As days are getting much warmer, I like taking a break to lunch in the sun, in the garden when I can, and oftentimes, that lunch is a refreshing salad. This very slightly tipsy Rum Tuna and Mango Rice Salad is a special one! Happy Tuesday!
AsJuleswas not home on Easter, we celebrated May Day yesterday with a bright and flavourful Spring Lunch. I had set the table in the dining room, but it was so lovely outside that, after enjoying our drinks (a Gold Rush for her and a Bee’s Knees for me) with nibbles in the sun, we ate the rest of our meal in the garden amongst the myosotis, by the Veg Patch and the apple tree! It was really nice and so was the poached salmon I served with these beautiful Broad Beans, Asparagus and Gnocchi!Happy Monday!
Gadually stir one cup of the flour into the Potato Mash. Add the egg to bind it all and work ingredients together until a soft dough forms, adding more flour if necessary. Roll small portionsofdough between your hands (approximately the size of a heaping teaspoon) and place them on a lightly floured surface. Working with one ball at a time, using your thumb, roll ball on the tines of a lightly floured fork. As you work, place gnocchionto a lightly flouredtray. When all gnocchiare ready, store them into the refigerator
In a large saucepan, bring waterto the boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, stir in coarse sea salt until dissolved.
Trim the ends of the asparagus, and add to the boiling water. Cook, 10 minutes, until tender, then lift off the saucepan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Set aside.
Addbroad beans to the salted boiling water, and cook, 5 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the waterand plunge into a medium bowl filled with cold water andice cubes. Set aside.
Finally, add half of gnocchi to boiling water; cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until done (they will rise to the surface). Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon, and place in a colander to drain. Keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining gnocchi.
Peelbroad beans. Cut asparagus.
Meltbutterwitholive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once foaming, add Dried Lemon Thyme anddried rosemary, cook 1 minute. Then, stir broad beansandasparagus, and sauté, to coat in butter. Finally, stir in gnocchi. Cook, until hot, a few minutes.
ServeRosemary and Thyme Butter Broad Beans, Asparagus and Gnocchi hot, sprinkled with grated ParmesanandLemon Zest, as a side toPoached Salmonor Rosemary and Honey Roast Lamb.
Pourdouble cream into a small saucepan. Add Vanilla Extract, and heat over medium-low heat.
Meanwhile, roughly chop dark chocolate and put in a medium bowl.
Once the cream is simmering, pour over the chocolate. Cover with a lid, and let sit, a couple of minutes. Then, stir energetically with a rubber spatula until you have a smooth and shiny ganache. Place in the refrigerator, to chill, at least a couple of hours.
Preheat oven to 210°C/410°F. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Combinewater,milkandbutterin a large saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat. Once mixture is slowly boiling and butter is melted, remove from the heat and add both flours all at once, stirring well with a wooden spoon until a soft ball form. Return over low heat and cook, about 2 minutes, until a slight film forms at the bottom of the saucepan, stirring often. Set aside and let cool slightly.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until you get a smooth, shiny, soft-peak paste.
Spoon choux pastry into a piping bag, fitted with a large (1-cm/0.4″) star nozzle and pipe choux pastry into 14-cm/5.5″ long éclairs onto one of the baking trays until you have ten. With the remaining choux pastry you could pipe more éclairsorchouxon the second baking tray. Place baking trays in the hot oven. Bake at 210°C/410°F, for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Using a skewer, carefully piercethree holes at the bottom of each éclair, to let the steam escape and put them back in the warm oven to dry out, 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
For this recipe, you will only need four éclairs. The others (and choux) will freeze well, stored in zip-lock bags and can be kept up to three months in the freezer. You will only need to thaw them before using in sweet or savoury recipes.
Once the chocolate ganache has chilled, beat with an hand mixer, gradually increasing speed to high, until ganache becomes fluffy and a paler shade of brown. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.
With a serrated knife, gently cut the topsoff each éclair. Pipe whipped chocolate ganache generously on the bottom of each. Gently press raspberriesin the ganacheof each éclair. Gently press éclair tops onto each éclair. Dust with.
EnjoyChocolate and Raspberry Eclairs immediately, with a glass of chilled Champagneor other sparkling wine, or chill until serving time. Happy Easter!
If you have éclairs or choux buns in the freezer, you can have these anytime you fancy!
Been rewatching some random Murdoch Mysteries episodes and the season 8 two parter opening is the best opening of any of the seasons. Between this parallel
And the music, which gives me chills every time and is what I believe the best score of any season, you’ve got one HELL of a two parter.
