Kale and Cauliflower Cheese

Good evening!

Hope you have had a good start to your month of March. 

I have had some ups and downs already.. But nothing will stop me from doing what  I love the most.. Cooking! 

  
Ingridients: 

• 1/2 head medium cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 75g frozen kale 
• 1.5 tablespoon plain flour
• 200ml milk
• 150g grated cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumb
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and Pepper

First, steam or boil the cauliflower and kale together. Once their cooked, set aside and drain any excess liquid. 

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and once this is melted add in the flour and stir. Add the milk bit by bit and keep stirring until you get a lump free rue (sauce) and season it with salt and pepper. 

Add in the grated cheddar cheese to the sauce and keep it on a low hit until the cheese has melted. Put the kale and cauliflower into a oven proof dish and pour the cheese sauce over it. 

Sprinkle the the breadcrumb and Parmesan on top and bake it for 25minutes or untilthe top it’s golden brown. 

You can serve this with your Sunday roast! Or serve it on toast! Yum! 
Ana x 

Blood Orange and Beetroot Salmon Gravlax

My housemate Jenny is this incredible Svenska that has refined my tastes in life – not only in life but in the way of living. 

This one goes to you Jenny! 

  
What you’ll need: 

• Whole side of salmon
• 6 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
• 2 whole grated beetroots 
• zest and juice of 1 blood orange
• Handful of chopped dill 
• 3 tablespoons gin

Place the salmon skin side down in a large shallow roasting tray.

Rub the grated beetroot and orange rest on to the flesh. In a food processor combine salt, brown sugar, gin and orange juice and dill until it forms into a paste and place the mixture on top of the previous rub. 

Cover the tray with plastic wrap and  weight it down with another tray or any canned you have in the cupboard. Leave in the fridge to cure for at least 48hours. Once it’s ready remove the tray from the salmon and wipe off all the curing ingredients. Pat the salmon with kitchen towels to ensure its completely dry. When you’re ready to serve make sure you cut the salmon off the skin with a very sharp knife. 

  
I’ve served this with homemade anadama bread, avocado and a drizzle of Greek yoghurt with paprika. 

Enjoy! 
Ana 

Portuguese Chorizo Bread

Happy Sunday guys!

I have so many recipes that I have to post but I have been slacking big time! 

Let’s start with this easy Portuguese chorizo bread recipe. 

  
For the bread recipe please see my White Bread Recipe – however instead of using white truffle oil, use extra virgin olive oil. 

Use half of a chorizo ring and cut the chorizo into thin slices. 

Once you’ve proved your dough, divide it into 3 portions and roll out each portion into rectangles. Layer the sliced chouriço on the dough, about 3 slices per row. Roll the dough up, and pinch the seams to close – it doesn’t have to be perfect – we want them to look rustic. 

With a knife make 4 diagonal cuts to the top of the bread. Set the rolls on a greaseproof baking sheet and let them rise for about another 30 minutes, then dust the tops of the rolls with some flour.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220C for about 25-30 minutes until the bread is done.

These are great fresh out of the oven or the next day! 

Try it and let me know how it goes! 
Ana x

Savory Waffles with Salmon

Good day! 
I have created this brunch meal that I’m absolutely obsessed with, and I will be posting different variations of this. 

  
You will need a waffle machine for this recipe, I have bought mine from Amazon brand VonChef for about £20 and it makes 4 waffles at the time. 
For the waffle batter: 

• 250g Plain flour 
• 7g Baking powder
• 20g Caster sugar
• 5g Salt
• 475ml Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 30ml Vegetable oil

Other ingredients you will need: 

• Smoked Salmon or Gravlax Salmon
• 1/2 tablespoon  Philadelphia Garlic & Herb cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 2 tablespoons  Lemon juice
• 1 Spring onion chopped or strips for garnish
• 1 Poached egg 
• Salt and Pepper

To make the batter, break the eggs into the milk and beat the mixture. In a big bowl place all the dry ingredients and slowly pour the liquid mixture in an stirring at the same time. 

Add the oil and mix all ingredients together until all the large lumps have been disappeared. Do not over mix otherwise the waffles will not be fluffy when you cook them! 

Turn on the waffle maker, while you’re waiting for the waffle to heat up, prepare the salmon by cutting into strips. When this is hot pour a bit of a batter – without covering all of the holes, quickly evenly distribute the salmon pieces on top and then pour more of the batter over covering all the holes – make sure you don’t get too excited and overfill it. 

You will know when the waffle is done when it stops steaming and its golden brown. 

