Saturday, 29 May 2010

Giada at Home

Cheese Stuffed Dates with Procuitto
I’m a big fan of Giada, she is up there in kitchen stars category with Nigella for me. So it was with much anticipation that I read my copy of Giada at Home By Giada de Laurentiis was in its way. This is her fifth book – and I love it! Sometimes Italian, sometimes Californian maybe even a bit of a mix of the two in some recipes too. The recipes are fresh, delicious, often healthy and all with a little Giada touch.
Those of us in the UK can now watch her on the Food Network channel here (262 and 263 on Sky). I would so like to see her programmes on in the evening, when they’d be easier time wise to watch. Most of the recipes from the programmes Giada at Home (although certainly not all) are here in the book. It’s nicely laid out, beautiful pictures mostly of food, but with a number of Giada and her family too.
I have SO many recipes in this book marked to try, and here are some of the first batch.
Picture at top of post
Cheese Stuffed Dates with Procuitto
These are so beautiful to look at, and they taste, well creamy, cheesy, sweet, a little sharp from the goats cheese and salty from the procuitto. I’m going to try these with another cheese too, just haven’t quite worked out what yet…

Pasta Ponza
Tomatoes and capers make this oven baked sauce just burst with flavour, yum.

Gorgonzola and Porcini Risotto
A nice mushroom risotto, didn’t have quite as much punch as I thought it would.

Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes
The turkey here is quite strong, but my little people were very keen indeed. All the add-ins make it a moist and delicious meatloaf.

Grilled Asparagus and Melon Salad
This salad of grilled asparagus (I used a ridged non stick grill pan for the top of the cooker/stove) mixed with the juicy melon, mozzarella cheese, pine nuts and a lemony dressing was really, really delicious.

Lettuce, Basil and Mint Salad with Parmesan Butter Crostini
Unusual this one, but we liked it a lot.

White Chocolate Dipped Almond and Lemon Biscotti
Lovely, and they kept ages in the cookie jar. I double dipped them as I had lots of chocolate left.

Chocolate Honey Almond Tart
I’ve made this one a few times, I love the taste and almost soft fudge texture the honey gives to the chocolate. Needs a bit of cream, and also great with pomegranate seeds. I’ll make it again in the Summer when I'll use raspberries as an accompaniment.

Penne with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Creamy and gentle this one, little peeps loved it.

Olive and Sundried Tomato Vegetables
This was a great side dish combo, I cut the olive oil in the recipe considerably, and it was still fine for us.

Nonna Luna’s Rice
Oh my. I love this recipe, I’m not sure how many times I’ve made it now. The first time I was a little worried about the Tabasco, as I’m a real chilli wimp. It was as hot as I can go, but still I absolutely love it, crave it even! I tend to reduce the creamy sauce a bit, just to coat the prawns, but this is a matter of taste depending on how thin / thick you like your sauces.

Nonna Luna’s Rice
From Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis published 2010 by Clarkson Potter. Giada says to use parboiled rice like Uncle Ben’s, but I used Uncle Ben’s long grain rice and it worked out well for me. Serves 2 to 3.
2 ounces unsalted butter
1 cups long-grain rice, like Uncle Ben's
14 fl oz chicken stock, hot
Good pinch salt
1 clove garlic
12 oz to 1 lb raw prawns, peeled and deveined
2 fl oz lemon juice
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce, divided into 2 x half tablespoons
4 fl oz double cream
Freshly ground black pepper

1.In a medium nonstick saucepan, heat 1 oz of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the rice salt and ½ a tablespoon of Tabasco sauce then cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Add the chicken stock and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes to 15 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and rest covered for 5 minutes.
3. In a large frying pan, melt the remaining 1oz of butter over medium heat. Add the whole clove of garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes until aromatic. Add the prawns, lemon juice, and remaining ½ tablespoon of Tobasco sauce. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through. Stir in the cream and heat through, bubble and reduce for a few minutes if you’d like a thicker sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Using a fork, fluff the rice and arrange on a platter. Spoon the shrimp cream sauce over the rice and serve.

