Henri - Chorizo

Paella – jamieoliver.com

I have not the great stash of cookbooks as Lauren does so you’ll have to excuse the fact that I either refer to only a small selection of recipe books each week, or the internet! 

I had initially chosen molasses this week, but after oohing and aahing decided I wanted to cook a savoury dish. I can't quite remember why I opted for chorizo; I think it may be that Grace cooked with it during the week and the aroma got my tastebuds tickling.  When I think of chorizo I am instantly craving scallops with chorizo, but this idea was shunned immediately considering that scallops are a complete luxury and I can't splurge that much on food (yet!). Also, we had friends over and I wanted to cook something which brought everyone together; nothing says this quite like a Spanish Paella since the Spaniards are renowned for grand feasts!   The joy of Paella is that you can throw in everything and anything (within reason obviously), whether you raid the fridge or stroll through your local market for fresh ingredients. The recipe below is simply a guideline so go ahead and experiment with different flavours and textures!  

 I combined a few recipes and adapted Jamie's recipe to my liking, choosing peppers and illiminating squid. 

Ingredients

6 chicken breasts or thighs, skin on - I used chicken breast with the skin removed which meant the chicken lacked the crispy skin

Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Plain flour, for dusting

Olive oil

100 g chorizo, sliced

6 slices pancetta – you can use streaky bacon  

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 litres organic chicken stock, hot

2 large pinches saffron

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

500 g paella rice

1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stalks chopped

Mixed peppers chopped – I chose red, green and yellow for vibrant colours

10 king prawns

500 g mussels 

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5.

Season the chicken pieces with black pepper and salt, and dust with flour.  Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken until golden brown on both sides. Place the pieces on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. 
Using the same pan, place back on the heat and add the sliced chorizo and pancetta, frying until crispy.  Then add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. 

Meanwhile, make the chicken stock and infuse half with the saffron.  Add the smoked paprika, rice and infused stock, leaving to cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. 

The rice should be cooked after approximately 20 minutes.  At this point, pour in the remaining stock, also adding the peppers, prawns, and mussels. Place a lid on the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes. 

Finally, add the cooked chicken and heat through.  Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a wedge of lemon.

As you can see, I ended up with a lot of Paella, especially considering only four of us were eating dinner!  There was definitely enough for 10 people! It did make for a fab lunch the next day though, heating up really well.

Lauren - Bea's of Bloomsbury

Bea's of Bloomsbury - St Paul's

83 Watling Street

EC4M 9BX

With a moto "Life is short. Eat more cake" this is my kind of place. So on a hot Friday afternoon I met my friend and decided nothing says summer like a nice slice of cake. Having followed Bea on twitter and purchased her cookbook, to say I was excited is an understatement. So Jacqui and I met at St Paul's Station, put the address in google maps and set off for a cake date.

The St Paul's branch is small and on our visit very, very hot, but still worth it. After deliberating on what to get, we both went for cheesecake, Jacqui a passion fruit and me a peanut butter. We then decided it would be rude not to have a cold glass of something to wash our cake down with, unfortunately they only had Prosecco, so what's a girl to do??

We ordered at the counter, found an empty seat upstairs and waited. The service was quick and friendly and the cake did not disappoint. We both got a little bit of food envy when the lady sitting next to us was served her afternoon tea;  baguettes instead of dainty sandwiches, 3 different brownies, a cupcake...why did we not order that? 

Oh well, we'll have to go again.

Lauren - Homemade Burgers

Alegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett - Economy Gastronomy

Li'l Lamb Burgers

Serves 4 (makes 8 party size burgers, or 4 large ones)

OMG, so I LOVE burgers. Byron's, Honest's, Meat Liquor, even a good old Big Mac. I love homemade burgers especially; they are economical and much nicer than anything I have tasted pre-made from a supermarket shelf. I also think the world is your oyster with variation: beef, lamb, pork, veggie...then the choice of fillings: BLT, cheese, salad, onions. Plus, let's not forget the vessel to encase your chosen burger: brioche, seeded roll, burger bun, pita?

Because of all the decisions and possibilities I feel like I cheated myself with this week's post because instead of doing a new recipe I have chosen a burger I have done before (twice), but trust me these little babies are worth it. Juicy, tasty and a little crunchy thanks to the sesame seed coating. I just hope you guys enjoy cooking and eating them as much as I do. 

Ingredients

Burgers

650g lamb mince

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried mint

salt

6 tbs sesame seeds

Filling

4 pittas, halved

1 head of baby gem lettuce

2 vine ripened tomatoes, sliced

8 slices of cucumber

For the yogurt sauce

80g feta cheese, crumbled

8tbs Greek yogurt

1 handful of mint leaves, chopped

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

black pepper

Make the burgers by mixing together the mince, cumin and dried mint with some salt. Divide the mix to form 8 little burgers. Tip the sesame seeds on to a small saucer.

Gently press the burgers into the sesame seeds until lightly coated all over (at this stage you can freeze them).

Heat up your griddle pan, barbecue or grill (you can pan-fry them as well), but make sure that the temperature isn't at full pelt, or the seeds will burn.

 Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt sauce: mix the feta with the yogurt, mint and spring onion. Season with pepper but no salt.

I like to cook my burgers for 6 minutes on each side (prepare yourself for a bit of assault from the popping sesame seeds), allow a few minutes rest at the end. This will allow you time to give the halved pittas a quick warm through on the griddle pan or under the grill to make it easier to open into pockets. Use a small, sharp knife to split one side of the bread open, then build them by stuffing with the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, adding the lamb burgers and dolloping over a spoonful of the special sauce. Secure with a cocktail stick.

As it was just my housemate and I we halved the recipe and served our burgers with a simple salad of rocket and tomato. I'm not sure if it's the heat but this was more than enough to fill our carnivorous appetite......

