Monday, 24 November 2014

Torrone ice cream

This is one of the most delicious and indulgent recipes that I'm going to include on this blog.    I came up with this recipe yesterday after trying to get hold of liquid Torrone to pour onto ice cream.  I couldn't find it anywhere - I've tried it just once, after I found it in an online Italian deli in London.  Unfortunately that deli no longer sells online, so I decided to try and make my own ice cream flavour instead, using traditional Torrone.


The Spanish version - Turron


If you've never come across Torrone before, it's an Italian sweet - a crunchy nougat made with egg whites, honey and nuts.  They sometimes sell it in Italian delicatessens and in the larger Duty-Free shops across Europe.

You can buy it online in the UK.  You can also buy the Spanish version is called Turron, it's exactly the same.

Here are some websites links where you can buy Torrone or Turron - make sure you buy the crunchy (hard) version and not the soft version.
 
http://www.eataly.com/torrone/

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/60274/Turron-Mini-Rounds

http://www.amazon.co.uk/El-Artesano-Turron-Alicante-Hard/dp/B006B8D86S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416836505&sr=8-1&keywords=turron

http://www.amazon.co.uk/El-Artesano-Turron-Alicante-Torta/dp/B003TX14IW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416836523&sr=8-2&keywords=turron

This recipe only uses 125g of Torrone, so you can enjoy the rest as nature intended!   You don't need an ice cream maker to make this - you can do it in a tupperware dish like I do.


Prep time:  1 hour
Freezing time:  3 - 5 hours
Difficulty level: easy



 Ingredients:

284 ml carton double cream
300ml milk
115g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod  (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)
1 tbsp Nutella (or other nut spread)
1 tbsp honey
50g mini marshmallows (optional)
125g hard Torrone (any flavour)


Method:

  1. Split the vanilla pod with a sharp knife. 
  2. Pour the double cream, milk and 75g of the caster sugar into a large saucepan.  
  3. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and add these to the cream mix. (if you don't have a vanilla pod, then add 1 tsp of vanilla essence instead)
  4. Heat the cream until it just starts to boil.  Turn the heat to very low.
  5. Add the mini marshmallows and stir until melted. 
  6. Add the nut spread and honey.    (I use Nocciolata (pictured below) which is a mixture of nuts and honey)  
  7. Once the ingredients have melted into the cream, remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 mins.
  8. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the remaining caster sugar until pale and creamy. (about 2 mins)
  9. From the saucepan, scoop out a couple of ladles full of the cream mixture and beat this into the egg mixture to loosen the mix.
  10. Reheat the cream mix in the saucepan until it comes to the boil.  Remove from heat then whisk in the egg mixture.  Return the pan to the heat, stirring continuously until the custard mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (about 10 mins)
  11. Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl and sit this in a bigger bowl that is filled with cold water and some ice. 
  12. Break up the torrone into approx 1 inch pieces and place these in a food processor.  Whizz the torrone to fine pieces, but not too fine, as you want a bit of crunch in your ice cream.  If you don't have a food processor, you can use a freezer bag and a rolling pin, hammer or mallet to break up the torrone.
  13. Add the torrone to the cool custard mix, then pour the mix into a tupperware container and place in the freezer.
  14. After each hour in the freezer,  for the first 3 hours, give the ice cream a good stir.
  15. After around 4 - 5 hours, it's ready to eat.



 Go on, treat yourself!



Friday, 14 November 2014

Chicken Katsu Curry

This is a favourite from Yo! Sushi, but I think this recipe actually tastes better than the restaurant version. Try it and see if you agree.

It's a breaded chicken recipe, served with an easy-to-make curry sauce and rice.  I use Thai jasmine rice for this recipe, but you can use sushi rice or basmati if you prefer.

The panko breadcrumbs are now widely available in most large supermarkets, or you can substitute these with any kind of breadcrumbs, homemade or otherwise.  

You will need: a large frying pan, a small saucepan, a rice cooker or saucepan, a rolling pin or mallet, and a hand blender or food processor to blend the sauce to a smooth consistency when cooked.

