarter them. Mix in some finely diced capers, cornichons, Dijon mustard with some light creme fraiche. And there you have it. A very light lunch.

If you have some leftover beets, just mandolin them into very thin slices and spread them out on a plate. Make a light dressing by toasting a few cumin seeds, adding them to a bowl with some olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pour over the beets and enjoy.

Healthy & hearty

Like most people I start January with positive intentions – no caffeine, no booze, no chocolate. After two weeks of austerity you definitely need some serious cheering up before you go stircrazy. One of my favourite dish at this time of the year is this curried turkey bake. If you can’t face turkey yet, some pork will do.

For the bake

1 packet of turkey escalopes (or pork), sliced into strips

1 tsp hot curry powder

30oml semi-skinned milk

50g grated cheese

1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced

100g dried apricots, finely chopped

1 tsp plain flour

Topping

25g grated cheese

25g grated breadcrumbs

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

 

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees. Put some olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add the flour to a small bowl with the turkey strips (or pork if using) and stir until all strips are coated with the flour. Fry the turkey in the pan for a couple of minutes. Then add the spring onions and apricots and cook for a further five minutes. Add the curry powder and milk and let it come to a boil. Once it starts to thicken slightly, take it off the heat and stir in the grated cheese. Pour in the mixture into an oven proof dish and sprinkle of the topping. Bake in the middle of the oven for 4ominutes.

Served here with peas.

Tetote Factory

London is abundant with exquisite bakeries, pastisseries and cafes, from Hummingbird to Princi, to Cox Cookies & Cake to Cake Boy. But discovering Tetote Factory, a Japanese bakery with Momofuku style creations, really bowled my over. And it’s five minutes from my doorstep! Yes, Saturday mornings have not been the same since. A vast array of Eastern Wester temptations including Sugar Buns, Adbuki Bean Buns, Melon Buns, Curry buns, Maple cake torte, raisin and cinnamon brioche buns to name a few. For anyone living in West London it’s well worth a visit, on South Ealing Road.

Stir-fried lamb mince

This is a Nigel classic. Quick, tasty and interesting. Find the recipe in the Observer,