Warm Stilton salad

If you love blue cheese, this is the salad to for you. And who doesn’t like bacon? Add some crunchy pears and spinach and you’ll have a fabulous salad. Recipe is from the BBC site where you’ll see a better quality (and much more appetizing) picture as well.

You’ll need:

• 4 smoked bacon rashers
• 3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced
• 140 g blue cheese (Stilton), crumbled
• 100 g washed baby spinach

For the sauce (I used larger amounts than in the original recipe because one never has enough sauce, right?)

• 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tl wholegrain mustard
• 3 spl olive oil

# Use a sharp knife to snip the bacon crossways into fat matchsticks. Heat a small, dry frying pan on a medium heat and add the bacon. Cook for about 10 mins, until the fat has run and the bacon is crisp.

# To make the dressing, reduce the heat in the pan to low and stir in 1 tbsp water, then the vinegar, honey and mustard. Stir well, scraping up any residue on the base of the pan. Stir in the oil, taste and season.

# Meanwhile, heat a ridged griddle pan or grill and cook the pears for about 5 mins on each side, until browned. Place in a bowl and mix with the cubes of cheese (this melts the cheese a little, making it nice and squidgy). Tip the spinach into a serving bowl, and scatter the cheese and pear mixture over. Top with the warm bacon dressing and serve immediately.

# Be sure not to add too much cheese, since it may kill all the other flavors. A bit is enough. And besides, you can always add more.

Fine dining

I have found a soulmate at school – somebody who is obsessed with food  as much as I am (she must be, she used to be a chef).  She is extremely knowledgeable and  knows which ingredients go well together and how to pair food and wine, also knows which cheese to choose, what vegetables are in season and where to buy the best food at Borough market. Whenever she talks about food, I wish I had a dictaphone, because I’m scared I’ll forget everything. I want to know that much about food as well! One day maybe…

Actually I feel more comfortable in the kitchen than I did a year ago – around the time when I started this blog – so this is progress, right? I guess it all comes with practice. Same time next year I’ll be making tender horseradish terrine with one hand and chicken liver mousse  with other, and in the mean time, put together a roasted cod with sea beans and oysters and matzo almond brittles. Or maybe that is too ambitious. After all, it’s the credit crunch, nobody could obviously afford to buy oysters. 

Enough of that. Actually I wanted to tell you about a dinner party I recently hosted with my friend. It was great fun putting together the menu, discussing the seasonal food and shopping for the necessary ingredients. To everyone who is planning a dinner party – or just likes to cook – keep an eye on the BBC’s seasonal calendar.  It’ll give you the list of ingredients that are in season and suggest the recipes to use. A very useful tool! 

But now about the dinner party. This was the table setting.

This was the menu:

Sea scallops with winter salad & salsa verde

Veal cacciatore with polenta & bitter greens

Cheese

Petits Fours

We started with rich seared scallops with crunchy salad of white beans and red onion, topped with oven-roasted bread. I hope I remember the recipe:

# Soak cannellini beans in water overnight. On the day of the dinner,  boil the beans in salted water together with a carrot and an onion (cut into two), a couple of bay leaves and rosemary springs. When beans are ready (still a bit crunchy, not mushy) drain them, and save the stock (you can use it for soups or whatever you wish the next day).

# Prepare salsa verde: mix 2 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley with minced garlic clove, 1 tbsp capers and 100 ml olive oil. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. For smooth consistency, you might want to blend the sauce. We didn’t.

# Chop red onion and sauté in oil to bring out the flavour. Then mix onions with the boiled beans. Stir in generous handful of chopped parsley and black olives, also add a tablespoon of capers. Season with salsa verde and lemon juice.

# Prepare the bread: place bread slices on an oven dish, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast at 180 degrees C for about 10 minutes, or until the bread is crunchy (not burned). 

# Prepare the scallops just before serving the dish. Here are some tips for searing the scallops. I learned from my friend that you need to wash scallops with ice-cold water and make sure that they are patted dry before you start searing them, otherwise they will not brown. That is the reason why my seafood snacks did not brown (I placed them on a grill pan ‘wet’, straight after removing from the marinade). Also, the pan needs to be hot when you start searing the scallops. To prevent olive oil from burning, take a spring of rosemary leave and twirl it on the pan in the hot oil for a couple of seconds prior searing the scallops. 