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Nigella's Feast

There is nothing I like more than a weekend morning potter around the kitchen with Feast by Nigella Lawson on the cookbook stand cooking up something delicious for my family later that day or throughout the weekend. I can’t tell you how often when I do this the weather is sunny and there is a little breeze coming in through the window, and I give thanks to God I can tell you =)
Feast is most definitely one of my very favourite cookbooks. When it came out I cooked from it relentlessly for a long time. Just before my obsession came to an end I started blogging, and I sometimes think it’s a shame that I didn’t blog at that point, as I’d like to look back at all of what I’ve cooked from Feast, and also to share with you.
I’ve recently started to cook from Feast again, and have taken new pictures of the same recipes, but where I’ve liked the older pictures better, I’ve gone with them. This is the first of a couple of big Feast picture posts I’m planning. Now is a good time, as I’m guessing I may have a new favourite soon. In the form of Nigella’s new one, officially announced (last week) as due out in the UK in September – "Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home". There is to be a 13 part TV series too I’ve read =)
In the following pictures you’ll see six from the Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame chapter, I’ve cooked all except one (the chocolate chestnut one). I’ve always meant to cook the last one on my list to, but somehow have never gotten round to it, well not yet anyhow.

Chocolate Fruit Cake
An extremely moist fruit cake, fruity with the usual fruit and prunes (which I love) too. Not overtly chocolate-y and doesn’t taste of the Tia Maria coffee liqueur in it either, it just all adds to the depth of flavour this cake.

Chocolate Honey Cake
A really intense chocolate his this one, very small portions! I very mich enjoyed making the marzipan bees, mine are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I still like them a lot. I couldn’t force myself to dot the bees all over the cake, I’m far to ordered for that (!), so a bee ring it was.

Chocolate Orange Cake
A simple chocolate and orange cake, low fat and flour free, so perfect if you have issues with flour. I had to decorate it a bit, so I melted a little milk chocolate and dotted spots round the cake, which I toped with candied orange slices. Overnight the moisture from the chocolate seeps into the candied orange and makes them taste better and look like little jewels to boot.

Chocolate Raspberry Heart
Chocolate, cream and raspberries. A classic cake, and very pretty in real like too.

Old fashioned Chocolate Cake
A plain iced chocolate cake. I made this cake first the day of Prince Charles and Camilla got married, five years ago. I’ve kept the picture though and never see this cake without thinking of them. I’m not even royalist, maybe just very sentimental, with high hope for love and romance.

Rigatoni al Forno
This make a huge dish of pasta, but then it is for feeding a crowd.

Cornbread topped Chilli Con Carne
We love the chilli, and I’ve made it lots of times, but alas the cornbread topping was really not our thing. The guacamole is fabulous too.

Chocolate Cheesecake
Smooth, smooth, smooth and chocolate-y!

Rococoa Cake
I was so chuffed with myself the first time I made this, it is so pretty, tastes great too.

Easter Egg Nest Cake
This is another pretty one. The chocolate cream made it too rich for us, I’d rather just have simple whipped cream on top of the cake.

Holiday Trifle
Apricot and pandoro trifle. No alcohol, so fine for all the family. Flavoured with cardamon and topped with honey, pistachios and almonds.

Georgian Cherry Rice
Goodness, I love this rice! Fruit and rice, oh yes!! I have often made this in a pan as an accompaniment to other dishes, it doesn’t have the depth of flavour of being cooked inside the roast chicken, but I like it either way.

Georgian Stuffed Chicken with Beetroot Puree and Green Beans in Herbed Yoghurt
Lovely, I like a bit of pan juices-gravy with this too. A real feast.

Kedgeree Risotto
This is gorgeous. I don’t often do fishy risotto, don’t know why because the two I do make I just adore.

Malteser Cake
I’ve kept the best till last. One of my all time favourite cakes, moist and tender sponge, malty frosting and a few Maltesers for good measure. I have made this one for so many different things, a family tradition in our house now. I know from reading on food forums and Nigella.com that this cake and the Chocolate Guinness one have people really divided. They both seem to be loved or loathed, I dislike the Guinness one with a passion, but love this one in equal measure. I’m sure there is a chocolate cake to please everyone in the Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame.

Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Feed Me Now

This posts book Feed Me Now by Bill Granger (Quadrille Publishing) came out last year in 2009. I am conscious of neglecting my Bill books a bit, I guess it happens when you have, ahem – well too many cookbooks, don’t tell anyone I said that now will you? Recently though, I got my new Bill off the shelf and we have enjoyed a number of great family meals from it since.

