foragers quiche

... i'm more than a little chuffed to announce that i'll be demo-cooking at this years Lincolnshire Show... this is the big one folks... for all the demo-cooking that i've done before has led me to this, the grand-daddy of all fairs, markets and shows in the county, this is the county show to be at.  The Lincolnshire Show is one of the UK's biggest county shows, it's heritage dating back to 1868, as popular for its displays of agricultural farm equipment and animals as its incredible stalls celebrating everything from Lincolnshire cheeses to local fashion designers and crafters.  As you can imagine the highlight for me every year is the Food Court and this is the place i'll be calling home for the 19th and 20th June...

...I reviewed the show last year so for me to actually be a part of the proceedings is an amazingly proud moment in my food life and to be counted amongst other local chefs such as Rachel Green and the Fanny to my Jonny, Amy Claridge also appearing in the Demonstration Kitchen just makes it all the more exciting and a little nerve wracking!... i've decided to make a foragers quiche using locally foraged vegetables, alongside local cheeses, eggs, flour and cream of course but as well as the quiche, in some moment of madness decision making, i'll also be showing the good folk of Lincolnshire my low-knead bread baking to try and encourage people to get bake their own...

wild garlic and nettle quiche with a lincolnshire poacher and ground elder pastry crust
this is a version of the quiche i'll be making - obviously by the end of June the wild garlic will be gone - but a visit to our local bluebell wood today to forage for wild garlic inspired me to use it in the quiche... if you've not used wild garlic before I urge you to hunt some down, even if it's not so wild, as it has the most incredible deep and sweet garlic flavour without being overbearing as garlic can often be... a word of waring though - if you do find a patch of wild garlic make sure you don't over pick from it... leave plenty in the site you found it, a little wild garlic will go a long way and you want to leave some behind for mother nature... as for the nettle and ground elder... feel free to go as crazy as you like but remember not to forage close to the side of a busy road or where you know dogs have been...

for the pastry
8oz flour
3oz butter
1oz lincolnshire poacher - finely grated
a handful of ground elder - finely chopped

for the quiche filling
a bunch of wild garlic - washed and spun dry
roughly 10 heads of nettle (just the top four leaves picked wearing rubber gloves!)
5 whole lengths of spring onion - finely sliced
half a bulb of fennel - finely sliced
4 eggs
300ml single cream
100ml soured cream
salt and pepper
butter and olive oil

start with the pastry by crumbling the butter into the flour in a large bowl with your finger tips - be light and quick - then add the cheese and ground elder and stir, then add a little cold water and bring it together into a dough with your hands.  Pat it out, wrap it in cling film and then pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

in a large pan that has a lid add a little olive oil and garlic and saute the onions and fennel gently for about 10 minutes until they're soft, then turn off the heat add the wild garlic and nettles, add a little salt and pepper then pop the lid on and let them sweat until they're soft, this should take about 5 minutes.

once the pastry has been chilled for 30 minutes roll it out on a floured surface and line your quiche dish or fluted tin.  Cover with some scrunched up baking parchment and some baking beans and bake the pastry on 160C for about 15 minutes, then remove the beans brush the pastry with a little beaten egg and bake again for a further 5 mins until golden... this method with insure you never have a soggy bottom!

the baked pastry case with no soggy bottom!

in a large bowl beat the 4 eggs with the creams, season and then add the soft vegetables and stir before pouring into the pastry case.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and risen

eat and of course enjoy!

Cho drinking gazpacho - a cho-tastic Mums Show Live giveaway!

... being a creative type can have it's hazards... one moment you're working your nuts off, throwing glitter at a supermodel in some insanely expensive house in the Hollywood Hills with barely a moment to breathe... and the next you can be up to your eyeballs in debt frantically rocking naked in the corner of a dimly lit room wondering where your next pay cheque is going to come from... it is a slightly frenetic life that I wouldn't give up for anything, however much you may hear me complain...

... but sometimes when the lows are really low you do start to plan your escape... wild ideas come to you in the dead of night, most have very little chance of ever reaching fruition but when one of them does, you just know it's going to get you out of the doldrums... The Viking and I are very lucky at the moment because The Persuaders is going really well and added to this we're hoping that Mums Show Live, the new and only show for parents of school-aged kids, happening at Alexandra Palace next week from 16th to 19th May, will be another step in the right direction... and so when our very good friends Adam and Karen told us about their new food venture Cho an 'on-the-go' drinking gazpacho, we were equally excited and intrigued by their new food idea...

Adam and Karen hard at work!

... Adam and Karen have been working in the same industry as us for years and have had the same hits and misses as the best of us so when they turned their love of food and passion for all things Spanish into Cho - an innovative new drinking gazpacho with 4 incredible flavours we knew they were onto a winner... of course the proof, as they say, is in the pudding and with Cho, boy is it ever!...

the four intriguing Cho flavours are 

Clasico Tomato & Peppers 

a classic blend of organic tomatoes, green and red peppers, olive oil and garlic - this is the true taste of gazpacho, a must for any tomato lover.

