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Come on punk, make my day – eggs benedict, a Carmel tradition

Carmel-by-the-sea in California has a Sunday tradition, which is nothing to do with Clint Eastwood, although on the occasions when I have indulged in this ritual, it really has made my day. Brunch at Katy’s Place, Mission Street is an experience not to be missed and definitely rates 5 Kimmy stars. http://www.katysplacecarmel.com/. Any restaurant where they do 16 types of Eggs Benedict has to be amazing in my opinion. They also serve the largest portions I have ever seen in my life, so key advice is to go there extremely hungry. So how do you make a simple Eggs Benedict? A classic combination is toasted muffin, sliced ham or crispy bacon and a poached egg topped with hollandaise sauce.

First put your bacon under the grill, so that it will be cooked and crispy, then make your hollandaise sauce. I have really tried to find a suitable ready-made alternative, but it just doesn’t exist (Let me know if you have found one!!!) Place 2 egg yolks in a food processor, or whisk using a hand blender, with a little salt. In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, as soon as it is really hot, switch the processor on again and drizzle the mixture in. Now place 110g/4ozs of salted butter in the saucepan and heat gently until really hot, but make sure it doesn’t brown. Switch your processor on again and drizzle the hot butter in and voila, you have Hollandaise. Delia Smith adds her whisked egg whites to the mixture afterwards, and if you like a light texture this works well. Now, you will need a toasted muffin, actually I prefer crumpets and a poached egg. Poach your egg either by using poaching pods, those clever little silicone ones, or try using the traditional method of boiling a pan of salted water then reducing it to a very gentle simmer (enough to cover the eggs) add a teaspoon of white wine vinegar (this helps the white to set quicker round the edges), break you egg in to a cup first and gently slide in to the water, if your water is too hot, the white will separate. Leave for 1 minute, then put a lid on the pan and turn off the heat. Time for 3 to 5 minutes depending on how firm you like your yolk (delia says leave up to 10 minutes). The key thing to remember is that you MUST use fresh eggs, less than 4 days old or they will not poach properly. Finally, assemble your Eggs Benedict and prepare to indulge, this just cries out for a buck’s fizz on the side. One of my favourite variations, courtesy of Katy’s Place, is to substitute the bacon with sliced turkey breast and add several slices of avocado. Save up the calories, it’s worth it!

A final note, by request was how to cook the perfect boiled egg, because let’s be honest, boiled egg and soldiers is not just for small children. So, place 1 large egg in a pan full of COLD water, enough to cover the egg. Place on high heat and as soon as it starts to boil, set the timer for 3 minutes and 15 seconds, once completed remove from the heat, drain and run under the cold tap to stop it cooking anymore. This is the perfect, runny, but not under-cooked egg. For a small egg, set timer for 3 minutes, for extra large, 3 minutes 30 seconds. Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. Are you impressed how I’ve resisted all egg-based puns in this blog? It was egg-strordinarily difficult. Ooops.

Life’s just peachy- tales of jam and spanish holidays

I went abroad for the first time when I was ten, and this was no mean feat in those days. There was no Stavros, so no cheap charter flights, we drove to Spain in my Uncle Jim’s car and all in all it took about three days non-stop, this was a time when you got thoroughly over-excited to see another British car abroad and flashed your lights and honked the horn wildly when you saw their GB sticker. We stayed at a tiny hotel called the Hotel Jano, in a small fishing village called Tamariu. I have no idea if it’s still there or what the place is like now. So, did this give me a lifelong appreciation of Spanish culture and European travel? Probably, but mostly it gave me a love of peach jam. Breakfast at the Hotel Jano consisted of a fresh, white bread, unsalted butter and a bowl of their home-made peach jam. I had never tasted anything like it,until then the height of my jam-like sophistication was to have lime marmalade rather than silver shred. I became a stealth jam burglar and would wait until the other guests had finished their breakfast in the hope that they may have left some fo the precious peach heaven that I could just eat by the spoonful. I have finally re-created that childhood taste and it is just as fresh and fruity as I remember.

Peaches are cheap and plentiful at the moment (2 punnets for 1 at Sainsbury’s Taplow) so go ahead and try it! You will need: approx 1.2kg of peaches, juice of 1 lemon, 1.4 kg of jam sugar and 1/2 bottle of certo, pectin. I am using liquid pectin for this recipe, because it means that you don’t have to over-boil the fruit to get it to setting temperature, which for something as delicate as peaches is important. Method: First make some light incisions in the peach skin as if you were going to cut it into quarters, then plunge the peaches in to a pan of boiling water. Take the pan off the heat and drain the peaches after 1 minute, the skin will immediately start to shrivel and will be really easy to peel off. Chop the fruit (this is quite messy) in to chunks, weigh it and it should now be 1.kg and place in a large saucepan, add the lemon juice and the sugar and place on a low heat, stirring gently until all the sugar has dissolved. bring to the boil, and let it boil hard for only two minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the certo. Leave for 20 minutes, so that the fruit doesn’t float to the top before bottling in to sterilised jars. This will make about 6 to 8 jars. This jam is lovely on toast, bread and butter, made in to a jam sponge pudding, or just eaten from the spoon.

