ginger crunch

~base~
300g flour
75g dessicated coconut
1t baking powder
50g crystalised ginger
225g sugar
250g cold butter, diced
~topping~
150g butter
50g golden syrup
25g finely diced crystalised ginger
200g icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease & line 26X38cm(ish) slice tin. Blitz dry ingredients in food processor, then add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Turn into tin and press gently. Bake for 25 minutes or until pale brown. Melt butter and golden syrup with ginger in a saucepan. Remove from heat and whisk in icing sugar. Pour over base, spreading evenly and refrigerate for an hour. Cut into small squares.

raspberry jam

4 cups sugar
4 cups crushed raspberries

Bring raspberries to boil and keep at a rolling boil for two minutes. Add sugar and return to a rolling boil for two minutes, stirring throughout. Mix with a handheld beater for four minutes before decanting into sterilised jars. Yield: approximately four jars.

no-knead bread / aka "shaggy bread"

My lovely sister-in-law, Joey, introduced me to this recipe. I love home-made bread but I rarely have the time or the inclination to commit to the laborious knead-rest-knead roundabout that it demands. This recipe solves all that. You simply mix the ingredients in the evening, go to bed, get up in the morning and turn the dough, nuke it for five seconds, have a shower and get dressed, nuke it again, switch on the oven and bake it. Bloody revolutionary stuff.

Most shortcut breads taste like shortcut breads. This one doesn't. It has a good crust and a soft airy texture with just the right amount of toothsome chewiness. It is versatile - equally delicious warm from the oven, in sandwiches, toasted and grilled as bruschetta.

Apparently some New York City genius called Jim Lahey came up with the recipe. Journo Mark Bittman wrote about it in The New York Times in 2006 and a bread-making frenzy swept through the Big Apple: “The loaf is incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that is produced more easily than by any other technique I’ve used, and it will blow your mind.”

It can be adapted by adding different grains and flavourings (olives, rosemary, seasalt, etc) and can also be used as a pizza base.

3c high grade flour
1.5c water
1 sachet or 1/4t instant yeast
1 1/4t salt

Mix ingredients in a bowl (I use a butter knife as the dough is quite wet and sticky). Cover with clingfilm (or a tea towel) and set aside for at least 12 hours.

Turn out of the bowl onto an oiled surface. Rub your hands in the oil too and then fold either side of the dough into the centre, rotate 90 degrees and repeat. Return to bowl and either leave for 2 hours or zap for 5 seconds in the microwave and set aside for 30 minutes and repeat.

Put a heavy pot with a lid into the oven and heat to 230C. Once oven has reached temp, sprinkle some flour or (my preference) coarsely ground semolina into the bottom, turn dough into pot, coat with more flour or semolina, put the lid on and bake for 25 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 10 minutes. That's it!

banana cupcakes with chocolate icing

1.5c flour
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
1/2t salt

3 large bananas, mashed
3/4c sugar
1 egg
75g butter, melted

Heat oven to 175C. Line cupcake tins with paper cases. Sift first four ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, sugar, egg and butter, then fold in the dry ingredients and mix gently until smooth. Spoon into tins and cook for 25-30 minutes or until they spring back to the touch.

When cool, ice with a thin layer of chocolate icing using a butter knife heated in boiling water.

~icing~
1T soft butter
1.5c icing sugar
3 heaped dessert spoons of cocoa
hot water to mix to a paste

mango rice salad

1.5c jasmine rice
1 bunch Thai basil
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon/lime, plus lemon/lime halves to serve
1/4c olive oil
1 bunch mint, leaves picked
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked
2/3c shredded coconut
6 spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, sliced
2 mangoes, chopped
1/2c roasted peanuts
1c fried Asian shallots

