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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Cherry Brulees

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Using Fresh Cherries will give a stronger, fresher flavour, however, it will mean that you’ll need stone them. Cherry Stoners are inexpensive, and saves a great deal of time whilst also damaging the Cherry very little – which will give a very good presentation as well.

Cherry Brulee

Try to use some of the brighter coloured Cherries for decoration.

To Serve 8
350g Fresh Cherries
1tbsp Kirsch
4 Egg Yolks
50g Caster Sugar
450ml Double Cream
125g Granulated Sugar

1. Stone the Cherries, reserving eight of them with stems for decoration. Pour the Kirsch over the rest of the Pitted Cherries.
2. Whisk the Egg Yolks with the Caster Sugar until they have thickened and are much lighter in colour. Pour the Cream in, stirring all the time. Place into a heavy-based saucepan, and cook over a low heat, stirring all the time to make sure it doesn’t boil. After around ten minutes, the Mixture should be similar in consistency to Double Cream.
3. Divide the Cherries amongst eight Ramekins or heatproof cups, then strain over the Custard mixture. Bake at 150C and cook for thirty to thirty five minutes, until very lightly set. Cool and refrigerate until firm.
4. Place the Granulated Sugar into a small, heavy based saucepan, and heat until the Sugar dissolves and turns a golden Caramel colour. Place a Pitted Cherry on top of each Ramekin, then pour over some of the dissolved Sugar, and chill for at least an hour, but no more than six hours.

Serve fresh from the refrigerator.

Photo Courtesy of: snowpea&bokchoi

Coconut Curry

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This is a very simple dish, and it makes a very flavoursome curry, with tastes of (as the name suggests) coconut. It’s a very creamy dish, and quite heavy on the calories, so may not be the best thing for straight after Christmas!

Coconut Curry

Serve it with a freshly toasted Naan bread, and Rice – try adding some tumeric and chopped almonds to the Rice once cooked to add more flavours to the side.

To Serve 4
1tbsp Oil
450g Minced Beef
2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
1tsp Ground Cumin
1tsp Ground Coriander
1tsp Garam Masala
1/2inch Fresh Root Ginger, Grated
2tbsp Ground Almonds
175ml Coconut Milk
120ml Beef Stock
Salt and Pepper
2tbsp Fresh Coriander, Chopped

1. Heat the Oil in a large Saucepan, and add the Minced Beef and Garlic. Cook for five minutes over a medium-high heat.
2. Add the Cumin, Coriander, Garam Masala and Ginger, and cook for two more minutes, before adding the Ground Almonds and seasoning to taste.
3. Drain any excess liquid off, leaving around a tablespoon in the pan, then add the Coconut Milk and Stock. Mix in well, and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer for twenty minutes, before adding in the Fresh Coriander and cooking for a further ten minutes until the sauce is thicker (it shouldn’t be dry, but shouldn’t be very…saucy).

Serve fresh and still hot from the pan, along with Rice, Naan Bread, Yogurt dip and Coriander on the plate.

For an alternative, simply replace the Minced Beef with diced Chicken, and cook until done through before moving on to the next step. Try adding different vegetables to the mix – Onions, Peppers and sliced Aubergines are all good to use.

Photo Courtesy of: Avlxyz

Goulash

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Goulash and Rice

This traditional Hungarian Stew has many different versions, dating all the way back to the ninth century. Try to find a Sweet, Hungarian Paprika for this recipe, as it suits it the best – the Caraway seeds taste a little like aniseed, so you may want to slightly change the quantity or even not include them altogether if you’re not a big fan of the taste.

To serve 4
4tbsp Sunflower Oil
650g Braising Steak
2tsp Plain Flour
2tsp Paprika
300ml beek Stock
3 Onions, chopped
4 Carrots, diced
1 Large Potato, diced
1 Bay Leaf
½ to 1 tsp Caraway Seeds
400g Canned Chopped Tomatoes
2tbsp Soured Cream
Salt and Pepper

1.       Heat half of the Oil in a large heavy based frying pan, and cut the steak into cubes about an inch across. Add the Steak cubes to the pan, and cook over a medium heat and cook until browned all over. Reduce the heat, and stir in the Flour and Paprika. Stir constantly for two minutes, and stir in the Stock, before bringing to the boil, then transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.

2.       Rinse the frying pan out, and heat the remaining oil in it. Add the Onions and cook over a low heat for five minutes until soft. Stir the Carrots and Potatoes and cook for a few minutes more, before adding the Bay Leaf, any of the Caraway Seeds and Tomatoes (with the Juices from the Can). Season to taste with Salt and Pepper.

3.       Add the vegetable mix to the Slow Cooker, and stir well. Cook on low for nine hours, until the meat is tender.

4.       Remove and discard the Bay Leaf, and then stir in the Soured Cream, and serve immediately.

Photo Courtesy of: RoolRool

Rich Fruit Cake

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This Christmas Classic can last for up to three months if you don’t ice it – so it’s a great treat to take to family gatherings, parties or to have ready to eat at home for those days where you just want to eat junk! You’ll also need a few extra things for making this cake – some string, baking paper, brown paper, and a large cake tin – quite a deep one, and it can be round or circular! This recipe makes enough for around twenty people.

Rich Fruit Cake

It takes about two weeks to make (with the setting and absorbing of the alcohol) so get making them now!

Makes 1 Cake

500g Dried Mixed Fruit

500g Sultanas

250g Currants

180ml Rum, Brandy or Sherry

125g Glace Cherries

275g Plain Flour

2tsp Ground Mixed Spice

225g Softened Butter

5 Large Eggs

Zest of 1 Medium Orange

Zest of 1 unwaxed Lemon

100g Ground Almonds

1.       Put all of the Mixed Fruit, Sultanas and Currants into a large bowl, and pour 90ml of the alcohol over. Cover the bowl with cling film, and stir occasionally over a twenty four hour period.

2.       Line your cake tin with three layers of the baking paper, and wrap the outside of the tin with a double layer of the brown paper.

3.       Heat the oven to 150 C or Gas Mark 2

4.       Rinse the Cherries in some warm water, before patting dry and cutting in half.

5.       Sift the Flour and Mixed Spice together.

6.       Cream the Butter and Sugar, before adding the Eggs one at a time, with 1tbsp of the flour mixture. Make sure you beat the mixture well before adding the next egg.

7.       Grate the zest of the Orange and Lemon and stir it into the mixture with the rest of the Flour mixture, Ground Almonds, Cherries and the Dried Fruit (with the alcohol)

8.       Spoon the cake mixture into the tin, and make sure the top is level. Pat the top with damp fingertips, but make sure you don’t transfer too much water over – you don’t want to get it wet.

9.       Bake for an hour, before reducing the heat to 140 C or Gas Mark 1.

10.   Bake for a further three hours or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

11.   Remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

12.   Once cold, wrap in foil and store for a week, before piercing with a skewer. Drizzle over two tablespoons of the liquor, re-wrap and store. Repeat twice over the next two weeks.

Photo Courtesy of I Don’t Know, Maybe.