Hot Gin Toddy

Had an email a couple of weeks ago from Sipsmith Gin which linked to a recipe for a hot gin drink.

Turns out to be a rather splendid winter tipple...

Ordered some Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup to use in the recipe and made up a small bottle of sugar syrup to keep in the fridge too. Also a lavender infused sugar syrup...

I sent the recipe link to a friend in the US who has now added it to his winter gintonic menu at Aro Bar de Tapas...

Totally Tasty Taco Cups

Spotted a recipe on the internet which just cried out "make me!"

So I did and these are easy to make and uber tasty. Great cold as a snack too...
 


INGREDIENTS
Servings: 12 taco cups

1 pound lean ground beef (500g)
1 envelope (3 tablespoons) taco seasoning
6 ounces diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 large flour tortillas

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mk 5/190ºC/375º F.
2. In a large frying pan, brown the ground beef and drain any remaining fat. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add taco seasoning, tomatoes and green chillies to the ground beef and stir to combine.
4. Cut flour tortillas into a square shape* and cut each into 4 smaller equally sized square pieces.
5. Generously coat a standard size muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Line each cup of prepared muffin tin with a tortilla sheet.
7. Add 1.5 tablespoons taco mixture. Top with 1 tablespoon of cheese. Press down and add another layer of tortilla sheet, taco mixture, and a final layer of cheese.
8. Lightly brush the top edges of the tortilla with cooking oil.
9. Bake 18-20 minutes until cups are heated through and edges are golden brown.
10. Enjoy!

(*Save the 'offcuts' from the tortillas, spray with cooking spray and place in oven for tortilla chips. Add some spices to jazz them up if desired)

Phurther Phar East Phoray - Roti John...

Today I made "Roti John". Basically an eggy toast roll with minced lamb. Available across South East Asia the origins of this street food apparently lies in Singapore.
I hadn't seen it on visits to Singapore but it was on another of John Torode's Malaysian Adventure food shows. Had to be made!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 200g/7oz minced lamb
• 3 spring onions, 2 finely sliced, 1 sliced lengthways, to serve
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 eggs, stirred to break yolks and combine roughly with white
• 100g/4oz chilli or Sambal sauce
• 4 soft finger rolls, cut in half lengthways
• Mayonnaise, tomato ketchup or chilli sauce, to serve

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the lamb mince and cook for 3 mins. Add the 2 sliced spring onions and cook for a further 3 mins. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in the same frying pan and add the onion. Cook for 1-2 mins or until it has just started to soften. Stir 50 ml water into the pan and continue cooking until the water has completely disappeared (about 1 min). Remove from the pan and combine the onion with the lamb mixture.
3. Put the beaten eggs and the chilli/Sambal sauce in a shallow dish with ½ tsp salt and stir to combine. Spoon some of the egg/Sambal mix (about a third) over the cut side of the rolls and add some to the lamb mix (about a third) which has been returned to the pan, stirring it in. Place the finger rolls egged side down onto the lamb in the frying pan, pressing them into the lamb mix then spoon the remaining egg/Sambal mix over the tops of the rolls. 
4. Fry the finger rolls for 1-2 mins each side or until crispy. Once crispy remove the rolls from the pan, close them back to a roll then drizzle ketchup and mayonnaise over the top and spread spring onion and serve with a chilli sauce.

In the programme the street vendors used a bread roll almost the same length as a french stick. Once cooked it was cut into slices and slid into a long paper bag to take away.

Singapore (Yum)memories...

One of the delights of Singapore food is the Curry Puff. Vendors of this street snack can be found at various locations around SG.
Recently saw a method of recreating them on John Torode's Malaysian Adventures programme. 
They are really easy to make and scored a 10/10 from the resident expert!!!!

Chicken Curry Puff

Ingredients for the filling

    150g cooked chicken or turkey meat, shredded
    75g diced potato, cooked
    50g frozen peas
    150g thick curry sauce - Rendang Curry Paste is recommended

Ingredients for the puffs

    500g ready-made puff pastry (I used 2x 320g ready rolled sheet packs)
    1 medium free range egg, beaten with 1/2 tsp salt
    Plain flour for dusting
 
Method

Filling

1. Mix the shredded chicken or turkey and the potato together and add the peas. Add the sauce and mix well to combine.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6

2. On a lightly floured work top, roll out the pastry into a large rectangle (skip that bit if using ready rolled sheets!) and cut out rounds of the size of a scone using a glass or use a 3" round pastry cutter (I used a 4" bowl to cut the rounds). You should get about 20 rounds, 4 across and 5 down - (I got 6 rounds per 320g sheet and a couple more from the offcuts).

3. Brush round the edge of the half of each rounds with the beaten egg mix - like adding a eggy "smile" to each round.

4. Spoon tablespoonful of the mix into the middle of each round and fold the pastry over to get a crescent shape. Gently press the sides to seal. (You may seal the sides by crimping with a fork).

5. Repeat with all the pastry and lay onto a lined baking sheet - only cook 6 at a time to maintain the oven temperature to produce a crisp crust.
6. Place them into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Serve them hot or they can be frozen.

Quick hop across the border into Holland...

