Archive for the ‘Snack’ Category
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
I was making some daal yesterday (recipe to follow), and had a hankering for something bready to go with it, and then I remembered this recipe for these paratha-esque buttery flat breads from the excellent Mission Street Food book.
As fans / stalkers of the guys behind MSF, we went to the launch of the book whilst we were in San Francisco, but until now I’m a bit ashamed to say I’d not attempted anything from it.
Whats cool about these breads is that they combine different styles of cooking. In this case, probably the simplest kind of bread you can make, with basic lamination techniques more commonly found in pastry work.
I’ve amended the recipe slightly by scaling it down, converting it into grams, and adding some whole wheat flour to the dough. One thing to note is that the butter you use has to be VERY soft. You’ll be spreading it on a thin sheet of dough, so if it’s firm, the dough will tear and screw up all your hard work.
Ingredients (makes 6)
50g White bread flour
50g Pastry flour
20g whole wheat flour
30g Grits / cornmeal / polenta
(more…)
Tags: Bread, Butter, Buttermilk, Buttery, Cornmeal, Curry, Flatbreads, Flour, Indian, Lamination, Mission Street Food, Paratha, San Francisco, Wrap
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snack | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 18th, 2012
Believe your eyes. It’s a big cornbread muffin, encasing a boiled egg, shards of maple candied bacon, chilli and topped with more of that sweet, sweet bacon.
This recipe is totally inspired by a cornbread and egg muffin I had at a place called Sweetcakes in Chicago a few years ago. It’s an idea that’s been knocking around in my brain ever since, but in my mind, there were two major problems with their version of this inspired bit of breakfast madness. 1: The ratio of cornbread to filling. Too much egg, not enough bread. 2: No bacon. What a mistake-a to make-a.
This recipe rectifies both problems, but as a result, you can’t bake them in regular muffin tins as they’re just not big enough. So I use small aluminium pudding molds. The kind of thing you’d make a chocolate fondant in. Also, make sure you buy medium sized eggs, not the bigger ones you can get these days.
Ingredients (makes 6)
150 g yellow grits / cornmeal / polenta
150 g white bread flour
1 large red chilli, de-seeded & finely chopped
8 medium sized eggs (6 for the inside, 2 for the batter)
(more…)
Tags: Bacon, Big, Breakfast, Chili, cornbread, Cornmeal, Eggs, Flour, Grits, maple syrup, Muffins, polenta, Tabasco
Posted in Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Travel | 4 Comments »
Friday, March 2nd, 2012
I’ve got a lot of love for Wales. Most of my family holidays in the 80s were spent in Snowdonia, and whilst I’d love to be able to tell you about some formative experience of eating Welsh Cakes fresh from a village bakery, the truth of the matter is my family were more likely to be found destroying a pack of Mr Kipling country slices. But I’ve moved on from the UK’s favourite fictional baker, and in honour of St David’s day yesterday, I’m celebrating with Wales’ answer to the scone.
The Welsh Cakes you get in the shops tend to be rather rubbery, but in my mind the key to a good one is a crunchy crust and a fluffy, crumbly inside. Usually they are made with currants, but I prefer bigger and juicer raisins, soaked over night in a wee bit of booze. Not exactly traditional, but there you go.
Ingredients (makes around 25)
500 g Self-raising flour / 500 g flour with 2.5 tsp baking powder
250 cold, unsalted butter
90g caster sugar
1.5 tsp of allspice
(more…)
Tags: All Spice, Butter, Cakes, Egg, Flour, Orange Zest, Rasins, Rum, St David's Day, Welsh
Posted in Recipes, Snack, Sweet Stuff | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
It would have been Elvis’ birthday on Monday (8th Jan), so in honour of The King I knocked up this version of his his favourite grubs, the peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich.
I first heard about his ’snack’ of choice some years ago whilst watching a documentary about his eating habits. He was a man with a legendary appetite, even persuading his cook to smuggle bag loads of hot dogs into the hospital where he was being treated for the kind of things that a bunch of dogs would really not have helped.
Based around the Fools Gold Loaf created by the Colorado Mine Company that Elvis famously traveled cross the country to get his hands on, there seem to be lots of different versions of this sandwich out there, but the one I recall from the doc is this one based around the four Bs. Baguette, Bacon, (peanut) Butter and Banana.
The King was known to wolf down piles of these in one sitting, but for those of us with a more moderate constitution, this recipe serves two. Oh, and I candied the bacon in maple syrup, as I figure he would have liked that.
Ingredients
1/2 a baguette
2 tbs smooth peanut butter
4 rashers of bacon
1 ripe banana, sliced
1 tbs maple syrup
Butter for frying
Method
First up, get your frying pan on the heat and drop in a large nob of butter. Once it’s sizzling, get your bacon in there. Elvis reputedly liked his bacon crisp, so give it plenty of time in the pan.
(more…)
Tags: Bacon, Baguette, Banana, Birthday, Colorado Mine Company, Elvis, Food, Fools Gold Loaf, Peanut Butter, Presley, Sandwich, Snack, The King
Posted in Recipes, Snack | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Like Hot Cross Buns at Easter, one of the things that make Christmas for me are mince pies. I love them. So when my mate Luke who co-runs clothing label Percival asked if I fancied making some for late night shopping evenings at their new pop up in Covent Garden, I was all over it like a cheap suit.
