Carrillada, Guancia, Schweinebacke, Pork Cheek or لحم الخنزير خده

Posted on February 10, 2014 by julianrolfe

Before Christmas I was in my favourite place to buy meat, Casey Fields Farm Shop and eyed a pack of Pork Cheeks which quickly found their way into the basket. The lady in front starting to ask what I would do with them and before you know it, she had the other packet in hers, I love that place!! I was saving them for a rainy day, and having had far two many of them recently decided to put something tasty together. In 2007 we were flooded, I mean the whole ground floor and it took 6 months to rebuild the place so have a lot of sympathy for those suffering at the moment, we’ve been through it too.

You will see these beauties only cost £2.49 and 4 of them are plenty for 2 people as they are very rich and umptious, served with a variety of sides such as Mash, Cabbage, or maybe Freekeh or Mograbieh for a Middle Eastern touch. You will need the following ingredients to knock up this beautiful winter warmer. The Pork Cheeks are going to braise long and slow, in fact 4 1/2 hours in a deep and mouth watering stock, despite the Chilli, it’s not a hot dish at all.

1 pack Pork Cheeks (or 2 per person)
4 Cloves Garlic
2 Sticks Celery
1 Red Onion
2 Carrots
3 Star Anise
9 Juniper berries (or maybe 10 if you prefer even numbers!) lightly crushed by hand
1 Tsp dried Thyme
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tsp Yellow Mustard Seeds
1 Black Cardamom pod
1/2 Tsp Aleppo Chilli flakes
1/2 Tsp Chipotle Chilli flakes
1/2 Tsp dried Sage
2 Bay Leaves
2 Sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 Large Glass Red Wine (I used Merlot)
1 Tsp Aged Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Tomato paste
1 Tin chopped Tomatoes
1/4 Litre Beef stock
1 Bunch Coriander
White Pepper (I used Muntok from Steenbergs) to taste
Maldon Sea Salt to taste

Firstly chop the Onion and cook for 10 – 15 minutes in 50/50 butter and Oil to soften, then add chopped Celery and Carrot and the Mustard Seeds and continue for another 10 – 15 minutes. Then, add all the spices and Tomato paste and ‘cook out’ for another 5 minutes.

Then add the glass of red wine and cook reducing by about 1/3. You braising liquid will look something like the picture above. After about 15 minutes, add the chopped Tomatoes and Beef Stock and cook for another 15 or so minutes, you should have some heady aroma’s in the kitchen by now. Set you oven to 130 deg (fan) 150 deg (convection), the cheeks are going to cook long and slow, about 4 1/2 hours.

While you are reducing the braising liquid, coat the Pork Cheeks in seasoned flour and fry in butter and oil until brown, about 3 minutes each side and then ‘nestle them in the braising liquid after chopping up the whole bunch of coriander and adding first.

The picture above should give you an idea of what you are aiming for. To go with the Pork Cheeks I prepared buttery Mash Potato, I prefer to cook the potatoes in their skins and gently peel with the back of a knife after about 35 minutes In the boiling water. Passing the potatoes through a Ricer and adding a decent load of butter produces fantastic results. I also added, in this case about 1 TSP of English Mustard which ‘lifts’ the Potato and enhances the Pork. Potato NEEDS Salt, so season to taste.

I also braised some Cabbage in Butter and White Wine, and at the end seasoned with some Anardana (Ground Pomegranate Seeds), it worked surprisingly well.

As you can see from the close-up, the Pork is just melt in the mouth tender, the mash was soft and buttery and the Cabbage added a different texture to the meal. This is worth the effort and during these wet and miserable days, gave us some pleasure in the food department. Waitrose sometimes stock Pork Cheeks if you don’t have a butcher nearby, herbs & spices from Steenbergs and Ottolenghi, please try this one as you won’t be disappointed.

Till next time…

L8ers…………………………………………..

وفته kufteh In Search of the perfect………….Kebab!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by julianrolfe

I love a Kebab, the only issue I have is that they are typical a bit bland, covered in a ‘not very nice’ tasting Tomato Chili sauce and the meat origin is suspect. This is a generalization as I have had some awesome Kebabs, but whilst dining in a half decent restaurant. This post is the result of some creative I have been working on over the past few months, and uses some unusual and exotic spices to create an amazing flavour. I cannot repeat/print what the boss said last night as we were munching our way through them but it was highly commendable 😉

For me, food is about what you see, smell, taste and FEEL. Texture is important when eating, and this version of the popular take-away will have you wondering why you did not make them yourself before. I will start with the ingredients, you may need to invest in some of them as they are not found in your typical supermarket, but are readily available from my favourite suppliers such as Ottolenghi’s and Steenbergs, once you have tried this dish, you can experiment with other Middle Eastern Delights!

For the Kebab

500 grms Lamb Mince
1 Red Onion
1 Clove Garlic
1/2 tsp. Anardana
1 tsp. Sumac
1 tsp. Aleppo Pepper
1/2 tsp. ground Cumin
1 tbsp. ground Coriander powder
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Peppermint
1 tbsp. Dukkah
1 tsp. Pomegranate Molasses
Zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp. dried Barberries

For the Red Onion Relish

1 Red Onion
2 tbsp. White Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp. Castor Sugar
60 ml Rapeseed Oil
1 tbsp. Poppy Seeds

For the Mint Yoghurt Dressing

250ml Greek Yoghurt
2 tbsp. Dried Mint
1 tsp. Sumac

To Serve

1 Baby Gem Lettuce, Leaves separated and halved lengthways
2 Tomatoes, sliced and sprinkled with some Sea Salt, covered in 1/2 small bunch Chopped Coriander
Pitta’s Grilled and Cut width ways to form pockets

Part of the secret of this dish (it’s probably not a secret really, but the phrase sounded good at the time of writing!), is to cook the Onion and Garlic/Spice mix first, and add It to the meat when cooled, to marinade. So cut the Onion finely and cook in some Butter and Oil (or Ghee), on a lowish heat for at least 15-20 minutes, then add a splash of water and continue to cook, until the Onions are soft, melting and sweet, about another 15-20 mins. Crush a clove of Garlic and add to the Onions cooking for 2-3 mins then add all the other herbs and spices, fry for 2 minutes more then take off the heat, add the dried barberries, Lime Zest, Pomegranate Molasses, stir and leave too cool.

