GAWPGH

When you feel like to much is too much, of food I mean, then take a break and try something exquisite and light. They say that good things come in small packages and this is true about this recipe. It is not for those who live to eat but mostly for the gourmand or gourmet . I cooked and ate this in 2005. Why do I know the year? Simple: I have the print of the article with the recipe. It is from the Sunday’s edition of  The Times, on the 28th of May 2005, where Gordon Ramsay presented some recipes about asparagus. It was a total hit, to be honest, and I would like to share with you this delicate and light recipe, that can be eaten as it is or as a side dish with meat to your liking.

Green Asparagus with Pink Grapefruit Hollandaise

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 6 coriander seeds, finely crushed
• 3 free-range egg yolks
• 125 ml light olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• sea salt
• pinch of cayenne
• 100 ml fresh pink grapefruit juice
• grated zest of 1 pink grapefruit
• 24 asparagus spears

Method:

• Place the coriander seeds, egg yolks and 1 tablespoon warm water in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Whisk the egg yolks until they are pale and creamy and form ribbons when the whisk is lifted from the bowl.
• Remove the pan from the heat and continue to whisk for a further 3 minutes. Gently warm the olive oil and add in a very slow, steady drizzle to the eggs, whisking continuously, until the sauce is thick and glossy (you may not need all the oil.) Add the lemon juice, salt and cayenne. Keep warm to the side of the cooker.
• Cook the grapefruit juice and zest in a pan over a moderate heat until reduced to 3 tablespoons. Whisk into the hollandaise.
• Bring a pan of slightly salted water to a gentle boil, add the trimmed asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. Serve on warm plates with the hollandaise.

Bon appetite!

Here I Come!

I will definitely eat this, at its own home. Soon. Even if it’s going to be in my kitchen. I did this years ago, and I was a bit disappointed. The form collapsed but the taste was good, so it was ok in the end. I used the recipe from ‘The Practical Encyclopedia of East European Cooking’, 1999. Location: London.

What memories I’ve got from London! I can talk for days and not get tired. One of this memories is this cool dessert just perfect for these hot days. This dessert is very romantic for me, so I see it eaten with someone I love, or you love and love and love…

Bavarian Cream

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla pod
• 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 1/4) cups single cream
• 15 ml ( 1 tbsp) powdered gelatine
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 50 g (2 oz, 1/4) cup caster sugar
• 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 1/4) cups double cream
• chocolate leaves and a sprinkling of cocoa powder, to decorate

Method:

• Put the vanilla pod and single cream into a small pan. Slowly bring to the boil, then turn off the heat, cover and infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the pod – rinsed well and dried, it can be stored and used again.
• Sprinkle the gelatine over the milk and leave to soften.
• Lightly whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the single cream almost to the boil again, then whisk into the egg mixture.
• Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and cook the custard, stirring, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat, add the soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved.
• Strain the custard into a clean bowl. Cover with a piece of wet greaseproof paper, to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool.
• Whip the double cream in a bowl until it just holds soft peaks, then fold it into the cooled custard.
• Rinse individual moulds or a 1.2 litre (2 pint, 5) cup ring or fancy mould with water. Pour in the cream mixture and chill for at least 4 hours, or until set.
• To unmould the Bavarian cream, dip the mould right up to the rim in very hot water for about 5 seconds. Place a serving plate on top, then quickly invert the mould and remove. Decorate with chocolate leaves and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Bon appetite!

Mousaka with Gruyere Cheese

I feel so relieved! My exams are over. So is my stress. I can continue writing here, without thinking that I have an exam tomorrow or I have to learn for one. So I add today the recipe I put some weeks ago in Romanian. This is the English recipe of mousaka, the Greek type . But this one comes with a twist: it has Gruyère cheese in it. I loved it the moment I put my eyes on it, as it has cheese and aubergines, one of my favorite vegetables. Plus, it is traditional to make with aubergines, not potatoes. I have made mousaka with potatoes some years ago just to see how it tasted, but I didn’t like it. My fave is this one. If you are lucky to have this book: Josceline Dimbley “Marvellous Meals with Mince” – 1982, than you can just skip this.

What I like about this recipe is that it has exotic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, that add a special flavour and fragrance to the dish.

