Tag: recipes

1/4 c. Whole Coffee Beans, Smashed (preferably dark, espresso roast)
1/2 vanilla bean, split
1 tbsp dark brown sugar (packed)
1 1/4 c. Bourbon

First we took the coffee beans and placed them in two plastic bags. We took a metal muddler and smashed the beans until they were gently crushed.

Place all ingredients in a small canning jar, and set the jar in a dark, cool location. Every few days, shake the jar lightly.

Infuse for about 3 weeks, or until this reaches your desired taste.

Strain and filter through cheesecloth, jelly bag (if desired) and finally coffee filters.

This coffee liqueur is so rich and delicious. You can taste all the nuances of the bourbon, and the espresso roast coffee gives it such a good flavor.

We are also going to try this same recipe with brandy. This is a “must try”! If you love coffee, you need to make this.

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion , finely chopped
1 stick celery, sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 medium potato, diced
1 knob butter
1l homemade chicken or vegetable stock
1 head broccoli, roughly chopped
140g Stilton, or other blue cheese, crumbled

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and then add the onions. Cook on a medium heat until soft. Add a splash of water if the onions start to catch.

Add the celery, leek, potato and a knob of butter. Stir until melted, then cover with a lid. Allow to sweat for 5 minutes. Remove the lid.

Pour in the stock and add any chunky bits of broccoli stalk. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.

Add the rest of the broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes. Carefully transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. Stir in the stilton, allowing a few lumps to remain. Season with black pepper and serve.

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 cup mirin
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup Sake (optional)
2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 40–50 minutes; let cool. Teriyaki sauce can be made 1 month ahead. Store airtight and chill.

3 dried chiles chipotle or serrano
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 cup green olives
1 cup black olives
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 clementines
Crusty bread

Coarsely crush chiles with back of knife. Place in medium bowl. Add rosemary, all olives, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Using vegetable peeler, remove peel of 1 clementine in strips. Using sharp knife, scrape off any pith from strips. Mix peel into olives. Cut peeled clementine in half. Squeeze clementine juice over. Cover and let marinate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 225C. Transfer olive mixture to ovenproof dish. Cut remaining 3 clementines crosswise in half and mix into olives. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast until heated through and flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes. Squeeze juice of roasted clementines over olives.

Serve warm with crusty bread.

drizzle of oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
250g beef mince
1 potato, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato purée
few thyme sprigs
2 tbsp hot pepper sauce
500g block shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten
green salad, to serve

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and cook for 5 mins. Add the beef, turn up the heat and cook until the meat is browned. Add the potato, half the turmeric, the purée and thyme, plus 200ml water. Cover and simmer for 15 mins, then remove the lid and cook for 5 mins more. Add the hot pepper sauce and leave to cool.

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 6 x 15cm circles, using a small plate as a guide. Divide the mince between the circles, piling it up on one side. Mix the egg with the remaining turmeric, brush around the edge of each circle, then fold over and use a fork to seal the edges.

Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, brush with a little more egg and bake for 20-25 mins. Serve with a green salad.

Hot pot soup broth

Soup bones
Chicken
Carrots
Celeri
Ginger
Onions
Tomato slices

Cut the chicken into large chunks. Clean chicken chunks, and pig bones. Cut ginger into slices, tomato into slices, scallions into sections, carrots into cubes and celery into small section.

Prepare a pot or wok with enough water. Bring the water to a boiling. And add chicken and pig bones in. Turn down the fire and cook the blood water out. Transfer out and wash with warm water.

Clean your pot or prepare another one.  Add enough water. Return the chicken and pig bones back. Add ginger slices, carrot cubes, scallions sections and tomato slices in to. Add 3 teaspoon salt or as needed.

Bring all the content to a boiling and then turn down the fire to simmer for around 40 minutes to 1 hour.

To make a spicy hot pot broth:

1. Follow the steps above to make a clear version of hot pot broth.

2. Prepare a small piece of ginger, 1 teaspoon of Sichuan Peppercorn, 1 tablespoon dried chili pepper or sambal oelek, several star anise, several chunks of cassia bark, 1/2 teaspoon of fennel. Cut ginger and garlic into slices.