Almond & Raspberry

the Spanish call gazpacho with almonds Ajoblanco and this is a twist on that beautiful idea with more than a kick of raspberries, this is a very summery drink.

Beetroot and Apple

this one is my favourite and I feel it is a very mature drink, it is also blended with Greek yoghurt for an extra creaminess, it is quite literally heaven in a bottle

Tomato & Strawberry

this one is delightful and apparently a hit with the kids too, the strawberry is an unexpected and delicious bed-fellow for the tomato!

As a food lover myself I know that gazpacho tends to be one of those 'marmite' foods... for as many people love it as hate it but I have to say that this is such an innovative idea and one that I know will take my dear friends on an incredible culinary journey... and they've spent many a sleepless hour creating this beautiful drink... working with Michelin starred chef Alejandro Sanchez on developing the recipes so that each flavour combination is sublimely beautiful, plus all the product is lovingly and authentically made by small producers in the heart of Andalucia... they already have orders from some very swanky shops and the product is also available to order on their website where you can read more about their brilliant culinary journey...

and now to the brilliant giveaway... we are proud to announce that Cho will be exhibiting at Mums Show Live next week and to celebrate this union of creativity I am giving away 4 pairs of tickets to the show to 4 lucky winners, each winner will also receive an incredible 12 bottle case of mixed flavours of Cho!...

... all you have to do to enter is fill in the wonderful rafflecopter thingy below and tell us which flavour you think sounds the most delicious... the winners will be announced on Wed 18th May - good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a simple summer salad

... we're a funny lot us Brits aren't we?  The merest hint of summer sunshine and we're out in our droves... blocking country lanes... filling up beaches... dining al fresco along the banks of the river... it's as though the British have an internal alarm that rings in the depths of our minds - 'get thee out unto the roads and find your corner of the sunshine'... we know that unlike many of our international friends, if we don't make the most of it, even if it's only for just one beautiful weekend, we may not see it again for another month... it's even worth sitting in a traffic jam for 4 hours just to make it to that special chip-shop by the coast.. just to say we've had a summer...

... like a lot of us I also tend to bring the summer out in my food... if I can't make it to the beach then i'll damn well have a plate full of holiday... I was lucky enough to have been sent a selection of world-famous Iberian ham from Jamoteca and Joselito.  I actually squealed with delight as I opened the box of goodies that contained a packet of Joselito Gran Reserva Ham, cured for a minimum of 36 months, a packet of Joselito Chorizo, Joselito Gran Reserva Paleta and also some Joselito Salchichon... in all honesty I ripped open the Gran Reserva Ham without ceremony and i'm so glad I did, it was unbelievably good with a deep and sweet oaky quality that instantly took me back to Majorcan nights sitting by the Med... there's a very good reason why it's called 'the best ham in the world'

asparagus and green bean salad
you know that summer's well and truly on it's way when the British asparagus arrives in the shops... it's almost painful to think that most of supermarkets are still stocking the stuff that comes from Peru when we should all really learn to love the stuff when it's available here... and it's damn fine stuff and more than worth the wait... this salad is dressed very simply with some stunningly sweet balsamic vinegar sent to me as part of my recent rediscover italy delivery and i've served it very simply with some of the beautiful Gran Reserva Paleta... summer in an instant!

1 bunch of British asparagus
a handful of fine green beans
1 round lettuce - roughly torn
1 bunch of rocket
1 ball of fresh mozzarella
10 radish - thinly sliced
15 baby plum tomatoes - halved
olive oil
kosher salt
balsamic vinegar

very easy all this... place the asparagus and beans into boiling water and simmer gently for 5 mins until just tender

rip up everything else and place it into a bowl and once the vegetables are ready drain them douse them in olive oil and layer them onto the salad... drizzle with plenty of balsamic and serve!

fortunately for everyone, jamoteca hams can be purchased on-line wherever you are in the world it seems...

eat and of course, enjoy!

almond and chocolate marble cake

... when I was a teenager I was madly in love with a young lady called Natasha.  It was quite an intense, four year relationship that unfortunately but inevitably ended badly... we met recently and healed some of the wounds having realised that twenty five years, marriages and children do a lot to smooth the pain away but I don't think anyone really forgets their first true love.  There are many things I remember about Natasha but one thing that I often recall is her mothers incredible marble cake.  Her mother, who sadly passed away a few years ago was, from what i can remember (or my stomach can at least) a very good cook, in a very traditional 'mum' kind of way and her marble cake was pretty exceptional.  It was a tall slab of cake that I had to stretch my mouth to eat... how can that be bad... I only hope that Tasha has the recipe... this is not it but it brings back memories of my teenage years and that can, on occasion, be a good thing...

