Make a Christmas Stollen this year and forgo the heavy Christmas cake!
The Stollen, is a German fruit bread made with yeast, and contains dried fruits, candied citrus peel, nuts and spices. Traditionary marzipan is folded into the dough before baking. If that’s not to your taste, it can easily be left out of the recipe.
Harissa Paste is a condiment originating from Tunisia and one of those flavours that once tasted, you become hooked on. If you like spicy, rich flavours, then this is a must-have ingredient in your kitchen.
Making Sweet Pickled Cucumber is a great way of using up excess cucumber and giving a rather bland food an enticing lift.
I decided to have a go at growing cucumbers this year. And I quickly discovered that they had teamed up with the courgettes in an attempt to take over the planet. Having bombarded the friends and neighbours with free cucumbers I still had more than we could deal with.
This led me into looking into new ways of using cucumbers in new ways. The obvious option was pickling, and after a few attempts I ended up with the version below.
As the cucumber is technically a fruit, I have married it with a slight Asian influence using ginger, chili, and coriander as a background. The result is a sweet, light, zingy pickle, which marries perfectly with fish, particularly cured fish. Of course, it’s equally at home at the BBQ, on a burger or lifting your lunchtime sandwich to new heights.
This is not a long-term pickle used as a preserve but more of a short-term chutney which helps to season and punch up the flavours of the item it is served with.
The first task is to slice the cucumber, aim for slices about 3mm in thickness. Too thick and they become intrusive, too thin and the pickle will lack character. You can either use a sharp knife or a mandolin as you wish, whichever you feel safer with. The mandolin has the advantage of producing consistent slices but watch your fingers! There isn’t a chef on the planet that hasn’t cut themselves on a mandolin at some point.
Once all the cucumber is sliced take a colander set in a bowl and cover the base with slices of cucumber. Sprinkle the cut slices with some of the table salt, then add another layer of cucumber, then more salt. Keep going until all the cucumber and salt is used up. If you run out of salt don’t be afraid to use a little more to complete the process.
The function of the salt is to draw out some of the liquid in the cucumber. In turn this will season and crisp up the slices ready for the pickle.
Don’t be afraid of the amount of salt. Its not the volume of salt that will dictate the saltiness of the pickle but rather how long the slices are exposed to the curing.
When the slices have been exposed to the salt for 10 to 12 minutes, give then a good rinse under running cold water to remove all the salt. Don’t leave the slices sitting in water, drain them as soon as ready and tip them on to a clean cloth to drain.
I am flavouring the pickle with two types of ginger. Root ginger for its vibrant warmth, and stem ginger for a smoother sweeter flavour. I also like to add some of the syrup from the stem ginger as well for good measure.
Weigh the sugar into a small bowl then add the cider vinegar, and whisk together.
Then using a fine microplane grater grate a lump of stem ginger into the vinegar. Peel the root ginger (this is best done by scraping the root with a spoon). Then grate a teaspoonful of fresh ginger on top. Doing the grating this way will make sure all the sticky stem ginger finds its way into the bowl.
Add a teaspoon of the ginger syrup, followed by the chili flakes and coriander seeds. Give the whole thing a whisk, and it’s done.
Take a sterilized half litre Kilner jar and cover the base with a layer of the drained cucumber. Spread a spoonful of pickle over the slices, then add more cucumber and more pickle. Repeat until all the cucumber is used pouring any remaining pickle into the jar. Lightly press the cucumber down with the back of a spoon, then close up the lid. Give the jar a shake to insure all the slices are exposed to the pickle.
You will notice that the cucumber slices are not covered with pickle, don’t worry that’s fine. Place the jar in the fridge for at least four hours, or better still overnight.
As the pickle reacts with the cucumber the volume of liquid will seem to increase as the cucumber sinks down a little in the jar. Store the pickle in the fridge ready for use.
The pickle will keep up to five days in the fridge and I think gets better after a couple of days maturing.
Enjoy Life !
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
These Scottish Venison Meatballs are so easy to make, and much better that the shop-bought versions. To go with them I’m making a mushroom and whisky sauce to toss through buttered Tagliatelle. The dish uses ingredients abundant in the Scottish countryside, perfect for autumntime when a variety of wild mushrooms are available to use.
Fattoush is a great summer salad perfect for eating al fresco with a friends or a barbeque. This is a rustic country salad from Syria and Lebanon that uses a dressing make from buttermilk. This gives the salad a smooth let sharp finish that makes it so refreshing.
How to make – Cheats Chocolate Fondant. The classic restaurant chocolate fondant is a challenge for the pastry chef needing dexterity and exact timing to be served to perfection.