This recipe is a bit of a remix. Inspired by and finished like the mighty Eccles Cakes of St John, the filling is simpler than traditional mincemeat, but the spices, currants, muscavado sugar and rum pack a treacle-like punch, and instead of beef suet, or that horrible veg substitute, I use frozen, grated butter, so the veggies can chow too. I’d recommend making the filling a good couple of weeks before you make your pies. Over time the flavour gets better and better, and if you keep it cool it will last for ages.
This recipe will make 24 or more mincers. I make them in muffin trays with 6 x 3 dimples which gives them a meat pie like appearance after they’re baked.
Ingredients
For the pastry
480g Plain white (pastry) flour
25g Caster sugar
10g Salt
340g Unsalted butter, cold
(more…)
Tags: Allspice, Butter, Christmas, Clothing, Currants, eccles Cake, Mince Pie, Nutmeg, Pastry, Percival, Pop Up, St John, Sweet, Treat
Posted in Recipes, Snack, Sweet Stuff | 2 Comments »
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Been trying to write a few post US entries, but this baking malarky is busting my arse. I’m knackered!
Anyway, I have managed to pull my finger out a bit, so here are the first couple of things I wanted to share from New York, Smorgasberg & The New Amsterdam Market.
New York doesn’t really seem to have the same kind of street food culture as San Francisco. In SF there were trucks and pop up stalls on every corner, and sure NY has their regulated the hot dog carts for decades, but much less of a mobile scene that pushes the boundaries. That being said, the street food scene is far from undeveloped, in fact it has given birth to something a bit different. The closest thing I can think of to describe it are the Hawker Centres you get in South East Asia. Smorgasberg is one such example, a weekly event on the same site as the famous Brooklyn Flea which collects all manner of food vendors selling some fantastic, and if I’m honest also some not so fantastic, grub.
But I’m not going to dwell on the negatives, as there were two stalls in particular that blew our tiny minds. First up Bon Chovie, which has to be the best food stall name since I saw a kebab van called ‘Jason Donnervan’ in Essex many moons ago. A bit like large whitebait, these guys sell deep fried achovies and boy are they good (picture above). They dip them in egg and then flour seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika , and serve them up with a wedge of lemon, pickled peppers and a smoked paprika aioli. You can eat them head off or on (Jersey style), and they are the perfect combination of crunchy, fishy and salty. They are seriously nice guys too. They give fish a good name.
(more…)
Tags: Bon Chovie, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Cured, Dough, Doughnuts, Eat Street, Kings Cross, Market, Mast Brothers, Meathook, New Amsterdam Market, New York, Nordic Breads, Smorgasberg
Posted in Opinion, Snack, Travel | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Having eaten my fair share of sliders in the US, I’ve been musing over the idea of doing an Anglicised version of these over grown amuse-bouches. I hit on the idea of doing an Ox Tail version around a week ago, but didn’t really have the perfect vehicle for the meat. Then the other day, almost as if he sensed my bun based anguish, Dan Lepard sent me a recipe for his slider buns that are in the Hawksomoor At Home book to try. The recipe will appear in this weekend’s Guardian, and you’ll discover that it contains custard powder. Yep, you read that right, custard powder. As crazy as it sounds, it’s actually a work of evil genius as it makes the buns tender, gives them a brioche like colour, and is vegan to boot.
The Ox Tail gets slow cooked for around 4 hours, so this definitely isn’t a 30 minute meal. In fact some might describe it as ‘a long walk for a ham sandwich’, but I think it’s worth it, and is a great way to use a much under appreciated cut of meat. I’ve served it with a crunchy, sharp, almost Summery slaw to cut through the fatty, sticky meat a bit, but these guys are still definitely winter warmers.
Ingredients (makes 10-12)
For the meaty bit
1 kg Ox Tail
300 ml red wine
300 ml beef stock
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 chilli, sliced down the middle
(more…)
Tags: America, Anglicised, Beef Stock, Buns, casserole, Custard Powder, Dan Lepard, Five Spice, Ox Tail, Recipe, Red Cabbage, Red Wine, Redcurrant Jelly, Short & Sweet, Slaw, Sliders, Slow Cook
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Travel | 9 Comments »
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Gyoza, dumplings, wontons, pot stickers, whatever you call them, I love them. They’ve fast become one of my favourite snacks. One of those things that when you think about them, you’ve got to have them.
I’d never really thought of making my own, but a chance encounter with a dumpling press and a packet of wonton wrappers in San Fran’s China town changed all that, and now I can’t stop cranking them out. Of course if I was a real expert, I’d be wrapping them by hand, but I’m not, and the $6 press does a pretty good job.
This Thai influenced recipe has a pork filling, but you can stuff these little guys with whatever you want really. You could do a variation with salmon or shrimp and chive, or maybe even tofu and shitake mushrooms. The cases we’ve found work best are Singapore style dumpling wrappers as they’re a bit thicker and give the pot stickers more substance.
One more thing, the pot stickers get fried on one side (which is how they get their name) and then steamed, so you’re going to need a wok or frying pan with a lid. Lets begin.
Ingredients (makes about 20)
For the pot stickers
250g pork mince
1.5 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
3 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (more…)
Tags: Chili, Coriander, Dumplings, Garlic, Ginger, Gyoza, Mint, Pork, Pot Stickers, Scallion, Singapore, Siracha Sauce, Soy, Spring Onion, Thai, Wontons
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snack | No Comments »
