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This recipe started out as Knickerbocker Glory made with stewed cherries, but I decided I couldn’t be bothered to stone cherries and substituted them for raspberries. I then decided the raspberries were too nice to do anything with and what was left was not really a recipe at all!
In the end, dessert was layers of fresh raspberries with vanilla ice-cream and half a crumbled up Flake, topped with grated dark chocolate and the other half of the Flake (it has been ages since I’ve had a Flake!). A step above kiddie food – yum!
I don't think we even get gooseberries in Australia. I'd certainly never seen them until I came to London. There are my Dad's favourite, cape gooseberries, known in the UK as physalis - a somewhat less pleasant name! But they are not even remotely similar.
Gooseberries look a little like grapes, but are apparently too tart to eat in their uncooked form. We tried these ones, though, and they actually tasted rather reminiscent of grapes and weren't too sour at all. Kyle thought they tasted a little like that equally rare and unusual New Zealand fruit, the feijoa.
They have a very limited season and are available only sporadically in our fruit and vegie shop. I can't really rely on them being there but bought a punnet two weekends in a row. So two very classic British Summer desserts in a row - Gooseberry and Elderflower Fool and Gooseberry Crumble.
The fool was a lovely blend of gooseberries, yoghurt and cream and was delicious served with some crunchy biscuits for texture.
The crumble was less successful. The gooseberries created so much juice that even though I poured a lot out, it still bubbled over so much that the crumble was quite soggy. I found the flavours pleasantly unusual, more tart than I expected from tasting the raw fruit. The excessive juice did taste delicious, all syrupy and sweet and the crumble (that wasn't drowned) was crunchy from the hazelnuts. Kyle, unfortunately, found the fruit a little too tart and the lack of crunchy crumble disappointing.
So overall, the gooseberries were a mixed result at best. The thing is, they are so rare, I'll probably cook them again next year anyway!
Gooseberry and elderflower fool
Serves 4
500g gooseberries
100g caster sugar
2 strips pared lemon zest
2 heads elderflower (optional)
3 tbsp elderflower cordial, or to taste
142ml pot double cream
150ml fresh ready-made custard
Sponge finger biscuits, to serve
1. Put the gooseberries into a saucepan (there is no need to top and tail them) with 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the lemon zest, and the elderflower heads, if using. Cook over a low heat until the juices start to run from the gooseberries, then cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the berries are soft. Remove and discard the elderflower heads and add the rest of the sugar. Turn the heat up a little and cook for 4-5 minutes to reduce the liquid a little. Remove from the heat when it's just beginning to catch on the bottom of the pan. Leave to go cold.
2. Remove and discard the lemon zest from the pan. Rub the fruit through a sieve into a large mixing bowl and stir in the elderflower cordial, to taste.
3. In another bowl, whip the cream until it just starts to form soft peaks. Carefully fold the custard into the gooseberry purée, followed by the cream, so that the mixture is nicely marbled. Spoon into 4 serving glasses and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with the sponge fingers.
Gooseberry and elderflower crumble
Serves 4
450g gooseberries
150g caster sugar
Elderflower cordial
1 small orange, zest and juice
For the crumble:
100g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
50g blanched hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
Vanilla ice cream to serve
1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C.
2. First make the crumble. Place the flour and butter in a bowl and using your fingertips work together until a breadcrumb texture has been achieved. Add the sugar and the hazelnuts and work through the mix until fully incorporated and the topping has a textured uneven appearance.
3. Wash the gooseberries, remove the husks and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Top and tail them if necessary.
4. Heat a frying pan and add the sugar and orange zest, then add the gooseberries, orange juice and elderflower cordial. Place over a high heat until the gooseberries begin to release their juices, shaking the pan frequently. Divide the gooseberries among four individual ovenproof dishes.
5. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the gooseberries to cover them, tap the dishes on the work surface to remove any air pockets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the gooseberries are bubbling up around the sides. Leave to stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly before serving.
6. Serve with a scoop of the vanilla ice-cream.
I have been craving Asian food recently. Perhaps it is the hint of Summer in the air, perhaps it is an excess of British food, but I decided I had to cook some sort of Asian meal this weekend. And if you're going to cook an Asian meal, why not make it a Thai feast?
We started with Pork Larb in Little Gem Lettuce cups. This was really tasty - lots of typical Thai flavours, such as chilli, fish sauce, lime juice, mint and coriander, so was packed with flavour. The lettuce made for a refreshing almost juicy contrast and the toasted ground rice (something I have never had before) provided perfect crunchy texture. Fun to eat, good to look at and tasty to boot, this is a great starter.
Main was Noodle, Chicken and Aubergine Laksa. I'm not a huge fan of laksa, but this really appealed and was also delicious. The red curry paste we used could have been stronger (or we could have used more) and we added some dried chilli flakes to boost the heat. The chicken was meltingly tender, the aubergine sweet and soft and the fresh basil really leapt out of the dish. This could have changed my mind about laksa.
