Author: bridgete

Categories
Vegetarian

Jamie Spinach filo tart

Ingredients

  • 100 g pine nuts
  • 5 large free-range eggs
  • 300 g feta cheese
  • 50 g Cheddar cheese
  • dried oregano
  • 1 lemon
  • olive oil
  • 1 knob of unsalted butter
  • 400 g baby spinach
  • 1 x 270 g pack of filo pastry
  • cayenne pepper
  • 1 whole nutmeg , for grating

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
  2. Toast the pine nuts in a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden and smelling fantastic, tossing occasionally.
  3. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, crumble in the feta, then grate in the Cheddar. Season with a pinch of black pepper and a couple of pinches of dried oregano.
  4. Finely grate in the lemon zest, drizzle in a little oil, then toss in the toasted pine nuts. Mix well.
  5. Melt the butter in the frying pan over a medium heat with a drizzle of oil, add half the spinach, stirring until wilted, then when there’s space, add the remaining spinach, stirring regularly until wilted.
  6. Lay a 50cm strip of greaseproof paper out on a clean work surface, rub lightly with oil and scrunch up, then flatten out again.
  7. Arrange 4 sheets of filo in a large rectangle on the greaseproof paper, overlapping at the edges, so that it’s almost covering the greaseproof.
  8. Rub the filo with a little oil, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Repeat until you have 3 layers.
  9. Stir the wilted spinach into the egg mixture, then grate in half the nutmeg and mix well.
  10. Slide the greaseproof and filo into the empty frying pan, so that the edges spill over, then push down into the sides of the pan.
  11. Pour in the spinach mixture and spread out evenly, then fold the filo up over the filling to cover.
  12. Place the pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, just to get the bottom cooking, then transfer to the top shelf of the oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Delicious served with a fresh seasonal salad.
Categories
-appetizers Fish

Salmon Rillettes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound center-cut, skinless salmon fillet
  • 1 tablespoon anise-flavored liqueur, such as Pernod
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground white pepper
  • 1 celery rib
  • 1 leek, halved lengthwise
  • 1 small onion, quartered lengthwise
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4 cups water
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 large shallot, minced (1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 tablespoon sour cream
  • 1/4 pound skinless hot-smoked salmon, flaked
  • 2 tablespoons snipped chives
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
  • Toasted baguette slices, for serving

Directions

Instructions Checklist

  • Step 1On a plate, sprinkle the salmon with the anise liqueur and season with salt and white pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Step 2Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring the celery, leek, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, wine and water to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes.
  • Step 3Add the salmon to the pan, cover and remove from the heat; let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the salmon, picking off any peppercorns, and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes. Flake the salmon.
  • Step 4In a skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened. Let cool.
  • Step 5Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream. Add the cooled shallot, along with the poached and smoked salmon, chives, lemon juice, olive oil and paprika and stir until combined. Season the rillettes with salt and white pepper. Serve with toasted baguette slices.

Make Ahead

The rillettes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Pack into a crock and press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the surface.

Categories
Vegetarian

Rullo di Spinaci e Ricotta

Filling

  • 150gr spinach cooked squeezed
  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • salt and pepper
  • 150gr ricotta drained
  • 30gr grated parmesan
  • pinch of nutmeg

Finely chop the spinach and saute with butter, Season with s&p and cool completely. Mix ricotta with cheese and nutmeg and then add the spinach.

Dough

  • 125gr 00 flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 60gr butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp water

Sift the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the butter to the well and using your hands, work the butter into the flour. Grab handfuls of the mixture and rub it inbetween your hands until it becomes like sand. Add the egg and ‘pinch’ it into the dough until it forms a ball. Knead the dough for 1 minute. Then pick it up and throw it down onto the table 20 times. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll out the dough to 28x33cm (11×13) rectangle. Roll it up onto the rolling pin and transfer to a baking paper. Use a pastry cutter to square off the edges.

ASSEMBLY

2 tablespoons cream mixed with 1 tablespoon milk for brushing

Preheat oven to 180c. Brush the entire dough with the cream, Spread the filling over. Roll into a log shape. Brush with more cream. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 30 minute. Let cool before serving.

Categories
Vegetarian

Timballo alla Teramana

Crepes

  • 250ml milk
  • 100 gr flour
  • 28 gr butter
  • 1 egg
  • salt and pepper

Whisk everything together. Heat 8in (20cm) pan on medium high. 1 tbsp butter in the pan then wipe with a paper towel. Ladle 50ml (2 fl oz) into the pan and spread it out evenly by SWIRLING. Put it back down and cook until golden (flip once) Should make 12 crepes. Set aside.

