Cheese danish

For some time I have been making butter pastries with a sugar and raisin filling, topped with a drizzle of white icing and flaked almonds.

A few weeks ago I decided to try the same recipe, making it savoury instead of sweet.  I made the dough, rolled and folded it exactly as I’d done a hundred times before, but using grated parmesan instead of sugar.  The only trouble was, the phone rang in the middle and I stopped concentrating, totally forgetting to spread the butter over the dough.  The result was heavy little lumps with little taste.

Trying again, I dotted the butter all over the rolled out dough, sprinkled over a generous spoonful of paprika and enough parmesan to cover it completely. Then when it was rolled up and cut into slices, I added more cheese and almonds and cooked the pastries till they were golden brown.

That evening I was serving a cold summer soup, but didn’t have any fresh bread.  So I used the cheese pastries instead and because one of my guests thought they looked like Danish pastries, gave them a new name.

Magic gone wrong

Magicians sometimes make a mistake and then the trick goes wrong.  I was making a cake from an article in a magazine. It was called Magic Vanilla Cake and what made it different was that the usual eggs, sugar, flour mixture included 500ml/1pt milk as well. The idea was that the cake mixture would separate while baking into three layers: a dense, moist base, a delicate creamy middle and a top layer of light sponge.  I did what I was told and poured the mixture into the correct size of cake tin.  What I didn’t realize was that using one with a removable base would result in disaster.  Because the mixture was so liquid, as soon as the cake touched the oven shelf, it started seeping out from the base. Having no other cake tin to hand, I quickly lined a shallow long tin with baking parchment, poured the mixture into that and left it to bake for a much shorter time.  When it was cooked, it had indeed separated into a custardy layer at the bottom and sponge on the top - but instead of being impressively high, it was far too thin.

So I cut it into squares, spread the first layer with fresh raspberries, placed another layer on top and then added a strawberry to each one.  It was quite different from what was intended, but I have to say it tasted delicious.  I called it Custard Cake with Berries and there weren’t many squares left at the end of the evening.  

I’ll remember it for a long time; mainly because of the annoyance of clearing up the cake mixture which had seeped into every shelf of the oven!

What do you want to do?

Pavarotti, the world famous tenor, clearly loved food.  He once said:

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating”.

The title of my blog - The Armchair Kitchen - combines my love of cooking with the other things I do: reading and writing.  Sometimes this causes a conflict. It’s my fault because I happily invite friends for dinner and then choose a complicated menu that takes too much time and effort, so the writing time gets squeezed out.

I think the message is that we should all try to make time in our week for the things we want to do, not just the things we have to do.  It’s easy enough to say: “I don’t have time to read” but setting aside time to get stuck into a good novel is like paracetamol for the mind. How do we find this time in a busy schedule? One way is to spend less time clicking through the internet or reading too much celebrity driven stuff in the daily newspapers.

Waves of creaminess

A couple of weeks ago Spitalfields indoor market in East London was home to the Gelato Festival. Visitors could buy a gelato card that entitled them to eat pots of eight different flavoured ice creams.

I shared mine with Grandson No. 2 but after sampling Salted Caramel, Ricotta, Dark Chocolate, Crema Fiorentina and Coffee, we were beaten!  There were supposed to be some savoury ones, but all we could see was Tiramisu and Amaretto - definitely for dessert.  We caught the end of a Masterclass on sorbet making where we sampled a raspberry one that tasted refreshing and not oversweet.

It’s hard to know what these ice creams were competing against, but one thing is sure: the ones we tasted were of a very high standard, using the best dark chocolate, creamy custard and fresh tart berries.

Long live Italian ice cream.

Dairy free lasagne

Most recipes for lasagne call for cheese and a creamy sauce, specially the vegetarian version that has spinach inside.  My invention is to layer the home made pasta with a rich bolognese sauce, top with more pasta and then pour over a creamy sauce made with chicken stock.

If you’d like to know more, read on, but be warned this is not a quick dish.  The whole thing took me several hours of preparation, cooking and assembly.

First line a big tin with baking paper - this is simply to save washing up so the pasta doesn’t get baked on to the pan. 