almond and chocolate marble cake
you know sometimes when you're thinking about making a cake and you just want something that is simple and sweet and not over-fancy with all that sickly cream and icing... well this is that cake... its simplicity is its beauty.  The sides and edges burnt a little in the oven as I was playing it all by ear but with a little trimming and a dusting of icing sugar you'd never know...

these ingredients make a very tall 12 inch cake
5 goose eggs (6 regular hens eggs)
250g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
400g butter
400g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cocoa powder

pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 12 inch, loose-bottomed, deep caked tin

weigh the flour in with the ground almonds

this next stage can all be done by hand or with an electric mixer, the choice is yours... my choice was a large bowl and a wooden spoon... in a very large bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add two eggs and vanilla extract and beat in followed by a third of the flour/almond mix which you beat in... continue this way (eggs followed by flour) until it's all gone... you should have a thick batter

take half out and place in it's own bowl to which you add the cocoa powder and beat in

spoon alternate blobs of each coloured batter into the cake tin and then when it's all in take a knife or a bamboo skewer and swirl the batter around... don't be too careful here, you really can't go wrong, it's supposed to look like a royal mess...

bake for 45 mins or until it's golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean

once it's cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving

eat and of course, enjoy!

stew

meat stew on the left, veggie sausage stew on the right

... simple is the word this weekend and that means large pots of slow-cooked stew for you see whilst the days may be gloriously sunny the nights still have a chill in the air and it's nice to have a bowl of glorious stew bubbling away... for the aroma alone... and it means I basically don't have to cook again till Tuesday which is always a bonus in my book...

... I very rarely buy stewing steak, it's just something I tend not to purchase but I was sent some a while back as part of the fabulous Farmison delivery I received and as winter passed into Spring my plans for the meat seemed to slip away until I realised that I was kidding myself making excuses not to make a stew... a stew is good any time of the year and I had enough meat to use half of it for this and half of it on the barbecue when the summer properly kicks in next month... so stew it is...

veggie sausage stew

beef stew with charlotte potatoes
it almost feels like a cheat to be giving you this recipe as it basically calls for you to bung it all into a pot and slow-cook it for 6 hours but there's a little prep work for the meat and I guess this wouldn't be a recipe blog without a recipe, so here goes... and don't think I neglected the viking either... so simple is this stew that as long as you use a nice robust veggie sausage such as the type made by Cauldron then you can follow the below recipe to the letter simply substituting the meat...

good enough to serve 2 hungry people:
500g stewing steak or 6 veggie sausages - cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons plain flour - seasoned with salt and pepper
a little butter and olive oil
1 medium onion - roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery - roughly chopped
roughy 10 charlotte potatoes cut in half
1 large carrot - roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves - un-peeled
1/2 bulb of fennel - roughly chopped
5 medium mushrooms - quartered
half a glass of white wine
1 large glass of red wine
1 pint of good veg stock
a few sprigs or fresh rosemary and thyme

you'll need a large pan with a lid that can be used on the hob or in the oven

season the flour then roll the meat or veggie sausages in the flour... I actually had a little flour left in a bag and simply threw the meat in a shook it up

place the pan on a medium heat add some oil and brown the meat or veggie sausages in batches until golden, then set aside

turn the heat up on the pan and throw in the white wine to deglaze the pan, then pop in some butter and the fresh herbs, and once the wine is almost gone turn down the heat and throw in all the vegetables and shimmy them around for about 5 mins.  Pop the meat or veggie sausages in, give it a stir and then fill the pan up with the red wine and the stock

pop the lid on (you may need a layer of foil if your lid does not fit tightly) and place in the oven on 100C for 6 hours

half an hour before you're ready to serve remove the lid (and foil if using) and turn the heat up to 200C and let the gravy bubble away for 20 mins or so to reduce it slightly... serve with a chunk of freshly baked bread

eat and of course, enjoy!

the best friggin' chocolate chip cookies ever made...

... if Spring could be captured in just one day, this would be that day... it's warm, it's very sunny and bright, the odd stray bee is wafting into the house, caught on a gentle breeze and that slightly fuggy aroma of freshly cut lawn is in the air.  There are a pair of big fat wood pigeons who both fly down and land on the bird table to preen each other... I feel that watching their courtship is tantamount to watching avian porn but I let it slide because they're clearly happy and prepping for new life.  We also have a very brave pair of blackbirds who are well in to constructing what seems to be a whole apartment block with the amount of twigs and feathers they're collecting... the male comes right up close to our large garden doors, even when they're open, it's as though he's looking to see if we have any better construction materials inside than he'd find on his regular haunts... it's all happening chez belleau, I can tell you...

chocolate chip cookies
do you ever use google for inspiration?  Sometimes i'll just write whole sentences in there to see what comes up and yesterday morning was no exception when the thought struck me to make chocolate chip cookies for this months teat time treats bloggers challenge.  I simply typed in 'the best cookies in the world' and this is what came up... talk about your top notch SEO baby!