When the mixture has cooled, mix well into the Lamb mince, cover and pop into the fridge for at least a couple of hours, half way through, take out and mix again, making sure the Onion/Spice is well distributed.

The accompaniments make this special, a simple dressing of Yoghurt and lots of dried Mint, with some Sumac sprinkled on top, and for me, a killer Onion Relish which is dead easy to make, and comes from one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s salad recipes which I have posted before. Thinly slice the Onion and place in a bowl. Dissolve the Sugar in the White Wine Vinegar and add to the onion, mixing well, then add the Rapeseed Oil, using your fingers to blend everything together, then finish by adding the Poppy Seeds and set aside for at least an hour (in the fridge).

The Lamb Kebabs need to be gently fried, about 3-4 minutes each side. To Serve, take a halved Pitta, opening up the large end, pop in 2-3 pieces of lettuce, some of the Onion Relish, some of the Tomato and Coriander Slices, pop in a Kebab and spoon on some Yoghurt Mint dressing.

A simple dish to make but packed with flavor and texture, its well worth investing in some new and unique spices to make this dish. I started my culinary journey when I was seven, but only really discovered the delights of Middle Eastern flavours in recent years, and I am so glad I did. Using Cold, Hot, Piquant and Spicy really makes this dish stand out, its not Chili Hot, so you experience waves of flavor, and texture.

Till next time.

L8ers…….

Pistachio Cardamom & Polenta Cake – Cooking for Coeliac’s (Gluten Intolerance)

Posted on January 18, 2014 by julianrolfe

2014 has arrived and there is much excitement in my world. Last year I drove miles, thousands of them and it meant having to stay away more often than I preferred, which reduced both family and kitchen time. This year I am looking after a another team based in the south, so less travelling and some more excuses to adventure with food (and spend time with the family!).

I met the southern team last week, and decided to treat them to some home made baking, BUT one of them is a Coeliac which is an intolerance to Gluten. The only known treatment for this is a Gluten-free diet which is a bit of a challenge, if you check the packets of many ingredients the number that claim Gluten free is not massive especially if baking cakes and desserts!

I did some research and found a suitable replacement for flour was Polenta, which is Maize (Corn) ground into a meal (course Flour). Its not the same as conventional Flour so baking with Polenta requires some thinking. You have to be careful with other ingredients too, Baking Powder which is used as as raising agent can contain Gluten so check your packets 1st before embarking on this particular cake.

I made this in between customer meetings and conference calls so apologies as there are not too many photographs in this particular post (2 to be precise)!

I decided to bake a Pistachio and Cardamom Polenta Cake with a hint of Rose Water & Lime Butter Frosting, Middle Eastern inspired and something which was an ongoing development during the cooking process, here’s the final version, which was AMAZING, your will need the following ingredients!

Cake Ingredients

8 cardamom pods, seeds only
150g pistachios, shelled
100g ground almonds
1 tsp rose water
175g polenta
1¼ tsp baking powder
300g unsalted butter, at room temperature
325g caster sugar
4 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1 unwaxed lime, grated zest, plus ½ lime juice
½ tsp vanilla EXTRACT

Soaking Syrup

120g Castor Sugar (Mine has Vanilla Pods in it to infuse)
1tsp Rose Water
80ml Lemon Juice
30ml Lime Juice
1tbsp Pomegranate Molasses (This is critical as it provides a unique Middle Eastern Flavour)

The basis of the recipe were a couple of cakes I found on the Internet which had Semolina as the base and quite a lot of Rose Water, but could not be used as Semolina contains Gluten, hence the Polenta replacement.

I was a bit nervous about introducing too much Rose Water into the cake, as I think its definitely an acquired taste. I decided to add some further adaptions and significantly reduced the Rose Water component, but introduced some more Middle Eastern flavour in the form of Pomegranate Molasses. I also increased the Cardamon and added Lime reducing the quantity of Lemon, which I prefer……….. YUMMMMMM…!

Lime Butter Frosting

250g Unsalted Butter
256g Icing Sugar
2 Limes Zested
½ Lime Juice

The Cake Process

Grease a round, 23cm, loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3 (If using a FAN oven, drop the temperature a bit).
Extract the Cardamom seeds from their pods and grind to a powder in a pestle & Mortar.
Put Pistachios in a food processor and grind for a few seconds, you don’t want a powder but pieces around 2-3mm so there is still texture.
Add the ground Almonds, Cardamom, Polenta, Baking Powder and 2/3rds of the Pistachios and mix briefly. The remaining Pistachios are sprinkled on the Lime Butter Frosting to finish.
Beat the Butter and Sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the Egg in small amounts, incorporating it well. (A Kenwood is good for this with the beater).
Fold in the mixed dry ingredients, then the Lime Zest and Juice, Rose Water and Vanilla extract.
Put it into the lined tin, level and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until a skewer comes out oily but dry. (Mine took slightly longer, about 1 hr 10 mins)

The trusty Kenwood Chef was used to beat the Sugar/Butter, and also used to mix in the eggs. You might find the mixtures splits during this process, adding a small amount of Polenta will bring it all together.

Put all the ingredients for the Syrup in a small saucepan; bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat.Remove the cake from the oven; while it is still hot, spoon the Syrup over the cake, I used about 4 Tbsp, judge with the eye.

Allow the cake to cool, then take out of the tin. Coat the top of the cake with the frosting, sprinkle with the remaining Pistachios and gentle press in to fix.

I had one challenge whilst trying to find the Polenta in the shops, a large chain had some Corn Meal, but looking on the side of the Packet, there was the label ‘May Contain Traces of Gluten’. This brand was very cheap and obviously processed in a factory grinding flour and other Gluten laden products. Another higher end shop had Polenta, but it was Organic and very expensive. Eventually I gambled and went for Polenta Express, Gluten Free but apparently the dry grains had been pre-cooked in some way, it still looked and felt like flour/meal and worked a treat.

The cake is quite (well very actually) moist and sticky, great on its own (as my new friends found out), but also goes really well with a serving of Crème Fraiche or Double Cream.

Feedback from my new team was VERY encouraging, a couple of them have vowed to make it themselves, they loved it so much. Its definitely an ADULT cake, the Pomegranate Molasses used in the Syrup really adds an amazing flavour dimension, the Rose Water is very subtle, and tends to stimulate the nose rather than the taste buds which is what I was hoping for. The Lime Butter Frosting adds another texture and all the flavours work together really well.