This version is much easier to make and is far more forgiving in cooking and serving as it is made in advance.
The primary flavour is of course chocolate, so be sure to use a superior quality 70-75% cocoa solids chocolate. Cheap chocolate with low cocoa solids will be unable to punch through the butter, eggs, and sugar. This will give you an insipid tasteless dessert.
No fancy equipment needed, we are using tinfoil pudding basins to form the fondants and make then very easy to turn out.
This can be done in the morning for use later. If you want to be well ahead, make the truffles then freeze them so they are ready whenever you want to serve the fondants.
And of course, you could make enough truffles to serve with coffee at the same time. Don’t freeze these though, or the condensation will spoil and coating you roll them in.
Break up the chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate in a bowl large enough to take all the ingredients and allow you to mix them altogether. Pour the cream into a small pan and add the butter, vanilla, and salt.
Pop the pan onto the heat and watch it closely until the butter melts and the cream begins to simmer. Now tip the whole contents of the pan over the chocolate in one go and straight away begin to the mix the truffle base together. The heat for the cream should be enough to melt the chocolate and allow it to emulsify together with the butter and cream. When ready cover the bowl and when cool enough, place in the fridge to firm up.
Chefs know this mixture as a Ganache. And if you have ever wondered what that was, Congratulations, you have just made one!
When the mix is firm but not really hard scoop out a little of the chocolate with a teaspoon and roll in the palms of your hands to form a truffle. If you are just making these for the fondants, they don’t need to be perfectly round.
If you are having problems with the chocolate sticking to your hands, rub then with a little flavourless oil. Good for your skin as well!!
Before you start brush the insides of the moulds with soft butter to help the cooked fondants slide out. Don’t miss any areas but also don’t overdo it or you will have melted butter running onto your plates.
Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot but not boiling water and add the butter. Let he butter melt slowly over a low heat then once melted add the broken-up chocolate. Melt the chocolate into the butter then take the bowl off the pan and place to one side.
In a second bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. When ready the mix should hold traces of where the whisk as been. we call this, the Ribbon stage. When ready, sieve the flour and fold into the egg / sugar mix.
Fold the melted chocolate and butter into the eggs and fold together lifting the mix from the bottom. Make sure the chocolate is not too hot (blood heat is perfect) and only mix until the chocolate is barely folded into the eggs. Overmixing will spoil the dessert.
Half fill the buttered tinfoil moulds then place a truffle in the centre of each mould. Now complete the filling of the moulds and place them in the fridge to be cooked later.
My advice is to now ball the ice cream into a cold plate then return it to the freezer. We need to serve the fondants as quickly as possible and have the ice cream ready is a big help.
When you are ready to serve the dessert, have the oven and a baking tray preheated.
Place the fondants directly from the fridge onto the hot tray and cook then on the centre of the oven for 12 to 14 minutes.
When ready the centre of the fondants should still be runny. The cheat is that of course the truffle will melt and form a sauce even if the centre is a little over cooked.
Work as fast as you safely can, turn the fondants out onto plates. Place a ball of ice cream on top of each one, dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with grated chocolate.
As the timing of the fondants is quite important, I would recommend have a test run of the dessert on the family. Everyone’s oven is slightly different in temperature and efficiency. So, the only way to be absolutely sure of the cooking time is to test it.
Cook the fondants as above then take one out at 12 minutes than at 2-minute intervals until you are happy with the result. Be sure to be in and out of the oven as quickly as possible or the oven will cool too much between each test.
Melted butter tents to run down the sides of the mould and sit on the base, frying the sponge as it cooks. It’s also easier to see if you have missed any bits with soft butter.
Chefs call these ‘runouts’ It is simply melted chocolate piped onto nonstick paper and allow to cool. In fact, you don’t even need to pipe it. Just letting the chocolate fall off the tip of a spoon will give you a shape, just not as neat.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
Vanilla Panna Cotta must be one of the easiest desserts to make, but perhaps harder to get exactly right. Success depends on using the best ingredients and taking care to blend them perfectly. Read on to learn just how to do that.
This Asian Mussel Broth is light yet packed full of flavour. I love mussels and this is one of the best ways of enjoying them. Its full-on flavour, and not expensive, so, what’s not to like?
Why Not Make Your Own Easy Flatbreads at home? It’s much easier than you think, and makes an impressive addition served with snacks and dips when entertaining. You can even make and roll them in advance, then cook them in front of your guest for some added theatre. You can even cook them on the barbeque to make handy wraps and pockets.
To make these fool proof, I’m using self-raising flour. Traditionally of course, this wouldn’t be used but the added lift from the flour compensates for the lack of an open flame if like us, you’re all electric. I’m also using a kitchen blowtorch to colour and puff up the flatbreads. If this is a bit scary, don’t worry it not essential.
