Chocolate and Raspberry Choux Buns

After my experimental period over Christmas - I've decided that choux pastry is my new favourite. I've got very fond memories of Choux Buns. It's something my mum and I would buy as a treat at our weekly food shop - the caramel ones to be precise. They are the epitome of decadence, naughtiness and never fail to send me into a delectable sugar coma. Having make Profiteroles and a Gateux St Honore, I decided it was time to try my hand at Choux Buns.

Chocolate and Raspberry Choux Buns

You're going to need a batch of choux pastry to start with. I haven't had a chance to write up my personal method yet, but I would recommend you follow this recipe from Delia:

http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/how-to-make-choux-pastry.html

For the filling....

Take one box of raspberries (saving a few for decoration) and place into a saucepan with half a cup of sugar and a dash of water. Heat this slowly until the sugar caramelises and the raspberries break down to make a coulis. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. 

Sieve the coulis into a bowl or jug and put to one side to cool. 

Next it's time for the Chantilly cream. In a mixing bowl, pour 300ml double cream, 1 tsp vanilla paste, 100g icing sugar. Whisk until the cream is nice and think. Put in the fridge to chill. 

Melt 1 large bar of dark or milk chocolate (up to your preference) in the microwave, or over a pan of simmering water. Dip the top of each choux bun into the chocolate for a nice coating and put aside to set. 

Once the chocolate has set, spoon a good amount of cream into the bottom case of the choux bun, add the raspberry coulis and sandwich the chocolate covered top onto your mountain of goodness.

The Real Food Festival 2013

Yay! Food! Festival! Sunshine! All is right with the world. Okay, perhaps sunshine was a bit optimistic (the one day I go out without my coat) - we did get battered by hailstones at one point... But the food part definitely lived up to expectations. 

"Taking over the whole Southbank Centre site in the heart of London, along the river Thames and around the Royal Festival Hall, the Real Food Festivals showcases some of the finest small producers in the country plus the best street food vendors on the scene, top chefs, live animals and music!" - The Real Food Festival.

So I wanted to share some of our lovely day with you...

We began with a demonstration by Omar Allibhoy (of Tapas Revolution fame), where he cooked six tapas dishes. He did Chorizo braised in Cider (which we promptly had for dinner that evening), Spanish Omelette, Gazpacho, Pan Con Tomate, Marinated Spanish Olives, Gambas (prawns) a la Plancha and Mussels. We picked up some really good tips from him and he has a book coming out in August! Yay! I shall add it to my Amazon wish list. At the end there was a tasting session but it was more of an aggressive free-for-all scrum of people grabbing for tasty morsels. I think I was elbowed in the boob several times. 

Then we explored...

Now we had a good idea of what was at the festival, it was time to start eating. Rob went straight for Barbecoa's pulled pork (£5). Apparently Terry Wogan also enjoyed one of these yesterday... Disappointingly, Rob found it overpoweringly sweet and said that it didn't have the texture of something that had been properly smoked and roasted dry for many hours (as a good pulled pork should). It felt more like it had been stewed in a slow cooker for a day. 

I opted for tapas from Donostia Social Club's food van - An Iberico Pig Cheek with Celeriac Puree (£5).

It was very, very nice. Plus the guys in the van are super friendly. The celeriac managed to deliver both a bitter and sweet accompaniment to the melt in the mouth meat. The sauce was rich and it was a treat to mop it up with a soft, fresh slice of bread. They had plenty of other things that I would have loved to have tried and as they visit Kingston quite often, I feel I will be making a return visit very soon. 

Rob, being the growing boy that he is, decided on a second course. A Black Pudding and Apple Sausage Roll from Little Jack Horner.

I had a conversation with a fellow foodie recently as to the underrated value of a good sausage roll. When treated with love, good ingredients and care, it is a noble and delicious food. Something that Little Jack Horner are definitely doing right. It was impossible to choose just one - I was temped by the Pork and Smoked Chilli.