Pomegranate Molasses and Rose Water is readily available, I use Steenbergs and Ottolenghi’s to source mine along with the Cardamom.

So there we go, if you know someone with a Gluten Intolerance, and Dairy is not an issue, have a go at this, you will be pleased you did.

L8ers……

Foodie Memories of 2013, Puglia & The Pukka Pakistani

Posted on January 5, 2014 by julianrolfe

As the new year starts, some thoughts on what happened in my foodie life during 2013, and the culinary skills learnt and food eaten seems appropriate.

It all started in May, and my weeks ‘vacation’ to Masseria Montenapoleone in Puglia, Southern Italy. Learning to cook with a local traditional Mama, on an Organic Farm, loads of new skills and techniques were learnt, including how to create Orcchiette by hand, NO pasta machine in site.

This was followed by Strascinate, Braciole, Foccacia, Risotto & Polpettie di Carne, the week flew by but much was learnt about how to get the best from simple ingredients.

I have always been a bit of a foodie, but the week in Italy only encouraged me to be more adventurous and experiment with new tastes, flavours and recipes. You can find the start of the original posting here http://wp.me/p3LgUf-r

June, July and August was influenced by a number of chefs, the awesome Bethany Kehdy, Yotam Ottolenghi, Tomasina Miers and William Harcourt-Cooze to name a few! The direction of travel was mainly the Middle East and South America.

One of my favourite dishes was the one above, care of Bethany, Aubergine Veal and Yoghurt Crumble and was served with Bejewelled Rice.

The Middle Eastern Chicken on Flatbread with Fattoush was also a delicious venture into the Middle East, a truly delightful meal.

The next venture was Spain, care of Omar Allibhoy and his book, ‘The Tapas Revolution’. Various dished were prepared including Pinchos, Tortilla, Braised Pork Cheeks, Mackerel Escabeche and Padron Peppers.

During 2013 I started a new job and it became a bit of an excuse to try some baking, cakes at team meetings became quite popular! There were a couple of particular favourites, but the one that seemed to create the greatest impact was my variation on a Chocolate Brownie, but layered with Fresh Raspberries.

This is before the final layer of cake mix was put over the top. Despite it seeming to weigh quite heavy, it was extremely light, thanks to the Balloon Whisk attachment on the Kenwood Chef which was used to whip the cake mix to a frenzy.

On the dessert and pie front practise and guidance from Richard Bertinet’s book ‘Pastry’, enabled the delivery of some classic dishes such as the Frangipane and Apple Tart above, and the Chicken Pie below!

I have only made Rough Puff Pastry once, so the first attempt at proper Puff Pastry, whilst time consuming was well worth it, the results were awesome (even if I say so myself!). The Pie which was made from scratch was the best I have ever made, and I will be repeating the exercise sometime in 2014, but with a different filling.

After a fantastic meal in a Thai Restaurant on business, I was keen to recreate a particular favourite dish of mine, Massamam Curry. Having an Oriental Store no more than 45 minutes away enabled authentic and fresh ingredients to be sourced and the flavours were truly delicious.

Then we ventured to Pakistan, I was booked on a course with the amazing cook Sumayya Jamil and learnt some more skills around making Massala’s and got to cook a genuine Biryani from scratch (amongst other amazing dishes). I really recommend her courses, SJ has a breadth of knowledge passed down the family, and its a really great way to learn new skills, and get to better understand a lesser known cuisine.

So my whistle stop tour of the year is complete, food inspirations in no particular order from Bethany Kehdy, Ren Behan, Yotam Otolenghi, Richard Bertinet, Maria Elia, Rachel Khoo, Omar Allibhoy, Stephane Renaud, Sumayya Jamil and many others, with various visits to restaurants has inspired me to continue the adventure.

It goes without saying that my foodie adventure is only possible thanks to some fantastic suppliers, Caseys Farm Shop where the protein comes from, Riverfords for Organic Fruit & Veg, the BEST Spices and specialist products like Freekeh and Mograbieh, from Steenbergs and Ottolenghi’s online stores.

Here’s to more foodie life in 2014, thanks for following.

L8ers

π, No not that one, Pie! My take on an Egyptian Neolithic period or New Stone Age food!

Posted on December 23, 2013 by julianrolfe

Hi peeps, it’s Sunday, I’ve finished work until the 6th January and don’t need an excuse to get in the kitchen. We had planned to have Chicken on Saturday night, but instead went for a Cheese Fondue as I wanted to do something a little special, and Roast Chicken and all the trimmings so close to Christmas just didn’t seem right.

I absolutely love a good Pie, but getting one is really challenging, I believe the best are ones made with love and care in your own home, by your own hands and fresh as a daisy! I am sure there are good Pie’s available but quite often my eating habits change within the space of five minutes, so here is my take on something that first surfaced in 9500BC!

For me a good Pie is made of the best ingredients you can get (or afford), in this case an excellent Free Range Chicken from our favourite supplier, no added ANYTHING! You also need a quality stock to make a sauce, the carcass of the Chicken is the base of this, with some aromatics such as Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Peppercorns and a Star Anise.

I roasted the Chicken on the Saturday evening, put half a head of Garlic in the cavity along with a halved Clementine, rubbed Olive Oil all over the skin and seasoned with Salt and Pepper. Roasting took 1 hour 20 minutes in my case, I then covered the beast with a couple of layers of foil, and a towel and let cool for a good couple of hours. Transfer the Chicken to the fridge, covering with greaseproof paper and foil to keep all those flavours where they need to be! DON’T clean the roasting dish, you are going to use it in the morning so cover with some foil to keep any nasties out.

The stock is simmering as I am writing this blog entry.

Earlier this morning I stripped the carcass of its meat and put the carcass back in the same roasting dish I used last night, adding to the flavour with the juices and crispy bits. Also in the dish went a stick of celery and a carrot, cut into chunks, and two onions cut in half with their skins still on, then into a 180deg oven (160 deg fan) for 1 hour.

Once roasted put into a stock pot if you have one, or a large saucepan along with about 4 pints of water, a bunch of Parsley, 2 sprigs of Thyme, a sprig of Rosemary, 10 Black Peppercorns (Lampung in my case), 5 White Peppercorns (I used Muntok) and one Star Anise. The Stock needs to gently simmer for 4 hours, skimming any impurities of the surface as you go.

After 4 hours, remove the stock from the heat and filter through a sieve, the aromas filling the kitchen were….CHICKEN! You can see a small amount of fat on the surface, this can be removed when the stock has cooled down if you want too.