When the fresh pasta is made and passed through the rollers (see previous post) it should be dried. Cook the sheets in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes and drain well.  Then lay half of these in the base of the prepared dish, topped with the meat sauce.

The bolognese sauce is made from onions, garlic, minced beef, first fried and then simmered with tinned tomatoes and a beef stock cube. This takes several hours (unless you do it in a pressure cooker) because the meat has to be soft and certainly not lumpy.

Then comes another layer of cooked pasta.

The sauce for the topping is made from a roux (flour and chicken fat - no butter) and home made chicken stock.

When you’ve made the pasta, the meat sauce and the topping, you are ready to assemble the dish.  But it is totally worth it.  It can be prepared in advance up to this stage and then reheated in a fairly hot oven till the centre is bubbling.

Hanging out to dry

After many months of doing minimal cooking, I am now back in the swing. What made me realize this is that today I had an urge to make fresh pasta from scratch, mixing eggs into strong (bread) flour to make a tight dough. What you need for this job is patience and time, so anyone who doesn’t have these things can forget about the next instructions and just go and buy some from the local supermarket.

The dough has to be left to rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Then it is cut into small pieces and each one is passed through a hand operated pasta machine. To get the desired thinness you need to pass each sheet through five or six times, moving the dial from 1 to 7 until the finished lasagne pasta is really thin.  At this stage it’s very soft and has to be left to dry.  The easiest way is to drape it over tea towels on chairs.  After a few hours it has dried out and can then be stored in plastic bags in the fridge or freezer.  The pasta takes minutes to cook (in the usual way, in boiling salted water - but for a much shorter time: 3 minutes is probably enough).

I served mine as a starter for dinner with a meat sauce and chopped parsley on the top. Coming up next, details of the lasagne with no cheese.

Morning coffee

What do you offer a friend who arranges to come, fairly last minute, for coffee at 11 am the next day?

I often have a few sweet pastries in reserve in my freezer but many of my friends aren’t up to eating such things in the mornings. The easiest thing seemed to be to make French toast.  My version isn’t fried, so there’s no standing by a pan, watching till the toast browns on one side, before turning it over to cook the other side.

To make the oven baked French toast you need slices of challa bread (or any good bread that hasn’t been pre-sliced), soaked in a mixture of beaten egg and milk. The bread will absorb all the liquid. Then put it on a baking sheet in a preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes. It’s so simple.

To serve: dot the toast with butter, drizzle over some maple syrup (I like a lot) and spoon some fresh berries on the side of the plate.

Stir-fried tuna with noodles

Nothing in this dish is time consuming or difficult.  I think an eight-year old could do it, with a little supervision.

First marinade some thick tuna steaks in a few tablespoons of soy sauce. Grate over some fresh ginger and leave covered in the fridge for about half an hour. Then you’re ready to start the cooking.

You begin by heating some oil in a pan and frying sliced onions, red peppers and anything else you like (celery, carrot, bean sprouts, broccoli…. but I wouldn’t recommend banana!)

Put some water on to boil and cook some noodles (1 nest per person) for about 3 minutes. Drain well and keep them warm. When the vegetables are cooked - about 5-8 minutes - put them on a dish and cover to keep them warm too.  Put a little more oil in the pan and cook the tuna steaks very briefly - about 45 seconds on each side.  I know all the recipes on supermarket packs recommend several minutes per side, but this results in overcooked fish and it’s far more tasty if the tuna is pink in the middle, like rare steak.

Turn the fish over to cook the second side and then assemble the dish.  Put the noodles in a large bowl, add the sauteed vegetables and top with the tuna. Sprinkle with more soy sauce and add some slivers of chili if you like it hot. Just before serving toss it all together and ask your guests to get stuck in straight away before it gets cold.

What’s for dinner?

There’s nothing wrong with leftovers, as long as you use them quickly. Sunday’s sizzling roast chicken can be turned into a quick meal for a Monday night, by just adding vegetables, salad and a little dressing.