Yes! I just re-watched it too and felt the same! Also, particularly important to remember what endless battles women had to fight to have the right to vote on this (French) Election Day…
This fragrant and moist Herb and Cheese Loaf makes an excellent and easy-to-pack picnic if you want to make the most of these sunny Spring days. It is also very nice at dinner, with a glass of chilled Sauv BlancorChardie. And it freezes well, so you can cut it into slices and store a couple of them per bag, and you have a lunch, dinner or picnic ready whenever you feel like it! Happy Wednesday!
Preheat oven to 165°C/330°F. Lightly grease a loaf pan with olive oil. Line with baking paper; set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour,oregano,rosemary, baking powderandsalt.
Grate in about 1/3 cup Parmesan and 1/3 cupCheddar; give a good stir. Dig a well in the middle of the flour mixture, and break in the eggs. Add milk,sour cream andChili Oil, and stir well, until just blended.
Crumble in Feta cheese and fold gentlyinto the batter, until well-distributed. Spoon batterinto prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the middle of the hot oven, 40 minutes at 165°C/330°F, until risen, a nice golden color, and a toothpick inserted in the centre of loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let cool. Remove from pan.
ServeHerb and Cheese Loaf warm or cold with cherry tomatoes,Mesclunorlettuce.
Yesterday was chill, but today is a proper Spring day, warm with an expense of blue sky and heaps of sunshine. It’s a day to enjoy lunch in the garden, amidst the fragrant blossoms and the pop of colours blooming flowers paint on the grass, enjoying the light and observing the birds or reading a good book. This simple, hearty and bright Springtime Chicken Pasta Salad makes this even easier, turning Sunday’s leftovers into a generous and flavourful quick meal! Happy Tuesday!
Ingredients (serves 1):
½ cup frozen broad beans
1 ¾ cup cold, cooked whole-wheat pasta (such as penne, farfalle or fusilli)
Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil. Once boiling, add broad beans, and cook, about 5 minutes. Drain broad beans, and immediately plunge in a bowl of ice water to stop cooking and cool. Set aside.
Spooncold penne into a medium bowl. Add leftoverRosemary Cougette slices (about half a large courgette).
Peelbroad beans.
RemoveRosemary Roasted Chicken meatfrom the bones, and cut into small chunks. Addcold Chicken chunks to the bowl. Add reserved broad beans, and drizzle generously withLemon Dressing. Toss gently to combine and coat in Dressing. Garnish with freshly picked chervil, if desired.
ChillSpringtime Chicken Pasta Salad, at least half an hour in the refrigerator, before enjoying, with a glass of chilled white wine, like ChardonnayorSauvignon Blanc.
When I woke up today, snow was falling thickly in the gardens and the roofs and the windows and the streets! It made me very happy as we did not have a single flurry this Winter. And, I wasn’t alone; from my window I could see little children giddily going to school, trying to catch snowflakes and imagining the snowmen they would build at recess! I think this impromptu Winter Day is the perfect occasion to indulge in those beautifully Crunchy Fudgy Brownies (I took inspiration from The Simple Things’s Ultimate Fudgy Brownies but added a bit of a crunch to it with nuts, cereals and seeds!) Whether you stay cosily inside, or go for a vivifying walk in the white powder; these are a wonderful treat to indulge in! Happy Friday!
Ingredients:
5 whole walnuts
¼ cup hazelnuts
150 grams/5.30 ounces dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
100 grams/3.5 ounces unsalted butter
150 grams/5.30 caster sugar
2 eggs
25 grams/0.90 ounces plain flour
30 grams/1 ounce unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon quinoa crispies
¼ teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes, plus more for sprinkling
½ tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. Butter a square or rectanglular brownie tin, and line with baking paper; set aside.
Crack open the walnuts, and gently remove the halvesfrom the shells, so you have ten halves.
Toastwalnutsandhazelnutsin a small frying pan over a high flame until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from the heat, and transfer to a small plate; set aside.
In a medium bowl fitted over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt dark chocolate withbutter until silky. Stir in caster sugar, and remove from the heat. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
Break in the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Then, whisk energetically for about 3 minutes, until mixtureis smooth and shiny (this is an excellent arm workout, too!)
Sift in flourandcocoa powder, and gently fold in with a spatula. When almost all the flourandcocoaare folded in, add toasted walnutsandhazelnuts,quinoa crispies andfleur de sel. Fold in until just blended and no white spec of flourremains.
Pourbatterinto prepared tin, and level the top with the spatula. Sprinkle liberally with pumpkin seeds and a pinch of fleur de sel.
Bake at 180°C/355°F, for 20 minutes, until the middle is just set and the edges are a bit cracked. Remove from the oven, and let cool for as long as you can wait (at least half an hour) before cuting into a dozen squares.