Whilst the stock is simmering, you can attack the Pâte Feuilletée or Puff Pastry. I know the shop bought stuff is apparently good, but this was to be a special pie and so an excuse to have a go myself. I followed the instructions of the well renowned Richard Bertinet, in his book Pastry, which I mentioned in the last blog.

There are a number of stages to go through, with chilling between each so allow yourself enough time (you could go and buy some but it won’t be the same!)

This is my attempt after I had added ice cold water to the flour, and knocked ten tons of, no, only joking, flattened the butter between two sheets of cling film. After another chill in the fridge, the butter will be incorporated into the flour mix in layers.

There a two ways of folding to create Puff Pastry, Double Book and Single. Double Book is where you take each end and fold it into the middle. Single is where you fold ONE end in, and the other overlaps. Just for a challenge I went for single, which requires 6 folds and 1/2 hour resting in the fridge after each (Its not a fast process!). This is mine after fold three, the finger dimples are intentional to enable you to remember where you are!

In between the puff pastry process you can start to prepare the filling. You need Onions, Garlic, Button Mushrooms, Butter, Flour, Stock, Roast Chicken (chopped) and frozen Peas; Salt and Pepper to taste, Herbs de Provence or whatever flavourings you fancy. I included a small amount of Chilli to provide a background warmth.

Chop the Onions and fry gently in some Butter and Olive Oil until translucent, then add the Garlic (crushed or chopped) and continue to cook. Quarter the button Mushrooms and add, cooking for at least 5 minutes then the Roast Chicken and a tablespoon or so of Flour, and continue to cook, then about 300 ml of the freshly prepared Chicken Stock. Gently simmer for about 15 mins and towards the end, chuck in about 3 handfuls of frozen peas and remove from the heat. It should look like the above.

To accompany ‘The Pie’ was going to be one of my all time favourite potato dishes, Gratin Dauphinoise. Layers of Potato, Garlic, Salt & Pepper and grated Nutmeg, filled with double cream and cooked slowly until golden and bubbling. Its a very rich and flavoursome dish that can be a meal in its own right.

I topped mine with grated Grana Padano Italian hard Cheese which i deemed acceptable as the dish is from the Dauphiné area of France, near the Italian border, you could also use Gruyere as an alternative.

Back to the Pastry and we are almost done. We are now at turn six of the single turn method.

When you cut the Pastry you can see the thin wafer like layers of Butter, we are going to make a Flat Pie and you need to make the lid slightly larger than the base to cover the filling.

Once you have the base rolled out to a thickness of a slightly less than a pound coin, brush egg wash about an inch around the edge, pile in the chilled filling and place the lid on top. To seal the edges I used the thumb and two finger method to crimp the edge, and then rolled like a Cornish Pasty edge, nothing was escaping this bad boy!

Brush the lid with egg wash and put in the fridge to relax for 10 mins. The take it out the fridge, egg wash it again (this will help it go a deep brown colour) and using the BACK of a sharp knife, gently make curve patterns from the centre to the edge. If you don’t do this after the egg wash, you will loose the pattern. You can also make an incision in the centre to let some of the steam out during cooking.

Approximately 45 minutes in a 180deg oven and you should end up with something like the above, be brave and turn the heat up a little during the last 10-15 mins, you want a deep brown and nearly caramelised colour and finish. The pastry should be flaky and crispy, the filling succulent and flavoursome.

I also fancied another favourite, Green Beans & Pancetta, cooked beans, rolled in the salty Italian Bacon and fried quickly for a few minutes to crisp up.

The Boss is generally not to fussed about pies, until she tried this one, it was stunning, tasty and there is plenty left over for tea on Monday. So here it is, my take on a Pie, you could use Beef or Pork if you don’t like Chicken, just make the appropriate Stock base to match the filling.

As an aside, I use a Camera Phone for the pictures on my Blog. Those very kind people at Nokia gave me the Lumia 1020 last week, a 41 Megapixel beast with Carl Zeiss lense, the pictures on this entry were taken on the new Nokia.

Previous entries were on either the Nokia 920, BlackBerry Z10 or Samsung S4. (Maybe you can guess what my day job might be?) Maybe you can see the difference, i’m not the best photographer or stylist but try to make the images ‘real’.

Hope you all have a very Happy Christmas.

L8ers….

Kookaburra Almonds & Tart! (Dessert Recipe Challenge No. 3)

Posted on December 17, 2013 by julianrolfe

One of the fantastic teams I support at work clubbed together and gave me £100 in John Lewis vouchers as a thank-you last week, they know I like cooking but were not sure what to get. I have now added some baking stuff to my cooking cupboard and was inspired to try some more recipes ready for the Christmas break over the weekend.

Richard Bertinet is one of my french food heroes, along with Stephane Renaud, the Roux’s, Daniel Galmiche and Raymond Blanc. A while back I got hold of Stephanes’ book ‘Pastry’, and thought it was about time I had a go at re-creating one of the recipes and attempting to improve my pastry skills, which are at best lacking in finesse. You can order the book HERE.

This fine volume has over 50 recipes, but more importantly some hints and tips on how to get the best from your pastry by resting, cooling etc. Thumbing through the pages I found several ideas to inspire an adaption, Sweet Pastry Amandine & Frangipane Mince Pies.

My version of this tart was to include Caramelised Apples, Sultanas, Ginger, Chopped Hazlenuts and Allspice as a base layer, with the ‘Frangipane’ as a topping.

When doing some research on Frangipane there is also a reference known as frangipani, a Plumeria tree as in John Vanderslice‘s song Kookaburra, hence the title of this post.

So onto the baking, the recipe list is quite simple with only a few ingredients needed to create a delicious and impressive dessert.

For the Pastry I used the following quantities;

125 grms unsalted Butter
100 grms icing Sugar
250 grms plain Flour
zest 1/2 Lemon
2 Eggs and 1 Egg Yolk
Pinch Salt

Following the process in the book, the pastry was prepared in stages, crumbing, bringing together gentle kneading and resting.

A fluted loose bottom tin was buttered and lined with the pastry once rested and blind baked at 165 deg (fan), I used my newly acquired oven thermometer to check the temperature and followed one of Richards tips, you will have to buy the book to find out what the tip is! It took approximately 25 mins to get the pastry to the dry stage, and a further 15 with the baking parchment and ceramic beans removed and brushing the base with egg wash to create a seal.

