Pour the brandy into the pan in which you have cook the steak. If you barbecued your steak, pour it into a small saucepan. Turn the heat up to high and simmer the brandy for about 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Add the beef stock and cook until reduced by half – about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cream and peppercorns. Gently simmer the sauce for 2 minutes, while stirring. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Spoon over steak and serve.
500g spaghetti 45ml butter 200g mixed mushrooms 200g bacon, cut into pieces 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced 65ml dry white wine 250ml cream 125ml chicken stock 50g parmesan cheese, grated a handful of parsley, chopped
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet and keep warm while you make the sauce. Put a cast-iron pan on to a high heat and add the butter to it. Fry the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and slightly caramelised. Spoon into a bowl and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium and add the bacon to the same pan. Fry for about 3 minutes. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and the cooked mushroom and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and allow the wine to reduce to half. Now add the cream, stock and grated parmesan and turn the heat down to low. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Add the cooked and drained spaghetti to the sauce, mix through and taste for seasoning. Scatter a handful of chopped parsley over the spaghetti and serve.
This is a fail-proof hollandaise sauce for this classic breakfast. Be adventurous and add some spice and interest with Chorizo sausage!
3 hamburger rolls 1 chorizo sausage 6 eggs
For the Hollandaise sauce: 3 egg yolks 15ml lemon juice 5ml Dijon mustard 1,2ml salt 125ml melted butter
Cut the rolls in half and lightly toast them. Set aside. Slice the chorizo sausage into 0,5cm thick discs and place the slices flat in a dry frying pan over high heat. Cook for 2 minutes, flip the slices and cook 2 minutes more. Cook all the chorizo and keep the slices warm in your oven. For the Hollandaise sauce: Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard and salt to a blender and blitz to mix the ingredients. (30 seconds) Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. The butter should be completely melted and very hot! Run the blender while drizzling in the hot butter in a thin, steady stream. Assemble the dish by putting half a toasted roll on a dinner plate. Cover the surface of the roll with 4-5 slices of chorizo. Poach the eggs and place one egg on each chorizo-topped roll. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the Hollandaise sauce onto the egg and serve.
Add the chopped chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with barely simmering water to melt. Stir every now-and-then until completely melted. Take from the heat. Line a small-hole muffin tin with paper cups. Spoon about half a teaspoon chocolate into each cup and give it a swirl so that the chocolate covers the base of the paper cup. Add about three blueberries and two pistachio nuts to the cups and then drizzle with another half teaspoonful of melted chocolate. Place some more blueberries and nuts on each cluster and give each a final drizzle of chocolate. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes. Gently remove the clusters from the paper cups and serve. Do not keep the clusters in the refrigerator.
These rolls are deliciously moist and soft and make for a great dinner roll, with a boost of veggies!!
190ml cooked and mashed butternut (about one large butternut) 190ml milk 10g instant yeast 450g bread flour 50g cake flour 45g caster sugar 15ml honey 7,5ml salt 45g butter about 45ml melted butter
Add the mashed butternut and milk to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix together on a low speed for 2 minutes. Add the yeast, bread flour, cake flour, caster sugar and honey and mix on a low speed until the mixture comes together as a rough dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cut the butter into small pieces and set aside. Remove the plastic wrap, add the salt and knead the dough on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the butter pieces one at a time, with the machine running and knead until the dough is silky smooth. About 6 minutes. Lightly oil a mixing bowl and place the dough in it. Cover and allow to rise until double in size (about 1 hour). Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to a working surface and divide into twelve equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place it into the prepared muffin tin. Cover the muffin tin with a plastic bag and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Bake the rolls for 16 minutes. Melt an additional 45ml of butter in the microwave oven. Take the rolls from the oven, brush the rolls with the melted butter and place back in the oven for a further 3 minutes. Take the rolls from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Serve with butter and honey.
Easy to make and even easier to eat, apple crumble is a dessert classic for good reason!
1kg apples (5-6 large apples) 25g brown sugar 5ml ground cinnamon
For the crumble: 110g pistachio nuts (you may replace it with pecan if you like) 75g butter, diced 175g self-raising flour 10ml ground cinnamon 110g brown sugar
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Peel and core the apples and then cut them into 3cm chunks. Add the apple chunks, brown sugar and cinnamon to a mixing bowl and toss everything together with your hands. Scoop the apple mixture into a 18cm X 28cm ceramic dish and set aside.
