ingredients – Page 7

Chocolate bread

In my husband’s mind, I don’t make this bread often enough (he would still say this even if I made it almost every week). Chocolate bread might sound like a weird concept, and you would probably expect it to be sweet. I don’t think it’s either of the mentioned. Cocoa powder itself is always pretty bitter, and the bread only uses a little bit of sugar to counteract that. The taste of the bread is somewhere in a twilight zone between savory, bitter and sweet, and is quite addictive. You can of course alter the end taste by eating it with normal butter, nutella, peanut butter etc.

450g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
25g cocoa powder
1 sachet (7g) dried yeast
2 tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
300ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

1. Mix all the dry ingredients flour, salt, cocoa powder, sugar and yeast together. The cocoa powder tends to be a bit lumpy, you can either sift it through a sieve when adding it, or when mixing all ingredients together with a spoon just break the biggest lumps, which is what I do. Kneading the dough will get rid of the remaining lumps.

2. Mix oil and water together. I use a food processor for kneading, but you can also do it by hand. Whilst mixing / kneading, slowly pour the liquid into the dry ingredients. Once it’s all mixed together, knead for 10 minutes. Cover with oiled cling film and a cloth, and place the bowl in a sink with some hot water at the bottom. Leave to rise for 1 hour.

3. Knead again for about 30 seconds. Shape to a log to be length / width of your bread tin. Slightly oil your tin, and place the dough in. Cover with the oiled cling film, and let rise for 30 minutes.

4. Bake in preheated oven 200°C / 400°F for 25-30 minutes.

5. Cool on a wire rack.

Meatballs and tomato sauce

I’m a kind of cook who usually just throws ingredients together, without exact measures (unless required by the recipe). I’ve sometimes made my recipes by just checking which ingredients certain food requires, and just come up with a perfect result through trial and error. Sometimes I swap ingredients depending on what I have in my cupboard or fridge. This is why writing this blog may be a challenge at times, however one I embrace and enjoy at the same time. Below you can find a recipe for my meatballs and tomato sauce.