The tea time treats challenge was founded by the lovely Karen from Lavender and Lovage and the delightful Kate from What Kate Baked.

this recipe is slightly adapted from the awesome Parents Need to Eat Too blog written by Debbie Koenig.  Debbie is the one who painstakingly slaved over a hot cookie to come to this incredible recipe.  The only credit I take for these are that I've made them too and am sharing them with you, you lucky people, for they are truly the best friggin' chocolate chip cookies ever made...

190g self-raising flour (or 190g plain flour and 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder)
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
115g butter
125g light brown sugar
125g regular sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg - lightly beaten
100g dark chocolate chunks

in a large bowl cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy... as you know I like to do this by hand with a wooden spoon which can take up to 6 mins but it can be done the modern way with an electric mixer much faster

add the beaten egg and vanilla and mix in until incorporated then add half the flour and beat in followed by the rest of the flour, the salt and the chocolate chips.  Beat in until fully combined.

tip the dough out out onto a large piece of cling film and roll out until you have a large sausage shape roughly 14 inches long, wrap in the film and pop in the fridge for at least an hour if not overnight or even, as the original method says, 24-36 hours.

once thoroughly chilled unwrap and cut into slices - you should get 24 out of the roll - and lay onto a baking sheet or two.  Bake on 170C for 15 mins or until golden.  They will still feel soft after this time but you should take them out of the oven and lay them onto a cooling rack.  They will be fully ready to consume after 20 minutes at which point your heart will melt...

for the original US measurements and a rather more detailed method pop over the Debbie's blog here.

eat and of course, enjoy!

random recipes #28 - bread

... I was in the kitchen on Friday evening with a packet of very strong white bread flour and some fast action yeast at the ready, entirely prepared to make my usual low-knead loaves for the weekend consumption when the thought struck me to make something a little different... don't get me wrong, I love making this bread.... it's so easy and never fails me... but a change is as good as a rest and so I reached for all my bread baking books and then a thought struck me - why not chose the book and recipe randomly - this way I can both fulfil my need for something new whilst also giving me the theme for this months random recipes...

... i'm a massive advocate for home-baked bread and with the wonderful Paul Hollywood's inspiring Bread TV show coming to an end I am keen to pass my love for the stuff on to you lot and I think there is no better way to do this than via a challenge like random recipes where the choice is taken out of your hands... and yes I know that the thought of baking bread can be daunting but really it's all about confidence and following a recipe... and a word of warning here, if you're a novice you really MUST follow the recipe and the instructions to the letter with bread... I have come a cropper many times (including during this bake in fact) thinking I could go my own way... stick to what's written down and you'll be absolutely fine, I promise you...

challah in a cake tin
I came unstuck here as I used my low-knead method with someone else's recipe and whilst the bread itself tasted divine, the dough was too soft to hold the plaits so I have to pop it into a cake tin instead... my recipe was taken from the excellent Bread by Liz Herbert, a book I've cooked from many times with very few issues...

350g strong white bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
40g unsalted butter
25g sugar
1 teaspoon fast action yeast
2 medium eggs, beaten
125ml warm semi-skimmed milk

in a large bowl lightly rub the butter into the flour, then add the salt and sugar

combine the yeast with the milk and beaten egg and let it dissolve for a minute or two then pour it into the flour mixture, bring it all together to form a dough

tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for roughly 10 minutes or until it becomes soft, then place it back into the bowl, cover with cling film and let it rise for an hour in a warm place

after an hour, knock it back by punching it with you fist, then pour it out onto a floured surface and divide it evenly into 8 balls

place each ball into a lightly oiled cake tin with one in the centre and the remaining seven around it, stretch the cling film back over the top of the tin and set aside to rise again for 30 mins

bake in a hot oven (190C ) for 25 to 30 mins until golden and risen, you may want to tip the bread out of the cake tin and place it back in the oven for another five minutes to firm up the underneath... the bread should have a nice hollow sound when tapped on the bottom

and so here's what you need to do

1 - gather all your bread baking books (or bread sections of books) together
2 - randomly select one book, then open that book at a random page
3 - cook the exact recipe on that page (dietary restrictions / availability / affordability taken into consideration) don't cheat - you're only cheating yourself!
4 - post about your recipe on your blog, linking back to my blog, including the random recipes logo
5 - email me the link to your post to dominic at belleaukitchen dot co dot uk
6 - tweet me @belleakitchen including the hashtag #randomrecipes and i'll retweet all I see.
7 - entry deadline will be Wed 29th May

well go on then, what are you waiting for.. get random recipes bread baking!