Gressingham Duck Crown seasoned and seared, along with chopped baby new potatoes and 2 halved red onions fresh from the oven

Gressingham Duck Crown seasoned and seared, along with chopped baby new potatoes and 2 halved red onions all ready for the oven!

To prepare for the oven: Score each of the breasts and season (seasoning rubbed in the skin and where I have scored the skin) with Sea Salt, White Pepper and Garlic Powder.

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium to high heat and sear the skin all around the crown until golden brown, place on a trivet of red onions and throw in some chopped potatoes for truly yummy roasties!

Cook in the oven for 45 minutes at 200c

Leave to rest for 10 minutes (this also gives you time to cook extra veg and to make the all important gravy!

Tonights dinner: A simple stir fry with chopped chicken, chinese cabbage, babycorn, peppers and garlic with marinaded belly pork

Cheese and Bacon Scones

Ingredients:

225g Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Mustard Powder
55g Butter
40g Extra Mature/Vintage Cheddar Cheese
2 Rashers of bacon (Chopped and Fried)
150ml Milk
1 Egg (beaten to make an egg wash to glaze the tops of the scones)

1.   Heat the oven to 200^oc/Gas Mark 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Mix together the flour, salt and mustard powder, then rub in the butter.

3. Stir in the cheese and the chopped fried bacon and then the milk to get a soft dough.

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Pat out to a round with the height around 2cm thick. Cut into rounds and place on the greased baking sheet.

5. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. This will give the scones a lovely colour when you take them out of the oven.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and golden brown.

Enjoy hot from the oven with a little butter!

American Style Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

Ingredients:

135g Plain Flour (Sifted)
1 tsp Baking Powder
^½ tsp Salt
2 tbsp Caster Sugar
130ml Milk
1 Large Egg (Beaten)
2 tbsp Butter (Melted and Cooled)

1.   Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl

2.   In a separate jug, lightly whisk together the milk and the beaten egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

3.   Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture slowly and beat until you have a really smooth batter.

4.   Let the batter rest for a few minutes.

5.   Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, and add a knob of butter. When the butter has melted add a ladle of batter.

6.   When the top of the pancake begins to bubble and the edge of the pancake has dried out it is ready to flip. Cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen about 1cm in height.

7.   Repeat until all the batter has been used up.

Serve with hot bacon and maple syrup!

Valentines Meal 2012- Cooking My First T-Bone Steak!

As valentines day was approaching I was thinking what can I cook my fiancé for our first valentines of being engaged (but our 5th Valentines Day together), I wanted to cook something special, nothing too ordinary. I spent weeks planning and deliberating what exactly would be special enough.


This man is a man who loves his steak so that was a given, but it needed to be out of the ordinary so I decided that I would cook my very first T-Bone Steak, not something I had ever attempted before even though I had previously been a grill chef..T-Bone steaks weren't something that ever frequented the type of establishment I'd worked for. Luckily for me it turned out brilliantly and cooked to perfection for him. It even smelled and looked delicious to me (A non-eater of Beef).

I started by heating a griddle pan (Tefal, oh how I love you!) on the hob for around 8 minutes (My electric cooker seems to take forever to heat up)I then seasoned the uncooked T-Bone on each side with salt, white pepper and a little mustard powder before cooking, as I place the steak in the pan it made a beautiful sizzle which told me the temperature was just right, no oil or butter was needed as the T-Bone has more than enough fat on to caramelise it.


I cooked it just over 4 minutes each side and rested it for 10 minutes for it to be perfectly cooked to his preference of Medium.


He was absolutely delighted to have this lovely cut of steak at home! Will definitely be doing this again!


Success!! Hooray!!

Chocolate Lime Baked Cheesecake Recipe

Chocolate Lime Baked Cheesecake

Ingredients:

200g Double Chocolate Maryland Cookies
75g Unsalted Butter
750g Cream Cheese
200g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
4 Limes (Juice Only)
1 Springform Cake Tin
1 Roasting Tray

1. Foil the cake tin, so it is water-tight

2. Bash the biscuits in a zip-lock plastic bag until they have a crumb consistency, then melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cookie crumbs and mix until they have combined.

3. Line the bottom of the foiled cake tin with the cookie mixture, making sure to press the mix down until it is quite compact. Leave to set in the fridge and pre-heat the oven to 180^oc/Gas Mark 4

4. Beat the cream  cheese until it is smooth, then add in the sugar.

5. Beat in the eggs one by one, then add in the yolks, finally add in the lime juice. Now put on a full kettle to boil.

6. Pour the lime cream cheese filling onto the chilled biscuit base and place the tin in a roasting tray and pour the boiled water around the cheesecake tin to come about halfway up the tin.