Meatballs
500g mince beef (you can also replace half by mince pork)
3 eggs
1 dl breadcrumbs
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp allspice
2 tbsp fresh parsley
olive oil
butter
~~~~~
2 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard or
1 chilli

1. Finely chop onion and garlic, and fry in olive oil. Let cool.

2. Add all ingredients together, and either mix in a blender (for finer texture) or by hand. If mixture is too hard/dense, you can add some water (or cream), or if it’s too soft add more breadcrumbs. Sometimes, I add a finely chopped chilli for a bit of a kick. This time, for the balls in the picture I added grainy Dijon mustard instead.

3. Shape into even size balls, and fry in butter in a frying pan.

Tomato sauce

This is my basic tomato sauce I use for everything, from bolognaise to pizza. I don’t usually use cream with tomato sauce, but I wanted to try how it would work this time, and it worked well.

1 celery stick
1-2 carrots
1 medium onion
2-3 garlic cloves
handful of fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh parsley
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
dried oregano
dried herbs de provence
olive oil
salt
black pepper
(splash of cream – optional)

1. In a blender, finely chop onion, garlic, carrot, celery and fresh herbs, and fry in olive oil in pan.

2. Blend the chopped tomatoes, and add to the pan. Add dried herbs and tomato purée, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Put back in the blender, to make extra smooth texture, otherwise it’ll be somewhat coarse.

4. If using cream, add a splash.

Spicy honey roasted parsnip soup

One of the great things about this time of the year is it’s the season for root vegetables. I’ve not been that experimental with parsnips in the past though, so I thought I need to explore this ingredient outside the normal roast vegetables on Sundays. I’ve decided to use parsnips for my soup of the week. This recipe will make quite a thick soup, you could always add more stock if you’d like it less so. Also, if you’re not a fan of spicy, I would suggest you go with one chilli rather than the two I’ve used. This soup is actually packed with the best medicines nature has for fighting off colds, so fantastic dinner option for these cold autumn days.

750g parsnips
2 medium onions
2 medium potatoes
3 garlic cloves
2 fresh green chillies
thumb size piece of fresh root ginger
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp clear honey
2 tsp ground turmeric
1.2 l beef or vegetable stock
2 dl cream
salt
pepper

1. Heat oven to 190°C.

2. Peel the potatoes, rinse and cut into smaller pieces. Wash the parsnips, and cut the end off. Cut in half, then half the thinner pieces, and quarter the thicker pieces. Cut peeled onions into wedges, and finely chop the garlic, chillies and ginger. Add all these to a roasting tin, coat with the oil and honey, as well as the turmeric. Mix all together, and roast for 45 minutes.

3. Once cooked, transfer to a pan, and add the stock. I’m using my homemade beef stock as I think it goes well with parsnips, but you can use vegetable stock too. Let simmer for 5 minutes, and move aside to cool.

4. Add cream and purée in a blender until smooth. Reheat and check the taste, adding salt and pepper as required.

Roast loin of pork and Dauphinoise potatoes

The beauty of this kind of food is that the prep is quick, and while the food is cooking you can get on with other things, hence why I would cook something like this even mid week. If you’re not a garlic lover, you can always just leave the garlic out and make normal creamed potatoes without it. Also, today I’ve had to improvise with my pork dish a little bit, as something that’s completely unheard of in my kitchen happened: I had run out of not even one, but two ingredients without replacing them! The recipe below is for how I normally make it. This should be enough for 3-4 portions. I served mine with fried black trumpet mushrooms and fresh tomato and cucumber salad, covered with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Dauphinoise potatoes
5-6 medium potatoes, sliced (I have a beautiful, brand new blender so this was done within 30 seconds)
2 -3 cloves of garlic
2-3dl double cream
salt
black pepper

1. Layer sliced potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper, then pour over the cream.

2. Cook in preheated oven 180°C for 1,5 hours, until potato is soft.

Roast loin of pork
500g loin fillet of pork
mustard
salt
black pepper
ground ginger
dried rosemary

1. Massage the mustard all over the pork fillet.

2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, ginger and rosemary.

3. Roast in the oven 180°C /355°F for about 40 minutes. Juices coming out of the pork should be clear.

4. Take out of the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

5. I also use the cooking juices as the jus for the dish.

Beetroot risotto

This dish is one of my husband’s all time favourite dishes. I actually never used to like risotto, until I started making my own.

500g fresh, raw beetroots, peeled, trimmed and cut into wedges
splash of olive oil
knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
250g risotto rice (I use Arborio)
150ml dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc)
700ml hot vegetable stock (for this I mix Bouillon powder with water)
handful of grated parmesan cheese
dill
crème fraiche

1. Heat oven to 160°C (fan).

2. Put chopped beetroot in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle with olive oil, season and cook for about an hour, until soft.

3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan, and cook the onion and garlic for about 3-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the rice and white wine, and let bubble on medium heat until the wine has disappeared (about 3 minutes).

4. Little by little, add the vegetable stock, stirring in between, letting most of it be absorbed before adding more liquid. This whole stage should take around 20 minutes. Once the rice is desired texture, move on to the next stage.

5. Remove the cooked beetroot from the oven and take about a 1/4 aside, to blend into a puree. Chop the remaining 3/4 into small cubes. Then add the pureed and chopped pieces to the risotto.

6. Stir in some parmesan cheese and chopped dill. To serve, add a dollop of crème fraiche on top, and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese and dill.

Rack of lamb with roasted baby potatoes and pumpkin

For Sunday dinner this week I made rack of lamb, and as it’s Halloween I accompanied it with roasted baby potatoes and pumpkin. One rack of 8 bones should be enough for two people.

Lamb marinade
2 cloves of garlic
leaves from 3 rosemary sprigs
leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
6 black peppercorns
couple of pinches of sea salt
splash of olive oil, until desired consistency is achieved

Clean the bones with a sharp knife. Blend all ingredients together, and rub all over the rack of lamb. Ideal marinade time is at least four hours, or overnight.

Roast baby potatoes and pumpkin
500g baby potatoes
small pumpkin
leaves from couple of rosemary sprigs
leaves from few thyme sprigs
olive oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
black olives, quantity to taste

Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan). Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes. Strain, and mix all ingredients together. Roast for 40 minutes.

Pan seared, oven roasted rack of lamb

Heat oil in an oven proof frying pan. Brown the rack on all sides, including the ends. Cover the bones with foil, and roast in preheated oven 200°C(fan) / 430°F fat side up for 15 minutes for rare result. Rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Homemade guacamole

For breakfast this weekend I had ham, homemade guacamole and poached eggs on sourdough toast. Below you can find my guacamole recipe, which truly is much better that the ones you buy from the shop. And it’s really easy to make too!

2 ripe avocados
2 small tomatoes (cherry or plum)
1 small green chilli
1 clove of garlic
handful of fresh coriander
1/2 lemon juice (or 1 tbsp bottled)
splash of cream, until desired consistency is achieved

Blend all ingredients together, adding cream until desired consistency is achieved.

Borscht

I’m starting my blog with borscht soup as my first post simply because this is the first recipe one of my Instagram followers has asked for. This hearty winter warmer soup originates from Russia, and is also widely used in other Eastern European countries, with many variations. My one includes meat, but you can always leave the meat products off.

500g beef brisket
2 litres water
1 tbsp salt
2 bay leaves
4 white peppers
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 leek
5 parsley stalks
250g raw beetroot
1/2 stalk of celery
2 potatoes
1 onion
200g white cabbage
1 tbsp butter
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper
150g frankfurters (hot dog sausages)
parsley
crème fraiche to serve

1. Cover the meat with the water, and bring to boil. Boil uncovered for 10-15 minutes, removing the foam that forms.

2. Add the salt, bay leaves, white peppers, garlics, chopped leek and parsley stalks. Cover with lid and simmer for two hours.

3. Remove the meat, and cut to bite size pieces. Strain the liquid through a sieve. For extra fine result, you may also use muslin.

4. Grate (or finely chop) the beetroot, celery, potato and cabbage to match size pieces. Finely chop onion. Keep 2-3 dl of beetroot aside. Soften in a pan with butter.

5. Add the liquid, and cook for 15 mins. Add the chopped tomatoes, vinegar, remaining beetroot, meat and chopped frankfurters. Check taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

6. Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche and chopped parsley.