PARMESAN & THE FROG

Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the world's oldest cheeses and has been produced in the same way for over nine centuries. To celebrate this delicious product I was invited to Adam Handling's restaurant The Frog, near Brick Lane, for a three course meal created using Parmesan. Both the starter and main course we had are from The Frog's regular menu, so luckily you can try these yourselves. 

Our starter was cheese and truffle doughnuts, which you can barely see in the picture as they're hidden under a small fluffy mountain of grated 24 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano and black truffle. The doughnuts were sweet and light, and well complimented by the salty, rich cheese and earthy truffle. 

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FRENCH GOAT'S CHEESE RECIPES PT II

I've written a few recipes using French goat's cheese previously, and today I've got a few more for you. They're all pretty simple, as the cheese is so delicious by itself that I don't want to overcomplicate things. These recipes use three different types of goat's cheese, but they're interchangeable so don't worry too much if you can't find the exact cheese I've used. Any good French goat's cheese will do. 

 

Roast peppers with goat's cheese, pesto and olives

Serves 2

 

8 mini bell peppers (red, yellow and orange)

French goat's cheese log

1 jar marinated mixed olives

1 jar tomato and ricotta pesto

Tbsp capers

Chopped parsley

Bread, to serve

 

Preheat the oven to 200C. Slice the peppers in half, removing the seeds. Add a slice of the goat's cheese to each pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the stuffed peppers out on a baking tray and cook for ten minutes. Add a teaspoon of pesto to each pepper and cook for another five minutes. Remove from the oven and scatter capers and olives over the peppers. Serve with chopped parsley and a thick slice of bread.

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FRENCH GOAT'S CHEESE RECIPES

Goat's cheese is one of the most common "don't eat" ingredients people mention when they book my pop ups, even when it's not on the menu. It's a really divisive ingredient, which is sad as there are so many types of goat's cheese that I struggle to believe that those who say they don't like it have tried all the variants. The hard goat's cheeses are so mild and creamy, and nothing like the soft, pungent versions that are what I think turn people off this type of cheese. Personally, I eat almost everything (bar tripe and baked beans), and adore cheese, particularly goat's cheese. Not only is goat's cheese delicious and versatile but it's also better for you then cow's cheese is, as it's lower in fat and cholesterol, has more protein, higher amounts of vitamins A and B6, and it's easier for the body to digest, as although it has similar levels of lactose to cow's cheese, it has small fat particles, so is often eaten by those who can't eat cow's cheese.

I've come up with a couple of recipes using goat's cheese below, and if you want more inspiration on what to do with goat's cheese, and which type of goat's cheese is best for certain recipes, then you can get out a whole plethora of information on it here. My first idea isn't really a recipe that uses goat's cheese, but instead it's a delicious chutney which you can serve with goat's cheese and crackers. You can substitute the plums, apples and pears for whatever's in season - butternut squash would work well, as would rhubarb when that's back in season. In summer you could even make this with nectarines or peaches.

PLUM & APPLE CHUTNEY

This will make quite a bit of chutney, but it will keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a month.

Slice 6 plums, 2 apples and 2 pears into small chunks. Add to a pan with 2 sliced shallots (I used purple shallots), a crushed cloves of garlic, some star anise, ginger powder, chilli flakes and about 150g golden caster sugar. Add 150ml white wine, red wine or cider vinegar (depending on the main fruit you're using) and let it bubble away on a medium heat, stirring occasionally to stop it catching at the bottom, until it's reduced down a chutney consistency. Remove from the heat, allow to cool and serve as part of your cheeseboard, or spread on bread before making a goat's cheese sandwich.

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THE BOLLO HOUSE REVISITED

I've blogged about The Bollo before - it was one of the first reviews I ever wrote on my blog. Since then we've been more times than I can remember, for food, drinks, Sunday lunches, last minute dinners, meetings, cocktails.... It's our regular so we end up there for many reasons or no reason at all. Then you can imagine my horror when I called to book earlier this Summer only for the phone to ring and ring with no answer. They'd closed! During Summer!! But a bit of further investigation led me to find out that it was only temporary as they were undergoing a full front and back of house refurb, and they'd be open again soon. So the night after they reopened we were there like a shot to try out their new range of drinks and updated food menu.