After all this richness, a light dessert was all that was needed, so the Fresh Pineapple with crushed mint and lime sugar was perfect. It really was just fruit +. Unfortunately, I made the mint and lime sugar a bit too far in advance so it went a bit brown and clumpy, but still tasted good. Seeing as this takes, oh, 30 seconds to make, there is really no need for advance preparation.
I was very pleased with my Thai feast - lots of strong, fresh flavours and some really different dishes (for me, anyway). Unfortunately - or is that fortunately? - I still don't think it has cured my Asian food cravings. Stay tuned . . .
I had quite high hopes for this dessert - Strawberries with basil and a Limoncello and sugar syrup and I guess it wasn't bad, but I don't think I'll make it again. It was more like a weak cocktail than a dessert!
In theory, it should have been good. Roasted Fig Clafoutis - Cointreau-soaked figs, drizzled with honey then roasted and finally baked in a custardy-style clafoutis. Unfortunately, the custardy-style part was more like stodge, masking the figs and making for a very heavy dessert. The really bad thing when you make a dessert like this that you don't particularly like is persevering with it for the next night . . . and the next night. I would probably try the figs again, but look for a much lighter style of batter.
It did, however, give me an excuse to crack open the Wadi Dana (!) Wild Plum Jam (in place of apricot), that we got from the Made in Jordan store in Petra. The jam, at least, is good!
Looking back over this blog, I have somehow omitted to record what can only be described as an obsession with rhubarb. I love it! I love the pretty pink colour, the slightly tart flavour, the soft texture once it is cooked.
It needs almost nothing to be a beautiful dessert, as per this very simple rhubarb compote with vanilla ice-cream. Stewed for about 10 minutes with about 4 tablespoons of caster sugar, some orange zest and orange juice, it both looks stunning and tastes divine. A firm favourite.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Mum and Dad were popping over from Oz to check out our London lifestyle. There would be much eating and drinking in the two weeks ahead!
After about 36 hours of travel time, they arrived at 10am on Sunday 15 February - which meant they had to stay awake for a quite a while or risk never-ending jetlag. We started our two week 'Food Fest' with Nigella's Christmas breakfast option of Triple Cheese and Onion Strata followed by a refreshing fruit salad of blackberries, raspberries and pomegranate with lime juice. It is prohibitively expensive to just eat berries in Queensland, so I knew this would be a treat.
After a trip on a London bus, the London Eye and a couple of drinks in a London pub, we headed home for dinner. I had given this meal an enormous amount of thought. I wanted yummy things that I could make in advance and also had the bottle of Billecart-Salmon champagne Kyle had bought me for my birthday to match with a starter.
I decided on Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese rolls to start, champagne and smoked salmon being a classic combination. As they were part of a Delicious magazine picnic article, these could also be made easily the day before and were on the table in minutes. They were very tasty and the Billecart-Salmon was every bit as good as I remember from my one glass in France.
I have to say - this picture does not do justice to the Lamb and Date Tagine with Pomegranate Couscous we had for main. I have made this dish before - it keeps very well made a day in advance. The lamb is so tender and the dates actually melt into the dish and make the sauce all sweet and yummy. I don't think you really need the pomegranate in the cousous, it would be fine just made with chicken stock instead. This is certainly a tasty dish and one of my new favourites.
Despite Mum and Dad really starting to flag now (Mum actually did that head dropping thing at the table and knocked over her wine while Dad started slurring his words - it is interesting to see how extreme fatigue resembles drunkeness!), we pressed ahead with dessert. One of my other new favourites since coming to London is rhubarb and particularly this Apple and Rhubarb Crumble with oats and ground hazelnuts in the crumble. It was served simply with single cream and a bottle of French dessert wine Domaine de Grange Neuve Monbazillac recommended by the very knowledgable Sean from Highbury Vintners.
Hopefully a fitting introduction to their visit - at the very least, I certainly enjoyed it!
Lamb and Date Tagine with pomegranate couscous (From Delcious magazine - Jan 2009)
Serves 6-8
Takes 20 minutes to make and about 3-3 1/2 hours to cook
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 large knob of fresh ginger, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
1.5kg boned shoulder or leg of lamb, cut into cubes (I use shoulder)
200g medjool dates, pitted
400g can chopped tomatoes
400ml lamb or chicken stock, hot
1 lemon and 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
For the couscous
500g couscous
1 tbsp olive oil
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Handful fresh mint, roughly chopped
Seeds of 1 pomegranate
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan and gently cook the onions, ginger and garlic for 10 minutes, until softened. Add all the spices and cook for 5 minutes, then add the lamb and cook for a further 10 minutes.