Since this is a quick meal, I’ve taken a short cut and used Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise instead of making my own.  (I’m afraid I got into this habit because for the months we were waiting to go into our new flat I had no blender or mixer to hand). The mayonnaise is lightened and made tarter by adding a few tablespoons of fresh lemon or lime juice and a little more seasoning: freshly ground pepper and sea salt. In the picture there is only light chicken: the breasts were all that were left after we’d finished off the more succulent wing and leg portions. Even those who prefer dark meat will still enjoy the sliced breasts as they are served here.

I’ve added broccoli and the peppery leaves of watercress as well as new potatoes.  I’ve purposely shown them peeled and unpeeled. Nowadays it’s fashionable not to peel them but I am strongly in the camp that prefers to remove the skins, both for looks and taste.

Peach cake

This is the view from my kitchen window: plants on a tiny narrow balcony, and across from that the block of flats which is opposite ours.

Below is the peach cake that I have featured before.  It can be made with any fruit that is not too wet, e.g. apples, apricots, cherries, blackberries - but not strawberries because they are never so good cooked.

You need an electric whisk to whip up eggs and sugar, and then add flour, ground almonds and oil. The more usual ingredient for a cake like this is unsalted butter, but for those who are on a dairy free diet, oil is the perfect substitute.  It also helps to keep it very moist.

If any of you would like to have the details - or would like to ask me or tell me anything else - please send me a message by clicking on Ask me Anything at the top of the blog.  I’d love to hear from you.

What’s wrong with this dessert?

Some people might say it’s too small - that the square of cake isn’t substantial enough - but my only criticism is that the components were photographed on a white plate.  It’s a freshly made piece of peach cake with a slightly sugary topping, served with sliced nectarine, berries and a spoonful of yogurt (which gets lost in the overall white background).

There is much discussion of calorie counting but a recent experience made me very wary of using this method for losing weight.  I was at the gym, walking briskly for 15 minutes as I listened to some pumping music. When I climbed down from the walking machine, I registered that I had worked off the equivalent of 69 calories.  69, for heaven’s sake.  To work off the amount contained in a blueberry muffin I’d have had to walk for an hour or more. I’m lucky in that I’m not trying to lose weight - I walk to feel fitter and to keep in shape.  

But for those who feel they want to drop a few pounds, I’m convinced there is a better way and that is simply to eat less.  Hard as this may seem, putting smaller portions on your plate, even using smaller plates, and firmly refusing second helpings, will be far more effective.

Coming up tomorrow, more about the peach cake.

What goes in comes out

Most people know that farming is a hard life, but the event put on for members of the Guild of Food Writers showed us a different side of it.  Although the day starts at 5am (getting in the cows, milking etc) two messages came over:

1. The Laceys are intensely proud of breeding Guernsey cows which produce the best quality creamy milk, on land that has been farmed by their great-great-great grandfathers.

2. “You don’t make money farming; you just live it and enjoy it. Then you hand it on to the next generation and it’s a bit better than when you received it.”

The production is a mixture of high-tech and hands on attention. Each bottle is filled automatically, then passed to someone who checks every lid, every label. Cream is bottled entirely by hand. We saw tanks holding 5,000 litres of cooled fresh milk and heard the horrifying story of how one employee forgot to connect a vital pipe to a tank and watched as hundreds of pounds worth of milk went down the drain!

Each cow is valuable: the ‘matriarch’ has produced 10 calves and 7,000 litres of milk in ten years. This cow is worth thousands of pounds. If she dies, it costs the farmer money: a dead heifer may cost £500 in vet’s fees and £160 to bury.

A cow has four stomachs. They are like fermentation vats, turning grass that we can’t eat into high-protein nutritious food. Cows are what the Laceys call “Nature’s recyclers.”

But this isn’t enough; they need to diversify to make a profit, so they have barley and other crops. But a thunderstorm can kill a field of barley and a whole crop can be eaten by deer in a single night.

So they now have a shop, selling dairy and meat produce of high quality. They make their own sausages and pies and even lamb samosas (see below.)

Ed Lacey is part of the younger generation. For someone like me, born and raised in the city, his enthusiasm and expertise were a revelation. It’s too late for me to take up farming, but I can still enjoy the Guernsey milk, labelled as Gold Top.