Filling

  • 3 garlic cloves (not chopped)
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 7 tbsp olive oil
  • 250 gr mushrooms chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 200 gr peas
  • 2 shallots chopped
  • 280 gr courgettes
  • 250 gr cooked spinach
  • 7 gr butter
  • 100 gr parmesan cheese grated
  • 30 gr pecorino grated
  • 250 gr mozzarella cut into 1/2 in cubes

Saute the garlic and rosemary in 2 tbsp oil until brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until liquid evaporates. Remove the garlic and rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside

cook the peas in water with 1/2 the shallots, 1 tsp olive oil and pepper and cook until soft. Drain and add salt to taste. Set aside

Cook the courgettes with the rest of the shallots until the liquid evaporates. Set aside.

Saute the spinach in butter, remaining oil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Remove garlic squeeze and chop.

ASSEMBLY:

Grease a 20cm (8in sq) baking dish. Line the bottom with 2 crepes, Sprinkle with a quarter of the grated cheeses. Add a quarter of the spinach and place some mozzarella cubes. Line with 2 more crepes. Repeat and add the grated cheeses- spinach-mozzarella-mushrooms-peas-courgettes. Top final layer with the two remaining crepes. Dot with butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 180c for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and with scissors cut into 6 equal portions. Serve immediately.

Categories
Soup Vegetarian

Cauliflower Soup with Mustard Croutons

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp olive oil 
  • 10g unsalted butter
  • 5g thyme sprigs
  • 20g parsley
  • Shaved skin of 1 lemon, plus grated zest of ½ lemon
  • 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced 
  • 2 large celery sticks, cut into 3cm pieces
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 1 large cauliflower, broken into small florets
  • 1 large potato, peeled and cut into 2cm dice
  • 1.4 litres vegetable stock (or chicken stock for non-vegetarians)
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives
  • For the mustard croutons:
  • 90g unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 3 tsp picked thyme leaves
  • 3 tsp finely chopped parsley
  • 150g crustless ciabatta, torn into 1cm pieces
  1. First make the croutons. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the butter in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. When it starts to foam, whisk in the mustard, herbs and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, take off the heat, leave for a couple of minutes to cool slightly, then stir in the ciabatta. Spread out on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, until crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. (Any you don’t use for this dish, store in an airtight container.)
  2. For the soup, put the oil and butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Tie together the thyme, parsley and lemon skin (or put them in a tied-up muslin), and add to the pan with the onion, celery, bay leaves, caraway seeds, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a quarter-teaspoon of white pepper. Cook for eight to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft but has not taken on any colour. Add the cauliflower, potato and stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for eight minutes, until the vegetables are cooked but still have some bite.
  3. Use a slotted spoon to lift a third of the cauliflower out of the pan – avoid removing any potato – and set aside. Let everything simmer away for another five minutes, then remove the herb bundle and the bay leaves. Using a hand-held blender, or in a food processor, blitz the soup until smooth, return to the pan and add the reserved cauliflower pieces. Stir in the grated lemon zest and chives, and serve, sprinkling the croutons on top at the last minute..
Categories
Desserts

Salted Caramel Pots de Creme

Ingredients

  • ▢2 cups thickened (or heavy) cream
  • ▢4 egg yolks, from large eggs
  • ▢½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
  • ▢¼ cup water
  • ▢½ teaspoon salt (optional)
  • ▢Flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 160C / 320F / 140C fan forced. Place 4 ramekins (notes) in a flat bottomed baking tray with high sides.
  • Warm the cream in the microwave for 30 seconds and set aside – just so it’s not cold.
  • Place the sugar and water in a heavy based stainless steel saucepan over low heat (notes). Heat, swirling from time to time until all the sugar is dissolved in the caramel.
  • Let it come to a bubble then continue to cook, swirling every so often until it turns amber in colour.
  • Carefully pour in the cream so that it doesn’t splash, and stir with a spatula. Keep stirring over low heat until the caramel melts back into the cream so you have a smooth caramel cream. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until very pale.
  • Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks while gently stirring with a whisk at the same time. Make sure to pour slowly so the sudden heat doesn’t scramble the eggs.
  • Add the salt and stir it through.
  • Strain the mixture into a pouring jug then pour evenly into the ramekins.
  • Now pour hot (not boiling) water into the baking dish, around the outside of the ramekins to halfway up their sides.
  • Bake for 45 minutes or until the centres look just set (notes).
  • Very carefully lift the ramekins out of the baking dish and set aside to cool for 15 minutes before covering with plastic wrap and placing in the fridge to chill for 3-4 hours
Categories
Bakery Desserts

Almond Cake

  • 250 grams unsalted butter (softened)
  • 250 grams marzipan (softened)
  • 150 grams caster sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon almond essence
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 large eggs
  • 150 grams self-raising flour

METHOD

You will need a 25cm / 10 inch springform tube pan or patterned ring mould, buttered and floured.

