A three course Sunday lunch

For Mother's Day I planned a three course Sunday lunch, and it all went surprisingly well. For starters I did a pea and coriander soup with chorizo, which I would highly recommend. A very tasty soup which went down well with everyone. For the main I did simple steamed salmon. I put salmon fillets wrapped in foil with lemon and parsley and white wine poured over it and cooked for 25 minutes. With this I made a simple parsley sauce, and I did some vegetables from a Jamie Oliver recipe of cherry tomatoes and green beans with anchovies sprinkled over it and cooked in the oven. For dessert I did a simple meringue with pineapple, mango, passion fruit, kiwi and double cream, flavored with vanilla.

Here's the recipe for the Pea and Coriander Soup with chorizo, from Olive magazine.

Ingredients:
Onion 1 roughly chopped
Butter
Potato 1 medium, peeled and diced
Chicken stock 750ml
Frozen peas 400g
Coriander 1/2 small bunch, roughly chopped
Oliver oil
Sliced chorizo 60g pack, cut into strips

Cook the onion in a knob of butter until softened. Add the potato and cook for a moment then tip in the stock. Simmer until the potato is soft. Keep back a good handful of peas, then add the rest to the pan and bring back to a simmer for two minutes. Add the coriander, stir until just wilted then turn off the heat. Blend until smooth
Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan and cook the chorizo until crisp.
Stir the reserved peas into the soup, heat through and serve topped with the chorizo.

A decadent dessert: Chocolate chiffon Maltesers cake

WHEN one of my brothers saw this cake he asked me if I always look for the richest cake I can find. I really don't but as I had given up chocolate for Lent, when I was looking what to make for dessert on Easter Day my eyes were drawn to this cake. And it didn't disappoint. The cake was moist- even my mother who doesn't like chocolate cake liked it. The icing was delicious and the added extra of the Maltesers was just right. You only need a very small slice! It is quite easy to make. I would definitely recommend!

Ingredients:
Eggs, 6, separated
Cream of tartar 1/2 tsp
Cocoa 60g
Plain flour 260g
Golden caster sugar 360g
Bicarbonate of soda 11/2 tsp
Table salt 1 tsp
Vegetable oil 125ml
Vanilla extract 2 tsp

Buttercream icing
Slightly salted butter 500g, at room temperature
Icing sugar 200g
Drinking chocolate 50g
Milk 2 to 3 tbsp
Maltesers 5x135g pouches (I used less than this- about 500g)

Line the bottom and sides of a 23cm cake tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/ gas 4. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff. Put the remaining cake ingredients into a separate bowl with 190ml water and blend to a rich, thick chocolate mixture. Fold in the egg whites. Don't beat the mixture, as you want to keep the egg whites fluffy. Just fold and fold and fold.
When the mixture has no more visible white streaks, pour it into a tin. Bake for approximately one hour. When it is ready it will feel spongy and there will be a soft crust on the top. Cool IN the tin for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack.
Put the buttercream ingredients into a large bowl and beat until really soft, creamy and fluffy. If you need it to be softer just add a spoon of milk and mix again.
Ice the cake in an even layer. Starting at the bottom of the cake, working your way around, take one Malteser at a time and push them into the icing. Then add the next layer. Keep going until you get to the top and then circles, and work you way into the middle until the whole cake is covered.

Service with a smile

Fair play to Bluegrass in High Wycombe. The American smokehouse is a great addition to High Wycombe town centre. Every time I go past there it looks really busy. I went along on a Sunday afternoon with a a few friends who were slightly worse for wear. But the staff dealt with it extremely well. The menu is pretty simple and offers the big four- pulled pork, brisket, chicken and ribs. They are smoked for 48 hours. They also do burgers and great desserts. I went for the beef burger with pulled pork and fries and coleslaw. The pulled pork was delicious- tender and moist. It married well with the burger. I would have preferred a soft bun than the ciabatta one though. The fries are well seasoned and I like the fresh coleslaw, although I prefer it creamier. It was about £11. The others had ribs, burgers and the chicken. Staff even replaced a burger when one was dropped on the floor by accident. Great service.

Mexicano!

The chimichanga

Ok... So just how is it April already? Nearly May. I can't believe how fast time is going. Hence why the blog updates have been a bit slack. But I'm here now... That's the main thing right. And I'm here with a little recommendation in Monmouth (recently voted in the top four places to live. Moco's Mexican Restaurant in Church Street to be exact. I went there with three home pals and it was good. Ok, it's not the most stylish or extravagent Mexican but it's simple, well priced and huge portions. We ordered nachos for starters until I remembered I had given up crisps for Lent. Jemma proceeded to tell me they were the best Nachos she had ever had- thanks Jem. I had garlic mushrooms, which were simply garlic mushrooms cooked in garlic butter. They were tasty and the staff did them very quickly. I then had the beef chimichanga for main. I must confess I was a bit disappointed it was mince and not strips of beef but it was tasty nonetheless and served with guacamole and sour cream. There were two packed parcels. I only managed one and ate the other a few days later and it tasted great. The others had burritos and chilli. It was just under £20 a head got a starter, main and two bottles of house wine, which I think is reasonable. It's worth a visit.

