Black Pudding & Apple Sossidge Rolls

I'm not sure why but I associate sossidge rolls most with Christmas. Perhaps it's the decadence of wrapping pork in buttery, fluffy pastry? Or that I mainly make them for parties, most of which occur around Christmas time. I usually try and put a twist on them; mixing the sausagemeat with raw chorizo works well, as did these beauties; black pudding and apple. The black pudding gives it a deeper porky flavour, with the chunks of the Bramley apple bringing out the flavour more and adding some sweetness. I've found that fruit works the best; chunks of soft apricot and apple with some hot smoked paprika also went down a storm.

Black Pudding & Apple Sossidge Rolls

Makes shitloads

500gr sausagemeat
2 slices of black pudding
1 small Bramley apple
1 small onion
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry, or make your own rough puff
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Dice the apple and the onion. Mix with the sausagemeat. Chop the black pudding up finely and then add to the sausagemeat, mixing well again. Slice the sheet of pastry lengthways into three. Add the sausagemeat in a roll down the middle of each sheet and pinch the pastry closed around it.

Slice into bite sized pieces. You can freeze this on a sheet now and bag it later, or brush with egg and bake on a greased tray for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Cream Palmiers

One thing that I love about food blogging is that it's not about me. It's not even about you . . . it's about the recipes and the food!



It's about being able to cook and taste some of the best and most indulgent foods ever . . . and exploring the culinary delights my adopted country has to offer me.




It's about stretching my skills . . . both in the kitchen and . . . behind the camera . . . and about making food that not only tastes delicious, but food that looks good.



It's about waking up every morning and making YOU believe that what I am presenting to you on this page is the absolute best thing ever . . .



and about making you want to go into your own kitchen and cook it for yourselves, because you have just got to taste it for real, and because I have inspired you to do it, and given you the confidence to believe that you can!



Your comments are like me winning the "X Factor of food" every day of my life, and I thank you for that. Here's to 2011. Let's begin as we mean to go on.



Cream Palmiers . . . tasty little bites of fluffy crisp buttery pastry, filled with a soft cloud of sweetened whipped cream and sticky sweet strawberry jam. Kind of like a de-constructed jam tart . . . with puff pastry . . . and CREAM. A delicious teatime treat.



The only down side is they all have to be eaten on the day they are filled . . . so NOT a problem!



*Cream Palmiers*
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

Absolutely delightful on the tea tray!

225g (1/2 pound) of all butter puff pastry
1 1/2 ounces granulated sugar (a scant 1/4 cup)
1 TBS icing sugar, sifted
400ml of double cream (1 3/4 cups)
a few drops of vanilla
2 TBS strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Slightly dampen a baking tray. Set aside.

Dust the work surface with half of the sugar. Roll the pastry out on the sugared surface to a rectangle 10 by 12 inches in size. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining half of the sugar. Gently press the sugar in with a rolling pin. Starting at the short sides, roll the pastry towards the middle from both edges into the centre until they meet. Press together gently. Cut across the rolls into 16 slices. Place onto the baking tray. Press down to flatten slightly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes until crisp and golden, turning them over halfway through the baking time so that they caramelize equally on both sides. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Whip the cream along with the icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Sandwich together pairs of the palmiers with some of the whipped cream and some of the jam. Serve immediately.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Generally speaking, I prefer fruity desserts. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and after a great whopping meal, something a little tart and fresh goes a long way to perking you up. I got the idea in my head that I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie and it wouldn't leave me. Finally, on a rainy Saturday afternoon I gave in and made it; a little sunshine was injected into the room when I had a bite.

Lemon Meringue Pie

For the pastry:

200gr plain flour
60gr butter, cold
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp icing sugar
A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200 degress C. Sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a bowl and add the butter, cut into small cubes. Rub together until breadcrumb texture. Add the water and work into a ball. Don't knead it. Roll out so that it is enough to cover your 23 inch loose bottomed flan tin. Line with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 mins.

For the filling:

40gr cornflour
3 lemons
3 egg yolks
80gr butter
80gr sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml water

Set up a bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water. Zest and juice the lemons into this bowl. Add the water and the cornflour and whisk constantly until it is a thick paste. Take off the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract.

For the meringue:

80gr sugar
3 egg whites
1 tbsp rose water

Turn the oven down to 180 degrees C. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff peaks. Fold in the rose water and add 40gr of the sugar. Whisk again until stiff and glossy. Using a metal spoon, fold in the remaining sugar, and give it another whisk.

