Two of my very favourite drinks in one cup!!
250ml milk
15ml sugar
80g chocolate, chopped
30ml espresso
2,5mll vanilla
Pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the sugar and turn the heat to medium. Warm the milk to just before boiling point.
Turn down the heat to the lowest setting and add the chopped chocolate.
Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes while whisking/stirring continuously.
Take the saucepan from the heat and add the hot espresso and vanilla.
Stir through and serve hot.
For the pastry:
80g dark chocolate, 75% cocoa
175g butter, cubed
230g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
10ml vanilla
5ml milk
50g cocoa powder
350g flour
Blueberry custard:
150g blueberries
15ml lemon juice
250ml + 30ml coconut milk
60g honey
15ml cornstarch
10ml agar-agar
Chocolate ganache:
160g dark chocolate, chopped
180ml coconut and cows milk
30ml honey
15ml coconut oil
a pinch of salt
Making the pastry:
Melt the chocolate and set it aside.
Add the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and milk to the bowl of a food processor and process to mix.
Add the chocolate in a thin stream while the engine is running.
Add the sifted cocoa and flour to the mixture and process until the mixture forms a smooth ball of pastry.
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 3mm.
Line a loose bottom tart tin and then line the pastry case with tin foil. Freeze for one hour.
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Bake the pastry case with the foil lining for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool completely.
Making the blueberry custard:
Add the berries, lemon juice, 250ml coconut milk and honey to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
Pour the 30ml coconut milk into a small bowl and add the cornstarch and agar-agar. Stir to dissolve.
Pour the blueberry mixture into a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.
Drizzle the cornstarch mixture into the blueberry mixture while whisking continuously until smooth and it starts to thicken.
Pour the blueberry custard into the cooled tart shell and allow to cool.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Making the ganache:
Add the chocolate, milk (pour whatever you have left of the coconut milk into a measuring jug and then fill up with dairy milk to 180ml), honey and coconut oil to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has melted and you are left with a smooth mixture.
Pour over the blueberry custard.
Refrigerate the tart for 4 hours before serving.
Make this sauce part of your repertoire and elevate that steak to the next level!
83ml brandy
190ml beef stock
125ml cream
15ml canned green peppercorns
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.
Easy, quick and fabulous!!
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.
These clusters are perfect treats for those tiny-hands-in-the-kitchen…
100g chocolate, chopped
250g fresh blueberries
100g pistachio nuts
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.
400g bacon, sliced/diced into 0,5cm pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
500g split peas
3 bay leaves
2,5l chicken stock
a small handful of thyme, leaves stripped
Put a saucepan on medium-low heat and add the bacon pieces. Cook until the fat is rendered.
Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the split peas and stir to coat in the bacon fat.
Add the bay leaves and 2,5l chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Skim off the foam that rises to the top. Stir the soup every now and then.
Add the thyme leaves and simmer the soup for at least an hour. Add more stock if you prefer a thinner soup.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
Purée with a stick blender.
Reheat the soup and check the seasoning.
Serve piping hot with fresh bread.
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.
My Whisk and I 