# To serve: place the salad on the serving plate, top with scallops (we used 2 scallops per portion) and bread. Drizzle with salsa verde and serve. 

For the main course, we served veal with polenta and sauteed pak choi. 

For veal, we used this recipe. My friend did most of the work, seasoning and browning the huge veal shoulder and chopping all the stuff for the sauce. I was basically watching and taking notes. We cooked the veal the day before, so that in case we mess it up, we would still have time to buy some roast chicken at the local Morrison’s. Luckily, everything went well. I had some trouble slicing the veal (it was a HUGE piece of meat) – so here’s a tip: if you are buying a veal shoulder for 6 people, make sure it is properly sealed together, otherwise the slices won’t hold together.

Witnessing the cooking of polenta was also a new experience for me. At first glance, it seemed super-easy: just boil the water, add salt and stir cornmeal into the bubbling water, keep stirring for about an hour [sic!], then add butter and grated Parmesan cheese and serve. Make sure you don’t add the polenta too quickly to the water or it will turn lumpy (in the end, we needed to sieve some of the polenta, but it was still quite creamy). Check the approximate quantities here. All in all, polenta is easy to make, you just have to make sure that you have :

a) a right-sized heavy-bottomed pan (if the pan is not very big, it is hard to stir)

b) boiling water at hand so that you could add it to the polenta when there is a need; and

c) strong biceps for stirring. 

Cook it slowly, stirring constantly, over very low heat. The hot polenta may spatter as it cooks, so use a long-handled wooden spoon. Here are some more tips for polenta:

■ Use a whisk when adding polenta to simmering water.

■ A flat, wooden paddle is the best stirring device and will help prevent lumps.

■ Keep stove heat low while stirring.

■ Add salt to water and check for seasoning before allowing polenta to set.

■ Polenta can be cooked in stock instead of water for extra flavour.

■ Slabs of cooked, set polenta can be frozen, but will be watery. Drain well before using.

■ Too much butter or cheese will prevent setting.

■ Add a little extra water for soft polenta and serve immediately.

■ The leftover can be cooked in the oven the next day.

For the greens, we washed and chopped pak choi (placed stems and leaves on separate bowls) and sautéed with oil just before serving. First sauté the stems and then add the leaves – otherwise, the leaves will go mushy.

When serving the dish, place a generous spoonful of polenta on the plate, top with a slice of veal, sauce and greens and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Voila!

Cheese course was served with fresh bread and quince paste  - something I have to admit that I tasted for the first time in my life. It was great! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to offer petits fours instead of a ‘proper’ dessert as the cheese course was quite rich – and also, because I did not have enough plates for 3 courses for 6 people…but it turned out quite well. Petits fours consisted of almond biscotti and truffles. For the latter, I used the recipes that I have tried before: oreo truffles,  white chocolate truffles with pepper-warm coating and peanut butter truffles, experimenting a bit with the latter by adding some Baileys to some of the batter. Also, different from Bakerella’s recipe, I coated oreo truffles in dark chocolate and then in unsweetened cocoa powder – there is obviously no such thing as TOO much chocolate in a truffle.

The biscotti came out quite nice as well. Firstly, I have to say that I had no idea making biscotti can be that easy! If you want to impress your guests, biscotti should definitely be on your menu – just don’t tell anyone that those divine Italian cookies are super-easy to make. The recipe is below; note that there is no butter in the recipe – that is no mistake (you don’t need it):

# Toast 150 g almonds at 160 degrees C for about 10 minutes. Cool and chop coarsely. Set aside. 

# Mix 300 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder and  ¾ tsp aniseed (I did not have it at hand, so I used cardamon instead). 

# In another bowl, combine 3 eggs, 200 g sugar and a bit of lemon zest (not necessary if using cardamon). Using a mixer, beat the batter into thick consistency.

# Carefully fold flour into the batter. Add chopped almonds. 

# Prepare two loafs of ‘bread’ from the batter on a pan covered with parchment paper (make sure that there is enough room between the loafs, about 8 cm, otherwise the loafs might melt into one big biscotti). Bake at 180 degrees C for about 25 minutes. 

# Using a sharp bread knife, slice the hot loafs into 1-cm thick slices, place them back on the pan and roast in the oven at 160 degrees C for 10 more minutes to get the crunchy texture. 

# Store in covered container at room temperature (not in the fridge). 

It was a lovely evening and we agreed to continue the dinner party tradition. Actually I have already learned about the secrets and wonders of Indian cuisine. Will blog about this experience shortly. In the mean time, keep on cooking! 