I would recommend lots of kitchen roll to hand, or for the more refined, a napkin at least! Hehe!! 

Henri - Homemade burgers

Serves 4-6 (depending how large you make the burgers)

We’re in the midst of summer (for England anyway) so there’s nothing quite like a BBQ!! I am a massive fan of homemade burgers; it’s a fantastic opportunity to be really creative and try new flavours.  The other day I cooked falafel burgers with a cucumber and mint raita encased in pitta pockets for Nia and I, but thought I would try something non-vegetarian for this blog post.  I thus decided on beef burgers stuffed with stilton served with guacamole, salsa, caramelised onions and sweet potato fries.  I treated us to Aberdeen Angus mince meat from Waitrose, naughty since I really should be shopping in a slightly less extravagant supermarket, but burgers do need to be made with the best quality mince. Anyway, I hope you’re all salivating at the thought of homemade burgers and rush to make them for your weekend BBQ (hopefully these thunderstorms will pass by then)!

Ingredients

Burgers

800g Aberdeen Angus mince meat (Waitrose)

6 cloves of garlic (I tend to use quite a lot but this is personal)

6 shallots diced

1 egg beaten

Stilton

Seasoning – cracked black pepper, salt and mixed herbs

Flour, for dusting

Relish  

1 red onion cut into wedges

4 cloves of garlic

3 stalks of celery

6 tomatoes roughly chopped

1 red/green chilli (depending on your desired heat intensity)

Guacamole

2 avocados

Juice of 1 lime

Bunch of coriander roughly chopped

Seasoning – cracked black pepper and salt

Caramelised onions

2 onions sliced

Honey

Oil

Sweet potato fries

3 large sweet potatoes

Seasoning - salt

Oil

To serve:

Toasted ciabatta rolls

Beef tomatoes sliced

Little gem lettuce

Gherkins

Soured cream

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200˚c. 

In a large bowl combine the mince meat with the crushed garlic, shallots and seasoning and mix together well.  Add the beaten egg and mix again, though not too much because this will cause the burgers to be heavy.  Form the mince meat into thin patties, lay on a flour-dusted surface and place a dollop of stilton in the centre.  Place another patty on top and mould the edges to create a burger (you may think they look like enormous meatballs, so flatten them if so desired). Cover with cling-film and leave in the fridge until around 10 minutes before you want to cook them.

Meanwhile, drizzle an oven-tray with oil and heat in the oven.  Chop the sweet potatoes into either skinny fries or chunky chips, and part-boil them.  When they have softened place them on the oven-tray, season and toss them in oil.  Cook in the oven for approximately 20 minutes for skinny fries or 40 minutes for chunky chips, until crispy.    

Next is the preparation of the salsa, guacamole and caramelised onions.  Preparing the salsa was straightforward; heat oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic until softened.  Add the tomatoes, celery and chilli, leaving to simmer until all ingredients have softened.  Season well and leave to cool.

The guacamole I kept unadulterated since there are a lot of other flavours going on in the dish, so simply use a mini chopper to blitz the avocados and coriander with lime juice and plenty of seasoning. Cover and leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

Everything should be prepared at this point; burgers, salsa, guacamole and the sweet potato fries in the oven cooking.  The last thing to do before cooking the burgers is to caramelise the onions.  Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and cook until softened.  Add honey to the pan and allow to sweat until ready to serve, stirring occasionally to prevent the onions from sticking. 

Almost there...heat a griddle pan with oil until piping hot, and cook the burgers for 5-10 minutes, depending on their size and how pink you like them, turning them over after 2 minutes.  Do not worry if the stilton begins to ooze out!  During this time, lightly toast the ciabatta rolls in the oven. 

Serve the burgers immediately with the ciabatta rolls and pile high with all of the delightful extras; beef tomatoes, little gem lettuce, caramelised onions and gherkins.  On the side have the guacamole, salsa and of course the sweet potato fries.

This is a pretty substantial meal so make sure you’re ready to take on the challenge! 

Lauren - Peaches

Lorraine Pascale - Baking Made Easy

Peach Clafoutis

Serves 6-8

So, it was Henri's turn to choose an ingredient and I'm not sure who was more shocked, her or me that she (the proclaimed cook, not baker) chose a sweet ingredient....peaches? My mind went into overdrive with possibilities. Sweet, savory, salad, starter or dessert? But nobody needs a recipe on how to grill peaches, nobody. I originally planned to do a Jamie Oliver sweet peach risotto recipe - you'll soon realise how deep my Mr Oliver obsession goes - but decided last minute to do Lorraine's Clafoutis. Firstly, as I have never had one, and secondly I have been desperate to try one since I saw Hugh FW make one in his River Cottage Everyday series.

Ingredients

Vegetable oil or oil spray, for oiling

3-4 just-ripe medium peaches, halved and stoned

4 eggs plus 3 egg yolks

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 2tsp vanilla extract

100g caster sugar

40g plain flour

Pinch of salt

150ml double cream

140g soured cream or full fat creme fraiche (I used creme fraiche)

2 tbsp amaretto (I omitted this)

Icing sugar, for dusting

Equipment

A shallow round or oval pie dish, about 23cm wide and 4cm high

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ Gas Mark 4. Oil the pie dish.

Put the peaches cut-side down evenly over the base of the prepared pie dish. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, vanilla and caster sugar together until it becomes frothy. Add the flour and salt, then gradually add the double cream, soured cream and the amaretto, whisking all the time, until well combined.

Pour the batter over the fruit and bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, possibly a little longer. The fruit should be nicely softened and the mixture set. Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar. Serve straight away with some vanilla ice cream - wonderful comfort food.