Mix the bicarbonate of soda and flour together then sieve into a mixing bowl.
Add the salt and sugar and mix into the flour.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the buttermilk. Work the buttermilk into the flour to form a dough. We need the dough to be moist but not sticky. Don’t be afraid to add more buttermilk if needed. This will depend on the brand of buttermilk you are using.
As soon as you have everything together, stop mixing. Too much working the dough will cause the flatbreads to be tough.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave the dough to stand 15minutes to rest and rise. Remember this is not a yeast dough, so don’t expect to see an enormous rise in the dough. The lift in the flatbreads will come from the gases formed by the raising agents, and the steam generated in cooking.
Dust the table with flour then, lift the dough out onto the table and form into roughly 45g balls of dough, you should make 10.
Roll each ball of dough into a rough circle about 3mm thick. Dust with just enough flour to prevent sticking but don’t overdo it. Loose flour sitting on the surface of the flatbread will burn in cooking.
Lay the rolled flatbreads onto a plate with a sheet of baking paper between each bread. This will prevent the flatbreads from sticking to each other and can be used to transfer the dough to the griddle plate if needed.
The flatbreads can be kept like this for up to an hour before cooking if you are waiting for your guests to arrive. It also will give you time to clean up!
This can be done on a flat griddle plate on the cooker, in a frying pan, or even on the barbecue if it has flat heated surface.
Whichever method you choose we need a lot of heat, so if you are using a frying pan, make sure its up to the job!
Been a bit chefy, I also like to use a blowtorch on my flatbreads. The extreme heat generated will make the dough puff up even more and the flame imparts a traditional colour, and flavour to the dough.
If you’re not sure on how to use one safely, then don’t. It should be safe enough on the barbeque, but using one indoors need care, the last thing you want is a visit from the fire brigade.
Once your cooking surface is hot lay one flatbread onto the hot metal. If this is tricky, keep the dough on the baking paper and use this to lower the disc of dough down. The paper can easily be peeled off once the dough has set.
Cook the flatbread for about 90 seconds on one side, you should see the dough begin the bubble and blister with the heat.
Turn the flatbread over and give it another 60 – 90 seconds. If you are using the blowtorch, simple wave the wave over the dough briefly on each side. Don’t leave the flame in one place or it will burn the bread instantaneously.
As each flatbread is cooked, transfer it on to a plate with one side of a barely damp tea towel draped over. Cover the bread with the spare side of the tea towel immediately.
If you forget to cover the flatbreads as soon as they are cooked, they will dry out very quickly and become like a biscuit.
Serve as soon as possible after cooking to get the best texture, fantastic with dips, Hummus, Baba Ganoush or used as a wraps!
Don’t worry, we can turn plain flour into self-raising flour easily. For every 100g of flour you are using add 1tsp of baking powder. Mix it in well, then sift the two together. Some pastry chefs prefer to make their own self raising flour as they have full control over the raising agent been as fresh as possible.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
Baba Ganoush is easy to make at home and so much nicer then the bought in versions. Serve it as a snack or as part of a mezze spread with warmed Pita breads. Why not go the whole hog and try our recipe to make your own flatbreads and impress your guests even more.
How to make Hummus. It’s easy to make this classic middle eastern snack, better and fresher than the bought version. Its smooth healthy, and full of flavour. And once you have mastered the process there is a wealth of other flavours you can add to the basic mix.
Flavoured Butters are one of the easiest ways of putting flavour onto a dish. I simply can’t think of anything else you can that make that will transform your cooking so quickly and efficiently. Imagine a simple jacket potato lifted by adding cheesy bacon butter. Boring cooked rice given a punch with lime, ginger, chilli, and coriander butter. Or a grilled chicken breast topped with harissa flavoured butter, amazing!
Best of all they are not difficult to make. If you have a small food processor they can be made in minutes, if you don’t, just a bit more elbow grease is called for. And once made they can live in the fridge ready for instant use. Chefs refer to these butters as compound butters and the scope is endless.
Using these butters means you can add multiple flavours to a dish in one go and in measured quantities. Once you know how much you like, it’s going to be the same every time without fail.
I have built these recipes based on 125g (1/2 a pack) so each block of butter will give you the chance to make two variations.
I use these butters in two main ways.
Firstly, by letting the butter melt over a cooked item, which could be a steak, grilled fish, or the humble jacket potato. As the butter melts over the hot food, it bastes it with rich butter and the chosen combination of flavours. You will be amazed how it can make a quite simple dish seem exotic and ‘chefy.’