Time for pudding. I'd spotted Crumbs and Doilies from a mile off. Their selection of cupcakes were to die for. Both full size and miniature - what could be cuter than a mini cupcake! Having trouble deciding, I went for the Popcorn Cupcake - a rum butter sponge with salted caramel icing and laced with crispy popcorn topping. A speciality for sure. It was so tasty. I was tempted to go back for a box but knew that my stomach wouldn't thank me for it. Rob went for a brownie from Outsider Tart. It took him more than a few hours to eat it.

It was a really nice day and I have to be honest - I am not at all hungry this morning. I had my fill. We enjoyed a nice post lunch walk in the sun in Richmond - our home. I just wanted to share with you how beautiful it is. Having serious Richmond love right now...

Think we're off out again in the sun today so I shall bid you adieu! Got a few tasty recipes lined up so stayed tuned for those fellow foodies!

Posh Fish and Chips

So it's that time of year again - Masterchef time! Is it just me or does it seem to be showing a lot more than last year? Not that I'm complaining... Around this time of year I get it into my head that I need to make my dishes look arty and cook fondant potatoes and make foams from everything. Alongside my healthy diet, I decided to "masterchef-ify" classic fish and chips.

Posh Fish and Chips

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 fillets of Plaice

400g potatoes

A handful of frozen peas

A Squeeze of Lemon Juice

1 clove of Roasted Garlic

1 tsp Tarragon
1tsp Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
20g butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Fish
Start by creating a foil package for your plaice fillets. Then carefully lay the fillets down and cover with lemon juice, tarragon, salt and pepper. Seal the parcel.
Place in a preheated oven at 200C for 25 minutes.

Potatoes
Cut your potatoes into chunks and place into cold, salted water.
Bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Drain the potatoes and return to the saucepan.
Add 20g butter, rosemary and salt/pepper to taste.
Mash the potatoes rustically so they are not smooth but more "crushed".

Pea Puree
Heat the peas in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes until tender.
Place in a food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice, your roasted garlic, salt and pepper.
Puree the ingredients while the peas are still hot.

Pea Soup with Crispy Pancetta

I was listening to Jay Rayner's 'The Man Who Ate the World' on the way to my physio appointment this morning and during his time in Paris, he came across a dish in Guy Savoy where the peas in his pea salad had all been individually split. This got me obsessing with peas all day. I needed some peas in my life - stat.

We had some deliciously thin pancetta to use up also, so I thought the remedy to my cravings would be to make an indulgent pea soup and use pancetta as croutons. I did a lot of internet research to find the best pea soup recipe and decided to try Felicity Cloake's "Perfect Pea Soup" recipe for The Guardian. She uses bacon in the recipes but I took this out and replaced it with the pancetta topping. So here is my adapted version.

Pea Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Creme Fraiche

To Serve Two

Ingredients

15g butter
2 spring onions, chopped
4 rashers of pancetta
225g frozen peas
375ml of vegetable stock
Squeeze of lemon juice
Creme fraiche, to serve

Method

• Melt the butter in a pan and add your spring onions. Allow them to soften in the foamy butter. 
• Add the peas and let them defrost a bit. 
• Add your hot stock and allow to simmer for ten minutes.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir.
• Using a stick blender, smooth the soup and allow to rest on a low heat whilst you make the croutons.
• Bring a small frying pan to a high temperature and add the pancetta. They will crisp in under a minute so make sure they don't burn. 
• Dish the soup into bowls and add a small quenelle of creme fraiche to the centre. 
• Lay your crispy pancetta on top! 

South Indian Tilapia Curry

The idea of curry generally summons up thoughts of heavy, rich dishes full of strong spices and melt in the mouth meat accompanied by a Singha beer and a naan. Recently I've been trying to shift a few pounds and failing miserably by myself. The problem with loving food is that I have very little self control when someone puts something tasty in front of me. So I decided to join Weight Watchers. Greg from Masterchef did it. It's fine. So far I'm a week in and have lost two pounds (yay!) and have been working my way through their recipe catalogue. My favourite so far is their recipe for South Indian Curry - healthy and delicious. 

