Hi All,
As we are all no doubt aware, I didn't make it through a very tough pastry round of The Great British Bake Off.
The competition was very stiff with some beautiful (and not so beautiful) creations to tempt the judges.
I felt that my quiche recipe, which appears in the recipe book for the series, was a success and will work on it's cosmetics a little before baking it again.
However this was the only highlight as a schoolboy error with my Lemon Tart saw the filling cooked for too long.
Cooking for too long seemed to persist as a theme to my pastry and I managed to catch the pastry cases for my miniature tarts, which was a huge disappointment as the fillings were spot on.
I am upset at leaving the show at such an early stage purely because I missed out on the treats and challenges that remain to be seen in the rest of the series.
I will post my recipes at the bottom of this blog entry, so please feel free to bake them and post your comments on this blog for all to see.
Yesterday was hectic to say the very least.
After a relaxed breakfast at Guest and The City in Brighton, Callie and I took a wander into the Lanes to find top chocolate shop Choccywockydoodah.
We were not disappointed, the shop was festooned with amazing creations including chocolate gnomes, towering wedding cakes and some family jewels that would make the eyes water!
We left with a family friendly slab of Banoffee chocolate for the kids and firm promises to return soon.
Despite the rain, we had enjoyed our last wander through the narrow winding lanes with their myriad beautiful shops and eateries, Brighton will be missed.
A rain sodden drive through the hills rising out of Brighton and onto the M25, Callie and I wound our way North to find our way through to Redbridge tube station for our journey in to London. We stopped on the way at Valentines Mansion for a quick trip to the loo and a reminisce about the days of GBBO.
Back in the car we parked up and caught the tube into London. Settling on Soho as our destination and a trip to top Chocolatier Paul.A.Youngs new shop on Wardour street.
As we walked into the shop were greeted with friendly yet reserved staff, no Continental gushing here, these guys let you peruse the plethora of chocolatey treats without feeling pressured.
Had our budget been unlimited, I would probably still be crouched in the corner of the shop rocking back and forth in a chocolate induced stupor.
The creations on display were mind boggling and were forced by financial constraints to settle on a pair of chocolates.
Callie settled bravely on a Marmite Chocolate and I settled for a much safer Salted Caramel.
Like little kids, we hurried from the shop with rushed promises to return, we scuttled around the side of Paul's shop to consume our chocolates.
Ploughing into the Marmite offering we were totally overwhelmed by how Paul had managed to blend the two fillings in such a way that you were left with a beautifully sweetened yet bitter Marmite flavour which although balanced, left you under no illusions as to what you had just eaten.
The Salted Caramel was sublime. Smooth caramel, bitter dark chocolate and just enough sea salt to leave you wanting many many more.
This little shop and all of it's contents are a triumph and I cannot wait to go back, with more cash this time!
After a lovely lunch in a small and friendly Mediterranean restaurant on Petticoat Lane, we took a slow wander back to the tube via a very crowded Leicester Square, marvelling at the size of one shop devoted entirely to M&Ms, wondering at the longevity of such a place.
After a short but sweaty tube journey Callie and I arrived at Kings Cross and started our short walk to The Hub on York Way.
We were greeted by Ruby Kvalheim and her team, who made us both very welcome and showed us around the building.
After a cup of tea and a chance for us both to rest, I made my way downstairs to start setting up for the bread making demonstration to be held as part of the Hub Feast.
The Hub Feast is an opportunity for people to gather and share food in a friendly welcoming environment.
At around 7pm we got started with an informal introduction and then straight into the Soda bread.
As this is a really quick bread, the demo didn't last more than ten minutes and the bread was in the oven. Which was super as it left loads of time to socialise and catch up with friends new and old.
An unexpected treat was the arrival of Dana Gornitzky who runs a wonderful charm school and who is directly responsible for my contacting Ruby in the first place.
As usual Dana was more than a match for my enthusiasm and had plenty to tell me about her own projects, Check out Dana's Charm School.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Matthew Smee who is a big part of The Hub and was keen to hear about my exploits on The Bake Off as well as my other projects. Matthew is an energetic guy and I welcome any opportunity to work with him further at the Hub.
Another encounter, this time Twitter assisted, was with Chris Young of The Real Bread Campaign. Chris as you can imagine is a big fan of real bread and was also delighted to hear all about my projects and business successes.
Chris is keen to see Bakers and other Artisans go into schools to give children an opportunity to learn from these people, and give them anther avenue to explore after leaving school.
Being involved in this kind of project is close to my heart and I would love to have any kind of involvement.
Have a look at the Real Bread Campaign
After a long, tiring but ultimately inspiring day, Callie and I made our way back to Norfolk and the inevitable pile of post, e-mails and housework, as well as a mountain of Pork shoulder to butcher and pastry to prepare.
I will be making an appearance at the Thetford Food and Drink Festival tomorrow, so pies must be brought to being and made ready for a (hopefully) hungry public as well as some much needed samples, for a couple of very exciting meetings coming up over the next few days.
