Posts Tagged ‘Lemon’
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Week 15. More cake. But as the title of this post ‘hilariously’ suggests, we moved away from the predominantly flour based sponges and in to mousse cake territory.
Most of these cakes followed a similar format. Some kind of sponge base, ‘inserts’ made either from more sponge or set crème anglaise based layers flavoured with anything from lemon and raspberry to mint, surrounded with some kind of mousse set with gelatin. These cakes get finished with different techniques. Glazes, cake walls, ‘pate decor’, we even got to get the chocolate spray-gun out.
Here are a few examples (for some reason I didn’t get as many pics as usual):
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Tags: Bavarian, Berries, Cake, Creme Anglaise, Diplomat Cream, Fruit, Glaze, Lemon, Mint, Mousse, Pate Decor, Raspberry, Sable Breton, San Francisco, SFBI, Sponge, Vanilla, White Chocolate
Posted in Reviews, Sweet Stuff, Travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
As you’ll see form the previous post, American Independence day fell over this weekend. So for the 4th of July, we rented a cabin up in Lake Tahoe, which gave us the opportunity to do something we’d been gagging to do since we got here. Get our grill on.
We cooked a bunch of stuff on the barbecue which came with our weekend digs including ribs (recipe soon), steak, corn, s’mores and this great little clam recipe that the missus spotted on the New York Times website a few weeks ago.
It’s a really simple and easy, a bit different, and makes a perfect starter. We approximated the quantities as we didn’t have any on-line access whilst there, but I think we winged it pretty successfully.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 clams (about 10 per person)
100g buter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
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Tags: 4th July, Barbecue, Butter, Cabin, Clams, Garlic, Independence Day, lake Tahoe, Lemon, Parsley, Shelfish, Worcestershire Sauce
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Travel | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
The other day the missus suggested that I should tackle some indigenous recipes on Hand To Mouth. The kind of food that, for better or worse, the good ol’ US of A is known for. So this is the first of these American Classics, Southern Fried Chicken.
I’m no food snob. I love a bit of fried chicken. A KFC or Junior Spesh after a night out is one of life’s pleasures. But there’s nothing wrong with elevating it a couple of notches either. I use thighs for this recipe, as to my taste they’ve got the right skin to flesh ratio, and of course that tasty dark meat. I also use a good dose of not very traditional herbs and spices in the coating.
Buttermilk isn’t that easy to get in the UK, so if you can’t get it, some live yhogurt will do just as well. Lets get cookin’.
Ingredients (serves 2)
6 chicken thighs
For the ‘marinade’
1 pint (600ml) buttermilk
1 clove of garlic
1/2 an medium onion
Sprig of rosemary
Sprig of time
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Tags: American, Buttermilk, Classic, Crispy, Egg, French Beans, Fried Chicken, Garlic, Lemon, Mashed Potato, Melinda's Hot Sauce, Onion, Recipe, Rosemary, SFC, Smoked Paprika, Southern, Thighs, thyme
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
Apologies for the radio silence. We’ve been moving out of our flat, and it’s been brutal. I never want to see those boxes again. But enough of my woes, back down to business.
I’ve been meaning to start a new series of posts on Hand To mouth for quite some time about the simple food pleasures in life. The kind of unfussy stuff that needs little or no preparation, has few ingredients, but always delivers in terms of taste (at least in my opinion).
Prompted by being sent some lovely London Cure Scottish Smoked Salmon by the very generous people at Forman & Field, here is the first of these posts for your delictation. Smoked Salmon.
Before you start grumbling, I’m not just writing this because I’ve been sent some free stuff. Like any product I give airtime to on this blog, I genuinely love smoked salmon. And for me, the less it’s messed with, the better. I like to let the salmon do the talking.
The ritual is simple. Brown bread, plenty of butter, smoked salmon, a generous squueze of fresh lemon juice, and a few turns of freshly milled black pepper.
Absolute heaven, and would be a dead cert (if you’ll pardon the pun) as a starter for my death row meal.
Tags: Black Pepper, Brown Bread, Butter, Forman & Field, H Forman & Son, Lemon, London Cure, Pleasures, Simple, Smoked Salmon, Taste, Unfussy
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Opinion | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
Like the previous recipe, this one also pairs up lamb with some heat and punchy flavours. The harissa loses some of it’s heat in the cooking, and creates a lovely tangy, spicy, sticky crust on the lamb. I got my hands on a fine leg of Yorkshire lamb from my new favourite meat source, Marky Market. It’s a great idea. Mark gets up every day to go to Smithfields and Billingsgate, you place your order the day before, and then he delivers to your door. Brilliant.