Secondly, a flavoured butter can be mixed into a dish. Rather than adding each flavour separately, they all hit the dish together and POW. out comes the flavour. Try mixing some of my lime, garlic and ginger butter into cooked rice and see what I mean!
All these butters freeze well. I use three months shelf life as a guideline. The finished butters can simply be rolled in greaseproof paper forming small logs about 3cm in diameter then frozen. Slices can then be cut off the frozen log as required.
If I intend to use the butter on top of say a steak, I would then make individual portions of butter. Line a small tray or plate with a plastic bag then using a piping bag fitted with a star tube pipe rosettes of butter onto the plastic. When the tray is full, pop it into the freezer until the butter is set. The rosettes can then be stored in a freezer safe box until needed.
Most of these butters can be made in the same way.
Make sure your butter is a room temperature and of a spreading consistency. Start with the hard ingredients you are using like garlic or ginger and chop or grate them as finely as possible. Pound these into the butter first with any salt been used then add in any liquids like oils or fruit juices.
If you are having difficulty blending in the liquids your butter may still be too firm, Warm the mix and try again. Finally add in delicate item like fresh herbs and fold the butter together.
The look and flavour of the butter can be quite different depending on how you mix the butters. Finely chopping items like chillies or fresh herbs then folding them into the butter will give more delicate flavours. Pounding or processing the same ingredients into the butter will extract more flavour and let those ingredients dominate the finished butter. And of course, the butter will turn the colour of the ingredients, in this case red or green.
If you are going to use the butter very soon, spoon it into small ramekins ready for use or serving. If the butter is for later use freezing is ideal.
Take a sheet of greaseproof paper about 25cm in width and spoon the finished butter in the centre forming a line about 12cm up from the bottom. Bring the bottom edge of the paper up and over the butter, pressing the paper in to form a cylinder. Aim to produce a roll 3cm in diameter, then twist the ends together like a Christmas cracker. The butter should be fine in the freezer for up to three months.
Don’t be put off by the amount of garlic, it’s really mild and mellow. Try this one pushed under the skin of a whole chicken before roasting.
This makes a great alternative filling in a chicken Kiev.
I use a mortar and pestle for this. Crush the garlic in the salt then add 1/3 of the pine kernels and crush them in. Work in the soft butter, then add the oil, shredded basil leaves and cheese. Mix to bruise the basil slightly then wrap.
Brilliant on grilled Lamb, or use on the B.B.Q.
Good for grilled fish and poultry.
If you are roasting you peppers at home, rub each one in oil, then cook on a tray in a 240˚c oven for 15 minutes. The skin of the pepper should blacken if this is not happening take them outside and use a kitchen blowtorch to finish the job. You can of course buy them in jars.
I’ve put this one in as a bit of fun. Back in the days of grand hotels Snails roasted in the shell was a trendy starter. This is the recipe for the butter that was pushed into the shells, prior to cooking and flavour the meat.
Don’t go rushing into the garden to try it out! The snails used were specially reared and their systems cleaned out before been shipped out to kitchens.
One of my favourite butters. Use on top of grilled fish or mix into cooked rice or cous-cous.
Similar to the previous butter, but a little milder without the fish sauce and ginger.
Let this one melt into a baked potato, or spread onto hot cheese scones.
Great for cooked rice or cous-cous. Also makes a good spread for the likes of a club sandwich.
Use these butters on hot scones or muffins. Great to give a lift to pancake day as well.
Try this on a toasted hot cross bun.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water then let cool. When cool, but not set fold the chocolate into the soft butter then beat in the sugar and cocoa powder.
Do give some, or all of these a try, and let me know how you get on.
Unsalted butter is the natural product make by churning fresh cream and nothing else. By adding salt to the butter it lengthens its shelf life so its unlikely to be as fresh as unsalted butter. Adding the salt also help the butter hold together so its possible to use lower quality cream to manufacture it. And finally we can simple control how much salt is in the butter.
Learn more about Butter ‘HERE’
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
Join The ‘Westcoaster Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at ‘The Westcoaster.’
© Copywrite, John Webber. 2024
Potato and Roast Garlic Soup is a simple recipe, yet quite refined. Ideal as a starter for a dinner party or served in expresso cups as a pre-starter. Its rich, smooth consistency, offset by serving the soup with parsley pesto is always a winner!
Braised Oxtail is my idea of heaven on a cold winter’s day. So, with the frost on the ground and minus five on the thermometer I decided the time was right to get cooking.
For me Braised Oxtail is the pinnacle of meat eating. Its not difficult to cook, but it does take a little time. If the idea of having the oven on for such a long cook, use a slow cooker to do most of the cooking.