  1. Preheat oven to 170ºC/150ºC Fan/gas mark 3/325ºF. Chop the butter and marzipan to make them easier to break down, and put them in the bowl of the food processor, fitted with the doublebladed knife, with the sugar. Process until combined and pretty well smooth. Add almond essence and vanilla extract, process again, then break the eggs one at a time through the funnel, processing again each time. Tip the flour down the funnel, processing yet again, and then pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula.
  2. Bake for 50 minutes, but check from 40. Then, when the cake looks golden and cooked and a cake-tester or fine skewer (or a piece of spaghetti) comes out cleanish, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before turning out. (This is when you will be feeling grateful if it’s the Springform you’re using.)
  3. The fact that you could easily get 12 slices out of this is another reason why it comes in useful when you’ve got people coming for dinner. That it keeps for a good week is another point in its favour; you don’t have to be fiddling around with all the courses just before lift-off. And if you don’t want to eat raspberries with it, like the rosemary cake it’s very good with apples. With this cake, I make a glorious pink apple puree. Either go for apples stewed in blood-orange juice (wonderful around February when the tarocchi are in) which gives a tenderly coral tint, adding a cinnamon stick or 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, or use red-skinned eating apples and don’t peel them before cooking them. In fact, there’s no need to core them either, just chop the apples roughly and put them in a pan with some butter, lemon juice, cinnamon or cloves and, if there’s some around, a slug of Calvados. Sieve the apples when they’re cooked to an utterly yielding pulp, or push them through a food mill. If you want to smarten up the cake-plus-puree deal, then provide a bowl of creme fraiche (with or without Calvados and a little golden icing sugar stirred in) with some toasted flaked almonds on top.
  4. I am not someone who enjoys peeling and depithing oranges at great length, but sliced tarocchi, or ordinary oranges, with a syrup made by reducing equal volumes of juice and sugar to an almost-caramel, would partner an orange-zested version of this almond ring (the zest in place of vanilla) exquisitely.
Categories
Fish

Tunisian Loup de Mer

Ingredients

  • 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut lengthwise in half
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or substitute ground cumin and skip the toasting and grinding step)
  • 1 generous teaspoon saffron
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 loup de mer (also known as branzino), about 1 pound each, cleaned, scaled, heads and tails removed
  • 1 1/2 yellow onions, trimmed and sliced through the stem end into eighths
  • 5 Anaheim peppers, trimmed, seeds and membranes removed and cut vertically into quarters
  • 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and parboil them for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.  When they’re cool enough to handle, cut each half in half again lengthwise. 

2. Toast the cumin seeds in a small sauté pan over medium heat until fragrant, about three minutes. Grind them finely in a mortar or spice grinder. Set aside. 

3. Heat one cup of water till warm and drop in the saffron, then the butter. Set aside and let the butter melt.

4. Rinse the fishes inside and slice each crosswise into four pieces. Place them in a large baking dish or roasting pan with the potatoes, onions, Anaheim peppers and tomatoes. Sprinkle the salt, cumin and tumeric over all, and grind black pepper generously over all. Toss gently to coat the fish and vegetables evenly, turning the fish over so it gets coated on both sides. Pour the water-saffron-butter mixture and then the olive oil over all, and gently toss again. Lay the lemon slices on top. Roast 25 minutes, then transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Categories
Fish

Red Curry Salmon

Salmon:

  • 1 1/2 lbs. salmon
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more for a larger filet)
  • 1–2 teaspoons olive oil

Coconut Curry Sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 small knob of ginger (minced)
  • 1 tablespoon of lemongrass paste 
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 jar (110 grams) red curry paste
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
  • lots of lime juice and zest
  • 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
  • cilantro, basil, mint, or other fresh herbs 

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Get the oven ready: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place one of the oven racks is close-ish to the top, about 6 inches or so.
  2. Salmon: Mix the spices and the olive oil to make a paste. Place the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet. Rub the paste liberally over the top part of the salmon. Bake for 6-12 minutes (depends on salmon thickness and desired doneness – I usually opt for 8-10 minutes). See notes for potential broiling issues and alternative methods.
  3. Coconut Curry Sauce: Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and lemongrass; sauté for 5 minutes. Add brown sugar and curry paste; sauté for 3 minutes. Add coconut milk. Season with fish sauce and lime juice to taste. Add spinach; stir into the sauce until wilted.
  4. Serve: Place salmon over rice. Cover with sauce, lime juice, and fresh herbs.
Categories
-appetizers Fish

Hot smoked trout with fennel, peas and goat’s cheese

INGREDIENTS

  • 75ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5g picked dill leaves
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly shaved
  • 100g soft rindless goat’s cheese, broken into chunks
  • ¾ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
  • ½ tsp grated lemon zest
  • 40g pea shoots
  • 4 hot-smoked trout fillets
  • 150g peas (frozen are fine), blanched for a minute, refreshed and drained
  • 1 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed
  1. Put the oil, lemon juice and dill in a large bowl, add half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper, and whisk. Add the fennel, stir and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes. Put the cheese in another bowl and mix in the fennel seeds, lemon zest and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
  2. To serve, add the pea shoots to the large bowl, flake the trout into 5cm pieces and add these, too, with the peas and peppercorns. Mix gently, transfer to a serving dish, dot cheese on top, drizzle with oil and serve.