The first filling was going to be Caramelised Apples, for this I took 4 – 5 Braeburn’s, cored, peeled and put them in some Lemon juice to stop them going brown, and added about 2 Tbs Kirsch, a teaspoon each of Ginger and Allspice. They were then fried in unsalted butter and liberally sprinkled with Vanilla infused Castor Sugar, you can see the result above. I added a small amount of cracked Black Pepper to gives the Apples some ‘Edge’!

The Frangipane cream comprised the following Ingredients;

200 grms Castor Sugar
200 grms Ground Almonds
200 grms unsalted Butter
40 grms Plain Flour
2 Eggs
2 Tbs Almond Liquor

Soften the butter and cream with the sugar until pale, fold in the Almonds and Flour then add the Eggs and Liquor mixing well. Before adding this to the Apples, I added a further texture of chopped Hazlenuts and Sultanas, and then topped the Frangipane with flakes Almonds, you can see the Tart before cooking in the picture above.

After 20 – 25 minutes in a 165 deg (fan) this was the result, a lovely smell filled in the Kitchen. So there you have my dessert recipe challenge No. 3, with No.4 as work in progress but here is a sneak preview of my prototype home made Jaffa Cake Dessert!

#getcooking,

L8ers……..

Jacobs Ladder – Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs In a Fragrant Sauce

Posted on December 2, 2013 by julianrolfe

As you will notice, many of my recipes are a bit time consuming, mostly due to the complex flavours I like to experience on my palate, but also the cuts of meat I like to experiment with.

Earlier in the week I had been thumbing through some cookery books trying to find something to make at the weekend and came across a couple of recipes, further bolstered by a trawl on the internet I headed out to our favourite meat supplier, who has never disappointed with unusual and different cuts of meat.

These bad boys (to use a Tom Kerridge phrase!), are Beef Short Ribs and are extremely good value if you can find a supplier. In this case £4.89 yes, that cheap for 1.25 KG’s of taste sensation. They are also known as Jacobs Ladder, which is a reference in the book of Genesis, and in my case, one of my favourite rock songs by the group RUSH, a Canadian rock band.

The dish I am about to describe will take a couple of days to complete, as the preparation and cooking is done in several stages, most of the time is spent cooking/resting, the hands on prep is about 30-40 minutes max. I started on the Saturday afternoon for a Sunday evening tea. You will need the following for two hungry people:

1.25KG’s Beef Short Ribs
1 Tbs Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Lampung Black Peppercorns (available from Steenbergs), or whatever is in your cupboard
1/2 Tsp Muntok White Peppercorns (available from Steenbergs), or whatever is in your cupboard
1 Black Cardamom
1 Star Anise
4 Whole Cloves
3-4 Shallots roughly chopped
4cm piece Lemongrass (bash with a rolling pin or knife to break apart)
4cm piece Galangal roughly sliced
4cm piece Fresh Ginger roughly sliced
6 Red Chillis
1 Head Garlic sliced in half
2 Litres Chicken Stock (preferable Low Salt & Organic, Kallo is great and readily available)
1 Tbs Fish Sauce
1 Tbs Light Soy
1 Tbs dark Soy
2 Tbs Shaoxing Rice wine
1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar
4 Tbs Tamarind
2 Tbs Palm Sugar
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Tsp Shrimp Paste
1 Bunch Coriander
1/2 Lime Juiced

Stage 1

Take all the dry spices and roast them gently in a frying pan without any oil until you can smell the evocative aromas filling the kitchen. This process causes the oils in the spices to develop, if you look at the Cloves, you will notice they will have expanded considerably.

Now that the spices are toasty the next stage is to season the ribs with Salt & Pepper and seal in some flavourless oil such as Ground Nut or whatever you have available. We are trying to get some colour on the meat and also release some of the sugars which turns the meat brown. You can click HERE for a really geeky explanation of the Maillard reaction which is what we are trying to achieve.

Mine looked like this after this stage and took 10-15 minutes making sure you turn the meat and cook each side.

Stage 2

We now need to put some oil in a dutch oven or decent size saucepan, the Ribs’s are going to braise for 4 1/2 hours at 125 Deg (fan), 145 Deg (Convection) and the meat needs to be covered so use this as you guide as to the size of pan to use.

Firstly, fry the shallots until the develop some colour, about 5 – 10 minutes. Then, add the toasted dry spices and continue to fry gently, you will start to smell the heady aromas fill the air. Then add the sliced Galangal, Ginger and Lemongrass, continuing to cook gently, then the two halved Garlic heads, and Chilli’s.

At this stage it should look something like the picture above. You want to cook the spice mix gently so nothing burns but hard enough to extract the flavour oils from the ingredients. Now set your oven to 125 deg/145deg to warm up.

After 10 – 15 minutes start to add the wet ingredients, starting with the Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Rice Wine etc. Then a bunch of coriander, finish with the sugar, then the Chicken Stock at the end and put the Ribs in, ensuring the are covered completely. Finally add the Lime juice.

You now need to get a piece of Tin Foil, doubled in half, that covers, and overlaps your pan. This is going to be used to seal the pan with the lid firmly pressed on top. Then place in the oven, set the timer for 4 /12 hours and go and put your feet up!!

Stage 3

After 4 1/2 hours, remove the pan from the oven and take out the ribs and place in a container and stick in the fridge, covered with foil or a Plastic container with lid. Drain the remaining sauce through a strainer and also place in the fridge overnight.

You will have noticed in the 1st picture, there is a decent amount of fat on the ribs, the slow braising will have rendered the fat into the sauce and in the morning you will have a ‘fat lid’, sitting on the sauce. The following morning, take the meat and sauce out of the fridge, gently remove the fat and strain the sauce to remove as much of the fat as possible.

This is what mine looked like before sieving the sauce to remove the remaining bits of fat which you can see floating on the surface. The colour has changed significantly into a deep rich brown colour, partly as a result of the browning stage (Monsr Maillard again!).

Once this is done, the meat on the left needs to go into the sauce, to marinade for a few more hours to further develop the flavours. Cover the pot with cling film or foil and pop it back into the fridge until you are ready to complete the final stage. It will take about 45 – 60 minutes at 160 deg/180deg before the ribs are ready to eat, so you can plan when dinner is served and when you need to be back in the kitchen.

