7 minute read
Foodie News
Make your Mouth Water
Love brownies? It’s time to fall in love with Bear’s Brownies. Their caramel brownie boasts a chocolate fudge base, salted caramel layer, dark chocolate ganache topping, finished with crushed pretzels. Another popular choice is the jammie dodger blondie, as well as the millionaires brownie which is finished with an edible gold leaf. Perfect as a Thank You, Birthday, Anniversary or Just Because Gift for yourself.
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www.bearsbrownies.co.uk
Box of Hugs
When someone you know needs a metaphorical hug in a box, Monty & Ridge (www.montyandridge.co.uk) has all the ingredients to make someone's day. They come in various themes; mindfulness, friendship, pamper hamper and recovery. With contents including biscuits, chocolates, bath bombs, eye masks, tea, and candles, to specific nutrition for adventurers, a Monty & Ridge box is the perfect antidote.
The Lalee Opens
The Cadogan, A Belmond Hotel, have launched The LaLee, - an all-day neighbourhood café-restaurant in the heart of Chelsea. “The LaLee will take guests on a culinary journey to the grand cities of Europe, inspired by the voyages of one of the hotel's most legendary past residents, and Chelsea socialite, Lillie Langtry. The new café-restaurant marks a new era for The Cadogan, with Lillie's love of entertaining at the forefront and dishes served in true sophisticated Cadogan style with a touch of tableside theatre. To book, visit www.thelalee.co.uk
Gin at The Museum
The Natural History Museum has teamed up with Yorkshire's Cooper King Distillery to launch an exclusive carbonnegative gin, made with fresh basil, beautifully balanced with fragrant lemongrass and aromatic clove, available to purchase for £39 (70cl) at the Museum Shop or online at
nhm.ac.uk/shop.
Roasted Stuffed Cauliflower
The perfect start to Veganuary, this filling cauliflower roast stuffed with kale and chestnuts
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small cauliflowers (about 850g) 5 tbsp olive oil 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
For the stuffing
250g kale , chopped 1 tbsp milled linseed 1 onion , chopped 2 garlic cloves , chopped ½ small pack sage , leaves chopped ½ small pack rosemary , leaves chopped 150g cooked chestnuts , finely chopped, plus 30g for the topping 2 lemons, zested Nutmeg
Trim and discard the cauliflower leaves. Turn the cauliflower upside-down on a chopping board and use your knife to carefully cut out the stalk and core, leaving a cavity – the florets should still be holding together.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Submerge the cauliflower and cook for 7 mins, then remove with two slotted spoons and set aside to steam dry. Add the kale to the pan and cook for a min or so until wilted. Drain, then run under cold water to cool. Squeeze out the excess liquid and roughly chop.
To make a linseed ‘egg’ (this will bind the stuffing together), mix the ground linseed with 3 tbsp water and set aside for 5-10 mins until gluey. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook until softened, then stir in the remaining stuffing ingredients, including the kale, and cook for a min or so more. Remove from the heat and season, then put in a blender with 150ml water and the linseed egg and blitz to a thick purée. Transfer to a piping bag.
Pipe the stuffing mixture into every nook and cranny of the cauliflower, getting in as much of the purée as you can – see our tip below. Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment. Can be made up to this point in the morning and kept in the fridge.
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix the remaining chestnuts with the breadcrumbs and some seasoning. Spoon the remaining oil all over the cauliflower, then pat on the breadcrumb chestnut mix. Roast for 45 mins until golden brown and tender (place under a hot grill for the last part of cooking time if it needs to crisp-up). Serve with any crisp bits that have fallen onto the baking tray.
Method
Ingredients
400g fettucine 1 tbsp. olive oil 500g Brussel sprouts 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 tbsp. butter 1 tbsp. flour ½ cup dry white wine 1 cup vegetable stock (or chicken or bone broth if not vegetarian) 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan juice and zest of ½ a lemon ¼ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped Salt and pepper 1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped Extra parmesan for serving
Method
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, chop the stalks of the Brussel sprouts cut in half lengthways and finely slice. Put a large heavy based frying pan on medium high heat and add half the olive oil. Once hot add half the Brussel sprouts and one clove of crushed garlic. Cook until they are just starting to get crisp and golden at the edges. If this isn’t happening you may have over crowded the pan, remove some and try again. Once a little golden and crispy remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining olive oil, sprouts and garlic. Remove and set aside with the rest. Add pasta to the water and cook according to packet instructions. Drain, reserving a coup of pasta water. Add butter and flour to the pan and whisk for a minute or two to cook out the flour. Add the white wine and simmer for a couple of minutes then slowly whisk in the stock. You do not want the sauce to be too thick just thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, if you’ve cooked it down too much add some pasta water to thin it out, you can do this from the pot while your pasta is still cooking. Stir through the parmesan. Add the cooked pasta and Brussel sprouts (reserve a few tablespoons for garnish if you like) to the sauce and stir through to coat the pasta. Add lemon juice. Add some of the reserved pasta water if it looks too dry. Serve the pasta topped with the parsley, reserved Brussel sprouts and hazelnuts, a generous crack of black pepper and extra parmesan.
Peaches and Cream Pie
Ingredients
225g cold unsalted butter , plus extra for greasing 500g plain flour 100g icing sugar, plus extra to serve 4 large free-range eggs 175ml semi-skimmed milk , plus extra for the dough 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon cornflour 175g fat-free Greek yoghurt 275g caster sugar 2 x 410g tins of peach slices
Cube 200g of the butter and pulse in a food processor with 400g of the flour, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Pulse in the icing sugar and 2 eggs, then bring it together with a splash of milk. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas 4. Grease a 30cm pie dish with butter. Roll out the dough to a 40cm circle, then place into the pie dish, firming it in place. Prick all over with a fork, cover with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and pop in the oven to blind bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cooked. Crack the remaining eggs into a bowl with the vanilla, cornflour, milk and yoghurt. Add 200g of the caster sugar, 1 tablespoon of the remaining flour and 1 pinch of sea salt. Whisk until combined and leave to one side. Drain and arrange the peaches in the bottom of the baked pastry case, then pour over the custard. Return to the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the custard is set to the touch but still has a slight wobble. Cover the pastry edge with foil if it colours too quickly. Make the crumble topping. In a bowl, rub the remaining 25g of butter and 90g of flour with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the remaining 75g of sugar. Sprinkle over the pie and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes, or until golden. Leave to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and serving.