The Bollo changed hands pre-refurb and is now run the by the same group who own The City Barge in Chiswick, which is another new favourite of ours, so I was excited to see what they'd done to improve this place we call our second home! A lot is the answer!! I'm so happy that all has changed for the better. The inside of the pub has been given a lick of paint, the slightly odd seating arrangements are gone (it used to be a bit of higgledy mix of bench seating, large tables, sofas and various types of chair) replaced with more tables, creating a restaurant feel in the main dining area, but without having lost any of the pub feel in the bar area. And talking of the bar area, their drinks selection is awesome now. There's about 10 different craft beers, a lot of which are brewed in London, on tap - one of which is a new favourite - 3 Weiss Monkeys - a wheat beer brewed in London Fields which is light and refreshing with a delicious lemony taste to it. We sunk 5 of these between us before we'd even ordered  food - oops! If you like wheat beer or are interested in trying it, go for this, it's the best wheat beer I've ever tried.

But the main event for me was the food - we loved the old, seasonally changing menu that had our favourite dishes on it which we ate over and over again. I was nervous about the change, but I needn't have been - it is SO good! The menu has been spruced up - bread to nibble that used to be served with oil and balsamic has been upgraded to delicious slices of a seeded loaf, now served with oil and dukkah. Salt and pepper squid is now calamari with merguez sausage - traditional has been replaced by modern with a twist.

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EASY SEEDY CHEESE BISCUITS

I'll admit now that this one of the simpler recipes I've posted up here. But it's a winner - these versatile and delicious savoury biscuits are easy to make and the flavours can be adjusted to your liking, in order to suit what you're serving with them. The biscuits keep for at least a week in an airtight container so can be made ahead, or they can be served up almost straight away - leaving them for just an hour after they've come out of the oven before eating.

Although this recipe is as simple as they get, you do need to make sure you've got the right flour. I use Sainsburys seeded wholemeal flour, but if you can't get this, you can use just wholemeal flour, or a mixture of wholemeal flour, sunflower seeds, oats, pumpkin seed and linseed (which is what the premixed flour is made from).

Makes about 40-50 biscuits

250g seeded wholemeal flour
60g salted butter
10g olive oil (you can use 70g of butter and no oil if you prefer)
Teaspoon sea salt
5 tbsp water
Herbs and spices - for my last batch I used cumin and fennel seed, but you can use dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage depending on the final taste you want

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Chop the butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Add the olive oil. Rub the butter and oil into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and spices/herbs at this point. In the last batch I made I used a level teaspoon of fennel seed and the same of cumin seeds, with a tiny pinch of ground cumin, as these flavours worked well with the spiced tomato chutney I served with my cheese course. 

Next add the water, bit by bit, mixing each time. I add 2 tablespoons to start then a tablespoon at a time until it's all incorporated into the mix.  Don't over work the dough as the biscuits will be chewy if you do, just mix it enough that all the ingredients are bound together.

Lightly flour a large surface and tip your dough out. Roll the rolling pin in the floured surface and start rolling out your dough. You want it to end up as thin as possible - although it may break a little around the larger seeds, don't worry about this, just roll it out as much as you can. I use a heart shaped cutter to make my biscuits but you can use whatever you have, and if you don't have any cutters, just use a knife to make squares or rectangles. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and put the cut out biscuits onto this. You'll probably need to do 3-4 batches, but you can cook 2 batches at the same time if you have 2 baking trays.

Cook the biscuits at 175C for 15 minutes. At this point check how they are doing - lift one up and tap the bottom. If it's hard, then they're done, if it's a little damp/soft then put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the biscuits with sea salt and leave to cool before transferring to an airtight container. Eat with cheese, chutneys, pates or whatever you like! And once you realise how easy they are to make, you won't want shop bought biscuits again!

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MY NEXT POP UP - 26th APRIL

Another month, another pop up! I thought I should let you know about my next pop up restaurant, as there are still tickets available, but they do start to sell out around now.

I've got a bumper Spring menu, full of some of my favourite produce for my pop up on Saturday 26th April. The event is at our lovely house in West London, and starts at 7.30pm, and is kind of similar to a dinner party - a large table filled with guests, eating my four course menu, and having a great time. I've had guests from age 11 up to 60+ in the past, from all walks of life, and from all over the world. You can come with a group of friends, in a pair, or on your own, and it's bring your own booze, so you can bring a bottle or 2 of your favourite. I also serve either a welcome cocktail, pudding wine or port to go with the cheese, and there's homemade soft drinks for anyone who wants.

Every component of the food I serve is made from scratch, in my kitchen, with as much as possible being British, seasonal ingredients.