If you want to find it, you need to be tall, as it’s kept high up on the supermarket shelves. Because we’ve all been persuaded to buy semi-skimmed milk and go easy on the cream, these products are kept out of view, unless you know where to look for them.

Butter shortbread and a day out with the cows

A couple of weeks ago I took a train to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, about 30 miles from London. I was there to meet the Lacey family who have been running a dairy farm for seven generations.

We were welcomed with home made butter shortbread biscuits.  The milk, butter and cream produced by the golden coloured Guernsey cows is exceptional. Although there has been no money to do scientific trials, there is anecdotal evidence to show that this milk is better for autistic children.

A specialist in nutrition is in charge of feeding. Each cow eats 30kg a day of a food mix which is constantly monitored. In this milking herd there are 120 cows and their day starts with a leisurely feed.  They then spend four hours grazing in the fields.  (By the way we learned that the old wives’ tale of predicting the weather by watching cows may be true: when it’s about to rain they lie down because they are looking for a dry spot to get comfortable on before the rain begins.)

This is a veal calf, but like the larger cows, they look as if they are just munching as they move their tongues.  In fact they are sorting through what is offered and are very selective about the bits they like.

In the next post: why the tough business of farming is so worthwhile.

Berries and cream

Today is the first day of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. As we think of the thwack of ball on racquet, our minds turn to what we will eat between matches. The serving of strawberries and cream is the first thing that comes to mind and according to writer David Boyle (see more here) this combination was first served at a banquet by Thomas Wolsey in 1509 and the custom of serving strawberries for the crowds watching tennis started at the first tournament in 1877.

Each year at Wimbledon they get through 23 tonnes of strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream.  But a ‘year’ effectively means two weeks, as it’s then that the fruit is in season and the crowds appear.

Surprisingly the price hasn’t changed in ten years. Each of the 140,000 portions served costs about £2.50 - not bad compared to the cost of a cup of coffee.

The pictures show my variations on the original theme:  First at the top are strawberries with clotted cream - a uniquely English invention, made from the finest creamy milk and churned until it sets firm. 

Then here below is a serving of noodle pudding (tagliatelle cooked with eggs, milk, sugar and raisins). On the side are some whole and pureed raspberries and on the top is a spoonful of thick double cream.

If you would like to make a sandwich, there’s nothing better than spreading a thick slice of challa bread with clotted cream and topping it with strawberry jam and fresh, halved berries.

What’s for breakfast?

The English like a cooked breakfast, affectionately known as ‘The Full English’, with a plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, baked beans and tomato, with much toast and butter on the side.  

For me, I am happy with just the toast, buttered and covered with Ruby Red Grapefruit marmalade from M & S.

When I’m away, or the meal is going to double as brunch, I go for something more substantial. In Israel, if I’m staying in a hotel, breakfast is the best meal of the day - a huge buffet consisting of salads, cheeses, smoked and pickled fish, citrus fruits, pancakes, omelettes, waffles, cheesecake - in fact anything that is not meat. The photo above shows my choice of cheeses with artisan bread, with a small pot of quinoa and cranberry salad on the side.

A blast of chilly weather in the UK followed by a spell of warm weather means that the asparagus season has been delayed.  So instead of it being all over by the end of May, in June we are still seeing a glut of the delicious spears, often marked down to a very reasonable price. Asparagus needs to be cut when it’s fresh, so you should buy the thick green sticks from England while they’re still available. They can be eaten with any meal and here I’ve teamed them with Jersey new potatoes and scrambled eggs.

What if it’s Sunday like today?  The Man in the Armchair Kitchen doesn’t usually eat breakfast - just a cup of tea with a couple of crackers. But he absolutely adores ice cream so for him I’d suggest the easiest thing to grab from the fridge/freezer: a bowl of strawberries with real, rich vanilla ice cream.

Carmel Forest Spa

What do grandparents do after three days of partying? They take themselves off to somewhere quiet. In the North of Israel, not far from Haifa, is the Carmel Forest Spa. It consists of modern looking buildings with much glass, overlooking trees and a secluded pool. It was originally built for Holocaust survivors, but is now simply a hotel/spa set in well-watered grounds so the grass is, unlike in most of Israel, the brightest green.