Broccoli salad with bacon and pine nuts

Remember when I wrote I got myself a cookbook as a present? I have now tried another delight that it offers, this time with broccoli and bacon. I have a feeling it is yet another summer dish, but hey, it is warm here in London, not like a proper winter at all, so why shouldn’t I try lighter recipes. After all, broccoli is rated as on of the most healthiest foods on earth according to the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (of course, in this dish the bacon brings the healthiness index down, but let’s not be disturbed by it).

Serves two:

4 slices of bacon

300 g broccoli florets

100 ml balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp olive oil

50 g pine nuts, toasted

sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

 

# Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Oil a  baking tray.

# Put the bacon slices on the tray and place in the oven to cook for 8-10 minutes until just crisp.

# Plunge the broccoli into a pan of boiling salted water, bring back to boil, and simmer for 2-3 minutes until tender. Drain and refresh under the cold tap, then drain well again. 

# Simmer the vinegar in a small pan until the volume has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and swirl in the oil. 

# Pile the broccoli and bacon on plates, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and seasoning to taste, and drizzle over the balsamic dressing. Serve at room temperature. 

Baked goat’s cheese with figs and walnuts

Another delight from this lovely new cookbook of mine, this time with goat cheese. J suggested to add something green to the plate, some iceberg or lettuce or other salad with vinegar sauce, just to balance the sweetness of this dish. I agree. I was also thinking of serving this dish in small spoons – a bit of lettuce in the bottom, topped with a piece of warm goat cheese and the walnut-fig mixture. I bet they’d taste yummy…will try them soon! Until then, enjoy the recipe, which serves two portions:

100 g of goat’s cheese

handful of walnuts

5 dried figs

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

# Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. 

# Cut the cheese into two and lay the chunks into a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. 

# Meanwhile, spread the walnuts out on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Then chop roughly.

# Chop figs, place them in a small pan with the vinegar, and toss over a medium to high heat for 1-2 minutes until reduced and syrupy. Serve the goat’s cheese topped with the figs and walnuts, and drizzled with the honey.

Crunchy, sweet, savory – this dish has it all. Bear in mind that it is rather filling, so if you plan to serve it as a starter, have something light for the main course.

Discovering new vegetables

So the other day I decided to try a salad from this cookbook, the one my dear friends gave me as a present. I was looking for something easy to prepare and which would stay safely in a handbag for a couple of hours (so that I could take it with me to school and eat for lunch). I decided to give a try to “Roast squash and coriander couscous”.

The salad did not have a picture, so first I needed to figure out what is “butternut squash”. As not a native English-speaker, I had no idea what it could be. It sounded like a fish. So I went to the store and tried to look for it in the fish counter. Couldn’t find any fish called squash. Well, guessing has never been one of my strongest skills. So the dear friend internet helped me out. There it was, butternut squash. Not a fish at all (of course, had I carefully read through the instructions, I would have known that squash couldn’t possibly be a fish as it had to be “peeled, deseeded and diced into chunks”).

The second round in the shop was easier. I located the squash with 2 minutes and off I was to prepare the salad. Very embarrassing. But hey, at least I know now.

Serves four:

• 1 butternut squash (750g), peeled, deseeded and diced into chunks
• 200 g couscous
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 400 ml chicken stock
• a little light olive oil or vegetable oil
• 100 g pumpkin seeds
• leaves picked from 1 small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

# Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Oil a large baking tray. Spread the squash out in a single layer on the tray and season with salt. Roast for 20-30 minutes until tender and nicely colored.

# Meanwhile put the couscous and salt in a large bowl. Pour over the stock and mix well. Cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place to soak for about 10-15 minutes.

# Heat a little oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds, season, and fry for a few minutes until they begin to swell and look toasted.

# Fork through the couscous to separate the grains. Fold in the pumpkin seeds, squash, and coriander and taste for seasoning.

I have to say it tasted better the next day when the squash had had some time to absorb some of the stock. Or I just should have seasoned the squash a bit more, because it was a bit bland. But the pumpkin seeds rocked! Very taste, I have never had toasted pumpkin seeds and they were great! All in all, the salad was very filling and yet not heavy at all. Would do it again, just with more seasoning.

The book suggests that in the autumn and winter months you can use pumpkin instead of the squash. Maybe a good dish to serve over Halloween for example.