ice-tastic!

D's sister gave me these ice trays- aren't they sweet? From Ikea, I've got fish and starfishies which now decorate my drinks. Love 'em!

delicious scones

You will need:

250g self-raising flour

pinch of salt

200ml milk

60g unsalted butter

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 200'c.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the self raising flour and salt. Use your fingertips to mix in the butter, until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Mix in the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a dough. Knead it gently, then roll to the thickness of between 3 - 4 cm. Use a small cup to cut rounds and lay them on a non stick baking tray.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly golden.

Scones freeze beautifully - wrap them individually and then just microwave them for 30 seconds before serving with jam and cream. Yum yum!

blue cheese souffle

You will need:

100g good quality blue cheese
30g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cornflour
300ml milk
2 free range eggs
a little extra flour for dusting
salt and pepper

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180'c - 200'c.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, over low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to form a paste. Slowly whisk in the milk and the seasonings and continue stirring until you have a sauce consistency. Remove from the heat and add the yolk from the eggs, and the blue cheese. Stir until combined.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently stir the whisked egg whites into the blue cheese mixture, taking care not to lose the fluffy texture of the egg whites. Sprinkle the reserved flour into a couple of ramekins. Ladle the egg mixture in and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Don't open the oven to check on their progress or they won't cook properly.

Would I make this again? Yes. I can't wait to keep working on this recipe. The flavour was just amazing. I used a very bitey blue, and with the fennel salad, it was a delicious entree.

cooking challenge twenty three: blue cheese souffle

One of the reasons I started this challenge was to learn to make souffles, particularly savoury ones. I was so happy with the flavour of these but I have a fair way to go technically. What they lacked in beauty they made up in taste. Mmm. I served them with a fennel salad and little croutons.
For our main course, we had a salad nicoise with salmon instead of tuna.

And for dessert, we had a rich chocolate ganache cake, topped with hazelnuts and served with double cream and strawberry coulis.

cooking challenge twenty one: chocolate tart

Here's the recipe for the deliciously gooey chocolate tart I made a few weeks ago, as a cooking challenge. This is so beautifully simple, and effective.

You will need:

300g dark cooking chocolate

250ml thick cream

60g unsalted butter, cubed

100g flour

1 egg

pinch of salt

pinch of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of cocoa

2 tablespoons icing sugar

What to do:

To make the pastry, beat the butter, icing sugar and egg together with an electric mixer until pale and well combined. Sift in the flour, cocoa, salt and cinnamon and gently combine using a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Knead gently on a bench until you have achieved the right consistency, then wrap firmly in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180'c.

Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to approximately half a centimetre in thickness and drape into a shallow cake tin. Freeze for 10 minutes then blind bake the pastry shell for approximately 20 minutes, until cooked through, then set aside until back to room temperature.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler, whisking constantly. Add the thickened cream. Once the pastry has cooled, pour the melted chocolate mixture and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firmly set.

Just prior to serving, put it in the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to firm the chocolate. Use a knife that you've dipped in hot water to slice. Delicious.

I would give this a 10/10. A sure fire hit, easy and quick to make. I have actually made a spare batch of pastry which is in the freezer, and as I always have dark chocolate in the pantry and cream in the fridge (!) I know that I can whip this up whenever I have guests coming on short notice. It is seriously delicious - the crunch of the pastry and the sweet, softness of the chocolate. Divine. Next time, I'm going to blend some crystallized ginger into the pastry mix and put some pistachios into the chocolate.