7. Cook for 1 hour- checking at 50 minutes. It should feel set but not rigid (It should have a little wobble to it!)

8. Once set, take the tin out of the oven, remove the cheesecake from its tin carefully, peel off the foil and leave to cool completely.

9. When it is completely cooled place in the fridge for atleast 20 minutes before devouring (or serving), ideally leave in the fridge overnight.

Enjoy!

Giant Cupcake

This was my very first attempt at a Giant Cupcake using the silicone moulds

Giant Cupcake Recipe

Giant Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients:

340g Self Raising Flour
340g Butter(Softened)
340g Caster Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
6 Large Fresh Eggs

1.   Pre-heat the oven to 160⁰c/Gas Mark 3

2.   Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy

3.   Slowly add in the eggs one by one and mix until well combined (if you don’t add them in gradually there is a chance your mix could curdle)

4.   Slowly sift in the flour, a little at a time until thoroughly mixed in, then add the baking powder. At this point I add in my flavouring for a vanilla mix I use 1 tsp of Vanilla Bean Paste, this gives your mix a beautiful speckled look from the vanilla seeds.

5.   Well grease your Giant Cupcake moulds (If you are using the silicone moulds grease a little more as the cake may stick, you shouldn’t have this problem with the Metal ones)

6.   Fill the moulds and Bake for 1 hour (8-10 minutes extra for the top I have found)

7.   Remove from the oven and leave to cool thoroughly before removing from the moulds

8.   Decorate as you wish!

I like to sandwich the two halves together with Marshmallow Fluff

Enjoy!

Picture above was my first Cake order!

Main Course Valentines Meal 2012: T-Bone Steak, Potato Dauphinoise, Peas, Fried Chestnut Mushrooms accompanied with a Red Wine,Shallot and Mushroom Sauce

T-Bone Steak...resting ready for the Valentines Main Course

Starter for Valentines Meal 2012: Cheese Souffle

Rainbow trout with a herb and cheese sauce and roasted garlic new potatoes

Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

125g Milk/Dark Chocolate (I prefer the taste of Milk)

125g Butter

200g Brown Sugar

3 Eggs (Lightly Beaten)

50g Plain Flour

50g Cocoa Powder

A quarter tsp Baking Powder

200g Light Mascarpone

50g Caster Sugar

Firstly place some greaseproof paper in a baking tin, lightly grease the paper and set aside.

1. Combine butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a pan and stir over a medium heat until melted.

2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly then slowly whisk in the eggs.

3. Gradually add in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and stir until well combined. Pour into the lined baking tin (I use a silicone tin)

4. Beat the mascarpone and caster sugar until smooth and creamy then spoon the mix over the chocolate mixture and swirl with the tip of a knife.

5. Bake at 180c/Gas Mark 4 for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through

Allow to cool on a cooling rack before slicing!!!

Cheesecake Brownies

Crumpets Recipe

Ingredients:
450g/1lb Plain Flour (Sifted)
Half Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
2 Tsp/7g Fast Action Yeast
300ml Warm Milk
300ml Warm Water
Veg Oil
Chefs Rings (Greased)

1. Place the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and yeast making a well in the centre.

2. Pour in the warm milk and water and mix to give a thick batter. Beat well until completely combined and cover with a damp tea towel or cling film.

3. Leave in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours until it is a light spongy texture. Stir well to knock out any air and pour into a large jug.

4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a low heat with a drop of the veg oil. Wipe off any excess oil with some kitchen roll.

5. Sit the greased chefs rings in the pan and leave to heat up for 2-3 minutes.

6. Pour in enough mixture to fill the rings just under halfway.

7. Leave to cook until plenty of small holes appear on the surface and the batter has dried out. For around 10-15 minutes.

8. Remove the rings and turn over the crumpets to cook for a further 3-5 minutes on the other side.

Leave cooked crumpets to cool on a coolong rack and cook off the rest of the mixture by repeating the above process.

Crumpets

Shredded Chilli Lamb

Shredded Chilli Lamb - Just like the traditional Shredded Chilli Beef but with lamb, and whilst it does not look as pretty it was absolutely delicious.

It took time to prepare but was definitely worth it in the end!!

Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)

Char Siu