The menu for 26th April is:

 

Hand picked Dorset crab, homemade mayonnaise, remoulade, crusty white bread

 

Slow cooked shoulder of Spring lamb, savoy cabbage, Jersey royal new potatoes, with watercress and wild garlic salsa verde

 

Lemon posset with rhubarb compote and vanilla shortbread biscuits

 

Somerset cheeseboard, tomato chutney and herby salted crackers

 

Coffee/herbal tea served with sticky chocolate balls

If you'd like to come but can't eat or don't like something on the menu, that's fine - when you book there's a comments section where you can mention this. I don't think I've yet done a pop up where I haven't done at least 2 different main courses to cater for everyone's needs.

To find out what my previous guests have thought of the evenings you can see reviews of my last event here or a review written by another of my guests here.

Tickets for my pop up on 26th April are £30 each and can be bought via Grub Club.

And here's a couple of pics of the food my from the last event (although I always forget to take proper photos!)

Crusty white bread:

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NEXT A LITTLE LUSCIOUSNESS POP UPS!

Last October I started doing a monthly pop up restaurant/supper club at our home in Acton Town and I've absolutely loved every minute of menu planning, food sourcing and all the cooking and preparation involved in putting on these events, as well as meeting all the lovely guests who've come to eat my food.  

My next pop up is on Saturday 29th March 2014, at our lovely house, in Acton Town, West London (Piccadilly line). The menu for the night is:

STARTER – Salmon three ways - beetroot cured with capers, sashimi with spring onions and pan fried with soy glaze

MAIN – Bavette steak, dauphinoise potatoes, greens and red wine sauce

PUDDING – Rhubarb hazelnut crumble, homemade stem ginger, hazelnut ice cream (this is the same pudding I served at my February pop up, but it went down so well, and rhubarb season should be made the most of, so I'm serving it again in March!)

CHEESE – Montgomery cheeseboard, spiced chutney and herby salted crackers

COFFEE and HERBAL TEAS served with sticky chocolate balls

If you'd like to come along but there's something on the menu you don't like, just let me know in the comments section of the booking form, and I can make you an alternative.


Tickets are available HERE.

You can come on your own, bring a date, grab some friends, or book out a whole table for however many of you there are! It's £30 a head for the evening, and it's bring your own booze, so feel free to bring a bottle of your favourite!

I do my public pop ups once a month, and the next one after this will be April 26th. Link to tickets and menu is HERE.

Hope to see some of you at one of my pop ups soon!!

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LEFTOVER CHEESE RECIPES

I'm not sure about you, but leftover and cheese aren't normally 2 words that go together in our house!! However, there is normally that bit of rind that ends up at the back of the fridge - not enough cheese on it to put it on a cheeseboard, but still too much to warrant throwing it away!

So here are a couple of ideas of what you can do with any of those nearly just rind bits you've got lying around.

First off, CHEESY POTATOES.

400g potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs
Leftover cheese (I used cheddar, brie rinds, a small piece of reblochon and some of the Montgomery Ogleshield I had)

Preheat your oven to 200C.

Start off by parboiling your potatoes - you want them nearly cooked, so chop into bite size pieces and boil them in salted water for about 10 minutes.

Once boiled, drain and add to a tray with plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper. Now take all your leftover cheese (including the rinds) and slice thinly. Spread over the potatoes, and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and potatoes a little golden.

Chop whatever herbs you have to hand - I like to use parsley and basil but you can use whatever soft herbs you have. Sprinkle over the cheesy potatoes and serve. I served ours with leftover pulled pork and an avocado and tomato salad.

Perfect grub for Sundays spent watching movies!

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SALT BAKED BEETROOT with CANDY WALNUTS and PEPPERED GOATS CHEESE

This salad is perfect Autumn food. Yes, it's a cold salad, and it therefore doesn't seem like it will be the most comforting thing you can eat, but the flavours are heavenly! Although it's a salad, this one takes a little bit of time to prepare, so is ideal if you want to do something in advance for a dinner party, for example.