The chapters are Rise and Shine, Midday Fuel, Afternoon Treat, Family Fare, The Dinner Dash, On a Shoestring, Freeze Me, Friends Over and Sweet Dreams. The layout is clean and bold, but softened too by very good use of colour in the text. This book is a bit bigger in page size than most, loads of fresh, light and gorgeous looking pictures and all the recipes I’ve tried have worked really well.

The book is as the title would suggest for feeding yourself and your family right now, when you haven’t long to linger over the prep and cooking, the results are fresh and delicious though, and good for busy days cooking.

Some more recipes I have on my list from this book are Italian Onion Soup, Melt and Mix Lemon Slice, Grilled Beef with Sweet Chilli Relish, Fettuccine with Asparagus Pesto, Pork Steaks with Cashew Nut Salsa and Gooey Chocolate Cake with Raspberries.

Porcini and Pancetta Risotto
I did use Bill’s recipe here, but varied it a little by using 2 leeks instead of onions, Marsala instead of white wine and stirring through one tablespoon of mascarpone at the end. I only did this really to use up bit and pieces I already had, but I’m sure Bill would not mind, he seems a very easy going cook on TV. It was delicious.

Baked Chicken with Lemon, Potato and Green Olives
Quick, tasty and kind of comforting too, what more could you want for a quick midweek meal?

Spicy Prawn Stir Fry
This is at its most basic a Thai red curry, it’s quick because it uses a bought paste, but it’s a lot lighter than many of its kind as there are lots of vegetables and not too much coconut milk. I love this one a lot.

Chicken and Shitake Stir Fry
Great family friendly Asian stir fry, but then I really adore kecap manis. I thickened up the juices at the end, by adding one teaspoon of cornflour (mixed with some water to make a smooth paste) at the end. Have made this one a number of times.

Grilled Pork with Warm Cranberry Dressing and Pistachios
This was just gorgeous, my family are big fans of meat and fruit together, and this was right up our street. Very nice supper indeed.

Blueberry Tea Cake
I tend to think of Bill for savoury recipes more than sweet, I’m not sure why this is. After trying this cake though I’, going to try more of his sweet ones, it’s really knockout. The blueberries are juicy, the sponge moist, the icing a perfect crowing glory.
For the recipe for this wonderful cake click here.

Sunday, 28 March 2010

Orange Tian Daring Bakers March 2010

A quick post here as I’m late, I did make the challenge in time, but didn’t manage to post yesterday.
Sablee and marmalade
This months Daring Baker choice came from Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. A dessert that she first made while she was at the Alain Ducasse Cooking School in Paris. It is a baked pate sablee, home-made marmalade, set gelatine cream and orange-caramel soaked orange segments and some more of the sauce on the side. It’s moulded upside down and turned out, I made it family style in one bid (8") cake tin as that suited how I was serving it best. Individuals moulds would be lovely too though.
Orange segment lined cake tin
It’s a dessert with numerous stages, but well worth it we thought, it was a gorgeous, creamy, fruity, treaty dessert. The gelatine set cream is one of the very best I’ve come across, a member of the Daring Bakers, Heidi (who doesn’t have a blog) did it with strawberries in heart shaped moulds, they were absolutely gerogeous! Will give that a go in the Summer-time, I just know it’d be delicious.
Ready for the set cream to be mae and the whole dessert assembled
With thanks to Jennifer for choosing a fabulous dessert. Recipe and blogroll here on the Daring Kitchen website.

Sunday, 21 March 2010

And the Winner of Eat Me Is

Smartie Cookies, after baking
The winner of Eat Me! The Stupendous, Self-Rising World of Cupcakes and Bakes According to Cookie Girl by Xanthe Milton is Carla of Four Foodies. I’ll be in touch about sending it to you! Well done Carla, and thank you to everyone who entered.
Here is a couple more recipes I’ve made from this excellent book:

Snowdrift Shortbread
I take on Millionaires shortbread, just with white chocolate and coconut on top, very good, best on day made we thought.
Before baking
Smartie Cookies
I’ve tried a few Smartie cookies in the past, and this one is the clear winner. I suspect it’s the chopped white chocolate that is enclosed into the balls of uncooked cookie dough before being studded with the colourful smarties. I made this for my little one and a friend who came to play on Friday. The friend said she had tried (bought) smartie cookies before, and refused a taste! Isn’t it always the way? Best laid intentions and all that. Cookie Girl says these are just as loved by adults as children, and it’s true; the little friend must have been the exception to the rule - everyone else has loved them and my batch has all but disappeared!
Think I’ll do Easter cupcakes and Easter cookies next. Mmmm.