Stage 4

Almost done! Set the oven to 160deg/180deg and remove the meat/sauce from the fridge about an hour before you are ready to cook to bring it up to room temperature. To go with the beef I was going to do some equally fragrant Rice and Bok Choi.

Take a saucepan, and put some water on to boil, you will need a Jasmine Tea bag, 1 star anise, kaffir lime leaves (2) and a couple of slices of Galangal. I left the tea bag in the water for a couple of minutes before removing, the remainder of the spices had a good 30 minutes in the pan. Thats the infusion completed, just follow the instructions on the rice packet, mine needed about 10 minutes.

The Bok Choi was quartered lengthways, and put in a pan with a glug of hot oil, followed by a splash of water to create a steam. I chucked in a couple of cloves of garlic that had been bashed, a splash of Shaoxing Rice Wine, similar of light Soy sauce and a little sugar to counterbalance the salty Soy.

Finish the Bok Choy with a twist of fresh cracked pepper and you are done. The beef can be removed from the pot, and set aside in a covered dish and left in a warm oven whilst you finish off the sauce. You may find its still a bit thin so you can reduce it on a hob, and use a little Cornflour or Arrowroot and water to thicken. Drain the rice and you are ready to serve.

To add some further texture elements I dry fried some Cashew nuts and Red Chilli for a bit of punch, and fried some prawn crackers and dusted with 5 spice powder to accompany the ribs. All you need to do now is serve the meat/rice/sauce and vegetable on a warm plate and experience a tasty, sumptuous exotic meal, all prepared by your own hands and not breaking the bank!

So there you have it, Beef Short Ribs, with a fragrant sauce and assorted accompaniments, delicious.

Go on, have a go yourself.

Pakistan: The Confluence of Spice and Flavour – a cookery class with a difference

Posted on November 24, 2013 by julianrolfe

Earlier this year I headed of to Puglia in Southern Italy to spend a week at an Organic Masseria (walled/fortified farm), learning how to cook local food, taught by a local Italian lady with centuries of knowledge handed down through the family. This experience really opened up my eyes to how much can be learnt from ‘the locals’ so to speak, cooks who have learnt from their parents and grand parents, and growing up in their nation’s land.

It was with this in mind that I booked up to go on Sumayya Jamil’s Confluence Of Spice & Flavour course at the Central London Cookery School, hoping to gain some insider knowledge on food from Pakistan, which is not greatly understood in this country. Sumayya appeared on Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Nation TV series a while back, and is also a prolific food author. I came across this amazing cook on Twitter, where there is a thriving foodie and blogging community.

Before the cooking started, we were taken on a journey of spices, helping us to understand the impact of each on a dish. Pakistani cuisine is made of ‘layers’ of flavour, and having confidence in using the spices is critical to getting a dish right. Some spices are quite difficult to use, such as Fenugreek Seeds, which should be used to flavour oil, before removing completely and Black Cumin, who’s flavour gets stronger when you cook it, so be careful!

The 1st dish we prepared was Phirni, a pudding made of ground Rice, Cardamom, Saffron and Rosewater. Served cold it is beautifully fragrant and tasted absolutely delicious, and preparing it taught a fundamental skill that is needed in Pakistani cooking, food is about observation both texture and aroma. You cannot learn to cook properly just by reading a cookery book, you have to observe someone else doing and feel when a particular dish is ready by looking and smelling. In this case making sure the mixture was of the right consistency was critical to the success, along with making sure the flavour balance was spot on.

We also prepared Moong Daal with Curry Leaves & Cumin, again absolutely delicious and another skill to learn, the art of ‘Tempering’ known as Tarka or Chaunk. This again is something you need to observe and smell to get right, in our case we used a tablespoon of Ghee, Cumin seeds, slivered Garlic and Curry leaves which were ladled over the Daal when ready and imparted some amazing flavours into the dish. Learning from Sumayya was a real pleasure, as we prepared each dish we learnt lots of useful tips that you only get from hands on teaching, you will have to book one of her courses to find out what!

The Chickpea Chaat with Tamarind, Pomegranate and Chaat Masala is a MUST DO dish, a real cracker. It’s very easy to prepare consisting of Yoghurt, Onion, Garlic, Chilli, Coriander, Mint and of course Chickpeas. Its more of a construction exercise but getting the flavour balance right is quite tricky, it was hot, spicy, fragrant and really woke up the senses.

As there was only 3 of us on the course, due to it being close to Christmas, we were going to cook something not normally done due to time, a Sindhi Lamb Biryani. This dish is very specific to Pakistan, and each family has it own subtle variation of spices to make it their own, passed down from generation to generation.

You can see the last stage of the cooking process before the double layer of foil and lid were firmly seated to steam the Rice layered on the surface. This is another dish that you need to observe, as it is only by seeing how the curry underneath is developing that you know when it’s cooked properly, laying the parboiled Rice on the top to finish cooking. The Lamb is marinated in a home-made Masala paste made of Coriander, Mint and Green Chilli combined with Yoghurt before the cooking process is started..

Before the lid is put on the rice is studded with Lemon Slice’s, Mint leaves, Sprinkled with Milk infused Saffron. This is another dish that needs careful spicing with Green Cardamom, Black Cardamom, Coriander Seeds, Black Cumin, Bay Leaf, Mace, Star Anise, Fennel and Anardana (Dried Pomegranate Powder).

The Biryani is dressed with Fried Onions, Pomegranate Seeds, Sliced Green Chilli and was DIVINE, this is one fella I am going to be cooking myself at home in the not too distant future, OUTSTANDING.

The Tomato Sauce you can see In the picture with the Biryani is for the Hake topped with Kashmiri Chilli and Ajwain, another taste sensation. The punchy sauce can also be used with Prawns, or even Scrambled Egg’s. Ajwain is a really punchy spice so you have to be very careful not to add too much.

The Fish, in this case Hake is marinated in a mixture of Kashmiri Chilli which is flavourful but not too hot, Lemon juice, Salt and Turmeric whilst the Tomato Sauce is made.

To complete the ‘epic’ cookery session an Aubergine Borani was prepared, layers of cooked Aubergine, Tomato, Onion and Yoghurt with delicate spicing.

In between the cooking and demonstrations we were invited to make our own Masala mix, using the knowledge we had learnt, mine was quite a surprise as it has ended up with a subtle aroma of fried Sausages! If you want to try it for yourself you will need to dry roast 3 Cloves, 1 Star Anise, 1/4 tsp Cardamon seeds, 1/2 tsp Black Peppercorns, 1 tsp Coriander seeds, 1/4 tsp Ajwain, 1/2 tsp Black Cumin. Once cooled down a bit, whizz in a spice or coffee grinder. Why not give it a go!

