I love the Cook supplement which is every Saturday added to the Guardian. Yesterday in Felicity Cloake's section were vegan recipes. This one is inspired by one of the recipes - Chocolate Truffle Torte
Please note that mine is not a vegan recipe.
Tofu cheesecake
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the base:
50g roasted and cooled hazelnuts
10 hobnobs or digestive biscuits
20g melted butter/ margarine
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp icing sugar
For the cheesecake:
300g silken tofu
50g white chocolate
50g dark chocolate
1tbsp vanilla paste
2tbsp icing sugar
Using a food processor blitz hazelnuts until finely ground, remove and put aside. Now blitz hobnobs, add hazelnuts, cocoa powder, icing sugar and melted butter. Blitz to mix it all.
Transfer into a lose base cake tin and spread evenly, refrigerate.
Melt both chocolates in a microwave. In a clean food processor blitz tofu and add melted chocolates, vanilla paste, icing sugar and blitz. Transfer onto the base and refrigerate for at least two hours.
I was thinking of options for toppings - loads, possibly fresh fruit the best - fresh strawberries/ fresh raspberries.
I had no fresh fruit in the house so soaked dry cherries in Marsala wine and water (2tbsp each) for 30 minutes, drained and arranged on the top of the cheesecake with a bit of chocolate flakes on the top. The flakes can be easily done, holding the knife edge upright like a razor blade shave off flakes of chocolate as you drag it towards you.
Here we are having a glorious weather weekend! Finally summer arrived to England:-)
My body is craving all sorts of food which perhaps not necessarily is in demand during colder months. Although this one can easily be converted into risotto, pasta or pearl barlotto.
Butternut squash in butter, white wine sauce with cornbread
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a starter
Ingredients:
500g peeled and cubed butternut squash
2 medium shallots finely chopped
20g butter
2-3 medium cloves of garlic, minced
100ml white wine
2 veggie stock cubes or 1 knorr veggie stockpot
water
100g feta cheese
1 tsp dry sage
parsley
chili flakes
salt & pepper
Let's do it:
In a big pan melt butter with a little bit of oil, add shallots and fry for a few minutes stirring once in a while. Add garlic, dry sage and chili flakes and fry a bit longer, pour in white wine and cook until wine is reduced and almost gone stirring from time to time (this will take around 5 minutes). Stir in butternut squash, cook for 2-3 minutes add stock and water, if it would be for a pasta or pearl barley sauce I would add no more than a 200ml water. I added around 500ml as I wanted to have some sauce to dip bread in it. Simmer until butternut squash is tender (around 15 min) and cooked, season well. Serve with crumbled feta and some chopped parsley.
Cornbread
Recipe from Hugh F/W book, River Cottage Everyday
Very quick and easy to make - makes 12 slices/ pieces
Ingredients:
125g polenta
125g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp runny honey or soft brown sugar
150g yogurt or buttermilk
150ml whole milk
25g melted unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 220C and grease 23cm square baking tray. In a bowl mix together polenta, flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate soda and make a well in the middle. Add eggs, yogurt, honey, milk and melted butter and whisk it quickly, do not overdo it, quickly stir in extra ingredients (see below) - mine were chili flakes and chopped black olives. Pour the batter into the baking tray an place in the oven. Bake until golden.
Hugh F/W recommendations for extra ingredients:
- mushrooms (fried with garlic first)
- sweetcorn
- herbs
Virtually anything can be added as cornbread although nice on its own is rather plain.
I love some of Jamie's ideas and this is a one of all time favourites and quick to make - spaghetti puttanesca.
Spaghetti puttanesca - Jamie Oliver's recipe (link to the tv series 30-Minute Meals)
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
tin of tuna in olive oil/ sunflower oil
small tin of anchovies
small bunch of parsley - chopped - separately leaves and stalks
2 garlic cloves crashed
800g of chopped tomatoes or a mix of passata and chopped tomatoes - I used 500g carton of passata and 400g carton of chopped tomatoes
2tsp of capers - drained
2 generous handfuls of black pitted olives
pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp of chili flakes
salt and pepper
lemon juice from half - whole lemon
500g spaghetti
Let's do it:
Cook the spaghetti according to the instruction on the packet.
In the meantime in a pan pour the oil from the tuna tin and add crashed garlic, fried gently until garlic starts being golden add chopped parsley stalks, chili flakes, capers, anchovies and anchovies oil (don't be alarmed if it looks like a lot of oil) Fry for a minute or two and add broken into pieces tuna and passata/ chopped tomatoes with a pinch of cinnamon and some black pepper. Boil for a short while, add chopped parsley leaves season with salt and pepper.
When draining spaghetti save some of the liquid (not more than 100ml depending on how thin/ thick your sauce is) I always add a bit, perhaps 50ml to the sauce. Sprinkle lemon juice over the pasta, add the sauce and mix well. Buon appetito!
Here is one of my favourite reds (pardon the stain on the bottle:)
Unfortunately not a cheap one - currently
£18.99 in Waitrose, but drinking this is an utter pleasure that makes you feeling less guilty about the money spent:) But I suppose I drink anything that contains Mourvèdre! Should not mentioned that while having the blend I watched The Rum Diary which is not about drinking at all:)))
Fraisier - just a one small word, but what a cake! but so much so much to do!
Results in a wonderful delicacy that leaves you eating it all in no time and still wanting more!
I did recently a one day patisserie course at Le Cordon Blue, thoroughly enjoyed it and here is my achievement of the day:) Hubby said that it was the best cake ever!:) Do you need a better complement?:-) But be prepared this is not a quickie!
I will write the recipe soon, I am afraid that I can't face it now as it quite a lot to write.
We recently came back from Paxos and after having a Greek feast for over a week we are craving different type of food so here is simple and super quick pasta with salmon, this time linguine because this was available from the storage cupboard.
Creamy linguine with salmon
Serves 3
Ingredients:
200g smoked salmon, roughly cut into chunks
200ml pot of single or double cream (with double cream tastes better but...calories so make your own judgement)
50-80ml of milk
3 tbsp of drained capers
350g of linguine
handful of fresh, chopped dill
Let's do it:
Cook the linguine according to instructions on the package. When draining keep a bit of the pasta liquid to add to the sauce - more or less 50ml.
In another pan gently bring to boil salmon, capers, cream and milk.; simmer briefly, add dill and season well. Turn of the gas add pasta with the saved liquid.
Served with lemon wedges.
Post about nostalgia
Hubby and I recently came back from Paxos. We love there because it is all about enjoying life in a simple way but oh boy what a way this is! Let me tell you this - the most challenging task for the day is to make sure that you catch a boat that takes you to Antipaxos to this beach as on the picture! Other than that all is about good food, good wine and good views while enjoying the first two!
Our friend Alex gave us this lemon, so it is more than obvious that not only people are happy in Paxos:)