Place rice in saucepan with 2 basil sprigs and 1t salt and cook. Drain and refresh in cold water, discarding the basil. Whisk the lemon juice and oil with salt and pepper. Chop most of the herbs, reserving a few whole leaves to garnish. Stir the shredded coconut in a dry frying pan until lightly toasted. Place the rice in a bowl with the herbs, coconut, spring onion, chilli, lemon zest, mango, peanuts and dressing and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter with fried shallots and herb leaves. Serve with lemon/lime wedges.

coconut custard & fruit salad

custard
1.25c shredded coconut
1c coconut cream
1c milk
90g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
3 gold strength gelatine leaves
ice for an ice bath
300ml thickened cream, lightly whipped

fruit salad
5 kaffir lime leaves
1c caster sugar
3 cups tropical fruit cut with a small melon baller (kiwifruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, papaya)

Stir the coconut in a dry frying pan over a low/medium heat until lightly toasted. Place in a saucepan over a medium heat with the coconut cream and milk and bring to just below boiling point before setting aside for 30 minutes to cool.

Whisk sugar and egg yolks in a bowl, adding the strained milk/cream/coconut mixture, discarding the shredded coconut. Whisk to combine and then return to a low heat, stirring for 2-3 minutes until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess water, then add to the custard, stirring to dissolve. Remove from the heat and transfer the custard to a bowl resting in a larger bowl of iced water. Stir occasionally until cool.

Fold the lightly whipped cream into the cooled custard. Pour into six 1c serving glasses (or 12 1/2c glasses - they should be only 1/2-2/3 full) and chill for at least 4 hours or until set.

Place 4 of the kaffir lime leaves in a saucepan, sprinkle with the sugar, cover and leave to infuse for 4 hours or overnight. Add 1c water and stir over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to dissolve the sugar. Increase heat to medium and simmer, without stirring, for 5 minutes until syrupy. Cool, then shill until needed.

Just before serving, finely shred the remaining kaffir lime leaf and add to the syrup with the tropical fruit, then spoon over the custard to serve.

danks cured cucs

4 Lebanese cucumbers
salt
sugar
lemon juice
finely chopped chives

Cut the cucs lengthways into quarters or sixths. Sprinkle cut side with a little salt and sugar, then squeeze on a little lemon juice. Leave to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. When ready to serve, remove them from their liquid and sprinkle with a few finely chopped chives. Serve in an ice-cold glass.

pickled vegetables

~fills a 2 litre jar~

brine
330ml white wine vinegar
400ml dry white wine
500ml water
80ml mustard seed oil (optional)
4 large red chillies, split but left whole
16 black pepper corns
8 cloves
8 allspice berries
a touch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 bunch thyme
12 bay leaves
4 stalks rosemary
a good pinch of salt and 2 good pinches of sugar

Put all ingredients together in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over  high heat. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

pickles
1 cauliflower (about 1kg), cut into florets, or
3 bunches of carrots, peeled

To pickle the cauliflower, put the florets into a large bowl (at least 2 litres capacity) that is large enough to take the veg and all the brine. Pour the hot brine over the florets. Take a piece of plastic wrap or baking paper and place over the top of the cauliflower to ensure that it is submerged. Allow to cool completely, then transfer to a sterilised 2 litre jar or airtight container and store in the fridge. For best results, allow the cauli to sit for at least 24 hours before eating.

To pickle the carrots, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook carrots for 2-3 minutes. When tested, the carrots should be very crunchy and only half cooked. Strain and run under cold water until completely cool. Allow the bring to cool, then pour over the carrots. They are now ready to store either in a sterilised 2 litre jar or airtight container. They are best stored for 48 hour before eating.