All the ingredients and Spices we used in the cookery class are readily available in the UK, I personally use Steenbergs mail order, and also Ottolenghi’s as they are very ‘Clean’ and often fairtrade with a known source country rather than anonymous and insipid.

I can highly recommend Sumayya Jamil and her cookery class, I came away after 4 hours feeling that I had just travelled several thousands miles to another country and experienced some amazing textures, smells and flavours. The location in central London is easy to get too, and well equipped with Gas and Induction hobs, and all the necessary cooking implements, pots and pans.

I did not receive any discount or incentive for this review, this is me, writing my own personal experience and paid out of my own pocket.

We had lots of fun and learnt loads, it was very much worth the time and money and I can now add ‘Pakistani Cuisine’ to my Italian repertoire! You can find the Pukka Paki website HERE, go take a look I am glad I did.

แกงมัสมั่น – Kaeng Matsaman or Thai Massaman Curry ‘via Djerba’!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by julianrolfe

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a blog, illness, and holiday eating up time like a ‘Hungry Monk’! Holiday took the family to the island of Djerba, nestling off the coast of Tunisia it was truly awesome. I’ve been to Tunisia 3 times, my 21st birthday (many years ago), a tour with the boss a few years back where we visited many historic sites from the roman occupation and a couple of Star Wars sets too, now was the time to take our son for a weeks all-inclusive winter sun. We were not let down, the weather was +30 degs every day and the food was truly awesome.

Traditional food such as the Couscous Royale was on offer, you can see the spicy Merguez sausages and Chicken pieces sitting atop the Couscous, truly delicious. There were several different local dishes available each day for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner so if you wanted a truly Tunisian experience, you could immerse yourself completely.

From previous trips to Tunisia, and to be honest Egypt and Morocco, the bread is always freshly baked daily with lots of variety on offer, again we were not disappointed with a large selection always available.

One of the many benefits of a climate that encourages plants to grow, is the array of salads available, especially the tomatoes. The hotel restaurant seemed to always have at least 3 massive coolers, full of different salads, vitamin heaven especially with winter coming.

We were truly spoilt with food, many of the hot items were freshly prepared in front of you and there was enough variety for even the fussiest of eaters not to ever go hungry. At Breakfast, even the Head Chef was mucking in with his team, frying eggs and chatting with everyone, rather than hiding away in the background.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Desserts! There were 3 of the above chilled tables absolutely covered with a variety of desserts as well as a freezer cabinet with Ice Cream, Fruit and……… The Desserts were seriously awesome, and changed for each service so there was always something different to finish off lunch and dinner.

Way back in August I had probably the best curry I have eaten, at Chaophraya in Manchester. Thai Massaman Curry is a complex heady beast, with a list of ingredients as long as your arm. I wanted the boss to experience this fantastic dish, and as a trip to Manchester is out of the question at the moment why not recreate it at home!

In doing the research for this particular delight there are a significant number of recipes on the Internet and in my cook books, my version is based on what was described on the menu at Chaophraya, and a combination of several other recipes and cooking processes including in no particular order Rick Stein (Far Eastern Odyssey), Pim Techamuanvivit (Massaman Nuea Beef Massaman Curry) and Bee Yinn Low (Beef Massaman Curry).

The first job is to prepare the spice paste and your going to need a few ingredients! Please note that other ingredients are also needed to finish the dish so please read the whole blog before starting anything 😉 The quantities are enough for 4-6 people (or two hungry ones)!

10 Red Chillies
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
6 Cardamom Pods
8 Cloves
5cm Piece Cinnamon
2 Pieces Mace
7 Garlic Cloves
8 Shallots
Thumbnail Piece Galangal Chopped
4 c.m. Lemongrass chopped
2 Star Anise
2 kaffir Lime Leaves vein removed
1 Tsp Fennel Seeds
15 Black Peppercorns
15 White Peppercorns
Tbsp Coriander Stalks chopped
1 Tsp Shrimp Paste (roasted in a frying pan)
1 Tsp Salt
5 Tbsp Coconut Milk

We are fortunate to have an oriental grocery not far from us, so were able to get fresh Coriander, Lemongrass, Galangal and Thai Sweet Bail which is used later on in the recipe. Barts do both Galangal and Lemongrass and is available at most supermarkets if you can’t get fresh, along with Palm Sugar and Tamarind, although you will pay more compared to an oriental shop where prices are considerably cheaper.

This is where I decided to use some different techniques, rather than just frying the Garlic, Chilli’s and Shallots, they were wrapped in tin foil and baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes (200 deg fan oven, 220 convection). Leave them to cool and then you can remove the skin on the Shallots and Garlic, remove the stalks from the Chilli’s, and using the back of a knife, by sliding from short end to long, you can ease out the seeds and membrane really easily and then roughly chop.

All the dry ‘hard’ spices are roasted in a frying pan, the other ‘wet’ ingredients such as the Galangal, Lemongrass and Coriander Stalk are chopped roughly. The Kaffir Lime Leaves need their hard centre stalk removed.

You can see the dry spices ready for a pounding, the smells in the kitchen were fragrant and intoxicating to say the least! Once you have sorted out the dry spices, do the same with the wet spices, Nutmeg and Shrimp Paste and them combine and bash like crazy, this breaks up the fibres in the Lemongrass and Galangal, you can finish off in a food processor or spice blender (I did!).

Once your spices are blended you can cover and stick in the fridge whilst we start the next stage. For the Massaman Curry you will need the following further ingredients (for 2 hungry people) .

500 Grams Lamb or Beef
1 Can (400Ml) Coconut Milk
Thumbnail piece of Galangal grated
8 whole Shallots
Good handful of Unsalted Peanuts or Cashew Nuts (My preference)
5-6 Green Cardamom pods
3 Black Cardamom pods
2 c.m. Cinnamon Stick
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) + extra to taste at end
3-5 Tbsp Tamarind Water + extra to taste at end
1 Tbsp Palm Sugar + extra to taste at end
Flavourless oil such as Ground Nut
3-4 Waxy potatoes cut into chunks
Handful of green beens (optional)
Handful of Pea Aubergines (optional)
Thai Sweet Basil to finish (chiffonade, cut into very thin strips)

First, trim the meat of any excess fat and put into a bowl with the Coconut Milk, Grated Galangal and 2 Tbsp of fish sauce and set aside for at least 30 minutes, or preferable a couple of hours in the fridge.