2. Add the dates, tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, until the lamb is very tender.
3. Place the couscous, oil and lemon zest and juice in a bowl and cover with 600ml boiling water. Cover and leave to cool completely, then use a fork to fluff up the couscous and stir in the mint and pomegranate seeds.
4. Serve the couscous with the tagine and garnish with citrus wedges.
Delicious recommends an Australian Shiraz with this - we had an Argentinian Malbec, which was also nice.
I usually prefer to stay in and cook on Valentine's Day. If you go to a restaurant, you pay over-inflated prices for generally average food and are surrounded by couples with nothing to say to each other! Last year, we deviated from this typical course of action and did go to a restaurant and of course, paid too much for average food in an environment of contrived romance. So this year, I reverted to type and decided to cook instead.
I wanted to do something different and special but was somewhat restricted by the additional challenge of also pre-cooking the next day's meal for when my parents arrived from Australia. So with limited time (although at least it was a Saturday), dishes and fridge space, the menu looked like this:
Pancetta-wrapped scallops with hazelnut and rocket salad
Stuffed lamb breast with flageolet beans and artichokes
Silky chocolate coffee pots with raspberriesI don't normally cook scallops as they are quite expensive, so this was a special treat. The scallops were wrapped in pancetta and skewered with a rosemary stalk then pan-fried in butter. They were served on a salad of rocket and toasted hazelnuts with an olive oil and balsamic glaze salad and accompanied by a glass of an Italian Pinot Grigio. Yum!
I cheated a bit with the main meal and asked our lovely local butcher for some of his stuffed lamb breast rolls that I had seen in the window the previous week. The accompaniment was a very easy warm salad of flageolet beans, grilled artichokes, roasted garlic, creme fraiche, dijon mustard and mint. I had never tried lamb breast before and while it was a bit tougher than I expected, served sliced on top of the salad and drizzled with gravy made from the pan juices, the flavour was excellent. I would definitely try it again but perhaps cooked more slowly for longer. We drank a Spanish Pinot Noir with this one.
Finally, we finished the night with Silky Chocolate Coffee Pots - an absolutely brilliant dinner party dessert as you make them the night before and they just sit in the fridge. These were super rich but a really lovely balance of sweetness (all that sugar!) and bitterness (good strong coffee and dark chocolate). The raspberries were also a nice addition to cut through the richness a little.
Here are the recipes (they are all from various Delicious magazines):
Pancetta-wrapped scallops with hazelnut and rocket saladServes 2
6 large scallops
6 thin pancetta slices
6 small fresh rosemary sprigs, all but the topmost leaves stripped
Knob of butter
Handful of rocket
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic glaze (or vinegar)
1 tbsp of toasted hazelnuts, chopped
Wrap each scallop in a splice of pancetta and secure in place with a sprig of rosemary, skewered through the scallop. These can now be chilled until ready to cook. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the scallops and cook for 2 minutes each side until golden and the pancetta is crisp and cooked.
In a bowl, toss the rocket with the oil, vinegar, hazelnuts and some seasoning. Spoon onto two serving plates, top with the scallops and spoon over any pan juices.Stuffed lamb breast with flageolet beans and artichokesServes 2
2 stuffed lamb breast rolls
olive oil
Half a small garlic bulb, top sliced off
1 tsp olive oil, plus an extra drizzle
Few rosemary leaves
400g can flageolet beans (cannellini would probably be fine too), drained and rinsed
130g grilled artichoke hearts1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsps fresh mint, chopped
1 tsp plain flour
100ml chicken or lamb stock
Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and brown the lamb breast rolls. Move to a tray. Drizzle some olive oil on the garlic and add this to the same tray. Place in the oven. Remove the garlic when soft (about 30 minutes) and the lamb after 45 minutes. Set the lamb aside to rest.
For the salad, heat the tsp of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Squeeze out the roasted garlic (discard the skin) into the pan and add the rosemary. Fry for a minute. Add the beans and artichokes and cook over a low heat until warmed through. Add the creme fraiche, mustard and mint. Season and stir until combined.
For the gravy, heat the fat in the tray used to cook the lamb over a medium heat and add the flour. Mix, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add some stock to make a paste and then gradually pour in the remainder until combined. Simmer until thickened. Season.
Slice the lamb breast and serve on top of the bean and artichoke salad with the gravy drizzled over.
Silky chocolate coffee pots with raspberriesMakes 4
125g caster sugar
125ml strong espresso
100g dark chocolate, chopped
250g marscapone
cocoa and icing sugar, to decorateraspberries, to serve
Put the sugar and coffee in a small pan and heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for a minute, then add the chocolate and stir until melted. Cool.
Put the marscapone in a bowl and beat until smooth. Slowly beat in the coffee and chocolate mixture, a little at a time. The mixture should be the consistency of thick pouring cream. Pour into individual espresso cups or small glasses and chill overnight.
Put the raspberries on top and sprinkle with cocoa and icing sugar to serve.
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