Summer salads

Here are some super simple salads that I’ve enjoyed lately, they work well with bbq, quiche or just on their own.

Leek salad – 2 packs of mini leeks, 1 pack of feta cheese, 1/2 lemon, glug of olive oil and fresh dill. Blanch the leeks and drain, add to a plate and pour olive oil, lemon juice and lots of freshly cut dill on top. Finally crumble half a pack of feta cheese all over.

Classic tomato salad – sliced tomatoes, 1/2 red onion, a handful of toasted pine nuts, greek basil (or normal), red wine vinegar and olive oil. Slice the tomatoes and lay on the plate with the onions and pine nuts. Mix 1 tsp vinegar with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and pour over the plate.

Orange and fennel salad – 1 fennel bulb, 1 orange, handful of toasted hazelnuts, olive oil, lemon juice and some dijon mustard. Slice the fennel thinly (I use a mandolin), then slice the orange thinly and reserve as much juice as possible. Dress the fennel and orange on a plate, saving some of the dill like fennel shoots on top and roughly chop the hazel nuts and spread all over. Mix a tiny bit of dijon mustard with some of the left over orange juice (if there isn’t any add a bit lemon or orange juice) and olive oil, pour all over the plate.

Grandma’s rhubarb compote (rabarberkräm)

My grandma used to make this when she didn’t have a dessert at hand and needed to make something really quickly. It’s like fruit compote which you can have with yoghurt for breakfast or on its own served warm with cold milk. It’s delicious hot or cold or anytime of the day.

3-4 rhubarb stalks

200ml water

50ml caster sugar

1.5 tbsp potato flour

Makes 2-3 portions

Rinse and peel the rhubarb stalks, topping and tailing them as well. Cut into smaller, half inch sizes. Boil the water and sugar in a pan. Add the rhubarb and let it boil for 4-5 minutes until the stalks start to split. Mix the potato flour in a bit of water, slowly pour into the pan whilst whisking. Let the compote come to a boil and once you get the first bubble it’s ready. Serve hot with cold milk.

Raspberry flapjacks

Made and enjoyed in a flash, these flapjacks are my quick fix. Just melt 50g butter and 75g honey in a pan, mash a punnet of raspberries (200g worth, and it could be strawberries, plums etc.) on a plate and keep aside. Mix in 200g jumbo rolled oats, 50g ground almond and 1 tsp almond extract with the melted butter and honey. Grease a square tin (20 x 20cm) and spread half of the oats across the bottom, then add the mashed raspberries and spread evenly across the oats before adding the final layer of oats. If you like it a bit sweeter, spread 1 tbsp of golden caster sugar across the top. Bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden on top. Let it cool in the tin and enjoy!

Toffee cake

This is an easy, festive looking cake which is childishy tasty and liked by young and old.

You’ll need for the base:

4 egg whites

2oo ml caster sugar

175g ground almonds

For the Toffee sauce:

2oo ml double cream

100 ml caster sugar

50 ml golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla essence)

To garnish:

250 ml whipping cream (or double cream if you prefer it a bit richer)

50g dark chocolate

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade. Mark a circle wit the diameter of 23cm on a grease proof paper on top of a baking sheet. Whip the egg whites into stiff peak stage. Add the sugar a little at teh time. Fold in the ground almonds and spread the mixture in the circle on the grease proof paper. Bake in the oven for 4o minutes on the lowest shelf.

Mix all the ingredients for the toffee sauce in thick pan apart from the vanilla sugar/essence. Boil the sauce for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened. If you dip a teaspoon in the sauce and put in a glass with cold water, it should be holding the back of the spoon (and not runny). Take off the heat and let it cool. Add the vanilla sugar/essence. Add to the base once both have cooled down.

You can make the base/sauce a day ahead and keep it out over night. Be careful if you cover it as the sauce is likely to stick to any cling film or foil. Instead I would normally cover the base with a large glass bowl.

Before serving whip the cream until soft peaks and spread all over the base/sauce (leaving a little bit of the side visible). Then take a sharp knife and make curls from a chocolate bar by dragging the blade sideways towards you. The blade at a slight angle. Take all the chocolate shards/curls and decorate the top.

Enjoy.

 

Bo Ssam

If you’re like me and a complete porkaholic then this recipe will elevate the white meat into the stratosphere. This is Momofuku’s pimped version of a Korean classic, which is basically steamed pork wrapped in lettuce leaf served with ssamjang (spring onions and fresh ginger) and kimchi. We had this at our mates, who first put the pork shoulder (on the bone) in brine then slow roasting for many, many hours before a final blast of sugar to make the caramelized finish. Worth the 2 day pain to make it!

Lime cheesecake with Passion fruit

This is a super light dessert that’s perfect in the summer.

You’ll need:

12 digestive biscuits

50g butter

4 gelatine leaves (or agar flakes)

2 fresh eggs

2ooml creme fraiche (light version)

400g Light Philadelphia cheese

150ml caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or vanilla essence

2 limes – zest and juice

For the glaze:

1 gelatin leaf (or Agar flakes)

2 tbsp caster sugar

4 tbsp water

3 passion fruits

To make the base add the digestives to a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a pan and add to the crumbs, pulse a bit more until well combined. Pour into a baking pan (24cm) with loose sides and cool in the fridge.

Put the gelatine leaves into colder for 5 minutes. Split the eggs and mix the yolks with the creme fraiche, Philadelphia cheese, sugar and vanilla sugar/essence and zest of two lemons until smooth.

Heat the lime juice in a pan, take the gelatin leaves and squeeze out any excess water, add to the pan. Let it cool and slowly add to the cheese mixture. Let it cool down in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Put the gelatine leaf for the glaze in cold water. Boil the sugar and water for the glaze in a pan, add the gelatine leaf after five minutes. Halv the passion fruits and scrape out the seeds (not the membrane). Mix in with the sugar water and let it cool. Pour the glaze/jelly over the cheese cake. Put back in the fridge for another hour.

Loosen the sides of the dish and serve chilled as a dessert.

Cheats Spanakopita

I love spinach and pastry so for me Spanakopita is a perfect dish. If I make it a weekday night then I’ll resort to using ready-made puff pastry, as I don’t like to take the time to layer filo pastry.

To make it you’ll need:

500g frozen leaf spinach or 1.5kg fresh spinach

1 white onion finely chopped

5 tbsp finely chopped parsley

5 tbsp finely chopped dill

1 packet of feta cheese

1 packet of ricotta cheese

3 eggs

And some optional spices – I use some fennel seeds, cumin seeds and freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Ready-rolled puff pastry

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.

If using frozen spinach, heat it up in a pan with a dash of water and let it slowly defrost. Takes about 10 minutes. If using fresh spinach, rinse it and place in a large pan over medium heat until wilted. Pour the spinach into a colander and squeeze out any excess water and set aside until cool.

Pour some olive oil into a pan and add the fennel and cumin seeds if using, and let them fry for 30 seconds before adding the finely chopped onion. Cook until soft and translucent. Add the onion into a mixing bowl and take the wilted spinach and roughly chop it before adding it to the onion in the mixing bowl.

Add the chopped parsley, dill, feta, ricotta and nutmeg (if using). Pour in the eggs (saving a little to brush the pastry with) and mix again.

Add the spinach mixture to a oven proof dish and cover with the puff pastry and brush it with the egg wash. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden.

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.