Viva melocoton!

happy as a clam…what have they got to smile about anyway?

Why are those clams so happy? It’s a bit like that Larry bloke, I always wondered why he was so cheerful, too. Anyway, it doesn’t take much to make me happy and the sight of fresh clams on the fish counter at Waitrose brings genuine joy to my heart. It transports me to one of my favourite places in the world, Chez Black in Positano on the Amalfi coast, where they do possibly the best spahetti alla vongole in the world.

I couldn’t claim to recreate that perfection, but buy those beautiful little clams and make this unbelievably simple recipe. You will need at least 800g of fresh clams, rinsed thoroughly in cold water and any open ones discarded,( treat them the same as mussels), 1 packet of spaghetti dried or fresh, 2 shallots or 1 small white onion, chopped, 4 cloves of garlic, crushed, 1 tablespoon of olive oil,1 handful of chopped fresh parsley, half a glass of dry white wine, a knob of salted butter. Some people like to add a little red chilli or even tomato, but I like to keep mine simple.

Method: Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions and whilst it’s boiling, place the olive oil, chopped shallots and crushed garlic in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat and cook until soft, but not brown, add the white wine and bring to the boil. Add the clams and keep the heat high, place a lid on the pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes shaking occasionally. Add the parsley, the drained cooked spaghetti and stir in the butter. Season with black pepper and salt to taste, the clams can be quite salty so do taste first. Pour yourself a glass of wine and relax, this makes a lovely supper or is a good starter or rustic main course for a dinner party.

My big fat greek saturday night out

It was a warm, balmy Saturday night in Windsor, and other than the groups of girls with bright purple hair and “Bride to be” emblazoned on their t-shirts, (who incidentally caused a lot of photographic excitement with a group of Japanese tourists), the members of the 3pm wedding party at the Guildhall, who had obviously been in the pub for the last four hours if their drooping buttonholes were anything to go by, I could have been in the heart of Greece at a local taverna. I genuinely felt like I was on holiday for the evening. Church Street is a delightful cobbled lane next to the Guildhall, famous for the wedding of Charles and Camilla (and Josh and Louise) and due to the lovely warm weather, it was crammed full of tables, to allow the diners to sit in the evening air and enjoy a really fun atmosphere. Latino’s has been in Windsor since 1987 http://www.latinotaverna.co.uk/cms/index.php, but this was the first time I’d been there. Our friend Lee encouraged us to have the mezze, a selection of all things Greek at £22.95 per head, and finding that Mumm champagne was only £34 per bottle and the house wine less than £13 a bottle, we kicked off the evening in good spirits. Inside the party was rocking with lots of “Hupla” and “Zorba the Greek” music and I would imagine that if you came with a large party and wanted a bit of “Big Fat Greek Wedding”-type fun, this would be perfect, as they do have live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Sit outside if you don’t want to be Zorba-ed. The food started to arrive quickly and we were presented with a massive array of 8 starters http://www.latinotaverna.co.uk/cms/index.php?alacartemenu, including as you would expect taramasalata, houmous etc all served with a generous helping of hot pitta bread . Next came a fish course of squid, tiger prawns and mussels, which were really good and then if that wasn’t enough, we were given a Greek salad with grilled halloumi, lamb stew, potatoes, chicken souvlaki and some sort of rissole which was my favourite, the amount of food was amazing. It was sensibly followed by a bowl of fresh watermelon and grapes. The staff were extremely friendly and efficient and made us feel very welcome. We sat for a long time and whilst not completely tempted to join in the karaoke that was going on inside, in a bizarre way, it added to the atmosphere more than a sophisticated style of entertainment might have. So final verdict? For a large group who want to let their hair down, perfect. For a quieter evening, make sure the weather is good so you can sit outside and enjoy vicariously, or avoid Fridays and Saturdays. Value for money was excellent. The food was substantial and whilst not super-amazing – they’re not going to make Heston shake in his shoes – it was honest, well-cooked and I had a great evening. On the Kimmy restaurant scale, I’m going to give Latino Taverna a suprising 4 out of 5, whether it would be the same on a cold night in December, I don’t know, but on this occasion. Hupla! …now what was that about the bazouki player?