Someone I know said that the Carmel Forest Spa is the only spa where she came home having put on weight! That’s because along with highly professional treatments and massage, you are offered exceptional food.  It is designed to be healthy and fresh and some things are deliberately served in small portions, but there is nothing to stop you from piling your plate and going back for more. 

There are soft cheeses and an array of salads for breakfast; and for dinner my choice was a fillet steak with red wine sauce, garnished with root vegetables. It was served with a little pan of mashed potatoes and field mushrooms.

Desserts are impressive, with the most delicious dairy-free creme caramel I have ever tasted.

Supermarket spices

Supermarkets in Raanana don’t have spices in little bottles or packs. They are arranged in heaps, as in an outdoor market, so you always feel that they are fresher and more pungent than the ones which have a long shelf life.

The British have become far more adventurous with food. The writer of the Times column Dinner Tonight, Lindsay Bareham, is full of inspiration. Recent examples are Vietnamese Duck Salad with mint, coriander, fish sauce and lime juice, or Chicken Rice Noodles with chilli. You can find these recipes and many others if you subscribe to the Times online, or go for a preview by clicking here.

A celebration in pink

The party started with a weekend at home. These are cake pops. I never got to taste one as I decided to leave all that delicious pinkness to the girls. (I like the way the rice holding up the sticks is also rose tinted!)

They are not easy or quick to make.  I’ve found a recipe here:

Basically you make a vanilla sponge cake, leave it to cool, then make it into crumbs and mix it with vanilla frosting till it is soft and malleable.  Then you form the mixture into balls and dip each ball into a ‘candy’ mix.  Now that I know how they are made, I wish I’d tried one.  So thank you Cindy for introducing me to something exciting and new.

After the family meals

there was an evening with food, music and sparkling lights held outside in nearby Tel Aviv.

Thank you to the Raanana family for making it all so special.

Lychees in the garden

No, not in my garden.  This is in Raanana, home of Son No. 3 and his family. We were in Israel for a big celebration with the pleasure of having nine of our thirteen grandchildren all together in one place.

They have an amazing garden - full of fruit trees.  At any time of the year several of them are in flower with abundant fruit following on.

The oranges, lemons and clementines were all finished, but just coming ripe were the lychees, turning from green (as in the photo above) to brown (below). This fruit looks so unpromising from the outside; small with rough skin and a stone in the centre, but the wonderful aroma and delicate flavour of the white grape-like flesh is very special.

Here’s the same fruit, grown in Mexico, found in a London supermarket.

Not what you think

Salami and cheese.  Or is it? You’re going to be surprised.  It’s a gift for Father’s Day, coming up on Sunday.

Mothers get flowers and chocolates.  What would a Dad really like? The Amazing Chocolate Workshop has come up with realistic chocolate objects to make any Dad smile.

Here’s a selection that I saw in the 02 Centre at Finchley Road London a few days ago.  They are there for just two more days until Monday.  So if you live anywhere near North West London go and have a look.  Otherwise click here to contact them.

It’s hard to believe that it’s all edible, from the distressed metal and paint, to the silver scissors and golden keys.

Hungry for fashion?

The sister of my oldest friend sent me this picture. Sadly I can’t credit the creator of the dress, or name the place where the photo was taken.  I think it was in the entrance to an office block in London.

I love big full skirts - they remind me of the fashion in the ‘50s when we wore huge petticoats made of tulle (a kind of net). My friend and I once went on a holiday together when we were 17. We chose Sorrento and Rome and for two schoolgirls it was a huge adventure. At the time we thought nothing of going off on our own, without parents, but in those days it was almost unheard of and her parents at least, must have needed some convincing.  My mother was more encouraging, because in her youth her own mother would never allow her to travel, so she always promised not to discourage her own children from going abroad.

What I do remember is that I was often too excited to eat when I was in my late teens. I was asked on a date by a young man who told me he was a member of an elite dining club in Cambridge. Now, this would intrigue me, but then.. I just couldn’t get it.  Who would want to spend whole evenings eating, rather than playing tennis or watching Dirk Bogarde in his latest film?