To assemble, spoon in the lemon mixture and top with the meringue, making slight peaks. If you like you can sprinkle with a little extra sugar for a crunchy top. Bake for 20 minutes, leave to cool and turn out.

Aubergine & Tomato Galette

I always thought a galette was a pancake made out of buckwheat flour, but like many terms in food, it also means something else. Wikipedia says it's a general French term for any kind of flat, round or freeform cakes. This one is very freeform indeed.

I first saw the galette on this blog and knew I had to try it immediately, and of course with my favourite vegetable with the aubergine. The crust, made with sour cream was flaky, crumbly and light; the cream is definitely an inspired addition. Soft melting vegetables, fresh aniseedy flavours of basil and with a nice cheesy hit, a slice of this with a dressed green bean salad made a filling but summery dinner.

Aubergine and Tomato Galette

Feeds 4

1 large or two medium aubergines
6 large ripe tomatoes
A handful of basil leaves
1 tub of ricotta
1 ball of mozzerella
50gr Parmesan
2 cloves of garlic

200gr plain flour
115gr butter, very cold cut into a dice
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp sour cream
A large pinch of salt
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 egg yolk

Slice the aubergine to about a finger's thickness and fry in hot oil on both sides until browned. Set to one side. Slice the tomatoes to a similar thickness, drizzle with oil. Mince the two cloves of garlic and scatter on top, seasoning with salt and pepper. Place under a medium grill for about 15 minutes.

Drain the mozerella ball and place in a sieve with a plate on top, and a tin of beans on the plate to squeeze some water out. Add the flour and salt to a big bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour, working quickly. In a separate bowl, mix the water, sour cream and lemon juice until it's all incorporated and add it to the flour. Mix with your hands until it forms a dough and then stop immediately. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease a large sheet of greaseproof paper and place on a baking tray. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle to a half inch thickness. Leaving about a 3 inch gap, spread the ricotta over the pastry. Place a row of tomato slices (these should be thick, messy and gloopy), then a row of aubergine slices, slightly overlapping until you get to the other side. Scatter the basil leaves on top, reserving about 3 or 4. Slice the mozerella ball roughly and place the slices evenly on top, then repeat with the tomato and aubergine. Grate the Parmesan on top.

Glaze the pastry with the egg yolk and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until it's all bubbly and lovely and the pastry is browned. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then slice the remaining basil leaves into slivers and scatter on top before serving.

The Rest

I often prefer all the food around the main event of Christmas; cold cuts, our family tradition of Gravadlax, pork pie, cheeses... this year I still loved it, though the main event was as good.

Christmas Eve dinner of foie gras with duck breast, plum and star anise sauce. Yes, that was one portion...

Christmas morning - scrambled eggs with truffles on toast

Christmas day lunch - home-cured gravadlax with sweet mustard sauce

My home-made pork pie

Spaghetti with mushrooms and truffles

Boxing Day ham

Bubble & squeak

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday eating to your heart's content. A happy new year to you all!

Full Flickr set of Christmas indulgence is here.

No Turkeys Here

We don't have turkey for Christmas; haven't done for years now. It's not a bird we enjoy eating, so we did away with it. In the past we had duck, goose and venison so this year we decided to do a classic; Beef Wellington.

I used the recipe on this blog, a Gordon Ramsey one which I tested for Olive. The mushroom mixture was studded with raw duck foie gras, for some festive cheer. Considering I cooked it alone with only gin for company, it worked out really well - perfectly rare and ridiculously rich. No dry turkey meat to struggle through in sight.

Making the rough puff pastry. It's a faff, but worth making your own

Mushroom mixture with duck foie gras

Herb crepes

Beef fillet, seared and brushed with mustard

Assembly - crepes, then Parma ham

Mushroom mixture added

Some skillful rolling

Out of the oven

Served with a rather scarily vibrant red wine sauce

A Pork Pie (or Three)

This year for Christmas, instead of presents, my family set the task of buying a food present worth the value of £10 that we could all enjoy (which rules out cheese and booze - my sister and mum are strange beings). I racked my brains for a while, and then came up with the perfect solution. Pork. Pies. There is no such thing as Christmas without them.

I'd first seen Josh's entry for these over a year ago and had book marked them to try, but of course never got round to it. With a combination of his and Just Cook It's recipe, I devised my own. A day was booked off work - this is a lengthy process and the weekend was too far away - and I set to work.