I’m not a pheasant plucker…

In an effort to economise , I had decided to try to cook some of the random things I have lurking at the bottom of my freezer, so along with some rogue frozen peas, some indefinable bags of some kind of sauce that clearly I thought was delicious enough to freeze but wasn’t efficient enough to label, there were two packs of boneless pheasant. Delighted with my booty, I decided that a pheasant casserole with chestnut mushrooms, blackberry jelly and mustard was the ideal thing, and whilst maybe not a fresh, summer recipe and more suited to a cold day, would still be delicious for dinner, maybe we could borrow some air conditioning to make it seem more wintery? This dish would work really well with chicken, venison or rabbit. You will need : Boneless pheasant thigh fillets,small packet of cubed pancetta, 1 chopped onion, handful of chopped fresh herbs, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed,2 tablespoons of bramble jelly (or redcurrant if you have no bramble), 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard, punnet of Chestnut mushrooms and 1/4 pint strong chicken stock, glass of red wine or port., Salt and pepper to taste

The method is simple: Fry the pancetta until golden in a heavy bottomed casserole (le creuset is perfect), add chopped onion and garlic and fry until brown, add the herbs and the pheasant and mushrooms and brown for a couple of minutes. Add the mustard, bramble jelly, stock and red wine. Bring to the boil and place in a low over (Gas Mark 3 or 160C) for a minimum of 2 hours. Don’t forget when you are cooking game, that because of the low fat content, it is never going to be falling apart tender like chicken and will always have a slightly drier, firmer consistency, but I find if it is gently simmered fo a long time, that the consistency is lovely. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable and the good thing about this is you can leave it simmering away in the oven while you nip out to the shops, to buy yourself a little treat …economising, who me??

magic mushroom risotto

It’s magic because it’s so easy and it is does make you feel great in a lovely, comfort eating sort of way, but probably no hallucinations, which is a good thing. Making a fantastic risotto is all about the arm muscles, basically you have to stir and stir or you won’t get that lovely creamy texture. I always keep risotto rice (Arborio is my favourite) and dried mushrooms in my store cupboard, because it means you always have an instant, lovely supper available when the fridge is looking woeful and there’s just a mouldy bit of cheddar and a few pathetic, withered vegetables that are so far gone, you don’t even know what they are. There’s always a bottle of fizz though, after all you have to have some standards! To serve 2 to 3 for supper or 4 as a dinner party starter, you will need:

Knob of butter
300g risotto rice
Wild mushrooms, any kind you like, I used fresh shiitake, you can use dried ones that have been soaked
1 litre of stock (chicken or vegetable) – you can make with a stock cube or have ready-made, if you want it to be really fancy, make it with half dry white wine, made in a saucepan
Zest and juice of 1 lemon plus a few saffron strands (optional)
Bunch of spring onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan
A few shaves of parmesan for decoration
I also added some fresh tomberries – (have you ever seen them before, aren’t they sweet? They are about the size of blueberries, for comparison in the picture, below, I put them next to a cherry tomato) You can substitute with cherry tomatoes, but they are optional
Chopped parsley or fresh basil – depending on whether you added tomatoes or not

Method

Place the stock, zest and juice of the lemon and the saffron in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then place on a low simmer.

In a large non-stick saucepan gently cook onion and garlic in the butter until soft, but not brown.

Add mushrooms and simmer gently for about 5 minutes until they are soft.

Add the rice to the onion and mushroom mixture and stir thoroughly.

Add a ladle full of hot stock and stir constantly, when all the stock has been absorbed, add the next one, repeat this method until you have used all the stock, this process will take you at least 20 to 30 mins .Taste and if the rice tastes chalky and not creamy, keep stirring and add a little more water. Finally, add the parmesan cheese.

At this point I added the tomberries, but this is optional. Because of the tomatoes, I added fresh basil, but parsley is good, too. Garnish with some parmesan and serve! If you are cooking for a dinner party, you can at least cook the onions and mushrooms in advance and then heat up the stock and start adding the rice, to save time.

The added bonus of this dish is not only does it taste great, but it stops you getting bingo wings.

Happy weekend everyone!

Always use condiments – add some relish to your life

Does this look like a person who is brilliant at condiments? (Yes, Josh, I said condiments). The answer to that is a big, fat YES.

Our good friend Jason in fact is a dab hand at making an amazing home-made relish from beetroots that he grew in the garden. He has been so inspired by the success of his early crop, that he is growing more to experiment with bortsch later this summer. I tasted this lovely chutney with crusty white bread, butter and cheese and it really is worth the effort. If you would like to make it you will need:

1200g cubed cooked beetroot (½ cm), 600g of chopped onions, 600g cubed cooking apples (½cm), 350ml red wine vinegar, 150g demerara sugar, 1 teaspoon of dried ginger, 4 teaspoons of salt, 5 crushed cloves of garlic, 8 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Jason assures me that it is very simple to make. Pour the ingredients into a very large saucepan (he used a stockpot). Bring to the boil whilst stirring regularly. Cover, simmer, and stir occasionally for approximately 45 minutes to the point where all the excess fluid has evaporated. Pour into sterilised jars, label and store. That’s it!