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 20 mins
Difficulty level: Easy
approx 499 calories per serving (not including rice)


Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (whole, raw)
1 egg (beaten)
Flour for coating
salt & pepper
1 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil
breadcrumbs  (you'll probably need about 100g)
60 - 90g Thai jasmine rice per person

For the Sauce:
1 carrot (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
1 chicken oxo cube (made into approx 200ml stock)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves (optional)
boiling water
1 tbsp medium curry powder
small cube of fresh ginger (approx 1.5 cm cubed) chopped finely  - or use a few pieces of sushi ginger
1 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil

Method:

  1. Wash your rice then cook it as per instructions.  I cook mine in a microwave cooker for 17 minutes.
  2. While the rice cooks, you can start the sauce...
  3. In the small saucepan, place your chopped carrots and cover with some boiling water. Simmer until the carrot is tender - approx 5 - 10 mins. While that is cooking...
  4. In the large frying pan, heat the oil, add the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the chopped onion and fry until slightly cooked. 
  5. To the frying pan, add the flour, stir this into the onions, then add the garlic and ginger.  Slowly add the chicken stock, stirring as you go, to remove any lumps.  Then add the soy sauce, bay leaves, and sugar. Continue cooking on a low to medium heat and add more stock if the mixture is looking too thick.  You want the consistency of baby food - so not too liquidy.
  6. Once the carrots are softened, add these to the sauce.
  7. Put the sauce into a jug or large bowl and blend to a smooth consistency.  Add more boiling water or stock at this stage if it's too thick to pour, but not too much.
  8. Give your frying pan a rinse, as you're going to use it again.
  9. Now for the chicken...   Beat your chicken breasts slightly with a rolling pin or mallet - not escalope thin, but just so your chicken breasts are no more than about 1.5 cm in thickness. 
  10. Coat the chicken breasts in a little flour. Season with salt and pepper.
  11. Put the beaten egg in a small bowl, and dip the chicken breasts, making sure they are completely coated.
  12. Dip the chicken breasts in the breadcrumbs, so they are coated.
  13. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the frying pan, and on a medium heat, fry the chicken breasts for approx 7-10 mins, turning over once to cook both sides, until the breasts are no longer pink inside. (These can also be oven cooked for 25 - 30 minutes at 180C) If you're oven cooking these, you may want to use some spray oil to coat them so the breadcrumbs crisp up.
  14. Once the rice is cooked, place a portion on your plates.  Slice the chicken breast into 1cm strips on top of the rice and pour over the sauce.


Hope you enjoy this one. 


Monday, 10 November 2014

Cold & Flu Remedy drink

Here's one for the winter months.  I don't know about you, but I tend to get a lot of sore throats and cold-like symptoms in the run-up to Christmas.  This is a cold remedy my Dad prepares whenever anyone in the family comes down with anything. I find it really does the trick, especially when combined with one or two Max strength cold capsules.

Cold Remedy Drink

Preparation time:  1 hour
Difficulty level:  Dead Easy
Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

4 large oranges (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)
1 tsp cinnamon
A shot of brandy (or whiskey)
1.5 litres water
3 tbsp honey (or agave nectar) (or maple syrup)

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat for one hour.   After an hour, give the sliced fruit a squish with a potato masher to bring out the juice.  Drain or ladel the liquid into a glass or mug and serve.   Can be saved for several days in the fridge and reheated when needed.







Thai Chicken & Cashews (Gai Pad Med Mamuang Himmapan)

Thai Chicken with Cashew nuts is a fairly mild and very tasty stir fried dish - but you can make it as hot as you like with the addition of more chillies. For those of you that love Thai food this is a real winner, and takes only around 20 minutes to prepare from scratch.   Any leftovers can be cooled then saved in the fridge and reheated for lunch the next day.



This is one I've been working on for a while to get just right, as a lot of recipes for it that I've tried from the internet don't taste quite the same as the restaurant versions. I've tried to make this as close to the restaurant dish as I can get it.

The Chinese and Thai sauces are available in most supermarkets now - the larger supermarkets will also stock the Shaoxing rice wine, but you can use sherry if you can't get the real thing. 

You will need: a wok or large frying pan, a small frying pan, a sharp knife, a rice cooker or saucepan.