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Cook in Boots

Banana Pancakes with Caramel Sauce
Sometimes when browsing the net in search of new books -be they newly published, or an author that has so far gone unnoticed – it is possible to stumble across someone who fires up your interest. This happened to me a last year when I found Ravinder Bhogal’s Cook In Boots for pre-order, it came out in May 2008. It was presented in an upbeat modern manner with amusing chapter heading and subheadings.
In due course it arrived, and it is just the very epitome of an upbeat modern girls (boys too perhaps) cookbook. Before I started cooking from it I saw Ravinder on the Good Food channel (UKTV as was then) cooking a recipe from her book (Oreo Cheesecake if you’re curious). I warmed to her immediately, she’s a pretty, well dressed, well spoken, fashion journalist and home cook. She won a search by Gordon Ramsey to find a new Fanny Craddock, and the blurb at the back of the book say she beat off over 8,000 other entrants to take the crown.
It’s a fashionable book, nicely presented with good humoured text and fun play on words in parts. It’s got some lovely pictures including shoes and boots in the chapter heading pictures, if that’s your thing. More than this though, it’s a good cookbook, one I feel actually comes from the heart of the author, and obviously essential to a good cookbook, the recipes work.
I read online that she is currently working on her second book, I scan the book sites regularly to see what it will be and when it’ll come out, it’ll be going in my pre-order basket for sure.
Back to the present though. Here is a selection of some of the recipes I’ve made from the book. I should have perhaps posted a shorter post sooner, but I want my blog to be true to how I cook, and it’s good to be able to say that 10 months on it’s still in my current cooking and reading pile. Indeed, post two about this book is currently percolating away!


Afternoon Tea Pudding
This was my first try last year, when I was just desperate for a quick, comforting, sweet pudding. This fit the bill nicely, basically a bread and butter pudding made with scones and jam. I don’t recall now why I needed a comforting pudding, but what I do remember is that this one did comfort.


Couscous and Roasted Vegetable Salad
I liked this, but would fiddle a bit next time, more pomegranate molasses to up the flavour stakes.


Spicy Shepherd’s Pie
Minced lamb and subtle spicing; think keema with mash on top. Spiced but although there is chilli in it, it’s not too hot – or at least it wasn’t with the chilli I used, we liked this one.
Hot Sausage Roast with Sweet and Sour Gravy
I did the sauce separately in a pan, which made it not what it was intended to be, as I knew the little people wouldn’t like the sauce. This was ok, but I prefer some of other dishes of this type that I already make better.


Double Chocolate Orange Brownies
As a confirmed lover of orange and chocolate together, I have no idea why I’ve not thought to turn the flavour combo into a brownie myself. Works very nicely indeed.


Turkish Delight Rocky Road
The Turkish delight is great in the rocky road. I’ve actually been thinking about trying this myself for ages, when on Nigella dot com someone asked for ideas for marshmallow replacements in one of Nigella’s rocky roads and I suggested Turkish Delight.I’d put a bit of golden syrup in the chocolate mixture next time, as even with the Turkish it needed it I thought.


Pasta, Chorizo and Bean Soup
This is a very very good soup. Veggies, pasta, beans and the essential chorizo sausage. What’s not to like there?!


Left Over Roast Chicken Paella
A good use of the leftover meat from a roast chicken. A nice one to add into your reportiore. It’s not real paella, but it is a good dish.


Dill Crepes with Green Vegetables and Feta
These were a bit of work, crepes, bechamel and vegetable filling, but I thought they were worth it, incredibly filling too.


Banana Pancakes with Caramel Sauce
I made these for pancake day (Shrove Tuesday), they were great! A proper caramel sauce is just what the bananas and pancakes needed, I had some blueberries so added them to the plates when serving, and a worthy addition they were too!