Prepare a wok, heat up some cooking oil. Add ginger to stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Then add other spices in.

Pour the clear version soup base introduced above to the wok. Turn down the fire to simmer for about 20 to 40 minutes until you can smell the aroma of the spices. Then start our lovely hot pot journey.

We put in:
Homemade meatballs
Sliced cod filet
Sliced beef rump steak
Sliced chicken breast
Sliced Chinese cabbage
Corn on the segments
Quick cook ramen noodles

Must try this!

100g butter, melted, plus a little extra for greasing
250g self-raising flour
140g golden caster sugar
50g cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
200ml Irish cream liqueur
50ml milk
100g milk chocolate, very roughly chopped into chunks
icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

For the sauce

200g light muscovado sugar
25g cocoa

Grease a 2-litre baking dish and heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the kettle on. Put the flour, caster sugar, cocoa, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the eggs, butter, liqueur and milk, then pour onto the dry ingredients and mix together until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chunks and scrape everything into the baking dish.

To make the sauce, mix 300ml boiling water from the kettle with the sugar and cocoa, then pour all over the pudding batter – don’t worry, it will look very strange at this stage! Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins until the surface looks firm, risen and crisp. Dust with icing sugar, if you like. Serve straight away – as you scoop spoonfuls into serving bowls, you should find a gorgeous chocolate sauce underneath.

Eat with single cream and extra liqueur, if you like.

200g unsalted butter
3 shallot, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 thyme sprigs
500g chicken or duck livers
100ml Sauternes
100ml double cream
3 medium eggs, at room temperature

For the jelly

3 sheets leaf gelatine
250ml Sauternes
50g golden caster sugar
a few thyme leaves (optional)

Prepare the livers. Use kitchen scissors to snip out anything that looks sinewy or greenish, trying to keep the lobe shapes as intact as you can.

Melt the butter in a wide frying pan and add the shallots, herbs and some seasoning. Cook gently for 10 mins until very soft. Spoon the shallots into a food processor and discard the herbs; pour the butter into a jug, leaving 1 tbsp in the pan.

Turn up the heat in the pan and add the livers. Season and fry for 30 secs on each side or until just browned all over. They will still be very raw inside. Take out of the pan and put in the processor. Splash the Sauternes into the hot pan and reduce by half, scraping up any tasty bits as it bubbles. Tip onto the liver and shallots.

Process the livers until totally smooth. With the motor running, slowly pour in the cream and add the eggs, one by one, then the warm butter. Season with 2 tsp sea salt and some pepper, but don’t taste the mixture as it’s still raw. Pass through a sieve, using a spatula to help.

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and boil a full kettle. Put 6 heatproof glass tumblers, small Kilner jars or large ramekins into a roasting tin. Pour the parfait into each one. Pour hot water around the parfaits, letting it come as far up the sides as is safe for you to carry. Bake for 45 mins until the parfaits have set without a wobble and risen a little in the middle. Cool at room temperature (I make this more speedy by filling the pan with cold water and letting the whole thing stand on a wire rack), then chill.

To make the jelly, soak the gelatine in cold water until it is totally floppy. Heat the wine and sugar until it dissolves, then remove from the heat. Squeeze out as much water from the gelatine as possible, then stir into the wine until totally dissolved. Set aside.

When cooled but still liquid, pour this over the top of the parfaits, adding a few thyme leaves here and there. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Serve with toast and cornichons.

50g butter, plus extra to serve
1 red onion, halved and sliced
2 tsp mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger)
1 red cabbage, cored and sliced
2 sharp eating apple, sliced
5 tbsp muscovado sugar
250ml apple cider
30ml balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion. Soften in the butter for a few minutes, then stir in the spices and cook for one minute.

Tip in the cabbage and saute until shiny and well coated. Add the apple, sugar, cider and vinegar, reduce the heat to low, stir well, cover and cook for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t stick.

Season well and stir through a knob of butter before serving. You can also store it somewhere cool for a couple of days, then reheat to serve, if you prefer, adding the butter during the reheating.