POACHED PEARS

I am temporarily (I hope) out of work so I have absolutely no excuse not to get back to putting things that I cook on my blog.  This is a nice light pudding (I really dislike the word dessert for some reason), ideal for after a heavy lunch. It is easy to do, you can prepare it well in advance and there are lots of variations you can make. 

The most important point is to make sure that your pears are slightly under ripe otherwise they will collapse when poached. Conference pears are best but make sure they are fat enough as in this recipe the core is removed before poaching. 

Serves 4

Pears 

4 largish Conference pears or similar hard pears
150ml water
100g sugar
150ml white wine
3 cloves
I orange sliced

Chocolate sauce

100ml double cream
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
Tablespoon golden syrup
Knob of butter

Filling

150 ml cream
50g dark chocolate grated 

Nibbed pistachios

Peel the pears and carefully hollow out the core from the bottom. Scrunch up some tin foil and put in the hole so that the pear doesn't collapse while poaching. Put the water, sugar , cloves, orange slices and white wine in a saucepan big enough to hold the pears, add them and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 20 minutes until tender. Remove the pears and let them cool.

To make the filling whisk the cream up until thick then fold in the grated chocolate. You can add some chopped nuts if you like.

Heat the cream, thoroughly stir in the cocoa powder, syrup and butter and beat until shiny.

Once everything is cool fill the pears with the cream mixture, settle each one on a plate, pour over the chocolate sauce and sprinkle with the pistachios.

SAVOURY PALMIERS

 

Mr Redding is very fond of sweet palmiers - Wiki defines them thus: 'Palmiers are made from puff pastry, a laminated dough similar to the dough used for croissant, but without the yeast. Puff pastry is alternating layers of dough and melted butter. The puff pastry is rolled out, coated with sugar, and then the two sides are rolled up together so that they meet in the middle, making a roll that is then cut into about 1/4" slices and baked. Usually it is rolled in sugar before baking.' Whilst being associated with France different varieties occur across Europe.

 

I quite like sweet palmiers but generally prefer savoury to sweet and was reminded of a palmier recipe that Delia had in her Christmas book that contained parma ham. Anyway, I had some wild garlic pesto left over and some shop bought puff pastry so I thought I would  experiment.

Making palmiers is all about the construction. Take a ready rolled sheet of puff pastry that is roughly square.  Spread with pesto ( ordinary is fine but I had made some delicious wild garlic pesto - take an ordinary recipe and substitute wild garlic and rocket for the basil), then line anchovies up in two lines roughly equidistant. Srinkle a generous handful of grated parmesan over the whole lot along with a good grind of black pepper. Starting at one side roll up tightly as if you were rolling a swiss roll until you get to the middle. Turn the pastry round and do the same with the other side. Wrap the resulting roll in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Once the pastry has chilled pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees. Slice into approx. 50mm slices and place on a baking sheet covered in baking parchment, leaving lots of space between them. Bake for around 15 minutes until crisp, golden brown and bubbling.

These are a brilliat drinks nibbles and, having a little more body than many, enable two decent cocktails to be consumed before dinner. Enjoy.

SCALLOPS WITH MORCILLA, BACON, BROAD BEANS AND PEAS

This is a delicious starter, quite light but full of good flavours - the saltiness of the bacon and earthiness of the beans and peas complement the sweetness of the scallops.

I love scallops, both the big fat King scallops and the sweet little Queenies. I find them to be a very useful thing to keep in the freezer for impromptu starters - yes, I know I should buy everything fresh from my local fishmonger (the excellent Sopers on Nunhead Lane) but I'm busy with lots of stuff and good quality frozen scallops are ok by me.

This isn't an original recipe, we have all seen variations on the theme of black pudding, scallops, broad beans, peas, but it is very easy to prepare - no purees or emulsions here, just lovely ingredients cooked quickly. 

Again, I apologise that I can't give much idea about quantities because lately when I have been cooking I have been doing so out of pleasure and to feed people.  Per person I would allow 2 large or 3 small King scallops, a handful of frozen broad beans and peas, 3 inches of morcilla sausage and a small handful of smoked lardons.

So, how to do it....

Pour boiling water over the broad beans, leave for a couple of minutes, then remove the outer skin of each bean. Cook the beans and peas for 2-3 minutes in boiling water until just done. Set aside.

Put a splash of oilve oil in a small frying pan, allow to heat up and add the lardons. Once they are looking browned and crispy add the morcilla and brown. Add the peas and beans and a splash of balsamic vinegar to create a dressing - taste and check for seasoning then keep warm.

Heat up a frying pan, add some olive oil and get smoking hot. Put in the scallops, and cook for a minute or so each side (depending on size) until just cooked. These are best served in small shallow dishes with the morcilla and bacon dressing on the side.

NEGLECTED BLOG....

There are no excuses for neglecting my blog - I can trot out being busy at work, having various family commitments, etc. etc. but everyone can say that and basically it just comes down to priorities and my little blog hasn't been up there near the top of my list lately - I have no aspirations to a career in food, too old for all that hard work and long hours. However, this doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking so I thought that to get my hand in again I would just put up some pictures of things I have cooked with a brief description - no detailed recipe, just an idea of ingredients.

So here we go.......

My dear friend Amanda came over for a Saturday lunch of cocktails and food (note the order of importance) - we both love making cocktails and I have one of the Difford cocktail making bibles. We had a few (!) cocktails each and then I served up my Persepolis inspired lunch......

Slow cooked shoulder of lamb with Persian spicing...



Served with bejewelled rice and a cucumber, mint and pomegranate salsa. We also had a minty coriander yoghurt dip but I didn't take a picture, and

Amanda is very low carb so I resisted the urge to make bread.....