In terms of prep time, the potatoes are a bit of a faff, but the lamb is simplicity itself, so it’s swings and roundabouts. We served it with a gorgeous heritage tomato, red onion and mint salad, and a tzatziki (you can find the recipe for the latter here).
Ingredients
(for the lamb)
2.5 kg leg of lamb
90g Harissa paste
90g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
Juice and zest of one lemon
(for the potatoes)
1.7 kg of potatoes (Desiree / King Edward)
1 white onion
1 red onion
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Tags: Boulangere, Harissa, Juice, Lamb, Leg, Lemon, Onions, Potatoes, stock, thyme, Tzatziki, Yoghurt
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
I’d never made marmalade before, but inspired by an article and recipe written by one of my baking heroes Dan Lepard I read last week, I decided to have a stab. It is a little time consuming, but it’s very satisfying, and it also makes your kitchen smell awesome. It starts with a fresh, zingy citrus whiff, and then at some point during the process it suddenly changes, and BANG! Your kitchen smells like marmalade.
I was pretty pleased with the results. The only things I’d say were that I wish it had set a bit firmer, but as I understand it this can be a bit hit and miss, and I also prefer a bit more peel in my marmalade, so I’ve adjusted the recipe accordingly.This should make around 4 big-ish jars, or a couple of bigger Kilner style preserve jars.
Ingredients
400g Seville oranges (about four)
Zest of 1 additional orange
1 lemon
1 litre water
775g white sugar
25g dark muscovado sugar
Method
One thing you’re going to need to make the sweet stuff is some muslin, and a jam / sugar thermometer. Neither are particularly expensive, and are worth having anyway, so put your hand in your pocket.
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Tags: Dan Lepard, Guardian, Jam, Kilner, Lemon, Marmalade, Muslin, Orange, Pectin, Peel, Seville, Sugar, Zest
Posted in Breakfast, Recipes, Sweet Stuff | No Comments »
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
Apologies for the radio silence, but yet again the day job has been getting in the way of me putting finger to key. It’s been what can only be described as an unpleasantly busy start to the year, but at least I got to head out to Stockholm earlier in the week, if only for 24 hours.
Rewinding again to Christmas, if you can remember that far back, here’s a recipe for a classic lemon tart. It’s basically a piece of cake (or rather tart), particularly if you use shop bought pastry, which I’d recommend unless you’ve got the time to make your own.
I’ve not managed to work out how patisseries manage to get that glossy finish on their tarts, so I cheated and added a festive twist by glazing mine with a bit of raspberry jelly.
This recipe was made in a 30cm / 12″ tart case to serve around 8-10 people, if you’re making desert for less use a 20cm / 8″ case and half the quantities. Lets begin.
Ingredients
500g all butter shortcrust pastry
10 free range eggs
8 lemons, juiced
380g caster sugar
500 ml double cream
Zest of 4 lemons
4 tablespoons of raspberry jelly for the glaze, optional
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Tags: Bake, Clotted Cream, Cream, Eggs, Glaze, Jelly, Lemon, Pastry, Raspberry, Shortcrust, Sugar, Tart, Zest
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Snack, Sweet Stuff | No Comments »
Sunday, December 12th, 2010
Nope, not the secret behind the Colonel’s spicy burger (sorry KFC lovers), but a baked chicken dish which makes a great substitute for a Sunday roast. The ingredients might seem a bit summery, but they do a great job of kicking this dark, winter weather where the sun don’t shine. It’s also pretty low maintenance, so you’ll still be able to drink wine, wrap presents, watch the Come Dine With Me omnibus, or whatever else you want to do.
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
6 organic chicken joints, legs and thighs
8 cloves of garlic
20 or so baby plum tomatoes
1 chilli, de seeded and chopped
1 lemon
150ml white wine
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
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Tags: Basil, Bread, Cavolo Nero, Channel 4, Chicken, Chilli, Come Dine With Me, Garlic, KFC, Lemon, Olive Oli, Tomatoes, White Wine, Zinger
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes | No Comments »