For the crumble: Chop the pistachios into smaller pieces. Set aside. Add the butter and self-raising flour to a mixing bowl and rub it together with your fingertips until it resembles crumbs. Stir in the cinnamon, brown sugar and chopped pistachio nuts. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the apples, spreading it right up to the edges of the dish. Press the crumble down with the palm of your hand. (If the mixture is tightly packed it will be really crispy) Now run the tines of a fork over the surface. Place the crumble in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Serve the apple crumble with big scoops of vanilla ice cream.
This is slow cooking at its best with a punchy umami deliciousness! Leftovers and some salad make a fabulous wrap the next day.
about 2kg of beef brisket, bone in 2 onions, chopped 2 carrots, diced 4 cloves of garlic, minced 250ml red wine 500ml beef stock (cubes are perfect!) 500ml water 3 tins of diced tomato 2 bay leaves 45ml Worcestershire sauce 5ml salt
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Put a heavy-base ovenproof saucepan on to medium-high heat and cover the bottom with vegetable oil. Add the beef and brown it all over. Remove from the saucepan and set aside. Add some more oil to the pan and add the onion and carrot. Cook on a medium heat, stirring every now and then until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the stock, water, tomato, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Return the beef to the saucepan and bring back to a simmer. Cover the saucepan with a lid, place in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Turn the meat, return the saucepan to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Take the brisket from the saucepan, place it in an oven tray and shred the meat by pulling it apart with two forks. Remove any bones and chunks of fat. Return the meat to the sauce and warm through. Serve on buttery mashed potato.
Preheat your oven to 170℃ and line a small loaf tin of 21cm X 11cm with baking paper. Add the butter, sugar, salt and honey to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on to high speed and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and very pale – about 6 – 7 minutes, scraping down once or twice. Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together. Run the mixer’s engine on medium-low and add the egg a little at a time, waiting for it to be incorporated before adding more. Now mix the flour and baking powder together and add it in the same way. Scoop half of the batter into a clean mixing bowl and sift the cocoa powder over it. Mix with a spatula until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated – the batter will appear very dry, but keep mixing until it turns brown. Add the vanilla to the half of the batter which you have kept in the mixer bowl and stir through. Spoon 3-4 dollops of the vanilla batter into the baking tin, alternating with the cocoa batter. Keep going until there is no batter left. Lightly pull a butter knife through the batter, stirring-mixing the two colours. Level the top and bake the loaf for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool the cake on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing it from the baking tin by lifting it out in the baking paper. Allow the cake to cool completely.
For the chocolate glaze: Add all the ingredients to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water and stir until melted completely. Remove the glaze from the heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Place the cooled cake on a cooling rack and place the cooling rack inside a baking sheet so that the chocolate drips down into it. Pour the glaze over the cake. Allow to stand at room temperature for at least one hour. Slice and serve.
Baked cheese is such a versatile dish to serve; aperitifs, as a casual starter, an in-between-meals-snack and even as a cheese course after dinner. You may of course replace the Camembert with Brie or any other soft cheese with a runny centre and the blood orange with regular fresh oranges.
1 600g Camembert wheel (or 2-3 smaller ones) 1 roll store-bought puff pastry egg wash: 1 egg and 15ml milk, whisked together
Blood Orange Sauce: 15ml honey 30ml red wine vinegar 180ml blood orange juice 15ml cold butter 2 oranges, segmented a pinch of salt
For the baked cheese: Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a baking tray with baking paper. Lightly dust a surface with flour and roll the pastry to a 3mm thickness. Place the cheese wheel on the pastry and cut a circle 2cm wider than the cheese.
Now cut another pastry circle of the same size and drape it over the top of the cheese. Lift the edges of the pastry at the bottom over the edges hanging down. Secure by pressing together with the tines of a fork.
Score the top of the pastry parcel with the back/blunt side of a sharp knife and brush the entire cheese parcel with the egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to stand for about 20 minutes.
For the sauce: Pour the honey, vinegar and juice into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the mixture until syrupy. Take off the heat, add the butter and whisk until amalgamated and you have a beautifully shiny sauce. Add the orange segments to the sauce and spoon over the baked cheese.
My Whisk and I 