Brilliant, we can’t wait for the Bortsch report, but just one thing…I hope that isn’t your gardening hat, Jason?

She has a chip on her shoulder…luckily a white chocolate chip

Meet the lovely Sherri, who amongst her talents which are many, makes the best soft cookies that we know of. As one of the four baking divas, she volunteered after hours of bullying and psychological torture to make 150 for our party last week. This is a classic American recipe, and I have persuaded her to share it with us. Enjoy!

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (approx 340g)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (220g)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (170g)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (135g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (approx 350g ) of white chocolate chip pieces (could be white choc, dark, milk etc)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional-approx 150g)
Bake at 375 degrees F or gas mark 4 for 8-9 minutes for crispy outside, smooshy inside or 10 mins for crunchy

I have approximated the american cup sizes to metric weights, don’t be fooled into making them all the same as of course each ingredient has a different density, but then you knew that…I’ll do a blog giving you good conversion chart next week.

Cupcakes, champagne and red roses – throw in 4 divas and it’s a hell of an afternoon’s baking

Last Friday, our challenge, which we had chosen to accept, was 400 cocktail-sized cupcakes, 150 american-style cookies, dips for 120 and 20 floral table arrangements. Rolling up our sleeves by 10am, the intrepid Jellie and I examined the main ingredients. Oh dear, I had been well and truly Costco-ed.

“To be costco-ed” verb: To visit a discount warehouse and lose all sense of size and number of purchases and to truly believe that buying a catering pack of jalapeno peppers that would keep Mexico in fajitas for a year is not only appropriate, but necessary and reasonable

Having surveyed the ingredients I had bought, who knew the butter mountaing was in Maidenhead? At least, I would never have to purchase basic baking ingredients for the next ten years. We decided on lemon cakes, chocolate chip, maple and pecan and strawberry. Sherri was to come alter for the cookies and Joyce was head of floral arrangements. You already have the lemon drizzle recipe from a previous blog, so for today, we’ll go with the chocolate chip cupcake. To make either 12 large, 24 medium or 40 cocktail sized, you will need:

4ozs/115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4ozs/115g caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4ozs/115g self raising flour
1ozs/25g cocoa powder
¼ oz/5g baking powder – just to make them nice and light
Handful of good quality chocolate chips
40 x Sweet sized cake cases/mini muffin cases
For the icing: 175g/6 ozs unsalted butter
350g/12 ozs icing sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon milk
To decorate: chocloate chips, white and dark and edible glitter (optional)

Method

Pre-heat oven to gas Mark 5, 190oC or 170oC for a fan oven
Beat the butter and sugar until it is white and fluffy – if you’re doing this without the aid of a mixer – who needs a gym?
Add the eggs one by one
Sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder
Put 1 teaspoon of mixture in to each individual cake case for cocktail size
Bake for 8-12 minutes until each cake is well risen and springy to touch – don’t overcook or they will not be as moist. Allow to cool, in the meantime make the icing.
In a food processor or with a hand beater, combine the butter, cocoa and icing sugar until it is light and fluffy
Either using an icing bag or just with a teaspoon, pile the mixture on top of the cooled cakes and decorate.

These are really lovely little cakes and were very popular on Saturday night. Watch out this week for recipes for strawberry and maple and pecan, cookies and flower antics. One of the best things about cake making is scraping the bowl afterwards. Jellie certainly seemed to enjoy…

Mexican Seven Layer Dip

Mexican Seven Layer Dip (or Friendship Dip as it is sometimes called)

It is basically exactly what it says – seven different layers of mexican inspired dipping stuff! In order you will need:

2 cans of refried beans, 2 avocados and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 carton sour cream and 1 packet of cream cheese mashed up with1 package taco seasoning if you want to cheat OR you can make your own seasoning (recipe bottom of page), 4 large tomatoes, diced, 1 can pitted black olives, chopped, 1 large bunch green onions, chopped and 8 ounces cheddar cheese, 1 jar of drained jalapenos, chopped to put on top if you want it hot (optional) or reserve some black olives to decorate the top.

In a large glass bowl (must be glass, so you can see the layers) first put the refried beans. Next place the mashed avocado – you can use shop bought guacamole if you wish. Next layer is the sour cream/cream cheese and taco seasoning mixture. On top of this, add the chopped black olives. Tomatoes go next, again you can use shop-bought salsa if you prefer. Chopped spring onions next followed by a final layer of grated cheddar. Put the jalapenos at the top if you want it spicy and hot. It really does look lovely and tastes good, too.

If you want to make your own seasoning: 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, dried red pepper flakes, dried oregano,1 teaspoon paprika , 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin and salt and pepper to your own liking.