While the waffle cooks, prepare the honey drizzle by mixing the honey, with the lemon juice and some salt and pepper to taste – this is the part that you can let your mind go free and add whatever spices/flavours to your sauce.  I find that lemon and honey are enough for this. 

Serve the waffle hot with a poached egg and the lemon! 

Enjoy 

Crepe Blue-Suzette

Hello petals! 

So two days ago, was pancake day in England – I have no clue if the rest of the world celebrates this day too, I’ve personally never heard of it before until I moved to London. 

I had in my mind that I wanted to make crepe suzette, but because my mind was on another planet, I forgot to buy the main ingridients to make crepe suzette – oranges and orange liqueur. 

I had almost given up on making crepes at all, but then I’ve decided to look in my freezer… And I found frozen blueberries and a small of Captain Morgan dark rum –  I thought to myself… What’s the worse it can happen? 

  
Ingridients for the crepes:

• 100g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon of white caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil 
• 300ml milk

Put the flour and sugar  in a large bowl, make a well and add the eggs and oil in, and beat together with a whisk until combined. You can now slowly start to pour in a little milk, whisking the mixture as you pour, to keep the batter smooth. 

I like to put my mixture in a measuring jug once it’s mixed because it’s easier to pour in the pan. 

Make sure you have a GOOD non stick frying pan – trust me – my housemates have managed to destroy my pan by burning food and using a metal scrounger   – after trying to flip over a paper thin crepe from a sticky plan for over 10minutrd, I’ve immediately bought 2 new frying pans from Robert Dyas. 

When the pan is hot, pour in your batter mixture into it. When the crepe is golden underneath turn and cook for a another 30 seconds, until there’s a few brown spots. 

Ingridients to made the sauce:

• 100g butter
• 130g white caster sugar
• 100ml water 
• 100g fresh or frozen blueberries
• 50ml dark rum 

To make the sauce,  heat the butter and sugar in a pan over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar begins to dissolve. Once it’s dissolve, turn up the heat until the mixture just starts to go brown and caramelise, stirring only towards the end. 

Pour in the water and the blueberries, stirring and mashing the berries with a fork. Let the mixture bubble for the sauce to thicken. Add in the dark rum and let the sauce

Ideally to serve this dish you will need to cook the crepes in the sauce – I haven’t done it in this occasion because I thought they would look prettier for the photo if they weren’t smothered in dark purple sauce. 

Let me know what you think of my Blue Suzettes! 

Ana x

Chinese Steamed Scallops with Vermicelli

Hello guys! 
So my mom was over on holiday and that is why I haven’t posted recently, I was busy being the great daughter that I am! haha

While she was here, we went to Billingsgate Market – my first time as well! – and I completely fell in love with the place! If I could, I would have bought the whole place.
My recipe for you today is Chinese Steamed Scallops with Vermicelli – This recipe is amazing however it takes time if you are buying fresh scallops, which I would definitely recommend for the visual effect of course.

  
 
Ingredients: 

• 6 half-shelled fresh scallops
• 30g of rice vermicelli 
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil 
• 8 middle size garlic cloves
• 1 handful coriander
• 2 spring onions
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil 
• Salt

In a large bowl, soak your vermicelli in boiling water. While the noodle softens, remove the scallop meat from its shell, with a spoon or a small knife and wash the meat under cold water to remove  sand or any dirty bits. You will also want to wash the shells to remove all dirt, as you will be using this to present/eat the dish.  

Place some water in wok and set up the steamer – You can place the shells directly into the steamer or you can put them on a plate, which is what I prefer. If you are not using a plate, you will need to place the vermicelli evenly in each shell under the scallop. Alternatively, place the bunch of vermicelli on the plate and drizzle with the sesame oil making sure that they are all coated – If you don’t do this, it might get stuck to the plate and you will curse at yourself when you try to wash that plate. 

Depending on the size of your steamer/wok, you might have to cook the scallops in 2 batches. 

Put the garlic in a blender or food processor, add the cooking oil, coriander, spring onions and salt to taste. Blitz the ingredients until it becomes a thick paste and scoop the mixture into each of the shells next to the scallop meat. 

Bring the water up to boiling and then continue to cook for 8-10 minutes.

This recipe takes a bit of time for preparation, but it is well worth the work. Serve the scallops with the vermicelli 

Enjoy! 

Ana x

White Bread with Truffle Oil

Happy Sunday!

I’ve got the easiest bread recipe, and you can make it a bit more luxurious by adding truffle ok instead of olive oil.

