Kalefornia Dreamin’

Posted on by foodamazers

Recipes in this post:
KALE CRISPS on a
CELERIAC & TOASTED HAZELNUTS SOUP
(serves 2 or makes a great starter for 4)

Kale crisps

(use as many kale leaves as you like; EVO oil; salt and spices):
  1. wash and pat dry the kale;
  2. remove stems;
  3. lightly dress the kale leaves with EVO oil and salt; you can replace the salt with any other dry rub, like peri peri, turmeric powder, ground cumin, etc.; do not drench the leaves, just get them slightly shiny, otherwise they will not become crispy;
  4. place the leaves on an oven tray lined with parchment paper; do not overlap the leaves;
  5. bake at 120ºC fan (275ºF) for about 20 minutes, flipping the leaves over after the first ten minutes.

Kale has become a staple in my winter kitchen. It is a lovely vegetable and it matches gloomy weather beautifully.
Nevertheless, I do miss the sun, the heat, and I could certainly use less rain on an average week, so these crisps (chips, for those across the Pond) remind me of a child’s summer treat. Kale’s bitterness and sharp edges will give you the perfect British winter feel, while soothing you with its aromatic notes and tannic finish. It is a super easy and fast recipe.

For the prep, I recommend to play the world famous 1960s song (you can check its fascinating story here); sing along, if you know the lyrics, and then enjoy a crunchy feast in your mouth.
Use the kale crisps as the perfect garnish for this easy peasy celeriac soup (recipe below) and you will discover a symphony of perfumes and textures that will cure your winter blues in no time.

Celeriac & toasted hazelnuts soup

(1 celeriac; 1 handful of hazelnuts; EVO oil; salt; oat milk/cow’s milk/cream):
  1. remove the celeriac skin and cut it into chunks;
  2. toss the celeriac chunks in a bowl with EVO oil and salt flakes; optional, add 2 tsp of vinegar;
  3. bake at 200ºC fan (425ºF) for about 30 minutes until golden and tender;
  4. while the celeriac bakes, place a few peeled hazelnuts on their own in the oven with just a sprinkle of salt for about 10 minutes till they start to get brown on the edges;
  5. blitz celeriac and hazelnuts with 1 tbsp of EVO oil and 2 tbsp of oat milk, or cow’s milk, or cream (depending on whether you want to keep it vegan, vegetarian, or indulgent on the dairy side); before serving, warm it up in a pot with a glass of water or broth.

SWEET TREATS: CHOCOLATE CREPE CAKE

Posted on by foodamazers

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Recently I have become a great fan of pancakes and crepes. When I was a child we would always make sweet crepes for Fridays or as Saturday snack. My mum never liked making them as it takes ages. So I was usually the lucky one to spent at least an hour watching golden crepes and perfecting my ‘flipping’ technique. But somehow I enjoyed it, and it has it’s perks of eating hot pancakes when no-one is watching. After all I love a fresh hot crepe on it’s own.

So this year on Pancake day I decided to make a chocolate crepe cake. There are so many ways on how to make them thought. But I settled for a simple recipe from my mum. Because obviously she knows best! Chocolate make it really hard to guess if the pancake is cooked and when it starts to burn. So it took me about 5 pancakes to figure out when I need to turn and not to leave the second side on for too long.

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Chocolate Crepe Cake
(serves 6-80)
Ingredients
1 l milk
440 g plain flour
4 eggs
50 g cocoa powder

700 ml whipped cream
70 g raspberry jam
150 g dark chocolate
150 ml double cream

Sieve the flour and cocoa to break all the lumps and them mix well with milk and eggs. Leave the batter to stand ideally for an hour or 2 in the fridge. Heat up a small frying pan with a few drops of oil. Pour one ladle of batter and spread evenly over the surface of the pan. Turn the crepe over once the edges are coming away from the pan. Each pancake takes about 2 minutes to take but be careful not to burn as batter is dark already. Leave each pancake to cool before putting on top of each other so that you don’t trap too much moisture between them. Once all pancakes are done you are ready to whip the cream.

Spread the cream over each pancake and spread jam after every 5 pancakes. Once all pancakes are stacked up, spread the rest of the cream over the sides. Place a plate on top and leave in a fridge for a few hours or overnight.

For chocolate ganache, bring double cream to boil and then pour over dark chocolate. Leave it to melt and mix well together to dissolve all the lump. Spread the chocolate over the cake and leave to set for about an hour.

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by Maria

Sweet Treats: Naked Raspberry & Chocolate Cheesecake

Posted on by foodamazers

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I have been neglecting the blog recently. And this is due to my oven being broken and also spending way too much time outdoors. This summer has not been very hot but then I guess I am getting used to the English mild temperatures. Unfortunately my oven decided to give up on me and it seems to be on a mission to wreck every cake I make. So let’s keep the fingers crossed for the engineer to fix it up really quickly.

On the other hand I found a new yummy recipe for an unbaked cheesecake. I have been experimenting a bit with fresh fruits. I know raspberries and chocolate are a superb combination and so I have tried to mix them into the cheesecake. First, I thought it would be a great idea but then I realised that raspberries have fallen apart very quickly and therefore they got a bit lost in the mixture. So I decided to place raspberries on the biscuit base and to keep them intact. I was delighted that the raspberries did not get crushed. But I quickly realised it is not so easy to spread the chocolate on top of them. However the final cheesecake looked really lovely and tasted delicious.

This cheesecake is very rich and the best way it to keep it chilled. I would strongly recommend to take it out of the fridge about half an hour before serving as it is much easier to cut. Also I prefer to eat it at the room temperature.