Serves 4

For the beetroot:

4 medium beetroot

8 sprigs of fresh thyme

1kg table salt

2 egg whites

For the walnuts:

20 walnut halves

100g caster sugar

100g water

1 bottle vegetable oil

For the goat's cheese:

200g soft goat's cheese, Welsh is ideal but you can use Chevre Blanc

1 tsp creme fraiche

1 tsp cream cheese

Tsp of fresh thyme leaves

Ground pink peppercorns

For the salad:

Mixed salad leaves, including some purple leaves

1 teaspoon English mustard

1 lemon

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start with your beetroot. Preheat the oven to 180C. Mix the table salt with the egg whites in a large bowl, and cover a baking tray with tin foil. Lightly scrub each beetroot clean and pat dry with kitchen roll. Take 2 sprigs of thyme and hold against the edge of the beetroot. Grab a handful of the salt/egg white mix and press it around the beetroot until the whole beetroot's encased in salt and egg white. Place each one onto the baking tray once done.

Repeat with all the beetroot and then cook at 180C for 1 hour. Once ready, leave to cool slightly, then crack each beetroot open, pulling the beetroot from its salt case.

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MONTGOMERY'S CHEESE - A TOUR

I've always loved cheese. From the moment I could say Camembert (or come-on-bear as I used to call it) I can't get enough of the stuff! So when I was reading Tamasin Day-Lewis's cookbook before bed the other night, and she continually referenced Montgomery's cheese, I thought I'd get in touch with them and see if I could arrange a little snoop around their cheese factory, to see where the best of the best is made. After all, they were our local cheese farm where I grew up.

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CHILLI CHERRY TOMATO CHUTNEY

I've posted a chutney recipe before, but as it's getting towards the time of year when we start thinking about Christmas presents I thought I'd put this recipe up, as gifted in jars it's a wonderful present to give.

The main difference between this chutney and the last one I posted is the level of sweetness. The last chutney recipe I put up was made with green tomatoes, raisins and other bits and pieces, and makes quite a sweet chutney. This chutney is a little sharper, and spicier, and is perfect with cheeses and cold meats. As with the other chutney, you can also eat this one straight away, although it does improve with time, so is at its best around 3-4 days after you make it. This version is also redder in colour than the other chutney, so is prettier to look at!

Makes 2 jars of chutney

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp dried chipotle chillies
1 tsp dried ancho chillies
500g ripe cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
Knob of ginger
150ml red wine vinegar
200g golden caster sugar
1 tsp Worcester sauce

Preheat the oven to 60C.

Put the coriander and cumin seeds and dried chillies in a dry frying pan and heat for a couple of minutes until you can smell their aromas. Remove and crush up in a pestle and mortar.

Chop the larger cherry tomatoes in half and leave the smaller ones whole. Dice the onion finely and crush the garlic and ginger. Add all the ingredients to a wide saucepan and heat until bubbling.

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WEEKEND WONDERS - SALMON and LENTIL SALAD / POPPY BREAD / HONEY WALNUT CHEESE

We're about to have our house refurbished (floors, carpets, bathrooms, kitchen - yey! etc), and have to move out to do so, so spent the whole weekend packing, boxing things up, trying to work out what should go to recycling, and getting the house as empty as possible (again, I'm less than helpful with a broken hand, but I did try!)

Lifting might not be my forte for another few weeks, but I am now able to whip up a few basics in the kitchen as the strength of my thumb/finger grip is getting better. I therefore decided to do my part to help with the weekend move by keeping everyone well fed. The move also forced me to empty the freezer, which is what inspired the first dish I cooked, as I found half a side of salmon in the freezer which I'd got when it was on special offer at Ocado.

It still feels like summer to me, so I made a huge, healthy salad to keep everyone going on Saturday.

LENTIL AND BAKED VERDE SALMON SALAD

Makes enough for 6-8 people

Salmon:

1 half side of Scottish salmon

2 lemons

Handful basil leaves

Tablespoon of capers

Couple of anchovy fillets

Olive oil

Salad:

300g puy lentils

1 cube vegetable stock

1 tsp garlic granules

Basil stalks

3 carrots

2 spring onions

Handful of tomatoes

1 cucumber

Basil

Salt and pepper

Dressing:

1 part lemon juice

2 parts olive oil

Large pinch sea salt

1 crushed clove of garlic

I actually made this in 2 parts - I cooked the salmon on Friday evening and cut off a fillet each for me and the boy, which we had warm with green beans, new potatoes and homemade hollandaise sauce. Then on Saturday I made this salad.

To cook the salmon, preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan).

Slice 2 lemons thinly to create discs. Put the lemon discs onto some tin foil on a baking tray. Sprinkle the capers over the lemons, and add the basil and anchovy fillets. Drizzle with oil and a good grind of pepper. Place the side of salmon skin side up on top of the sliced lemons. Rub the salmon fillet on both sides with olive oil and another good grind of pepper. Put the salmon in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes (I did ours for just over 10 minutes and it was perfect). Gently peel off the skin when you take the fish out of the oven.