You will need:

• 250g white plain flour
•  1 sachet of instant yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 150ml luke warm water
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of white truffle oil

 

Combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Once combined make a well in the centre and pour in your water and your oil. Gradually mix the flour in until it forms a dough.

Transfer the dough to the work top and start to knead. Your dough will be wetter than a pizza dough. It should be sticky. Carry on kneading the dough for about 10 minutes. Place your dough into a lightly oiled, bowl and leave to prove covered for an hour. Whilst proving preheat the oven to 220C

Once your hour prove is done, knead the dough for another 10 minutes, then divide the dough into two parts. Put the dough in two identical bowls to create the round shape and place them in a baking tray. Form these sections into small rounds and place on covered baking trays for another hour.

Now cook your rolls in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Check the rolls at 15 min to see if they are done by tapping the bottom of the rolls to check that they sound hollow. When they are ready put them in a cooling rack covering them with a clean tea towel so that it absorbs the steam coming out from the rolls.

 

Letme know what you think!

Ana

Spicy Pulled Pork Rissoles

Hope you are all doing well.
Growing up in a Portuguese/Chinese household, I have been exposed to fusion food quite a lot.
So I have decided to make these lovely Spicy Pulled Pork Rissoles – in Portuguese Rissóis – I am basically filling this Portuguese snack with an amazing American meat.

 
For the Spicy Pulled Pork,  you will need:

• Shoulder or Pork Butt
• 2 onions
• 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 500ml Pear cider
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• Salt and Pepper

Start by turning on your oven on 150C.
Cut the onions in quarters and scatter the pieces all over a big roasting tin. Place the pork on top of the bed of onion and rub all of the dry ingredients on the meat – don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after.. you don’t want to be touching anywhere sensitive after.

Pour over the cider and cover the tin with foil and let it cook covered in the oven for 4 hours, and 1 additional hour with the tin uncovered. The meat should be fork-tender, that’s when you know it’s done.
Remove the meat from the pot and shred completely with two forks and return the shredded meat to the pot and keep in with the juices until you need it. You can always tweak the quantities of spices to your taste and add on other herbs and spices. You can also use cheap cola or a stout instead of pear cider – the world is your oyster.

To make the dough:

• 125g all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 125ml water
• Salt
• 1 beaten egg
• Breadcrumb
• Oil for frying

Bring water to a boil in a pot and add the salt and butter, turn the heat off and stir in the flour stirring with a wooden spoon until a ball is formed and leave it to cool completely.

Once the dough has cooled down, dust your work surface with flour and knead the dough. I find it easier to use the pasta machine to roll the dough out, but you can do it with a rolling pin too, or your favourite bottle of wine. Roll the dough to about 0.5cm in thickness and using a cutter (or a pint glass in my case) cut disks of dough, the diameter should be about 7cm, but again that’s to your discretion, if you want to make one giant rissol, I am not going to stop you. In fact, please do and let me have half of it!

Place the pulled pork filling in the middle of a circle and fold the dough over to form a half circle (fat half circle), pressing the edges together and set aside. When you run out of dough or run out of filling you are one step closer to AMAZINGNESS!
Brush the pastries in beaten egg, and quickly dip them in breadcrumb. Fry until golden brown in hot oil, doing so in batches. You can check if the oil is hot enough by putting one of the rissoles in.

You definitely need to try this! Let me know how it goes for you guys!

Ana

Ramen with Braised Pig’s Ears and Roasted Pork Belly

Hello!
If you have not watched THE MIND OF A CHEF, please do yourselves a favour and go check it out! it’s very inspiring and educational (culinarily speaking)

Chef David Chang is an absolute junkie for ramen like me (not much choice, we got the Asian in us!)! I was inspired to make my own Japanese ramen noodles from scratch.

For the Ramen Noodles:

• 200g all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baked soda
• 50ml warm tap water
• 50ml cold tap water

To make the baked soda, spread a a good amount of baking soda on a foil-lined sheet pan. Put it in the oven for about 1hour on 150C. You will only need 2 teaspoons for this recipe but you can store the extra in a jar for as long as you need. I read on a few websites and thought the baking soda would change colours, but that is not correct.

We need the baked soda to change the pH levels in the water, this is what gives the ramen its texture.

In a big mixing bowl put the warm water and the 2 teaspoons of baked soda to dissolved, then add the cold water. Lastly add the flour and mix until it forms into a dough. The mixture is quite dry and crumbly. Knead it for a full 5 minutes and wrap it in some cling film and let it rest for 20 minutes. Then knead again for another 5 minutes (very good work out). Reward the dough  in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for about 1 hour. 

