Hollandaise Sauce

 I have always been a bit to frightened to make hollandaise sauce as the few time I have it has gone wrong, but at last I have made it with no problems by following Nigel Slaters recipe from his book 'Appetite' which I recently bought and absolutely adore. It's not your run of the mill recipe book, if you are the kind of person who loves reading cookery books like a fiction book then this is perfect and I urge you to go out and buy a copy, I spent the whole day reading it from cover to cover....

Hollandaise Sauce from 'Appetite' by Nigel Slater

3 Large Egg Yolks
250g Butter
Half a lemon







Put a pan of water on to boil and find a glass or heatproof china bowl that will fit neatly into it without actually touching the water. Add the yolks and a splash of water. Whisk, pouring in the melted butter, slowly.




When the sauce thickens up whisk a little faster. Once it is thick and creamy, squeeze in a little lemon juice. And if it starts to curdle either add an ice cube or a splash of boiling water and that should do the trick according to Nigel!




And what better way to enjoy hollandaise sauce than with egg's benedict? Well with the new season asparagus actually but the shops had all sold out..

Beef Shin Ragu

Beef shin is one of my favourite cuts of meat, It's amazing in slow cooked stews and pasta sauces and I would choose it over stewing or braising steak every time as I think it has more flavour and falls apart a bit more easily. Here is really easy recipe for a ragu sauce to go with pasta which I think is great food for the weather were having, it's not cold but bloody rainy!
Although this is a very easy dish to prepare and cook you need a whole day to do it as it's takes around 4/5 hours to cook but is very very worth it.

800g Beef Shin cut into chunks
2 Large Carrot
2 Large celery sticks or several smaller ones
2 onions
3 cloves of garlic
A tin of good quality tomatoes
A handful of cherry tomatoes
A squidge of tomato puree
2 bay leaves
2/3 sage leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle of half decent red
500ml of good beef/chicken stock
Parmesan/Pecerino to sprinkle on top





 Fry the beef in batches so it brown's and does not steam and then remove the it to a plate, and set aside.


Add the diced vegetables and herbs to the casserole dish and sweat them gently for 10-15 minutes until soft but not coloured.


Return the meat to the pan, and add the wine, stock, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then half cover it and simmer on the stove top for around 4/5 hours or you can put it in the oven if you prefer






When it's done serve with pasta, salad and a generous sprinkle of Parmesan

Cherry Fridge Cake

At last I have the internet again, it has been nearly a month without it and to be honest I didn't really miss it that much but it has been frustrating not being able to blog. I hated the thought of my blog just sitting there looking like she had been abandoned! Anyway enough of that and here is a very simple and very delicious recipe for a fridge that cake that I have adapted from 'The Hummingbird Bakery' cookbook.

400g Unsalted Butter
200ml Golden Syrup
100g Cocoa Powder
800g Digestive Biscuits
200g Raisins
10 Glace Cherry's
100g Milk Chocolate
100g Dark Chocolate

 






 Melt the butter in a pan
 

Then add the golden syrup and cocoa powder

 Next crush the biscuits

Mix the cherry's and raisins together and put the chocolate mixture into the mixing bowl along with the bars of chocolate broken into chunks

Put it in a baking tray and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight

Yummy yummy fridge cake, I love the texture of the biscuits,cherry's and raisins.
So easy to make with little effort but it is not healthy in ant was what so ever and hard to not keep eating strait from the fridge! I heated a slice up and had it with clotted cream ice cream, also not good for your health!
 

NO INTERNET

I will be back asap, I just don't have the internet at my new house yet so please bear with me!x

Smoked Paprika Roast Chicken with Saffron Potatoes and why I hate Estate Agents

I hate estate agents and if you happen to be an estate agent reading this then I'm actually not sorry, I am sick of hearing estate agents tell me it has a quirky feature when what they mean to say is it's shit and we can't get rid of it, maybe your stupid enough to rent it from us and hand over nearly £2,000 for the privilege, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
So as you can tell my by previous comments I have been looking for a new place to rent in between working all the hours I can and trying not to have a nervous break down as there seems to be a huge lack of one bedroom flats available in Brighton and for this reason I have not felt like blogging and haven't even been cooking anything worth blogging about to be honest!
But we have had such lovely weather and yesterday I made this simple but really tasty meal and I suggest you do the same and eat it worth a big glass of white wine or beer...


I smothered my free range chicken with piri piri oil and smoked paprika and smeared it with butter and olive oil before roasting in the oven.


I par-boiled some new potatoes before roasting them in olive oil with whole bulbs of garlic and saffron.


I served it with salad, sliced avocado, sun blushed tomatoes and a big blog of mayo.



Oh and I have now found a flat through a private landlady and it even has a little garden which is virtually impossible to get in Brighton, I move in on Thursday so horray for me.

Spicy Vegetable Chilli...... with meat in it!

When you work a mixture of split shifts including ones that start at 4pm and don't finish until 2am eating properly can sometimes be difficult and I realised last night that I hadn't eaten a home cooked meal for about a week and had been existing on sandwiches, cereal and what could be eaten making the least noise at 2.30 in the morning!
So basically after eating an array of yellow coloured food and bread for the last week I was really craving lot's and lot's of vegetables and with the freezing weather and lashing down rain they had to be hot so I made a kind of chilli that was heavy on the veg without my usual additions of red wine and dark chocolate. And you can always replace the meat with more veg or quorn if your vegetarian or just don't fancy meat that day!



Ingrediants

500g Beef Mince
2 Red onions
4 Cloves of garlic
2 Chilli's with seeds
8 Mushrooms
1 Large courgette
4 Sticks of celery
1 red pepper
I tin of mixed beans
1 Tin of chopped tomatoes
Tomato paste
2 Teaspoons of cumin
2 Teaspoons of hot chilli powder
Salt and Pepper


It's a simple dish to put together, all you have to do is prep your veg and start by frying the onions, garlic and chilli in a little oil before adding the rest of your veg and letting it cook for around 5 minutes. Next add the spices and let it cook for a few mins before adding the mince and letting it colour and finally add your tomato paste, tin tomatoes and beans. I left it to cook for around 40 minutes and ate it covered with grated cheese and a chunk of tiger bread.

Herby Courgette and Mushroom Pasta

This is beyond simple but wanted to share it as it's so delicious and perfect for a mid-week simple supper or a quick lunch. When I had my first ever flatshare one of the guys I lived with made me courgette pasta where he just grated lot's of courgette, cooked it and added pasta and Parmesan, so good and very cheap to! Ive added mushrooms and a cream sauce but it's just as lovely without.


Sliced Chestnut Mushrooms
1 grated courgette
Half a pack of Boursain garlic & Herb Cheese
Tagliatelle
Freshly milled Pepper & Salt




All you need to do is get your pasta on to boil, grate your courgette and slice your mushrooms. Start by sauteing the mushrooms in a little butter and olive oil until there cooked with a slight caramelization on them as I think they taste nicer like that. Then add your grated courgette and cook for around 4-5 minutes before adding your boursain and stirring it in.
Lastly stir the cooked pasta into the creamy courgette sauce, season and serve, and Im sure you could add a few shavings of Parmesan and it would be extra lovely.