Wednesday 13 April 2011

Raspberry Coulis and White Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Blackberries

Well. An exciting week here at PDKTC. I've officially submitted my application to study at the renowned school of culinary arts Le Cordon Bleu in London, and I am ecstatic! In tribute to the school I was hoping to cook something blue this week (yes, I know, embarrassingly keen). Unfortunately, as you may or may not know, the edible world is sadly lacking in natural occurrences of the colour blue. In fact, supposedly when Heinz tried making blue ketchup a few years back no-one would eat it because the idea of blue food was just too much to handle. I finally settled on blueberries, which are actually more purple but at least have 'blue' in their name...


Another hiccup became apparent almost immediately. It is emphatically not the British blueberry season - they begin around June, so we're almost as far from last season as we can get. After a gruelling trawl around my local greengrocers and supermarkets, I came up with some rather suspect Mexican-grown raspberries and blackberries (fail on the food miles there). So much for the 'blue' theme. But bear in mind that from June to August this recipe would be delicious with in-season British blueberries in place of the fruit specified here. Please also bear in mind that it's best made the day or at least the morning before your meal.


A final note - in my version, the mousse mixture separated out into two distinct layers as it set in the fridge, a testament to my inaccurate quantities and inability to beat an egg white. However, if this does happen to you, both layers still taste good and in my view it just gives it an extra bit of personality!


On to recipes.


Ingredients
(Makes 3)


Punnet of raspberries
Punnet of blackberries
Large bar (c.200g) good quality white chocolate, broken into small bits - I used Green & Black's
2 eggs, separated
c. 100ml double cream
50g sugar
50ml water


Method


First of all, make the raspberry compote: put about 1/3 of the punnet of rasps into a small pan with the sugar and water. Warm gently, mash the raspberries up a bit, and bring to boil for 5 minutes or so, until the mixture begins to look syrupy. Set aside to cool slightly. Run 3 martini glasses (or wine glasses if you're not the martini type) under hot water, dry, and then divide the raspberry compote evenly between the glasses and refrigerate immediately.


Next, put a slightly larger pan of water on to boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Put the cream, egg yolks and chocolate into a heatproof bowl which just sits over the top of the simmering water and heat slowly until the chocolate melts, occasionally giving the mixture a very, very gentle stir. As the mixture is melting, whisk the egg whites in a scrupulously clean bowl until very stiff (if they won't stiffen, add a small splash of white wine vinegar and keep trying). When the chocolate mixture is fully combined, fold a small amount of it into the egg whites then fold the egg whites into the rest of the chocolate until completely consistent. 


Take your glasses back out of the fridge and fill each to within 1-2cm of the top with the egg and chocolate mixture. Put back in the fridge overnight, or for as long as you can (at least a few hours).


To serve, gently place or pile the remaining raspberries and blackberries on top of the glasses in a pretty pattern. Enjoy your achievement, it looks great!


...And a sneaky picture with some enormous flowers to distract from the quality of the photography...

Monday 4 April 2011

Five-Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Hello and welcome back, dear reader. Today, I felt an overwhelming need for vitamins - a quick-fix diet of far too many crisps has left me gasping for something green and crunchy. Solution: a dash to the shops for as many vegetables as I could carry.

This simple, chunky and fresh-tasting sauce goes well with pasta or couscous, can easily be embellished with the herbs or spices of your choice, and, if you eat enough of it, pretty much deals with any 'five-a-day' problems in one easy swoop. As an inveterate carnivore, I added some smoked bacon lardons for that meaty kick, but my vegetarian readers can easily leave these out or replace them with some tofu pieces. Vegan readers, do this and then eat with egg-free pasta or couscous. Don't be overwhelmed by the fairly lengthy list of ingredients - they all go in together very easily, and the veg will only take a few moments to chop, I promise. You can replace any of the vegetables with your own favourites, and you don't even need to stop at five!

I won't include the pasta in the recipe, but some words of advice:

Use about 3 handfuls per person; cook in plenty of boiling water, very well-salted, as directed on the pack; and drain thoroughly before using. Al dente (still with a bit of bite there when you chew it) is the way to go.

Without more ado, then, on to the sauce:

Ingredients
(serves 3-ish)

Around 50g bacon lardons or cubes of pancetta (optional)
3 large spring onions
A good-sized courgette, washed
A medium head of broccoli
A red pepper, or pointed sweet pepper
2 large tomatoes
1tsp tomato puree
1 glass white/pink wine
1 pint tomato passata (or 1 tin chopped tomatoes)
Generous splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Shavings of Grana Padano/Parmesan cheese to garnish

Method

First of all, chop all of your vegetables into pieces (they don't have to be cubes - go with the natural shape of the vegetable) about 1cm square. This does mean cutting your broccoli smaller than you're probably used to, but it makes for a lovely, consistent sauce which is easy to eat.

Next, pop a good-sized frying pan with high sides on a medium heat and add the bacon pieces. You won't need oil - it's got plenty of fat in it already, which will melt as you cook it and lubricate the pan. When the bacon is beginning to brown, add the spring onions and the pepper and allow to cook for a couple more minutes. Then add the rest of the vegetables and the tomato puree, and again cook for a couple of minutes, turning gently to ensure everything is coated with oil and puree.

When all the veg is beginning to cook, add the white wine and let it bubble vigorously for a minute or two, then add the passata and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for ten minutes or so, or while you cook the pasta, then season to taste and serve on top of pasta, garnished with the shavings of cheese.

Note: if you'd like to add any herbs or spices, I suggest you add dry or ground with the onion, and anything fresh and chopped with the passata or right at the end. Some parsley mixed with the cheese shavings would be a great addition to the garnish, the bright green matching the fresh taste of the sauce.

Anyway - if you're ever feeling short of essential vitamins, you know what to do! Enjoy your daily shot of vegetables, folks.