South Indian Tilapia Curry

To serve 2

Ingredients

2 fillets of Tilapia Fish

1/2 Medium Onion

1 Garlic Clove

1 tsp grated Ginger Root

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tsp Hot Curry Powder

100ml Coconut Milk

200ml Chicken Stock

200g Diced Potatoes

75g Green Beans

1/2 Red Pepper

20ml Fresh Lime Juice

Freshly Ground Black Pepper - to taste

Method

Heat some oil in a large pan and slowly cook the onion until translucent.

Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and spices. Toast for 30 seconds - be careful not to burn them!

Stir in the coconut milk, add the stock and bring to the boil.

Add the potatoes, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just cooked (about 10 minutes).

Add the green beans and red pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes. 

Add the fish and cook for a further 3 minutes until just cooked through. 

Season with lime juice and black pepper and serve with a lime wedge, rice or bread.

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Chilli, Lime and Ginger Mackerel with Soba Noodles and Greens

These past few weeks haven't been the best for me. I've been suffering with excruciating back and neck pain and have been off work for a long while now. Having to stay indoors and not be able to even dress yourself is pretty depressing. So I wasn't eating particularly well until I decided that I couldn't take any more. I had to make this pain go away. I spent a long time researching the right diet to try and help me and found a lot of information on foods with anti-inflammatory properties. It was worth a shot. So for the past few days I've been eating wholegrains, fruits, vegetables, and foods with good oils such as oily fish, avocados and olive oil.

Tonight is the first time I've cooked a proper meal for myself in days and it involves all of these aspects. Using inspiration from my Wagamama cookbook, I developed the following recipe.

Chilli, Lime and Ginger Mackerel with Soba Noodles and Stir fried Greens

Ingredients

1 fillet of chilli, lime and ginger mackerel (£1 from Tesco)

1 tbsp Lime Juice

1 tbsp Mirin

1 tsp Nam Pla 

1 tbsp Chilli Oil

Soba Noodles

Fresh greens (I used kale, brocolli and spinach)

Salt and Pepper

Method

In a bowl, mix the lime juice, mirin, nam pla and chilli oil. Add the mackerel fillet and gently massage to cover in the marinade. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to rest for 1 hour.

Chop your greens. 

Boil a pan of water.

It will only take you about 5 minutes to cook this entirely, so make sure you have everything to hand.

Add the noodles to your pan of water - simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Pour the remaining marinade into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add your greens and stir fry in the liquids for 2 minutes. 

Push the greens to one side of the pan and place your fish, skin down on the other side. 

Cook your fish for 2 minutes on the skin side and 1 minute of the flesh side. 

Drain the noodles and all your tasty components up.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Rainbow Cake

We've all seen variations of the rainbow cake. Layers of gorgeous, jeweled colours smothered with fluffy frosting. They're almost too spectacular to eat. Almost. 

This is my variation on the rainbow craze, a birthday cake for my colourful, crazy friend. The sponge is raspberry flavoured and the buttercream is laced with white chocolate. Instead of several different coloured layers, I've gone for the lazy and slightly psychedelic pools within the sponge layours.  

White Chocolate and Raspberry Rainbow Cake

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter, very soft

225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g self-raising flour
25g cornflour 
3-4 tablespoons milk

Raspberry Extract

A variety of food colourings.

150g soft unsalted butter

1tsp vanilla extract

375g icing sugar

150g white chocolate (melted)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4 and line two sandwich tins. 

Cream the butter and sugar together then add the raspberry extract. 

Add the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour between each. Fold in the rest of the flour and the cornflour.

Add a little milk to loosen the mixture slightly.

Separate the mixture into as many different bowls as you have colours. Add colours! 

Spoon each colour into the sandwich tins. Feel free to create crazy patterns. I opted for one colour inside another until they formed rings.

Bake for 25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Turn them out and leave on a wire rack to cool.

Whisk the melted chocolate, vanilla extract and butter together. 

Sieve in your icing sugar gradually and whisk until you have a light and fluffy buttercream. 

Ice your cake!