4 large leeks, sliced into coins 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 litre chicken stock 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 250ml cooked chicken, finely shredded 2 bay leaves 125ml cream
Place a saucepan over medium-high heat and add some olive oil to it. Add the leeks and stir-fry until it is really soft. Take about 2 spoonfuls of the leak out of the saucepan and keep aside as garnish. Add the garlic and stir-fry for another minute. Pour in the chicken stock, add the potato, chicken and bay leave and simmer the soup for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and mash the potato against the side of the saucepan. I like my soup to have uneven bits of potato to add texture but you may blitz it at this stage if you prefer. Pour in the cream and season the soup with salt and black pepper. Cook for a minute or two before serving with a fresh loaf of bread.
15g butter 15ml olive oil 1 large/2 medium onions, finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 carrots, finely diced 50g curry paste (I used Rogan Josh paste – use a milder paste if you are not a fan of heat!!) 30ml tomato paste 500ml cooked rice 45ml soy sauce
Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the butter and oil. Add the onion and fry until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute. Now add the carrots and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the curry and tomato paste and stir to mix through. Add the cooked rice and stir until the rice is evenly coated. Pour in the soy sauce and cook for 2 minutes, until the soy has been absorbed. Serve warm.
45ml butter, cubed 3 eggs 180ml flour 180ml milk, warmed in the microwave for 30 seconds 15ml sugar 10ml vanilla a pinch of salt 125ml lemon curd 125g cream cheese, room temperature 2 blood oranges, peeled and cut into segments icing sugar for dusting
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Add the cubed butter to a 23cm ovenproof frying pan and place it in the oven to heat up. Add the eggs, flour, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt to a blender and blitz until smooth. Remove the hot pan from the oven and swirl the butter around so that it covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pan and stand on a cooling rack. Add the lemon curd and cream cheese to a small bowl and mix. Spoon the mixture onto the warm pancake and spread it out. Scatter the orange segments over the curd and sift with icing sugar to serve.
This is a nutritious soup and is perfect to make with cooked, left-over chicken.
2 chicken breast fillets 1,5l chicken stock 10ml sesame oil 2,5ml ground ginger 1 x 375g can of sweet corn 30ml cornflour 2 eggs a handful of chopped chives one packet baby corn
Place the chicken breasts in a saucepan set over medium-high heat and cover with 1 litres of the stock. Add a pinch of salt and cook until the chicken is done. Remove the meat, but keep the stock. Shred the chicken into large strips by pulling it apart with two forks. Top up the chicken stock so that you have 1 litre again. Add the sesame oil, ginger powder and sweet corn and bring to a boil. Add the shredded chicken and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the cornflour to a small bowl and pour in about 60ml of the stock from the saucepan. Stir to make a runny paste. Drizzle the cornflour into the saucepan in a thin stream while stirring continuously. Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together. Add a spoonful of the stock in the saucepan to the eggs and whisk again. Now, slowly drizzle in the egg while stirring. Remove the soup from the heat, add the corn and chives and serve immediately.
It might not be one of the prettiest bakes you will serve but wins all the accolades for simplicity, speed and flavour!!!
250ml sugar 250ml water 250ml blueberries 3 pears, peeled and sliced into 1,5cm chunks 2 apples, peeled and sliced into 1,5cm chunks 45ml brown sugar 5ml ground cinnamon 125g sugar 125g butter, room temperature 2 eggs 125g self-raising flour
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 20cm x 16cm ceramic dish with cooking spray. Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture reaches a boil. Cook for 1 minute without stirring. Now add the pear and apple chunks and cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the fruit from the liquid, spread it in the baking dish and add the blueberries. Scatter the sugar and cinnamon over the fruits. Add the sugar and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on high speed. Turn the mixer on medium and add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the bowl down and mix again. Run the mixer on low speed and add 1-2 tablespoons of flour at a time. Beat to incorporate between each addition. Spoon the batter on top of the fruit, spread it out evenly and bake for 45 minutes. Serve the dish warm with ice cream or custard.
2 onions, roughly chopped 1 carrot, cut into small chunks 2 cloves of garlic, minced 4 Portobello mushrooms 120g shitake mushrooms 200g mixed mushrooms 6 sprigs of thyme 150ml red wine 200ml vegetable stock 2 bay leaves 15ml tomato purée 15ml cornflour
Place a saucepan on medium-high heat, add a splash of vegetable oil and the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrot and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Now add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for another 7 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the stock, bay leaves and tomato purée. Turn the heat down and sift the cornflour over the mixture. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the mushroom bourguignon on mashed potato.
For the filling: Add the corn flour to a large mixing bowl and pour in 50ml milk. Add the egg yolks and 50g sugar and whisk together. Set aside. Pour the 450ml milk and 50g sugar into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to just before boiling point and take off the heat. Drizzle the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. Stir until very thick and then cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and stir through. Pour the custard onto a dinner plate and cover with plastic wrap. Push the wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Your should make TWO batches of filling, separately.