First thing's first, the jelly that surrounds the meat and the pastry needed to be made. Two pigs trotters, cleaved in half, went into a litre of chicken stock with bay leaves, black peppercorns, carrots, onion and celery. You want to simmer this for three hours, then strain it, and reduce it to 300mls.

The Pastry:

100gr lard
100gr butter
550gr plain flour
150mls water
1.5 tsp salt
2 eggs, plus one for glazing

Melt the lard and the butter in a saucepan but don't boil it. Add the salt to the flour, then break the eggs in and mix the water and fat. Mix until you have a smooth ball, wrap in cling film and chill for an hour.

The Meat:

375gr pork shoulder
375gr belly pork
2 rashers of smoked back bacon
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Salt

Chop the meat into small chunks. I couldn't be bothered to chop it any more finely, so I had quite coarse meat which I liked. In a mixing bowl, add the nutmeg, chopped sage, thyme, peppers and some salt. Mix together well, and take a teaspoonful and fry it, to check the seasoning. Food can taste a bit more bland when cold so be generous with the salt.

To make the pastry, pat into a rectagular shape and then cut in half. Then cut a third off each half to reserve for the lids. Using a well floured jar, shape the pies around the outside of the jar (I used a Branston Pickle jar). Ease the jar out and then fill with the meat mixture. Roll the lid out to fit the top of the pie and cut a hole out of the centre. Crimp the lid onto the pie.

I wanted to make a mini pie as well which is why I have three, but this amount should make two large pies. Glaze the pies with the remaining egg, and place in a preheated oven on 180 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn it down to 160 for 20 minutes.

Take the pies out and leave to cool a little. Stick a small funnel in the hole of the top and pour (VERY carefully) the trotter stock into the pie. Be slow about it as it takes some time to get in there. Leave to cool, and refridgerate overnight before eating with copious pickles and mustard.

There's a few things I learnt from this pie adventure. Firstly - make absolutely sure you've crimped your lids on properly. After a warning from someone on Twitter, I thought I had made sure the lids were well sealed. Not so. As such, I had to make up a water / flour solution to plug the seams with to stop the jelly stock from dribbling out, and then pick the seam off. It worked, but it was a faff. Also, don't try and roll the lid too thinly, or it will crack right down the middle (but still taste good). Otherwise, these were perfect.

Pie Weather

Rain. There has been so much of it. Every morning I draw the blinds back to find the balcony deluged. My shoes are leaking, my hair is frizzing and the wind? Well the wind only serves to make me look (even more) like a banshee. It has been a trying few weeks. The only consolation in this is that the weather makes me thinks of hearty food. As the rain rolls down the windows and the wind howls around this corner of South East London, thoughts turn to curries, stews and pie.

I spotted ham hocks and immediately snapped them up. They were such great big meaty beasts they needed to be simmered in separate saucepans. Having been cooked for a few hours with some classic flavourings, the flabby skin was discarded and pink hunks of meat carved off the bone. Paired with some greenery in a lightly creamy sauce, the home-made rough puff pastry topped it and added some extra richness. I was surprised by how easy the pastry was to make; I've heard from several people that life is too short to make puff pastry. While it didn't have as many layers as shop-bought, it had enough to be light, flaky and buttery.

This isn't a recipe you can knock up after work - there aren't many ingredients but it requires advance planning. What you are rewarded with is pure comfort to dive into. I found it didn't need any potatoes; just a side of steamed greens to ease the conscience.

Ham, Leek & Pea Pie

Serves 4

2 ham hocks
5 sticks of celery
4 carrots
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
2 sprigs of thyme
1 leek
300gr peas
100ml milk
100gr butter
100gr plain flour

For the pastry

250gr unsalted butter at room temperature
125gr plain flour
125gr white bread flour
A pinch of salt
Cold water
1 egg

Soak the ham hocks in cold water overnight, changing the water if possible. This is to prevent the meat from being overly salty. Place the hocks in a pan of water and bring to the boil to remove impurities. Once it does so, discard the water and place in another pan of water, bringing to the boil. Add the onion, carrot and 4 sticks of celery, roughly chopped. Simmer for 3 hours.

Remove the hocks, reserving the liquid and leave to cool. Slice off the skin and hack the meat off the bone, discarding any big lumps of fat and gristle. Slice the remaining celery and leek finely and fry in a pan in a little oil. Add the clove of garlic, chopped finely, and the leaves of the thyme stripped off the stalk. Fry until softened. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the flour to make a roux. Add the milk bit by bit, whisking any lumps out as you go. When all the milk is added, take off the heat and set to one side.

