whatkimcookednext

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.

Comfort Food for big and little kids – Tuna Macaroni Bake

This is one of my favourite comfort foods, and even better it is incredibly easy to make.

Cook macaroni according to the packet instructions, drain and place in an ovenproof dish. Add 1 can of tuna, 1 tin of Heinz tomato soup (it has to be Heinz or it doesn’t taste the same, ignore impostors),4 ozs grated cheddar cheese and mix well. Grate a bit more cheddar on the top and place in the oven gas mark 4, 180C or 160C fan for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is brown and bubbling.

Who needs the Coliseum when you make your own limoncello?

I love Rome, and whilst there’s nothing quite to compare with sitting at the bar at the top of the Forum hotel overlooking Ancient Rome by torchlight whilst waiters look down the front of your dress and ply you with free limoncello, the satisfaction of your own home-made vodka almost makes up for it. Also, I swear there were bed bugs and that’s the nasty hopping kind, not some sophisticated listening device.

This is very similar to making plum vodka. You need a large kilner jar that you have sterilised by placing in a hot oven for 20 mins and then allowed to cool. Whilst you’re waiting for this, take the zest from 14 lemons, yes, I know it’s a pain but worth it – if anyone out there has discovered a machine that zests, please put us all out of our misery! Place the zest in the jar and add 750ml of vodka. Put the lid on and place in a dark place for 2 weeks, or longer if you want more colour. If you don’t want to waste the juice from all those lemons, you can freeze it in those ice cube bags, so it is handy to be able to use cube by cube.

After two weeks, make a syrup of 1000ml of water and 800g of sugar ( I am experimenting using the lemon juice for this, but will report back on whether it worked). Allow it to cool and add to the vodka and zest mixture along with a further 750ml of vodka. Leave for a further rwo weeks or longer if you wish, then it is ready to strain in to pretty, sterilised bottles and to drink or give as presents. It is wonderful, freezing cold drunk on its own, but also good as part of my limoncello champagne martini (see method from last weekend).

Braise me gently, braise me slowly….take it easy, don’t you know, I have never been cooked like this before

Keep your rocking, Andy Kim (who?) I want braising! Slow cooked brisket of beef is very under-rated. It’s not pretty and it’s not clever looking, but oh my, it tastes wonderful and is completely and utterly trouble-free.

All you will need is 1 brisket of beef (try and buy one with a good marbling of fat as it will be more tender) a handful of mixed, fresh herbs,2 cloves of garlic, 1 onion cut in to quarters (optional), red wine or beef stock and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Pre-heat the over to Gas Mark 2, 160C or 140C for a fan oven

In a really heavy casserole dish, Le Creuset is perfect for this, heat up the tablespoon of oil and then add the brisket and brown all over.

Add the garlic, herbs and onions and add about an inch of red wine or beef stock.

bring to the boil, quickly place the lid on and put in the pre-heated oven for a minimum of three and a half hours, you can leave it up to five, it is a very forgiving dish.

This is what you end up with. Delicious, gorgeous, tender beef, in a really rich gravy that all you have to do is add extra seasoning to, if you wish. You can add extra red wine to further de-glaze the casserole for extra flavour.

Serve with mash, a glass of red wine. Heavenly!

When good bananas go bad…..make bread

Don’t you just hate it when those lovely, firm bananas turn into those blackened, soggy things lurking at the bottom of your fruit bowl?

Although many people argue that the riper they are, the more flavour they have, for some reason I have a pathological hatred of any soft, brown bits on my bananas. So what to do with them, I feel so guilty about putting any good food in the rubbish bin? Hoorah, my conscious has been saved! I have discovered the joys of banana bread. You will need: 3 or 4 ripe bananas (the riper the better), mashed up, 75g melted butter, 220g sugar, 1 egg, beaten, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon baking soda, inch of salt, 250g of plain flour, handful of chopped walnuts or pecans.

There is no need for a food processor for this recipe. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180C/160C Fan (175°C). Mix the butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in along with the nuts. Sieve the flour in last, mix gently. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool before serving.

The best thing about this recipe is that it gets better and better as the bread gets staler. I like it best a couple of days old and toasted with a little butter on top, much better than when it first comes out of the oven.

You also have the benefit of feeling sanctimonious about using up left over food.

Something for the weekend – limoncello champagne martini

Some of you will have tried my limoncello martinis, as they are my recommended drink with toffee bakewell puddings (recipe to come soon), but on these hot, lovely summer days, they are the best sun-downers.

Add 1 shot of vodka, (I like Grey Goose), 1 shot of Limoncello and top up to the brim with champagne or a good sparkling wine and decorate with a twist of lemon zest.

The best news is that this summer I have made my own limoncello, recipe and tasting to follow next week.

Happy weekend!