For this recipe I would highly recommend for you to have a pasta machine, the dough is not easy to hand roll and cut if you don’t have the experience. Once the dough has chilled devide it into 4 equal portions. The thickness setting on the pasta machine is to your descretion, I like mine not so thin. 

Like Italian pasta, cook the noodles in a deep pot with plenty of water. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the pasta, mine took about 3 minutes. Check the noodles regularly while they’re cooking; if they stick together, rinse them under cold water immediately after straining them from the pot to stop the cooking and rinse off any excess starch. Make sure you only cook the noodles when you’re ready to plate, you don’t want the noodles sitting around while you get the rest ready. 

Ingredients for Braised Pig’s Ears

• 2 pig’s ears
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine, or sake
• 3 Tablespoons dark Chinese soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 star anise

 

f your pig’s ears come with a few strand of unwanted hair and you don’t have a blow torch to hand, like me you can burn the hair using your gas stove – it is in no means as efficient as a blow torch, but it helps. 

Par-boil the ears in a pot of water for a few minutes, this will help remove any dirty from the skin. 

Remove the ears from the pot and put it in another clean smaller pot and fill it with enough water that will cover the ears, then add all the ingredients. Bring it to a boil and reduce it to simmer for 2hours30min. You will want to keep an eye on it for about every 30 minutes to turn the ears and add more water if necessary. 

When they are done, the ears should be very soft and dark. Let it chill completely before you sliced the ears into thin strips.This dish is supposed to be served cold but is just as good hot.

Please do not discard of the liquid used to cooked the ears, this will be used for our ramen broth base!

 

For the Pork Belly: 

• 1 Strip of pork belly cut in half
• Salt and Pepper
•  Chili oil 

Use a knife to poke the rind as many holes as possible. Brush the rind with chilli oil and season it with salt and pepper. You should marinate if you have time, but if you don’t, it isn’t a problem. place it in the roasting pan lined with foil and roast it in hot oven for an hour in 200C. The skin should puff up into crackling. Remove pork from oven and allow to rest uncovered. When ready to serve, cut into 1cm slices. 
For the Broth (1 serving) 

• 1/2 ladle of the pig’s ears cooking liquid
• 1 ladle of water 
• 1 teaspoon of miso paste

If you are not making it the pig’s ear and don’t have the liquid, you can make your broth/stock from scratch with any pork, smoked meat or chicken bones/fat – I will post a recipe for an easy broth in the next couple of days for you.

Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring it to boil. The thing I like about the ramen broths is that is very open to taste, so you can add absolutely anything you want as it is to your taste. I like it fat and flavoursome.

 
To assemble your lovely bowl of awesomeness, put your noodles in a bowl, add a few strips of the pig’s ears and a few slices of the pork belly (or whatever meats or vegetables you want to have with your ramen!) and add the broth. I have served this with a soft boiled egg and some spring onions. To create those lovely curls, cut the spring onions into thin strips and put it in a bowl with cold water, this will make the strips curl up. 

I hope you enjoy making this as much as I did, I am definitely happy with the results, nothing tastes better than your own success! 
Ana 

Penne with Pesto and Black Olives

Happy new year by beautiful people! Sorry I haven’t been very active with my posting, you have to understand that I have been in multiple food and alcohol comas during the holiday season! 

My other excuse is that I can’t take good pictures of the food due to the stupid winter and not having natural sunlight! However I have solved that problem by buying a mini studio set up with lights. 

  
I’ve decided to post quite an easy, healthy and quick meal for you today (also I haven’t done food shopping yet and I was dying to test out the studio set and lights. 

I’ve chosen to use penne, but you can use any pasta you have – if you have fresh pasta that’s even better! 

Ingredients you will need for this recipe:

• 1 cup of pasta
• 1 tablespoon of pesto
•  8 black olives (chopped) 
• 1 fresh chilli (chopped) 
• salt and pepper

Cook the pasta to your liking, I like mine al dente, about 10-11min on boiled water in medium high heat. 

While your pasta is cooking, start prepping your sauce. Cut the fresh chilli in half and remove the seeds by scrapping it with the back of your knife – I love spicy food but I think this pasta benefits with just a bit of heat. Chop up the black olives, or if you want you can mince it, it’s to your preference. 

Once your pasta is cooked, make sure you drain it well and add all the ingredients. Salt and pepper is to your preference, I like to let the pesto speak for itself so I barely add any salt. 

I will be posting  my recipe for the pesto soon, I think everyone should try and make their own pesto st least once! 

Enjoy! 

Ana