Strain the liquid the ham hocks were simmering in. Add 800mls of this (depending on how big your pie dish is) to the pan with the vegetables in and slowly whisk in the milky roux. Bring to the simmer and simmer for 10 or 15 minutes until it thickens up nicely. Lastly, add 3/4's of the meat in along with the peas (they'll cook in the residual heat) and take off the heat. Taste, season with salt and pepper if needed, and then spoon it into your pie dish to cool.

To make the pastry, I modified this recipe, whacked it on my pie, glazed it with egg and baked it at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. It fed 3 of us until we felt sick; I think I even ate it cold (pastry and all) out of the fridge the next day.

The stock made from simmering the hocks makes a great soup - it does jellify but that's a good thing. I added red lentils and pearl barley and with the last quarter of ham in it and some wilted spinach, it made a really delicious dinner.

I am all hammed out... for now.

Pastéis de Belém - Lisbon, Portugal

Before I launch into any booze-drenched posts of the European Wine Bloggers Conference, held in Lisbon last weekend, I wanted to get this out there. This is the first place, reportedly, to sell Pastéis de Nata; Portugese custard tarts. These tarts are believed to be created by the monks of Mosteiro dos Jerónimo, a monastery in Belém, before the 18th Century. I was almost loathe to eat any on our trip to Lisbon until we visited this place as it had been so highly recommended. Of course I couldn't resist though... One does need a point of reference, after all. They were on offer everywhere.

We left the trip to Belém until Monday, at the very end of our long weekend in Lisbon. As such, we were a bedraggled bunch. It took us two hours to get there, due to getting on the wrong train(s). Pastéis de Belém is enormous - at first glance it looked like just a large cafe, but on exploring further it really was maze-like with blue and white tiled cavernous rooms out the back.

We sat down, thirsty and hungover, to peruse the menu. Salt cod cakes, beef croquettas, a couple of quiches and of course the tarts were ordered. Service was a bit scatty; our waitress arrived with our quiches, then whisked them away again to get them warmed up. They returned cold. The ham quiche was always going to me more tasty than the spinach, and it didn't let us down. Both were hefty examples.

I didn't enjoy the meat paste texture of the beef croquettes much, but the salt cod cakes were great. Slightly garlicky, flaky soft cod with delicious mashed potato, fried up and still warm. A little ketchup wouldn't have gone astray - any kind of fried potato product has me looking for the red stuff.

But what of the main event? The custard tarts were, as suspected, excellent. Flaky pastry, the outer of which was so brittle and thin it shattered like glass in the mouth - though far less harmful, of course. The custard filling had a pleasingly creamy texture, without being overtly eggy, nor too sweet. In short, I loved it. I debated having another, but as we'd already decided we would be having a second lunch, I held back.

All this, with 3 bottles of water (I told you it had been a heavy weekend...) came to 15 Euros in total.

A mere hour later, I dived into this - salt cod fillet, at a nearby restaurant. I have developed a worrying addiction to the fish.

Pastéis de Belém

Rua de Belém no. 84 a 92

1300 - 085 Lisboa

Portugal

Tel: +351 21 363 74 23

Tart

When I was a wee nipper, I once ate so much pie I was quite sick in my sleep. It was a rather traumatising experience; I tried to wake my mum up but she just grunted and rolled away from me. Luckily, my sister was easier to rouse. She wasn't best impressed when she returned from her nasty chore to her bed to find me asleep in it.

Ever since then, I've had an aversion to pastry, shortcrust in particular. I've been trying to get over this, starting with the pasties in Cornwall and so far it seems to be working. Puff pastry is easier for me to deal with, although it's something I don't use a lot due to it's high fat content. I threw caution to the wind and made a mushroom tart.

Mushroom Tart

Serves 2

5 large closed cap mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tbsp creme fraiche

Enough puff pastry to make 2 6"x 4" tarts - I used 1/2 a block of unrolled pastry

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celcius. Fry the garlic until softened, then add all the mushrooms. Fry until softened, making sure there isn't too much liquid. Add the creme fraiche and the parsley and take off the heat. Season to taste. Roll out the pastry and make an indentation about 2 cm from the edge, all the way round. Leave to rest for 5 mins, then spread the mushroom mixture on the base. Wash with egg and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

I served this with griddled red onions, courgettes and aubergines dressed with a little extra virgin olive oil and lime juice, and some broccoli on the side.

The pastry was lovely and light and complemented the earthy mushrooms well. The parsley really helped to cut through the creaminess of the sauce. Shortcrust pastry (maybe even home-made) will be next...