It was all delicious and extremely easy to make ahead - the ideal lunch to have after a few cocktails. We had pudding as well - my (well, Claudia Roden's) orange and almond cake is posted previously, here I served it with cream and some fantastic slivered pistachios from Sally at Persepolis.

I find this kind of food is very straightforward as long as you are as lucky as me to have a shop close by with a knowledgeable shopkeeper who can help you decipher the maze of spices. It was a splendid lunch, even though I do say it myself.

RHUBARB CRUMBLE TART

I rarely make New Year's resolutions but I made one this year - that I would blog something every week. Well, that didn't work very well so here we are, into the second month of the year, and this my first post of the year. Ho hum.

But yay, it's rhubarb time again. I love rhubarb. My Mum would make rhubarb sponge, rhubarb crumble and rhubarb and custard - the rhubarb juices would curdle the custard into a glorious mess. I am happy with ordinary green rhubarb but always look forward to the new season rhubarb from Yorkshire - pink, tender and delicious.

I was going to look for something highly skilled and arty to do with my rhubarb but deep down I wanted a tart with something crunchy on top.  This isn't a particularly original recipe but it is lovely and fairly easy to make.  I can make sweet pastry (and it is very easy) but time is precious so I use a pack of ready made. Just make sure it is sweet pastry and is made with butter.

1 pack of sweet pastry

750g rhubarb
200g sugar

120g cold butter diced
120g plain flour
90g ground almonds
120g demererra sugar
Handful of flaked almonds


Heat oven to 180c. Butter and flour a 10" flan case with removable bottom and line bottom with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry until nice and thin then line the flan case. Crimp the edges so it looks pretty. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Take a sheet of greaseproof paper and line the pastry case loosely and add baking beans. Bake blind in a 200c oven for 20 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes until pale golden brown and set. Turn oven down to 180c.

Wash the rhubarb, dry, then slice into 2" chunks. In a heavy bottomed saute pan spread out the rhubarb then sprinkle over the sugar. Leave on a low heat until the rhubarb starts releasing juice then occasionally shake the pan until the sugar has melted and the rhubarb is tender. Tip into a sieve over a bowl to let the rhubarb strain.

For the topping, rub the butter into the flour and ground almonds until it looks like breadcrumbs - don't worry if you are left with some lumps, it adds to the texture. Stir in the sugar and flaked almonds.

Fill the pastry case with the strained rhubarb, lightly spoon the topping mixture on top, and bake for 30 minutes until golden. Serve warm with cream - or custard!!

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

I have eaten bubble and squeak all my life. What else would you do with the vegetables left over from a Sunday lunch, to go with the meat leftovers? Bubble and squeak is one of those dishes that people argue about so I am not claiming that this is the defintive recipe, I am just sharing my family recipe with you. Quantities are difficult because you are basically working with what you have but as a guideline you want to make the same amount of mashed potato as the vegetables you have leftover. I always add some peas too. I think one of the key ingredients is the white pepper - it adds a little heat and a lot of flavour to the end product.

Serves 2

2 handfuls of cooked cabbage/sprouts/beans/broccoli
1 handful of cooked peas
Potatoes to make 2 handfuls of mashed potatoes
White pepper
Salt
1 egg
Oil or lard

Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes until soft then mash them with a generous sprinking of white pepper. Chop up the vegetables and mix with the potato along with the egg. Season generously with a little salt and lots of white pepper. Heat a large frying pan, add the oil or lard and heat. When nice and hot put the mixture in the pan in four spoonfuls - leave for a couple of minutes then turn over when golden brown. Repeat.

I always have this with leftover roast meat, pickled onions and pickled walnuts. Just a London girl's recipe.

SALTIMBOCCA WITH MARSALA

You may notice a bit of a theme here – a couple of Sundays ago I felt like cooking something other than the usual Sunday roast, so thought about some of my favourite dishes to create a lunch. I started with the seafood salad in the previous post then proceeded to Saltimbocca, a classic Italian dish that translates, apparently, as ‘jumps in the mouth’.  Looking at Wikipaedia my versions has elements of both the classic and Roman versions, as it has a Marsala sauce but isn’t rolled up – the technicalities confuse me! At this point I admit I am not Italian and apologise if I offend anyone. 

This is traditionally made with veal, although in the UK it is often made with pork. However, now that British veal is so readily available, and so delicious, I have no qualms about going down the veal route. Most butchers and a lot of supermarkets now sell it – I got mine from Ocado and very delicious it was. This is quite a simple recipe and is good for a dinner party as it can be prepared way in advance – and actually the preparation isn’t that hard anyway. I served this with sprouting broccoli tossed in a little anchovy and garlic sauce, spinach and new potatoes.

 Serves 4 

8 small or 4 large veal escalopes

8 slices of Parma ham

8 large sage leaves (or 16 small)

8 toothpicks

Olive oil

Wine glass of Marsala 

If the escalopes are thick beat them out between two sheets of greaseproof paper or cling film until 5mm thick. Now the idea is to cover each escalope with Parma ham so, depending on the size of your escalopes use the appropriate amount of Parma ham. Then lay 1 or 2 (depending on size) sage leaves on top and secure the whole thing with a cocktail stick. They should then look like this:

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan until moderately hot. Put the escalopes in Parma ham side down and cook for a couple of minutes, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes or until cooked through. Put the escalopes onto a warm plate, and deglaze the pan with the Madeira, bubbling it well until syrupy. Serve the Saltimbocca immediately, drizzled with the sauce, and with whatever vegetables you fancy.