~alternatives~
You can use all sorts of veges. The basic principles are:

• hard root veges such as carrots, swede and kohlrabi should be partially cooked before adding to cool brine
• beets should be cooked whole in brine (same quantities as above but with an extra 200ml water) and then peeled
• cucumbers and courgettes need only be immersed in the cool brine, then left for at least 48 hours
• pickled veg will keep in the fridge for at least 1 month

Prawns with aioli

fresh prawns, deveined, shells on, heads removed
generous handful fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chilis, deseeded, crushed
olive oil
sea salt
lemon juice

 ~aioli~
1t Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
1t lemon juice
1t vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic

125ml olive oil
125ml rapeseed oil

First, make the aioli by putting all the ingredients (except the oils) into a bowl and mixing with a handheld beater. Gradually drizzle in the oils, letting the mayonaise thicken as you go. If it gets too thick, add another squeeze of lemon juice or some cold water.

Heat some oil in a frying pan or wok and add the garlic and chili. Stir for 10 seconds or so and then add the prawns, tossing as they cook. Once done, add the parsley, a squeeze of lemon and some Maldon.

Serve with lemon wedges, aioli and avocado.

sunday night salad

rocket
2 slices stale sour dough or ciabatta bread, cut into 2cm chunks
1/2 butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
2 red chilis, deseeded and cut in half
1 red onion, cut into 0.5cm wedges
4T sunflower seeds
2T pumpkin seeds
2T walnut pieces
200-400g cooked chicken, shredded
200g broad beans, cooked, skins removed, tossed in a little oil and lemon juice

~dressing~
4T lemon juice
1T balsamic vinegar
10T olive oil
Maldon
black pepper
1t sugar
1T Dijon mustard

Put pumpkin, chili and onion into baking tray and toss in olive oil and salt. Put in hot oven (180C) and bake for 10-20 minutes, shaking every 5 minutes. Add the bread for the last 5 minutes or so. Once the pumpkin is cooked and the bread is toasted, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Chop cooked chilis into small pieces and return to mixture.

Toast the seeds in a dry pan with some salt until slightly browned.

Put all ingredients into a serving dish and toss well with your hands. Mix dressing in a separate vessel, shake well and drizzle over salad. Toss gently to coat ingredients in the dressing. Serve.

lessons from the hutong: Sichuan pepper and chili oil

Sichuan pepper is not related to black pepper or to chili peppers. It is a pretty little red pod packing a curious heat that produces a humming, tingling and buzzing sensation on the tongue.

The art of choosing good Sichuan pepper from bad comes down to two things: colour (the redder the better) and state (open is good, closed is bad). 

~chili oil~

1 part dry chili (Sichuan pepper or chili flakes) to 3 parts vegetable oil (peanut, sunflower, rapeseed / canola)

To make this chili oil - which will last for ages, provided it is not contaminated with water - simply combine a small portion of the oil with the chili in a bowl. Heat the remaining oil in a wok until it starts smoking, then pour into the bowl containing the chili (use the receptacle that you'll keep the oil in). 

For added flavour, either add some sesame seeds and salt to the chili, or add some spring onion, ground walnut or ginger to the hot oil and remove and discard before adding the oil to the chili (the flavours will be infused in the oil).

lessons from the hutong: dan dan mian (noodles)

We cooked this simple noodle dish at the end of the day after we'd just consumed about 18 dumplings each - it was so delicious we managed to squeeze it in.

Despite the seemingly long list of ingredients, it's a quick and easy recipe.

There is one unusual ingredient in the dish which is a key element of dan dan noodles. It's a Sichuan preserved vegetable called 'mustard greens' which I saw in the market in Beijing. It looks like the mutant cousin of a bulb of garlic - unfortunately I didn't photograph it but there is a pic on wiki under 'zha cai'. the packet we used calls it ya cai, which I think is more commonly used, though I'm wondering if ya refers to the greens and zha refers to the bulb. I believe the 'suimi' part simply means 'finely chopped'. Some people seem to think you need to rinse the ya cai to reduce the saltiness - we didn't so I wouldn't bother.

The noodle dough is very similar to pasta dough, though the liquid element is approximately half egg / half water, whereas pasta tends to be wholly reliant on egg. The technique for folding and cutting the dough differed, and I would suggest employing the approach used for pasta (folding the sides in to meet in the centre and repeating, then sliding the back of the knife down the centre where the folds meet, lifting and shaking out the pasta so that the lengths fall out on either side).