Mousaka with Gruyère Cheese  

Ingredients:

• 550-675 g (1 1/4 – 1 1/2 lb) aubergines (approx. 3)
• lemon juice
• 2 onions
• 25 g (1 oz) butter (80-82 unsalted butter, if you find)
• 450 g (1 lb) lamb mince (you can add half lamb and half beef mince if you like)
• 1 tsp (5 ml spoon) ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 6 tbsp water
• a good handful of parsley, chopped
• 200 g (8 oz) Gruyère cheese, sliced thinly (the original recipe states 100 g, but my experience has shown me that it is not enough, plus I love cheese, so there is never enough for me)
• salt and pepper

For the topping:

• 50 g (2 oz) butter
• 50 g (2 oz) plain flour
• 450 ml (3/4 pint) milk
• a little grated nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp single cream
• salt and black pepper

Method:

• Peel the aubergines, slice into 1/4 – 1/2 inch (5 mm – 1cm) rounds and immediately smear with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Then rub all over with salt and leave in a colander in the sink for half an hour, to drain away the bitter juices. I can tell you that there won’t be much or no bitter juices.
• Peel and chop the onions. To do this I have discovered in London the excellent Alligator Onion Cutter. I hate cutting onion so I have purchased one there. I saw it in Selfridge and other stores. It is worth it having one, believe me. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onion over a gentle heat until softened. Add the minced lamb and fry over a rather higher heat, stirring and breaking up with a wooden spoon until it is separated and sealed. Stir in the ground cinnamon and  a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Then stir in the tomato purée and water and bubble until the water is absorbed. Turn of the heat and stir in the chopped parsley.
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil and empty the aubergine slices into it. Cover the pan and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
• In a 2 1/2 – 3 pint (1,4 – 1,7 litre) ovenproof dish (a glass one shows tha layers attractively) make layers of aubergine slices, mince mixture and Gruyère cheese, starting and ending with a layer of aubergine.
• To make the topping, melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Stir in the milk, gradually at first. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time and then bubble gently, still stirring, for about 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and black pepper add a little grated nutmeg. What a lovely flavour!Remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks with the cream and gradually add the white sauce, stirring in thoroughly. If the sauce is al all lumpy, whisk until smooth and then pour on tp of the aubergine and meat layers.
• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/ 180°C, 350°F and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes, until a rich golden brown on top.

Bon appetite!

Is There Ever Enough Chocolate?

Are you a chocolate addicted? Then you will love this. Petit pot au chocolat. I remember that this recipe was among the few that I had tried at home, in Romania. I had found it in “The Sunday Times” at the end of my staying in London and I had decided to make it at home. It was worth waiting that long. And last Wednesday I thought of making it again. For Thursday. Why? Because Thursday was my birthday. Wow, I made a rhyme!

When I think of birthdays, I always think of doing something special, as long as is not that traditional. Don’t get me wrong, I am quite old-fashion in some ways but not in other ways. So, these delicious pots seem just perfect to indulge on somebody’s birthdays. You have a perfect smooth chocolate cream and you will ask for more until you die. Of pleasure, of course. I am sorry to ruin your daydreaming but let’s get to work.

Petit Pot au Chocolat

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 350 ml double cream
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways or 2 tbsp of vanilla sugar
• 250 g plain chocolate, broken into pieces (remember, remember: at leat 70 % cocoa)
• 150 ml milk (full fat please, please, if you make it for your birthday, spoil yourself)
• 4 small egg yolks
• 2 heaped tbsp icing sugar (or simply sugar, if you don’t have icing sugar)

Method:

• This is my favourite part. 😉
• Preheat the oven to 140 °C, 275 °F, Gas Mark 1.
• In a saucepan, warm the cream with a vanilla pod, whisk to disperse the vanilla seeds, the cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. With vanilla sugar just make sure it melts in the cream and leave to cool.
• In another pan, melt the chocolate in the milk. (I know you will taste a bit. )
• In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar, add the chocolate milk and vanilla cream, then blend thoroughly. (I bet that you will taste again, and I win. What I win? I won’t wash the dishes.) Pass through a fine sieve and pour into a little pots or ramekins. (I adore ramekins, there are never enough for me, that is why I have decided to buy some more the moment I am in London.)
• Bake in a bain-marie in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until slightly puffed-up and spongy. Don’t worry about the crust forming top. It may look as it is overcooked but it is not. Plus, this crust when cold, covers an intense chocolate cream. Cool in the fridge for at least 6 hours before serving.

Bon appetite!

PS: Some pictures with my “birthday cake”.

Yummy!

Blow the candles! 😉