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CHEESY BEEF NACHOS AND DIPS

It was the last game of the Premier league season on Sunday, so I cooked up some food we could eat while we watched the games, nervous for several teams results (I'm an Arsenal fan) and sulking over a game that couldn't make any difference in the boys case (he's QPR). I wanted to cook something I could heat up at half time to serve, and this is the perfect dish for that. I served it with a rack of BBQ ribs, cooked in my BBQ sauce. It's also great if you got friends coming over and want to serve them some snacks to nibble on.

Serves 6.

6 shallots
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dry oregano
1 to 2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 level tsp chilli flakes
Half tsp salt
1 tsp garlic granules
500g minced beef
200ml beef stock
100g cheddar cheese
Pot of sour cream
Large bag of nachos chips

For the guacamole:
2 avocados
2 limes
Handful coriander

For the salsa:
8 cherry tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 lemon

The thing that makes this recipe taste SO good is the spice mix for the beef. I know you can buy premixes in the supermarkets for fajitas and tacos, but this mix tastes much better than those. You can make lots by doubling or tripling the quantities, and store it in a spice jar.

Measure out all your spices and salt. Grind into a fine powder with a pestle and mortar. If you don't have one, just use ground cumin.

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EASY BREAD - NO YEAST NEEDED

I first came across this recipe a few months ago via Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage, and have since made many variations of it, ending up with the perfect, fail-safe loaf of bread.

I can't stress how easy this is to make - no kneading, no yeast. Just mix and put it in the oven. The most difficult part of the recipe is remembering to turn the oven on BEFORE you start making the bread, as it takes such a short time to make, your oven might not get hot enough, quick enough!!

Makes 1 loaf

Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan)

220g self-raising wholemeal flour (my favorite is Allinson flour, made in the UK)
180g self-raising white flour
2 teaspoons table salt
1 level tablespoon caster sugar
50g sunflower seeds
100g walnuts
75g dried cranberries
50g sultanas
50g dried apricots
400ml San Miguel

Mix the flours, salt and sugar in a bowl. Break up the walnuts, either with a rolling pin or a quick blitz in the magimix. Chop or magimix the dried apricots. Add the nuts, seeds and dried fruit to the flour mix and pour in the beer. Mix it all together.

Butter a bread tin, then dust with self-raising flour. Pour the bread mixture in.

Cook for 70-80 minutes, or until golden brown.

Leave to cool then serve with butter and salt, or a lovely creamy goats cheese.

I wrap my bread in greaseproof paper to store it, and although it normally gets eaten within 48 hours, it will keep for up to 4 days, although the crusts will get crunchier.

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LEMON, LAVENDER AND BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

This recipe came about almost by mistake, while I was cooking various sweets and treats for a bake sale last week. I was going to make a blueberry cheesecake, but was given a jar of lemon and lavender marmalade, so thought that it would be a great addition to the cheesecake.

I used Cheristow Lavender's Lemon and Lavender marmalade, but sadly they don't sell it on their own website.

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GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY for CHEESE

I planted a new veg patch this summer, and after a number of vegetable cat and slug related disasters, the one real survivor was my tomato plants. But after another typical London summer I've been left with a load of greeny orange tomotoes. So with winter and it's obligatory red wine soon approaching, I decided to cook up some green and red tomato chutney.

I used a combination of my own un ripe tomatoes and some delicious red vine tomatoes from our local market.

This makes 4-6 jars of chutney

800g green and red tomatoes
800ml malt vinegar
2 onions, finely chopped
400g soft brown sugar
400g sultanas
2 bay leaves
Bunch of thyme
Tsp salt

Chop the tomatoes and put them in a heavy bottomed pan with an equal amount of malt vinegar and the onions. Add the brown sugar and sultanas. Add a bay leaf, some thyme and a teaspoon of salt to mixture and simmer over a low heat for 80-90 minutes, stirring regularly. 

The mixture will reduce to a jammy consistency.

When reduced to the thickness you like (I like it when there is just a little liquid left in the bottom that separates when spooned away and takes a second or two to reform), pour the chutney into sterilised glass jars (to sterilise the jars place them in an oven at 130C for 10 mins or so, or rinse with boiling water). Leave to cool for a few hours, then cover with cling film.

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