~noodle dough~
200g flour
1 egg
50-60g water

Mix well and knead until smooth. Rest for 30 minutes in a bowl covered with a wet cloth. (Use this time to prepare the seasoned pork.) Roll it out until it is a large, thin piece. Dust it well with flour, fold into the centre and cut into 1cm widths.

~seasoned pork~
100g lean minced pork, marinated with 2t wine
50g Sichuan preserved vegetable (sumi ya cai)
1t minced ginger
1t minced garlic
3 spring onions (if you are using the giant Chinese spring onions, just use 1) (white part only), diced into 5mm pieces
1t light soy sauce
1/2t dark soy sauce

Heat 1T peanut or rapeseed (canola) oil in a wok. Add ginger, garlic and spring onion, stir until fragrant and add the minced pork, stirring until cooked. Add the light and dark soy sauce, stir for 30 seconds and then add the ya cai. Mix well and remove from the heat.

~sauce~
2t garlic, crushed to a paste
3 spring onions, finely chopped (or 1 Chinese spring onion)
salt (to taste - 1/4t)
1.5t sugar
1T light soy sauce
2T dark soy sauce
1T chili oil (more, to taste)
1/2t sesame oil
300ml chicken stock

Put all the sauce ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Cook the noodles for two minutes in boiling water, add some greens (po choi, spinach, or choi sum) for one minute and drain. Add to the bowl holding the sauce and top with the pork mixture. Give it a good stir. Adjust seasoning if desired (particularly chili oil), and serve.

lessons from the hutong: seasonings

While I was in Beijing I attended a cooking class in one of the hutongs (old-school alleys in the city), which are where the traditional courtyard houses can be found.

We entered the school via a large gate, took a couple of turns through paved pathways covered in entanglements of vines with large hanging gourds and lined with huge stacks of coal bricks for the impending winter, and found ourselves in a pretty courtyard.

The class opened with a lesson on soy sauce, vinegar and wine - we learned how to differentiate between good and poor quality soy sauce and the appropriate uses of dark and light soy and vinegar. Very useful stuff. I think it's so important to understand these sorts of principles as it allows you to cook freely rather than being chained to a recipe book (especially if you're like me and struggle to stick to recipes).

~soy sauce~
Light soy sauce is the all-purpose soy sauce and tends to be used for chicken, fish, shrimp and pork dishes. Dark soy sauce is used for colour and where its stronger flavour won't overshadow the other ingredients, for example, in beef, mutton and noodle dishes.

I've dubbed the guide to quality, the 'soy sauce quality meter'. It centres on the amino acid nitrogen level - 0.7g or higher per 100ml means good quality, below this means poorer quality. There are four general grades, the highest is superior grade, followed by first, second and third grade (superior and first have greater than 0.7g and second and third have lower than 0.7g). The recommended brands are Amoy, Lee Kum Kee, Jammy Chai, Haday and Pearl River Bridge.

~vinegar~
The vinegars are mostly dark and provide the 'sour' element in 'sweet and sour' and 'hot and sour' dishes.

Apparently in the north of China they tend to produce dark vinegars, and in the south they tend to be clear (the dark/light rule also applies here - light tends to be used with lighter meats such as crab, seafood and chicken).

The dark vinegars smell great - malty and with  a nice tang that makes my mouth water. The ones we looked at were made from sorghum, a grain I haven't encountered before but after wiki'ing it I now know that it is one of the top five grain crops in the world. Guess I will start seeing it and hearing about it everywhere now.

The 'vinegar quality meter' centres on its acid level - above 5g per 100ml is good and below is not good. The older the vinegar the higher the acid.

The two types of vinegar recommended are Zhenjiang (the brand is Hengshun) and Shanxi (the brand is Donghu).

