Rocket, Pear and Parmesan Salad Recipe

Ingredients

200g Rocket leaves
1 Pear
150g shaved Parmesan

Method

Put the washed rocket leaves into a bowl, and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle on a pinch of rock salt. Toss the leaves in the bowl so that all the leaves get a light coating of the olive oil.

Slice the pear very thinly and place the slices into a bowl of water that has a little lemon juice in it, set aside until you have finished preparing the Parmesan.

With a peeler, 'peel' the cheese to get the Parmesan shavings.

Drain the pear from the lemon water, and place it into the bowl with the rocket, then add the Parmesan cheese. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the salad, and toss everything together.

Bon Appetit

Serves 2 people

 

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

75ml olive oil

1kg ripe tomatoes
3g garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
100g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
100g onions, peeled and roughly chopped
100g leeks, roughly chopped and washed
42.5g tomato puree
1 liter vegetable stock

10g basil

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the tomatoes, garlic and vegetables and roast in a medium oven for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato puree and return to the oven for another 15 – 20 minutes.

Transfer the tomatoes and vegetables to a pan with the stalks from the basil and the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, season and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the basil leaves and remove from the heat. Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth, then strain through a fine meshed sieve. Adjust the seasoning.

A soup like this is so easy to make, and super tasty, and if you wanted to take this dish one step further, you could make your own bread or bread rolls to serve with it. See my bread recipes

Bon Appétit

Chocolate Éclairs Recipe

Ingredients:

1cup water
125g butter
1 cup plain flour, sifted
4 eggs
300ml cream, whipped
150g dark chocolate, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 210’C.

Brush two baking trays with oil.

Combine the water and butter in a small pan. Stir over medium heat until butter melts. Bring to the boil, and then remove the pan from the heat.

Add the sifted flour all at once. Return the pan to the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball around the spoon. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Cool Slightly. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition, until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. 

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain nozzle. Pipe roughly 12-15cm in length onto a prepared tray, leaving room between each one for expansion.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180’c. Bake for another 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Split each éclair, removing any uncooked dough. Fill puffs with cream. Coat the tops liberally with the melted chocolate.

Bon Appétit

Short Crust Pastry Recipe

Ingredients

500g strong flour

5g baking powder
5g salt
250g lard
250ml approx cold water

Method 

Cut the cold lard into small pieces.  Using a mixer on speed number 1, bring the lard, flour, salt and baking powder to a fine breadcrumb texture.  Slowly add the water (you may not need it all) to form a soft dough, do not over mix.  Wrap in Cling Film and store in the fridge until needed.

 

Bon Appetit

Leek and Wild Mushroom Tart

Ingredients

60g butter
500g leeks, cut into a rough 1 cm dice and washed
100ml double cream
50g parmesan cheese, grated
150g wild mushrooms, trimmed and washed
1 egg yolk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200-300g  short crust pastry

Method

 

On a floured table roll out the pastry to ½ cm thick and line 4 tartlet moulds measuring about 8-10 cm x 2-3 cm deep. Rest the pastry in the fridge for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 175°c. Meanwhile melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan, add the leeks and lightly season with salt and pepper then cook over a low heat with a lid on for about 15 minutes stirring every so often. Add the wild mushrooms and continue to cook with the lid on for another 10 minutes. Add the double cream and Parmesan and simmer for a further 6 or 7 minutes. Leave to cool a little then stir in the egg yolk and season again if necessary.

Line the tartlets with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is light golden. Remove the paper and beans and leave to cool a little, and then remove the pastry carefully from the tins.

Fill the tarts with the leek mixture and bake on a tray for 15-20 minutes until golden.

 

You can serve this with a pepper rocket and baby spinach leaf salad.

Bon Appétit

Chicken Liver Parfait

Ingredients

110g chicken livers, cleaned

110g unsalted butter, melted and hot
80ml port
80ml red wine
80ml Madeira
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
A few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1tsp salt rose (or make it 2tsp salt if not available)
1tsp salt
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg yolks
1 whole egg

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Put the port, red wine, Madeira, garlic, thyme and bay leaf into a saucepan, bring to the boil and continue boiling until it has reduced to a couple of tablespoons. Strain through a fine meshed sieve. Put the chicken livers into a liquidiser with the hot butter, alcohol reduction, egg yolks and whole egg. Add the salt and pepper and salt rose and mix well.

Transfer the mixture into small, sterilised jars or a suitable sized terrine mould or loaf tin. Place a piece of grease proof paper on the mix if you are using a terrine and cover with a lid or close the lids if using jars.

Place the jars or terrine in a deep roasting tray and fill with hot water three quarters of the way up the jars or terrine.

Cook for 45 minutes in the oven, and then remove then parfait from the tray and leave to cool.

 

When I serve this dish, I would serve it with some thinly sliced bread that has been toasted and drizzled with olive oil.

 

Bon Appétit

Leek Soup with Chanterelle Mushrooms

 

Ingredients

 

500g leeks, finely sliced and washed

125g onion, peeled and finely sliced

50g Chanterelle / Mushroom trimmings (not ceps)

20 ml vegetable oil

15g plain flour

Parsley stalks

1.25 liters vegetable stock

35g cooked spinach

Seasoning

 

Method

Gently cook the leeks and onion in the vegetable oil without colouring them, cook them until they are soft. Reduce the heat, add the flour and work it well into the leeks & onions, you want to “cook the flour out” for 5 minutes, then add the mushroom trimmings, parsley stalks & the vegetable stock. Cook over a high heat for 10 minutes & then add the cooked spinach, cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and blend in a food processor until smooth.

 

Garnish

4g sautéed chanterelle mushrooms         

4g cooked leek