Take a decent saucepan or dutch oven and place on a medium heat, put in a couple of tablespoons of oil and add half the spice mix, stirring as it cooks until the mixture and oil start to split. It will look something like this.

Then add about a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of the Coconut milk from the marinating mix and cook through exactly the same, until the mixture splits, then add the meat and the rest of the Coconut milk, the Cinnamon, Cardamom, your chosen Nuts, Palm Sugar, 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce, Tamarind and bring up to a gentle simmer. The mixture needs to cook gently for a couple of hours, I stuck mine in the oven at 130 deg fan for the 1st hour, with the lid off, then gave it a stir, put the lid on, and back into the oven for the second hour, it looked like this. The smell was MMMmmmmmmmmmmm!

After the 2 hours have passed, add the Potatoes, Green Beans and Pea Aubergines (if used), and cook for a further 30 minutes until the vegetable are cooked through.

The taste should be spicy (not too hot, but very spicy), salty, sweet, with an ever so slightly sour aftertaste, in this order. You can adjust the balance by adding Tamarind for sour, Fish Sauce for salty and Palm Sugar for sweet

I finished mine off with a sprinkling of toasted Cashew Nuts, some chiffonade of fresh red Chilli and Sweet Thai Basil, another wowzer dish it tasted fantastic and looked like thisTo go with the Massaman Curry I served some plain Rice, with chopped fresh Coriander to help temper the gutsy flavours of the dish.

A word of caution though, most of the recipes I looked at called for many more chillies than I used, so check the strength of yours first by slicing the tiniest piece and give it the taste test before committing as once they are in, you cannot take them out.

I hope you give this one a go, its worth the effort if you love food that has bags of flavour.

Till next time, alla ysalmak from Tunisia or laaeo phohp gan mai from Thailand.♥

The Christmas Challenge Part Deux – KugelHopf My Way

Posted on October 13, 2013 by julianrolfe

The last couple of weeks have been challenging, lots of travelling and fighting a virus which is not very pleasant, and particularly hideous when its your birthday. I had planned another baking session but did not feel up to it, so postponed the event for a week hoping the virus would have started to clear. I had already starting preparing by putting Raisins and Kirsch In a bowl and covered with cling film, which would macerate for 1 week in the fridge to seriously plump up! So back to the Christmas challenge and another recipe, this time modelled on the ‘Alsacian Kugelhopf‘, an enriched cake made with yeast and butter, and in my case a number of spices and fruits. I have recently acquired a ‘Bundt’ baking tin, a round tin with a hole in the centre and fluted edges, and intended to put it to good use with this recipe. You can see it in the picture below, with most of the ingredients.

The process to make this recipe is quite long, you will ideally need to prove the dough mixture 3 times so allow plenty of time, the 1st proving stage can take 2 – 3 hours, with the 2nd and 3rd another 1 1/2 – 2 hours each. For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

3 Cups Plain Flour
120 Grams Butter
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Warm Water
1/2 Cup Warm Full Fat Milk
I Sachet Dried Fast Acting Yeast (7 Grams)
1/2 Cup Castor Sugar (preferably Vanilla infused)
1/2 Tsp Vanilla EXTRACT
3/4 Cup Raisins (Preferable Soaked for a week in 1/4 Cup of Kirsch)
1 Teaspoon Maldon Sea Salt
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lime
Zest of 1 Orange
75 Grams mixed Peel (Orange & Lemon)
2 Cloves ground in pestle & mortar
1/2 heaped Tsp Ginger
1/2 heaped Tsp Ground Allspice
1/4 Grated Fresh Nutmeg
30 Grams chopped Hazelnuts
30 Grams flaked Almonds

Firstly, put the Milk and Water into a jug, add the Yeast and stir. Leave in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until a froth starts to develop on the surface.

Put the Butter, Orange, Lemon, Lime Zest, and Sugar in the bowl of a Kenwood Chef with the Dough Hook attached and mix on a medium speed until pale in colour. It takes between 5 & 10 minutes depending on how cold the butter is.

Now add the Eggs, Vanilla and Yeast mixture and mix thoroughly, then add about half the flour, with the Kenwood set to medium speed. Don’t forget to add the ground Cloves, Ginger, Ground Nutmeg and Ground Allspice at this stage.

It should resemble something like above at this stage, once combined, wipe the side of the bowl down with a spatula and add the rest of the flour, and thoroughly mix for a good 10 minutes, you should end up with a soft sticky dough like the picture below.

Now the mixture needs to be left in a warm place covered, until doubled in size, this takes 2 – 3 hours. I put mine by the fire to help the process along.

After the 1st rise, your should end up with silky smooth mixture that looks like the picture above. You can just see flecks of zest dotted about. The next stage is to ‘knock back’ the mixture to get rid of some of the air, I used a spatula to assist with the process. The mixture will deflate and look like the next picture.

Now repeat the process, covering the mixture with a tea towel and again, the rise should double in size just like before.

Whilst the rising is happening, heavily butter the Bundt Pan, and sprinkle with the flaked Almonds, once the 2nd rise has completed, you need to knock back the mixture and add the Hazelnuts and Fruits making sure they are evenly distributed.

The Mixture needs covering again, and left in a warm place to rise for the 3rd time. It should look like the picture above.

When its done, it should be close to the surface of the tin. You need to bake the Kugelhopf for approximately 35 Minutes at 160 deg (Fan Oven), or 180 deg (Convection Oven). After 15 Minutes cover the top with some tin foil to prevent it from browning too quickly, a side effect of the quantity of butter in the mixture.

When its cooked, leave to rest for 5 – 10 minutes, it should ease away from the sides of the tin, then release from the mould and allow to cool on a wire rack. You can see the effect of putting the flaked Almonds on the tin before adding the mixture in the picture above.

You can decorate the Kugelhopf with plain icing sugar, or make a icing drizzle by adding Icing Sugar to Orange or Lemon Juice, depending on your preferences.

You can find out what it tastes like by having a go at making one yourself, Now I have tested the recipe I will be making another one for my colleagues at work later this week, I hope they enjoy it As I much as I enjoyed creating my own version of this spectacular cake.

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life