~wine~
Apparently wine is useful to 'burn the fat away' in fatty meat dishes. It's made from sticky rice, is an amber colour and smells a bit like sherry - I think, though I am not very experienced in sherry.

The recommended wine is a drinking wine called Shaoxing Hua Diao - Pagoda brand is the only one with an English brand name so that's the one I'll be looking for in London.

leek, potato & chicken soup

2 leeks, washed trimmed and finely sliced
1 small red onion and 1 small white onion, finely diced
2 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
25g butter
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
olive oil
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper
1l chicken stock
200-400g diced chicken
4T cream
25g grated Parmesan
4 medium or 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
fresh chopped parsley

Sweat the onions, leeks, garlic and celery in oil and butter until translucent. add the potato and stir for several minutes. Add stock and seasoning, cover and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Blitz with a handheld blender. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the chicken. cook for 1 minute, add cream and Parmesan. adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and a scattering of parsley. Eat with some crusty, toasted sourdough smeared with cold butter.

roasted plum crumble

~filling~
lots of yummy ripe plums, sliced in half
some caster sugar

~topping~
flour
butter
sugar
Maldon
optional: rolled oats, chopped nuts

Put plums and caster sugar in a baking tray into the oven at 160C for 20-30 minutes, shaking occasionally.

Take out, cool, remove stones, add more sugar to taste.

 

Mix some flour, Italian typo '00' is good, with some cold grated butter with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add a good pinch of Maldon and some soft brown sugar. If you like you can also add some chopped nuts and/or rolled oats, otherwise leave it plain and simple. Put plum mixture into an ovenproof dish and top with the flour/butter/sugar mixture. 

Put into a heated oven (180C) and bake until brown - about 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream and/or ice cream.

No pic of it cooked, we ate it so fast!

nearly hugh's lemon poppy cake

170g flour

1/2t salt

1t bicarb soda

1/2t baking powder

25g poppy seeds

zest of 2 lemons

170g butter, softened

170g caster sugar

4 eggs separated

170g yogurt

2t vanilla

~syrup~

juice of 2 lemons

6T icing sugar

zest of 1 lemon

icing sugar for sifting

180C

Butter cake tin and dust with flour.

Sieve flour, salt, bicarb and baking powder. stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest. 

Beat together the butter and 120g sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk egg yolks, yogurt and vanilla.

Beat whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks. Add remaining sugar a little at a time until stiff and meringue-like.

Beat flour and egg yolk mix alternately into butter and sugar. Stir in 1/3 of meringue mixture first and then gently fold in the rest. 

Spoon the cake mix into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

To make the syrup combine the juice, icing sugar and zest in a small saucepan, stir and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and spike all over with a skewer, then pour over the syrup and leave to cool in the tin. 

Serve with a 50/50 mixture of Greek yogurt and whipped cream.

italian sausage ragu & silken pasta

As winter approaches, a warming rustic dish for cooler darker nights

~pasta~
4 eggs
400g 00 flour
fine semolina for dusting

~ragu~
4 or 5 Italian sausages (I used veal, pork & fennel)
handful small or cherry tomatoes
1 packet of passata (400g)
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper
raw sugar
fresh basil
olive oil
1 eggplant, diced
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
optional: red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

First, make the pasta. Mix the lightly beaten eggs with the flour until a soft dough forms, knead for 10 minutes or so until smooth and silky, then set aside under a bowl for 30 minutes. Roll the pasta by hand or machine and cut into 1.5cm wide ribbons. If rolling by hand, fold the rolled pasta sheets inward so that the two edges meet in the centre. Repeat until just a few centimetres across. Then, take a knife and cut into 1.5cm widths. Once complete, run the knife with the blade parallel to the bench under the pasta and once the blunt edge is under the line where the folds meet, turn up so that the pieces of pasta fall on either side of the knife. Give the knife a couple of gentle shakes and the ribbons should unfold. Place on a baking tray and toss with plenty of semolina to coat - this will prevent the pasta from sticking.