I think I have covered off everything that happened in the last day or so.....
Oh no, just one last thing:
I have been asked to be the patron of a campaign to raise money for Armed Forces charities. The campaign is called Festival of pride, Click here for more details, and is a worthy and much needed event. Please support it by turning up at these much needed festivals.
I will be appearing on stage at the event in Newark to hold a pie making workshop, so please show your support.
See you all again soon.
Haddock and Watercress Quiche:
Ingredients for pastry:
175 plain flour (plus a little extra for dusting
salt
75g butter (plus extra for greasing)
cold water
Small bunch of fresh dill
Preparation method for pastry
Sift the flour together with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until you have a soft breadcrumb texture. Add enough cold water to make the crumb mixture come together to form a firm dough, and then rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a light floured surface and line a 22cm/8½inch well-buttered flan dish. Don't cut off the edges of the pastry yet. Chill again.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
Remove the pastry case from the fridge and line the base of the pastry with baking parchment and then fill it with baking beans.
Place on a baking tray and bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for another five minutes to cook the base
Ingredients for quiche filling:
325g smoked haddock (undyed)
300ml whole milk
30g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
30g plain flour
nutmeg
bunch of watercress, finely chopped (with stalks removed)
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
Preparation method:
Place haddock and the milk in a saucepan (do not crumble).
Bring to the boil then cook for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool and remove the haddock (reserve the milk).
Crumble the fish into a bowl and set this aside.
Add the butter to a frying pan, melt then add the onion, celery and garlic.
Cook until softened then add the flour and stir into the butter.
Allow to cook for a few minutes before adding the reserved cooking milk a little at a time. Stir until the sauce has thickened then season with salt, freshly-ground pepper and nutmeg.
Remove from the heat and add to the fish. At this stage beat the remaining eggs into the mixture and add the watercress. Pour into the pastry case and sprinkle the top with the parmesan.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes (the top should have risen and coloured a golden brown). Allow to cool a little then turn out, slice and serve.
Now for the tarts:
Show Stopper Sweet Miniature Tarts.
- Salted Chocolate Tarts with Stem Ginger and Mascarpone Cream and Caramelised Pecans.
Ingredients:
Pastry
90g butter
40g caster sugar
1 free-range egg, yolk only
125g plain flour
2 tsp cocoa powder
Filling
175g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
175ml oz double cream
175g light muscovado sugar
1½ tsp sea salt flakes
Cream
1 large tub Mascarpone cream
1 small jar stem ginger in syrup
Caramelised Pecans
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp water
24 pecan halves
pinch sea salt
Preparation method.
To make the pastry, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg yolk and mix well. Gradually add the flour and cocoa and mix to make a stiff dough. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Roll out the pastry on a floured board and line 12 greased 2.5in tart tins, making sure there aren’t any holes. Line the tarts with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and cook for a further five minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool.
To make the filling, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not come into contact with the water. Stir occasionally until the mixture is completely smooth, then pour the filling into the pastry cases and place in the fridge for about two hours or until set.
Meanwhile, make the caramelised pecans. Place the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and dissolve over a very low heat, shaking the pan occasionally. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, turn up the heat and boil until it turns into a golden caramel colour. Working quickly, stir through the pecans and sea salt, turning the mixture onto a baking tray lined with silicone paper and spreading it out as much as possible. When cool, break up the mixture, trying to keep the pecans whole.
Place two halves on each of the cooled tarts.
Finely shred stem ginger and fold into Mascarpone along with a tablespoon of the syrup.
Top each tart with a piped swirl of the cream.
- Miniature Passion Fruit and Ricotta Tarts.
Ingredients.
Pastry
90g butter
40g caster sugar
1 free-range egg, yolk only
125g plain flour
Filling
450g Ricotta cheese
4 eggs
160 ml single cream
160g caster sugar
4 passion fruit
Garnish
1 small punnet of Strawberries (minimum 12 good sized strawberries.).
2 passion fruit.
Preparation method
Bake pastry cases as before and set to one side to cool.
In the mean time place Ricotta, eggs, cream and sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Stir in the pulp from the four passion fruit.
Put mixture into blind baked pastry cases and bake at 160 degrees centigrade until set.
Fan slice a strawberry and place on top of each tart.
Spoon over a small quantity of passion fruit pulp.
- French Fruit Tart.
Ingredients
Pastry.
90g butter
40g caster sugar
1 free-range egg, yolk only
125g plain flour
Filling.
300ml double cream
100ml custard
a few dashes of poire william liqueur
1 punnet strawberries
1 punnet of blackberries
1 punnet of raspberries
1 small bunch of white seedless grapes
Preparation method
Blind bake 12 pastry cases and leave to cool
Mix together whipped cream, custard and liqueur, then spoon into each case.
Arrange fruit attractively on top of cream mixture.
Let me know what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment