Cuban Night...

So, right then…Cuba. I have to confess I felt slightly underprepared going in to this feast…only through lack of time, not interest!

Plantain Soup

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/19294/ripe-plantain-soup.html

We realised after some time that our plantains were not as ripe as needed really. I think more thought will be paid now to seasonal ingredients. However, we soldiered on and it still worked-just required a fair amount more water in the soup than suggested in the recipe. Before that it was more of a paste than a soup! The meaty, salty flavour of the chorizo worked really well with the plantain though and all round it was a lovely fresh tasting start to the meal.

Cuban spiced pork chops with black beans & rice

http://www.cuba-junky.com/cubans/recipes-pork-chops.htm

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5503844_make-beans-rice-quick-easy.html?cr=1

 

Elle was injured just before we reached Cuba and was limited in her range of motion round the kitchen, but like a trouper she carried on in the face of adversity and chopped the veg for the rice and beans. This also required a little more water than the recipe advised and does depend on how long the rice you’re using takes to cook. It was a fresh and tasty accompaniment to the pork, but could have done with being a little spicier. The spices that feature a lot in Cuban cuisine are oregano, cumin, and garlic; and adding these to the rice would have worked a treat me thinks. Also featured are saffron, bay leaves and lime so if you feeling really adventurous you could try and incorporate those fellas too.

The pork was a great success, really simple marinade and the orange juice really worked as the base for the marinade and then cooking sauce. We added rum instead of sherry here and it worked a treat. The chops were really well cooked using the recipe without adaption.

Mojito bundt cake served with homemade peppermint ice cream

Now on to the highlight of any meal….pudding. This was our own creation, but we did use a basic bundt cake recipe that we then adapted to fit our own needs.

Peppermint Ice-cream

Oh yummy, this ice-cream is very easy to make...well, if you have an ice-cream machine it is! The recipe I used was not a custard based one so it was very quick and simple to put together...I doubled the recipe and made 2 pints (shh don’t tell Lucy I kept one back and added chocolate chips to it....mmmm...but also ow as they froze and were a little hard to eat...karma).

300ml milk, heated with 75g caster sugar just until the sugar has dissolved, then stirred into 300ml double cream. Add a dash of peppermint essence and a dribble of green food colouring, then pour into your ice-cream machine and churn until almost set, about 20mins, remove to a tub and freeze.

Mojito Bundt Cake

Taking a basic bundt recipe we added chopped, fresh mint and the zest of a lime...then once it was baked and smelling insanely good we turned it out and stabbed to top with a cocktail stick (well actually first I stabbed the bottom til Lucy pointed out I was being a fool...I blame the intense back pain, or perhaps the numerous rums already imbibed, you know, to numb the back pain...). Once the top was all nice and stabbed Lucy made a glaze with icing sugar and rum, which was then liberally applied.

Served still warm with a generous mound of minty ice-cream this was a most pleasing end to our Cuban feast.

CUBA!!!!

Hola!

On our next stop around the globe we will be visiting Cuba! So here is our Cuban recipe dear readers... we hope it is authentic...our research has known no bounds (ahem) and we've taken some artistic licence with the pudding, going for aspirational rather than actual.  My aversion to custard made choosing a more traditional pudding somewhat fraught.  Safe to say...beans feature throughout.

Menú Cubano

Principio: Plantain & chorizo soup

Plato Principal: Cuban pork chops served with black beans & rice

Postre: Mojito cake...lime&rum bundt cake served with home made mint ice cream

one night in paris...

 bonjour dear readers, and so, here it is, our first stop on the culinary tour of our little globe...click the menu items for recipe links if you fancy a petit try yourself...

 

Gruyere & Parmesan Souffle - Lucy

For those who know me well, know that I am more than a little bit partial to cheese.  So naturally this classic and delicious French starter appealed.  I had never made soufflés before so was hoping that they would not

a. Deflate as soon as they were taken from the oven,

b. Reveal themselves to be made entirely of air or,

c. Look like they were about to attack the planet like a B-movie monster

After coating the individual ramekins with butter and grated parmesan I warmed milk in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming-not simmering! While the milk is heating, I made a roux from the butter, flour, paprika, salt and nutmeg.  Adding the egg yolks makes the base of the soufflé.

 

I used Elle’s delectable Kitchen Aid to whisk the egg whites until firm, then added about a third of them in to the mixture stirring gently and sprinkling in the Gruyere as I went. After folding in the remaining whites (don’t over-stir) I transferred the mixture to the ramekins and baked until they looked well risen and golden brown.  Now, don’t be put off by subtle yet distinct smell of feet that smells the kitchen while they’re cooking.  That is the smell of gruyere…and success.  They rose beautifully, didn’t deflate, and were absolutely delicious.  If a novice soufflé maker like myself managed it then I’m sure the more experienced among you will find it a breeze.

 

Boeuf Bourguignon – Elle & Lucy

 

I have made a fair number of stews in my life to date, I am a big fan of the one pot dish, usually the most filling and comforting of dinners can be made in my big old le creuset pan, and this one was no different.

The whole bottle of wine that goes into it may have helped.

As this dish takes 4-5 hours to prep and cook I started early, so that when Lucy arrived we could crack on with the starter and dessert together.  In a surprising move I came over all TV cookery and prepped all my ingredients first, placing them in tiny individual dishes, most pleasing.  Hunting down some string I tied up the bouquet garni, and I was ready to go.

I think the best part was de-glazing the pan with a cup of brandy, smelt amazing, then nestling the meat back in amongst the veg and glugging over the bottle of wine (cotes du rhône – keeping French).  Then essentially that is it for 3½ hrs until you need to prep the onions and mushrooms which are added at the last minute before serving.

The onions:  Top Tip #1 blanch the onions whole in boiling water for 1 minute, then pop straight into cold water...the skins with slip off with ease...careful though as some slipped off with such ease the onion poinged out of my hands.  But what is cooking without a little danger.

Deciding what to serve with the stew was complex, some people say rice (I say no, not rice) and some say boiled potatoes...Lucy & I had decided on nice crusty bread.  I then proceeded to forget that we had decided this and re-decided on buttered new potatoes and curly kale, which went nicely indeed.  Curly kale is just lovely.

It possibly goes without saying, but I do like a contradiction, that this dish was utterly delicious.  I find it hard to see how something cooked for that long, with those ingredients can fail to be anything but.  The liquid had reduced to a thick, dark gravy...the meat was falling apart with the lightest touch and the individual tastes were defined but came together perfectly.

Tres bien indeed.

Tarte Au Citron - Elle

Oh yes, lemon tart, nice.  A sound suggestion by Lucy for a lemon dish to finish what was otherwise a rich and intense meal.

Using individual tart rings I made 4 x 4” pate sucree cases, these were blind baked and left to cool.  Whisking up the filling is simple enough, getting the zest out of the microplane is always irritating and fills me with an impotent rage that closely, but not quite, matches that felt when trying to get a piece of cling film to simply stick to another object and not itself (this, I have decided, is the SINGLE most irritating thing in my life, and the removal of this irritant would have no end of improvement to my existence). 

Tart cases were filled and popped back into the oven to cook for 30 minutes, until the filling was set but still had a jiggle to it.  While these were cooking I whizzed up some raspberry coulis to serve alongside the cooled tarts.

Served with the coulis and a dusting of icing sugar (use a tea strainer – brilliant) and we had the climax to our Parisian culinary event.

Paris Menu...

So friends, we have decided upon our menu for our first stop on the train of culinary delights...we hope you like it!!
Entrée: Cheese Souffles
Plat Principal: Boeuf Bourguignon
Dessert: Tarte au citron
Plus wine, naturally.

Cook-off date...Wednesday 28th October 2009

In the beginning, there was cake...

For some time now my friend Elle and I have emersed ourselves in the joy of cooking.  Baking in particular.  After some initial hiccups like the vienesse whirls that were re-named butter blobs, the time I almost burnt the flat down and the time I thought substituting cocoa for dried coffee would only add to the taste of brownies, we were on our way to becomming bakers extraordinaire.

Our friendship was secured through a shared love of talking about, preparing, and most importantly eating food.  I find that food can be a perfect accompanyment to almost any situation in life.  The perfect cherry crepe to be bought from Brighton pier and consumed whilst walking along the beach on a warm night with your best mate.  The perfect pumpkin and sage risotto to be eaten in front of a warm fire on a cold all hallows eve.  The perfect almond croissant and hot steaming coffee on a Sunday morning with the papers and your loved one.  The pefect melting goats cheese on toast with home made fig chutney.  And the perfect chocolate cake to be eaten...well anytime.

So our friendhip grew along with Elle's technical skill and my waistline.  We ventured to Greece together and ate copious amounts of souflaki and tzatziki, to Paris for wine, cheese, and Angelina's bakery, and to Covent Garden for mulled wine and the markets.  It became clear that we needed to challenge ourselves with new and interesting recipes from lands afar.

So some months ago, after some glasses of wine a plan was hatched to take on the world.  We would choose a diferent country every month or so and plan a recipe using traditional yet challenging dishes.  We have given ourselves artistic licence to pick regions within larger countries too (mainly so we can make Mississippi mud pie AND New York cheesecake).  Naturally, we will be providing photographic and written evidence of our efforts, and in really special cases we might even share recipes with you, dear readers.

So join us, friends, on our adventure around the globe...

Coming soon...