Sweet Treats: Raspberry & Chocolate Cheesecake (serves 8-10)

Ingredients
170 g digestive biscuits
35 g melted butter
1 tbsp golden sugar
350 ml double cream
200 g soft cream cheese
40 g icing sugar
300 g dark chocolate
200 g fresh raspberries

Line the sides of 9 inch cake tine with baking paper, preferable one with high sides. Brush the side of the tin with melted butter in case the paper does not want to hold on the sides . Crush biscuits with the rolling pin, until they become breadcrumbs. Then mix with golden syrup and butter. Press the crushed biscuits to the cake tin and level out, then leave in the fridge to set.

Place washed and dried raspberries on top of the biscuit base.

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Melt the dark chocolate over the boiling water and set aside to cool. Whip the double cream until it thickens, then add icing sugar and cream cheese. Finally add cooled chocolate to the mixture and mix well. Once all the chocolate is incorporated with the cream, transfer the mixture to the tin and spread carefully over the raspberries.

Leave the cheesecake to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

by Maria

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Sweet Treats: Cherry&Chocolate Cake

Posted on by foodamazers

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I love cakes and especially chocolate ones. Most of the time I am a bit disappointed with the shop bought ones. They tend to be far too sweet and a little bit too much for me. Sometimes it is the use of the buttercream that puts me off the cake completely. I am a great fan of cream and that is probably why most of my cakes are based around double cream rather than buttercream. It is much quicker and less of a hassle to whip the cream.

I also watch my sugar intake and therefore less sugar I can use and eat the better. You are probably shaking your head as cream is much heavier. But I am also a firm believer that small portions of deliciousness are just fine 😉
Cherries are just coming to season and they go very well with dark chocolate. I have made this cake for my friends ages ago. And they really enjoyed it. I like using a regular whisk rather than electric. Cream can be very temperamental and it only takes a couple of seconds to over-whisk it, and the cream will start to separate. It is useful to also consider that spreading cream over the sponge will work as whisking. So the best is to stop whisking while the cream is still liquid.

Sweet Treats: Cherry and Chocolate Cake (serves 6-8)

For Chocolate Sponges
175 g salted butter, plus 10 g for greasing
75 g dark chocolate
300 g plain flour
375 g golden caster sugar
25 g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 medium eggs
200 g buttermilk
100 ml boiling water

200 ml of double cream
150 g cherries
2 tbsp morello cherries jam

For Chocolate ganache
100 ml double cream
100 ml dark chocolate

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/mark 4. Grease with butter and line two 8-inch cake tins. Boil the kettle with water. Put chocolate, broken in small pieces, and butter into a small pan, then heat gently and continuously stir until melted. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, and soda bicarbonate together with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk until lighter in colour then add to the flour mixture together with melted chocolate. Add 100 ml of boiling water and whisk preferably with electrical whisk, until the mixture is lump free.

Divide the cake mixture into two tins and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check with a skewer towards the end of baking time. Cake is ready once the skewer comes out clean. Take both sponges out of the oven and allow to cool down before decorating.

Pit cherries with a cherry pitter if you have one. And cut into halves. Spread the jam over the first sponge and place some of the cherry halves. Spread the whisked cream over. For the chocolate ganache, pour the double cream into a heavy based pot and bring slowly to boil. Pour over the chocolate and allow to melt the chocolate. Once ganache is all melted, pour third over the cream on the first sponge. Place the second sponge on the top and pour the rest of the ganache. Place the rest of the cherries over the ganache. Allow the cake to stand for about 2 hours until ganache hardens a bit. You can also place the cake to the fridge to speed up the process.

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by Maria

Asparagus and White Wine Risotto with Crispy Chorizo

Posted on by foodamazers

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Asparagus season is always so exciting! I was not impressed by asparagus as a child. Back home we had only pickled white asparagus. The colour of it was a little bit off putting. My mum was very curious but we gave up very quickly, as none of us liked it. However I was still determined to try it fresh when I moved to London. And I can honestly say that I just love the fresh green asparagus! So no surprises I have been gorging on it for about 3 weeks now… Some shops sell the thin variety which is super easy to prepare and tastes lovely.

My favourite way of having asparagus is in a risotto. I love how well it goes with the rice and peas. A little bit of chilli sauce is excellent to enhance the flavours. I have decided to add some of the goat’s cheese just towards the end of cooking. The crumbled pieces melted beautifully into the risotto and add some delicious nutty flavour.

I also like to add a bit of meat just to bring a bit of saltiness and a crisp finish. Sliced chorizo is delicious when fried on a hot pan. In this way each slice crisps up and some of the fat melts away. If you prefer you can also fry a few prawns or just keep the risotto as vegetarian option.

Asparagus and White Wine Risotto with Crispy Chorizo

200g asparagus
80 g frozen peas
1 cup rice
3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
80 ml white wine
400 ml vegetable or chicken stock
70 g goat’s cheese
50 g sliced chorizo

Chop the garlic into small pieces or if you have a garlic press put through to create a paste. Fry garlic with olive oil on ow heat until it become darker in colour. Add white wine and leave to simmer until wine and oil incorporate together. Wine is cooked off once all the oily spots disappear and the mixture has one consisted colour. Add the rice and fry further until all liquid is soaked up. Keep on the heat for a bit longer to fry the rice. Add part of a chicken stock and leave to simmer. After 5 minutes add asparagus and frozen peas. Keep pouring the stock as required to keep the rice covered. Keep stirring until mixture starts to thicken.

Once rice is cooked, add broken cheese pieces and chilli sauce. Mix well to allow cheese to melt. Fry chorizo slices in a separate pan until crispy. Plate up risotto and decorate with fried chorizo slices.

by Maria