Back to this particular dress: I guess it must be unwearable, as you could never sit down with all that cutlery fixed to your skirt. On the positive side, it looks as if the spoons etc are plastic and not nearly as heavy as silver or stainless steel.

Grilled fish

What puts people off fish is sometimes the skin and bones, to say nothing of the head. This one has them all, and is all the more delicious for that. As with meat, flesh on the bone is always more tasty - it doesn’t dry out. With fish, the skin not only keeps it moist but adds to the flavour.

The picture shows a whole sea bass simply cooked on a charcoal grill. There is no better way to cook fish than to crisp the skin under (or over) medium high heat leaving the inside just perfectly cooked and not overdone. I don’t think it needs much embellishment either; the salad with olives on the side is a nice addition, but what I don’t show are a side dish of leaf spinach and crisp-on-the outside, soft-inside chips that came with it.

The meal was at our favourite local fish restaurant, Olivers in Haverstock Hill. I’ve featured them before when talking about fried fish, but their grilled sea bass is better than many of the more fancy dishes served in expensive restaurants. Click here to find out more and if you are near Hampstead in London, do pay them a visit.

Cheese blintzes

Today is Shavuot - one of the three most important Jewish festivals which begins today and continues tomorrow. It’s the custom to eat dairy foods on these days and the most popular dessert is cheesecake. An alternative is cheese blintzes, pancakes filled with a sweet cream cheese mixture, fried till they are golden and then served with berries and sour cream.

Below you can see the pancake, cooked on one side only.  It’s then filled with the soft cheese mixture and folded into a small parcel. When all the parcels are ready, they can be kept in the fridge for a few hours, or frozen for a couple of weeks.

Just before serving, you need to fry the pancake parcels for a couple of minutes on each side.

If you’d like to try to make these, there is a video I’ve found on YouTube.  Chef John - a relentlessly cheerful American - will show you how to do it.  Click here to find out more.

Clever Sticks

The children’s version of chop sticks in the picture shows something I bought in a museum shop in Boston (at the MFA - Museum of Fine Arts).  They reminded me of something I had seen in London many months ago.  These were very similar - produced by a company called cleverstix.com and are endorsed by the Science Museum in London.

Using cutlery can be tricky for little ones, making mealtimes hard work for parents too. The Cleverstix cutlery has ergonomic pincers (and are probably better than the ones I show here) because the ‘no spring back’ design demands control of opening and closing. This develops concentration and fine motor skills to assist handwriting and teaches dexterity which helps with use of other cutlery (fork, spoon etc).

Children instinctively like to use their fingers and with the special rings the Cleverstix simply act as an extension of them. So they seem comfortable to use and as well as making eating more fun, the children learn to savour and digest food at a healthy pace.

If you’d like to find out more (and you don’t live in Boston) click here.

Orange rapture

…. not my words but the name of the tomatoes produced by the farm with the amusing name Thanet Earth. (Thanet is an area of Kent where they grow produce destined to be labelled ‘Tesco Finest’).

I can’t resist matching up colours, so to go with the orange coloured tomatoes I put a few slivers of carrot and with the more normal cherry tomatoes, a few radishes. This adds to what they suggest on the packaging ’ideal for snacking’.

Taste is, of course, very subjective.  What one person loves another might hate. Perhaps the most controversial addition to bringing out flavour is spice: too much and it overpowers the dish, not enough and the food may seem unbearably bland.  But here’s a question: while it maybe fine to experiment and turn up the heat with savoury food, how much do we want chillies added to fruit and sweet things?  Chillies with chocolate is already well known but in last weekend’s food column in the Daily Telegraph there was a recipe for Pavlova in Purgatory. This turned out to be pavlova (soft meringue) topped with whipped cream, but the usual fruit was spiced with a teaspoon of Kashmiri mirch or good quality chilli powder.  I love  summer berries (as anyone following will know from the many pictures I put up), but the idea of buzzing up a pack of raspberries with chilli powder and icing sugar and using this as a sauce to drizzle over the strawberries makes me cringe.  Perhaps I just don’t have enough experience of bird’s eye chillies or Scotch bonnet peppers.  Some people would tell me to be more open-minded. Another idea is to go and live in Mexico - that would make me less of a wimp.