The Pantry in Hazlemere

I HAD quite possibly one of the best sandwiches I have ever tried at The Pantry in Hazlemere. It has been opened for about a year and I have kept meaning to go, so when my friend, Rachel came to stay we headed up there.

It's got a really nice feel to it, with young, helpful staff and nice wooden tables and bright colours. There was a lovely display of cakes but I stuck to the sandwich selection.

I had the beef, caramelised onion, aoili sandwich served in focaccia bread. The beef was lovely- perfectly cooked, soft and tender- none of this processed rubbish. And the combination of the sweet caramelised onions and not over powering aoili worked wonderfully together. The bread was also fresh and well done. All for £5.95 and beautifully presented on a wooden board.

Rachel went for the smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel (£4.95), which was also excellently done.

The next day we went to the Cedar Coffee Shop in Marlow and again it was brilliant. I had the chicken, bacon and avocado brown baguette. It was presented so beautifully- so much care and attention had gone into the presentation. And to top it off it tasted great with fresh ingredients. The Chai Latte was also really good- sweeter than usual and better than the chains. This cost about £8, which was reasonable. Rach went for the home made soup, which was also lovely, and served with a home made baguette.

I would thoroughly recommend both.

Lovely puds!

I DO enjoy cooking a nice pudding or two. As I get older I get even more of a sweet tooth and I always hanker after something sweet after dinner. So when a family event comes along it is a great excuse to get cooking. In this case it was my mum's birthday.
I decided to cook a coconut meringue roulade and lemon curd cream and raspberries, a Victoria sponge and as there would be little kids I went for a chocolate and cola cake too.
It ended up being a strawberry and lemon roulade as the raspberries were sold out- but it was easy to make and for once my meringue worked. Think the trick is to do it very quickly.
The roulade is from Bake by Rachel Allen.

Tia with the three egg Victoria sponge

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
50g desiccated coconut
For the filling:
100 to 150ml of double cream, lightly whipped
150ml lemon or lime curd
250 to 300g fresh or frozen raspberries
To decorate:
Icing sugar, for dusting
Fresh raspberries
Fresh mint leaves

23 x 33cm Swiss roll tin

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, 350F, gas mark 4. Line the in with foil. Brush lightly with vegetable oil.
2. Place in the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk with an electric beater until soft peaks form.
3. Add the sugar in stages and whisk at full speed for about four to five minutes until stiff peaks form. Using a large metal spoon fold in the cocounut.
4. Smooth into the tin with a palette knife and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until faintly browned and firm to the touch.
5. Allow the meringue to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a sheet of foil, deftly turning it upside down on the sheet and gently removing the foil base. Allow to cool completely.
6. For the filling stir the cream and curd together.Adjust to taste.
7. Spread it on the meringue evenly and leave the long edge nearest to you free of cream for 4cm. Cover the cream with fruit.
8. Holding the foil closest to you roll up the roulade away from you and leave it in the foil until ready to serve.
9. When ready unwrap and push it gently onto a plate.
10. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with strawberries and mint leaves, if you want.

The cherry and chocolate cake was from James Martin Desserts book. Interestingly the link below is slightly different to the book. The book had 50ml less of cola in the cake and 75ml less of milk. The topping also had 40g less of butter. I can really see that these added extras will improve the cake as it was a tad dry. The gooey sauce really finished it off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolatecolacake_7614

A great evening supper: salmon and black bean tacos

THIS is a quick and easy weekday supper, which is also healthy. It's also a great way to use salmon and something slightly different. I love the salty goodness of tacos so this is a pefect combination for me. It's from the February edition of Olive magazine, which does a really varied and accessible selection of recipes.

Ingredients:

2 skinless fillets of salmon

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp of chipotle paste- I bought mine from Tesco

small 200g tin of black beans. Rinsed and drained. I bought these from Tesco- they are in the world food section.

A handful of chopped coriander leaves
6 chopped cherry tomatoes

1 lime, half juiced, half in wedges

4 taco shells.

Put the salmon in a heatproof dish. Mix the chipotle and 1tsp of cumin, season and rub all over the salmon. Grill for five minutes until cooked through. ( I cooked mine for a little longer).

Toss the beans with the coriander, cherry tomatoes, lime juiece and the rest of the cumin. Season, then spoon into the tacos with chunks of the salmon. Serve with wedges of lime to squeeze over.