For the cake: Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray two loose-bottom cake tins and line the base and sides with baking paper. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl and whisk to mix. Add the eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the sugar while the mixer is running. Now beat on high speed until the mixture is three times its original volume – about 7 minutes or so. Scatter a third of the flour on the surface and mix on the lowest speed. Add another third, mix and then the remaining flour and mix again. Add the butter and milk to a saucepan set over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm when you put your finger in it. NB: YOU WANT THE BUTTER TO MELT, YOU DONT WANT TO BOIL THE MILK! Pour the milk mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and vegetable oil and whisk through with a hand whisk. Add about 250ml of the egg and flour mixture and vigorously whisk to combine. The batter must be smooth. Turn the mixer on to a low speed and very slowly, pour in the milk. Scrape down the sides and the base of the bowl. Beat on low speed for 20 seconds. Divide the batter between the two prepared cake tins. Lift each tin 5cm from the work surface and then drop it – repeat a few times to knock out the large air bubbles. Place the cake tins in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the tins for 15 minutes before turning the cakes out on cooling racks and removing the baking paper. Leave to cool completely.
Assembling the cake: Slice the cake horizontally so that you have 4 cake discs. Spread the custard evenly on to each cake layer and stack them on a serving platter. Roast the flaked almonds in a dry pan, allow to cool and scatter over the cake to serve.
45ml vegetable oil 60ml Thai green curry paste 500ml chicken stock 1 x 400g tin coconut milk 10ml fish sauce 45ml sugar 1,5ml salt 800g chicken breasts, skin removed and cubed 2 aubergines (about 450g in total), diced a small bunch of basil leaves 30ml lemon juice
Place a saucepan over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk and stir to dissolve the paste. Add the fish sauce, sugar and salt. Now add the chicken. Turn the heat to medium-low heat so that the curry simmers lightly. Cook for 20 minutes. Add the diced aubergine and simmer for another 15 minutes. Taste the curry. Add more salt if necessary and also more sugar for a background sweetness. Chop a handful of the basil leaves and add it to the curry. Pour in the lemon juice and turn the heat to low. Cook for 5 more minutes. Serve the curry on a fragrant rice and scatter over some fresh basil leaves.
If you need to speed things up in the kitchen you may make this soup with store-bought stock and rotisserie chicken.
45ml olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped a small bunch of salad onion, chopped 1 clove of garlic, minced 1l chicken stock 2 eggs 60ml fresh lemon juice 375ml cooked rice 500ml cooked chicken breast, shredded
Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the oil, onion and salad onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to the boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer. Add the eggs, lemon juice and 60ml of the rice to a blender. Blend until smooth. Keep the blender running and slowly pour in 250ml of the hot stock. Now pour this mixture into the stock mixture in the saucepan while stirring. Add the rest of the rice and the shredded chicken. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes, on a low heat (do not let it boil) until thick. Spoon into bowls and serve immediately.
This entire dish can be put together with store-bought/ready made components. For those of you that like to slave away in the kitchen, here are the recipes.
Pancakes/Crêpes: 250ml flour 1,2ml baking powder 2,5ml salt 250ml milk 125ml water 62ml vegetable oil 2 eggs
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl of a stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment. Add the milk, water, oil and eggs to a jug and whisk together by hand until the eggs are fully incorporated. Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly drizzle in the milk mixture. Set the mixer on its highest speed and whisk for 2 minutes. Take the bowl from the mixer and check whether there are any lumps in the batter. If there are, set a sieve over a large bowl and pour through. Cover with a tea towel and set aside to rest for an hour. Place a crêpe pan on medium-high heat, wait for it to warm up and pour a few drops of oil into the pan. Spoon a soup ladle full of batter into the pan and swirl around to cover the surface. Cook for a minute or two, flip the crêpe over and cook for another minute or so. Keep going until you have no batter left. Cover the crêpes and allow to cool completely.
Lemon curd: grated zest of one lemon 220g caster sugar 110g butter, cubed 125ml lemon juice, strained (about three lemons) 3 eggs, lightly beaten
Add the zest, sugar and butter to a small saucepan and set over the lowest heat. Stir the mixture until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon juice to the saucepan and stir through. Now add the egg and keep stirring until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take the curd from the heat and pour into a glass jar. Allow to cool completely.
Putting the dish together: Preheat your oven to 200℃ and butter a ceramic tart dish. Spoon 2-3 teaspoons of lemon curd on a crêpe and spread it with the back of a spoon. Roll the crêpe up and place it in the ceramic dish. Keep going until all the crêpes are filled. Pour the cream over the pancakes and sift the icing sugar over. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.
My Whisk and I 