Serves:  2
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty level:  Easy
428 calories per serving (not including rice) 

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast (sliced into thin-ish slices approx 3-4 cm long)
1 bell pepper - green or red - (chopped into approx 2cm chunks)
1 onion (chopped)
2 spring onions  (sliced into 1cm chunks)
1 large clove garlic (finely chopped)
60g Unsalted cashew nuts 
Thai Jasmine rice (approx 60-90g per portion)

1/2 chicken oxo cube
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Thai fish sauce 
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine  (or use sherry)
2 tsp brown sugar (or you can use white sugar or palm sugar)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 red chilli (chopped into large 1cm chunks)  or use a couple of small dried chillies (use more if you like it hot)
1 tbsp vegetable or ground nut oil


Method:
  1. Wash your rice then cook as per cooking instructions. I use a microwave rice cooker and heat in the microwave for 17 minutes with enough water to cover the rice plus 1cm above.
  2.  Boil the kettle with at least a cup full of water in it. 
  3. In a small dry frying pan or skillet, place the cashew nuts, and roast on a high heat for 5 minutes or until starting to turn brown - shake pan occasionally to roast both sides. Remove from frying pan and put aside.
  4.  In a large frying pan or wok, heat the oil on a high heat.  Add the sliced chicken and stir fry until just cooked. Add the garlic, chilli, red pepper, and onion, and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
  5.  Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine and brown sugar, and reduce a little on high heat.  
  6. Put half a cup of boiling water into a jug, and crumble in the chicken oxo cube.   Slowly add a little of the chicken stock to the frying pan to loosen the sauce.  You will not need all of the stock, probably only a couple of tablespoons.
  7. Add the spring onions and the roasted cashew nuts. Stir fry for about 1 minute.
  8. Serve with the steamed rice.
  9. If you don't like the chilli heat, make sure you pick out the chilli chunks before eating.













Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Afternoon tea - Part 2 - Ferrero Rocher Choux buns

Here's a tasty treat which should ideally be made the same day as you're going to serve them.  The Choux pastry can be made ahead and frozen, but I find it's never quite the same as freshly made.

Makes approx 20.
Time: approx 1.5 hours
Difficulty level: Medium



For the Choux pastry:

Ingredients:

250 ml water
100g butter
125g plain flour
pinch of salt
pinch of caster sugar
4 eggs (beaten)

Method:

  1. In a medium saucepan bring the water to the boil. Add the butter and wait until melted.
  2. Sieve the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl and then add all at once, to the boiling water mix.
  3. Beat the dough mixture continuously with a wooden spoon until it thickens and comes away from the sides of the pan. 
  4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  5. Preheat oven to 200C
  6. To the cooled dough, add the beaten eggs little by little and mix well.
  7. Fill a plain round-nozzle piping bag with the dough, and pipe 2 inch balls onto a baking sheet, leaving about an inch space between each bun.  Place a spot of cold water on top of each bun with your finger - this will ensure a crisper result.
  8. Bake buns for 20 - 25 minutes - and in a separate baking tray, place a few mm of cold water, and place this on the oven shelf below where your buns are placed at the same time as adding your buns. The steam will crisp your buns. 
  9. Remove buns from oven but leave oven switched on.  Push a skewer through the base of each bun to make a small hole, then place hole upwards back on the baking tray and bake for a further 5 minutes.
  10. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
  11. When cooled, with  sharp knife slit each bun across the middle horizontally.

For the filling and topping:

Ingredients:

200ml whipping cream 
200g Nutella
100g Hazelnuts 
100g plain chocolate - chopped into bitesize pieces
200ml double cream

  1. Roast the hazelnuts in the oven at 200C on a baking tray for 10 mins.
  2. Remove nuts from oven, allow to cool.
  3. Beat the whipping cream with an electric whisk (if you have one) until it reaches stiff peaks.
  4. Add the nutella to the whipped cream and fold in - this is your filling.
  5. Place the nuts in a food processor and grind to fine pieces and put aside in a bowl.
  6. To make your chocolate ganache for the topping - Heat the double cream in a saucepan until just at boiling point. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate pieces and stir. 
  7. put your nutella cream into a piping bag, and pipe filling into each of the choux buns.
  8. When filled, top each with a spoonful of the chocolate ganache, and sprinkle with the ground hazlenuts.
  9. Refrigerate before serving.