...for some Dutch Frikandel. I often had one from my local Schnell Imbiss but unlike the German Frikadellen which is like a thick burger, the Frikandel is a 'skinless' sausage and often served on its own with curry ketchup and mayonnaise and topped with chopped raw onion, the Frikandel Speciaal.

Using a the recipe from this site I thought I'd give this one a try...

End result was pretty good - the recipe made 10 8" long Frikandel.

Not possessing a Millecroquette to make the frikandels, once the mix had been well combined I lined a baking tray with greaseproof paper then spooned the mixture into it. After flattening it all out I divided it into strips of 11/4" wide and 8" long (across the shortest side of the tray).

Roll into sausage shape using some greaseproof paper

Then cooked per instructions in the bouillon

Set to one side before deep frying for a few minutes.

The end result - Frikandel Speciaal

If I have one 'criticism' it is that the method above doesn't produce the dense texture that I remember.

This is the Millecroquette which some sites suggest using to make the frikandel -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Millecroquettes.../dp/B004X8SDS6

Another foray into German cuisine - Koenigsberger Klopse...

During an episode of the spy drama "Deutschland 83", a plate of what looked like meatballs in white sauce was served to a senior East Germany Secret Service officer by Martin Rauch's mother. A little research revealed the meal as Koenigsberger Klopse.
This dish was also featured in a recent Rick Stein Long Weekends episode.

Had a go at making it this afternoon...

Served with mashed potato and pickled beetroot

Recipe used -
Koenigsberger Klopse / (Konigsberg Meatballs):

For the meatballs:

    1 hard bread roll or bun (a Kaiser roll or something similar is perfect)
    3/4 cup water
    1 lb ground beef (as lean as possible)
    1 strip of bacon, diced
    4 anchovy fillets, diced
    1 small onion, chopped
    1 large egg
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or black if you prefer a stronger flavour)

For the broth:

    3 pints chicken stock
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 bay leaf
    1 small onion, peeled and halved
    6 peppercorns

For the gravy:

    1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
    1 1/2 tablespoons unbleached flour
    1 tablespoon capers
    Juice of half a medium-sized lemon
    1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard (brown is best)
    1 large egg yolk
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/4 teaspoon white pepper

First, make the meatballs. Soak the roll in the water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze it dry; place in a mixing bowl with the ground beef. Add the bacon, anchovy fillets, onion, egg, salt and pepper, and mix them all together thoroughly.

Next prepare the broth. Boil the water, and add the salt, bay leaf, onion, and peppercorns to season. While this is going on, shape the meat mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter. Add to the boiling broth and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon, set aside, and keep warm while you make the gravy.

Heat the butter or margarine in a heavy frying pan, and stir in the flour. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly blend in 2 cups of reserved broth.

When the broth is all stirred in, add the drained capers, lemon juice, and mustard. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove a small amount of the sauce to blend with the egg yolk. Stir the egg yolk back into the sauce, making sure it's thoroughly blended in. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the meatballs into the gravy: reheat it if necessary. Serve on a preheated platter.

A warm vinaigrette-based potato salad goes very well with these.

Back to the Lab :: Cold Brew Tew...

Revisiting the cold brew method and trying a slightly different approach this time. The last batch had me filtering several times to achieve the clarity that I wanted, so have gone with the coarsest grind and making little 'coffee bags' to steep in the cold water.
One method I'd found on line uses the 'basket' style paper filters to make the bags which are tied at the top. Had to resort to ordering these from Amazon but they arrived today (only ordered them yesterday!!!) so have ground, bound and drowned for the last hour!!!

Used a small ramekin to help with the tying up part - each bag has about 3 large scoops in each. Total of six bags containing just under 8oz of coffee.


As a way of cold brewing coffee this is so far the easiest/cleanest/hasslelessest I've tried.
Saves spending $50 on something like this - https://www.oxo.com/cold-brew-coffee-maker 
The basket filters cost £6 for 100, so I'm ahead, I think!...


End result is good - not 'crystal' clear but totally acceptable bearing in mind it was poured straight from the jug once the bags had been removed.
 

Tying the bags

Ready for the 'pot'

Six bags in total.

Ten or so minutes later and 'tint' to water.

About 18 hours later

No additional filtering - straight from the jug.

Erbse und Kartoffel Wurstsuppe

Had an opened pack of Bockwurst in the fridge that needed using up, so threw together a sausage and pea soup.

Really tasty and warming...

1 red onion finely chopped
2 medium potatoes diced
800g pack frozen peas
1 litre vegetable stock (2 cubes)
3 large Bockwurst cut into half inch thick slices (de-skin prior to slicing if preferred)
tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
pepper

Heat oil and butter in large saucepan.
Add onions and cook gently until transparent.
Mix in potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
Season with pepper.
Add stock and stir then add the frozen peas.
Bring to a simmer and add the Bockwurst slices.
Continue to heat gently until wurst is heated through.
At this point, you can either turn off the heat and leave to have later (is tastier allowed to stand for a couple of hours) or if eating straight away, ladle out about 700ml of the pea/potato/stock mix into a suitable container (I used a 1ltr jug) and using a wand blender, blend the mix to produce a smooth soup. Return this to the remaining soup and stir in. Continue to heat gently (if allowed to cool previously) then serve.