In a saute pan, heat a few generous glugs of olive oil and add the garlic and onion (and chilli if desired). Cook gently until the onion becomes translucent, then add the eggplant. cook gently until softened slightly. Push the contents to the edge of the pan and increase the temperature, adding a few more glugs of oil. Split the sausages open and break small chunks of the meat into the pan. Once browned, add the passata, salt, pepper and sugar (a full-fingered pinch). Cook gently for 10 minutes. Heat a large pot of water until boiling. Tear some basil leaves into the ragu and add the chopped fresh tomatoes (keep them quite chunky, cut into quarters at most). Continue to cook gently, adding water if the sauce starts to dry out.

Drop the fresh pasta into the water, stir well and cook for several minutes until done. Drain in a colander and toss with a little oil. Add to the ragu and finish with more torn basil and Parmesan.

meatballs

~meatballs~
400g beef mince
400g pork mince
1 egg
1 red chilli (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
2T chicken stock liquid (concentrate)
1c fresh breadcrumbs
1T cumin seeds (or substitute 1T dried oregano)
1t coriander seeds
1t fennel seeds
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper

~sauce~
1 tin whole peeled tomatoes
1 jar/tin/carton passata
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 red onion, sliced into fine segments
2 shallots, sliced as above
zest one lemon
olive oil
Maldon
raw sugar
freshly ground black pepper
few slugs red wine
fresh basil

Toast and grind in a mortar and pestle the coriander, cumin and fennel. Place all ingredients for meatballs into a bowl and mix by hand until combined (if omitting the cumin for oregano, add the oregano at this point). Make small or large balls and brown in olive oil in a large saute pan. Remove the meatballs and set aside. Heat some olive oil in the pan, adding the chili, onion and shallots, and cooking gently until translucent. Add the lemon zest at the end. then add the tomatoes, red wine and a few slugs of olive oil, seasoning with pepper, salt and sugar. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until reduced to a thick sauce. Scatter with fresh basil and then add meatballs to the sauce for the last five minutes. Toss in al dente spaghetti with more fresh basil - if the sauce is too thick, add a little of the pasta water. Serve scattered with torn basil and freshly grated Parmesan.

cool cucumber summer salad

1 cucumber, sliced into 2mm rounds, skin on or off as preferred
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1T French wholegrain mustard
6T wine vinegar
2T sugar

Assemble cuc and onion in a bowl, mix mustard, vinegar and sugar and pour over salad. Chill for 5-10 minutes before serving.

proper pizza

i think the key to the dough is to use the fine-ground typo "00" italian flour and plenty of salt.

~base~
1c lukewarm water
1 pinch sugar
1 sachet yeast
generous pinch (enough to fit in the grasp of your thumb and four fingers) of Maldon salt
typo "00" flour

Pour the water into a bowl with a pinch of sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Leave to bubble for 5 minutes or so. Add the salt and flour and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Return to the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm spot for an hour or two (until at least doubled in size). Punch down and set aside while you prepare your toppings.
Roll out until quite thin. Heat the oven to maximum temperature (including the baking sheet you'll be cooking the pizza on). Once ready, take the sheet out of the oven, brush with oil, lay out the dough on the tray and quickly assemble the toppings.

~toppings~
I like a simple base sauce of whole peeled chopped tomatoes and passata, rendered down slightly with a pinch of sugar and some olive oil. Then add cheese (mozzarella), dried oregano, and whatever else you like: capers, torn cured meat (prosciutto, salami), a few slices of sweet small tomatoes, torn or sliced buffalo mozzarella, parmesan, finely chopped red chili, anchovies, olives, artichoke, roasted sweet peppers and aubergine, etc. Once cooked, to finish, brush the edges with olive oil, scatter a little sea salt and a little olive oil, and a few torn leaves of fresh basil.