C is for Crème Brûlée

There is something very simple, but very delicious about a luscious Crème Brûlée.  Cracking through that crispy disc of caramelized sugar to dip into the velvet smoothness of vanilla custard.  

And this is the recipe I use to make six ramekins of ambrosia (and that's not the canned/packet stuff)!

Gather:

• 500 mls double cream
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod
• 100 gms caster sugar
• 6 tblspn caster sugar (to sprinkle)

Then...

1. Turn on the oven to 150℃ to pre-heat
2. Cut the vanilla pod down the middle and scrape out the seeds by running the back of your knife along the skin of the pod (both sides inside) and dumping the seed pulp into the cream.  Put in the pod too.
3. Bring the vanilla cream in a pan to boiling point (when you can see it's just beyond scalded) and then simmer for 5 mins
4. While this is simmering, whisk the egg yolks with the 100 gms sugar until the mix is pale and fluffy
5. Fish out the (empty) pod and bring the cream back up to the boiling point and then whisking the egg mix furiously, pour the cream into the bowl.  If you don't whisk enough, you will only have scrambled eggs
6. Pour the mix into six ramekins until they're about ⅔-rds full
7. Put the ramekins in a deep roasting tray and pour water into the tray (not the ramekins) until the water's about half way up the outside of the dishes to form a bain marie
8. Then carefully put the tray in the oven and leave to cook for 40-45 mins.  It should still wobble a bit as the dish will continue to cook slightly out of the oven
9. Immediately take out the ramekins from the water (I use my kitchen tongs to do this) and leave to cool
10. Chill until needed (easily left overnight)
11. When you come to serve, sprinkle over a tablespoon of caster sugar per ramekin and put under your hottest grill setting to caramelize OR you can use a blowtorch

Obviously you have to be careful, but I tend to use my husband's blow torch as it's a lot quicker.

Are you ready to serve up Crème Brûlée on Crème Brûlée Day on 27 July.

T is for Teddy Bears' Picnic Day

So it's not helpful that it's ended up being mid-week, but you could always shift the celebrations from 10th July to the weekend...

And I'm not talking about a party to suit a slightly scary Peter Pan-personality type that has hundreds of plush toys that have taken over the corner of the master bedroom of a 40-year-old.  I'm talking about a party for the kiddies.

So here are some of the ideas I have:

I already have the tiffin boxes and will be serving lots of child-friendly food drawing from the list from the Beeb.  And to keep costs down, I will make a bright picnic blanket and similar tree cushions to mimic the woods in which the picnic will take place as the patterns are very easy, although you can buy a similar picnic blanket and the cushions should you so choose.

Now all I have to do is to download the music by John Walter Bratton, which dates back to 1907.

T is for Tour de France - Le Grand Départ

We're off up to Yorkshire ce soir to see the Tour de France come through the county which has gone to town on yellow shirts and cyclists. And I spotted this in a butchers' window in Ripon.

Am looking forward to the weekend and seeing the action unfold.  And to ensure everyone understands what's going on...

© HuffPost

I is for Independence Day

I have always shied away from Fourth July celebrations, but I'm currently doing some work for an American company and we're getting the day off!  So I'll ignore the fact that it's a celebration of becoming independent from the UK, and dig out the bunting I made for the Jubilee celebrations given the red/white/blue theme works for both!

And after a quick conflab with some colleagues, I'm also now hosting a small soirée.  I'm going for the full American experience...for which I'm turning to Martha for support.

First off...given the heatwave we're experiencing...I'm making up some fans.

Couldn't be easier.  Print off the templates onto light card, fold and stick to the stick.

These napkin rings are just as easy. Cut out four stars per 'ring', attach two to either side of the end of the string and wrap loosely around your cloth.  Adjust the colours according to your table linen.

And I'm also using a Martha menu for the day although I'm replacing the pudding with a star-themed one (also from Martha) to mirror the stars on the table.   I know the design of the menu's OTT (and that I may have to explain that phrase)...but it's fun!

And finally here's some music to play (in no particular order):

• America – Tracy Chapman
• Englishman in New York – Sting (given it’s being served in England)
• Breakfast in America – Supertramp
• Fairytale of New York – The Pogues
• America – Neil Diamond
• New York – Paloma Faith
• Kids in America – Kim Wilde
• King of New York – Fun Lovin’ Criminals
• Living in America – James Brown
• New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
• Let the Rover Run – Carly Simon
• Americanos – Holly Johnson
• American Woman – The Guess Who
• American Pie – Don McLean
• American Beauty – Dead Already
• American Life - Madonna
• Young Americans – David Bowie
• America! – Cast of West Side Story
• Americano – Brian Setzer Orchestra
• Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen

What will you be up to?

C is for Constance Spry (and Coronation Chicken)

I bought the biography of Constance Spry before Christmas last year, but for some reason have only just gotten 'round to reading it.

Am so glad I did...although it has now led to a few more purchases from the Amazon used book options as was inspired to find out more about her work.

Spry (née Fletcher) was a British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century.  Her main line was flowers...fashioning bouquets for all the right aristos...although she became a huge advocate of 'Grow Your Own' during the Second World War.

After the war she'd made enough of a name to team up with Rosemary Hume (of Le Cordon Bleu fame) to found a domestic science school at Winkfield Place (now closed).

But it was in 1953 though when Spry really shot to fame when she arranged the flowers for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and was involved in the celebratory meal enjoyed by the visiting dignitaries that was cooked by the Winkfield students.

And so, although it was Hume's recipe, its first publication was in the 1956 publication The Constance Spry Cookery Book under the far posher title of Poulet Reine Elizabeth.

And it's an excellent recipe for both a meaty salad and a sandwich filling, but I now use Felicity Cloake's recipe as it's lighter than the original.

Gather:

• 1 chicken
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cm piece of ginger, chopped in half
• Pinch of saffron
• Pinch of salt

•  5 tblspns mango chutney
• 50 grms dried apricots, finely chopped
• 2 tblspn mild curry powder
• 2 teaspns Worcestershire Sauce
• 200 mls mayonnaise
• 200 mls Greek yoghurt
• 50 grms flaked almonds, lightly toasted
• 2 tblspn flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped*
• S&P

• Some cos/little gem lettuce leaves

* You can (obviously) use coriander as per the recipe

Then...

1. Poach the chicken in a pan of water with the peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves, half the ginger, saffron and some salt
2. Simmer very gently for 1½ hours or until the chicken's cooked (test the leg meat)
3. Pour off the liquid, discard the spices and shred the chicken meat
4. Toast the curry powder in a pan bring out the fragrance and finely chop the remaining ginger
5. Mix these with the mango chutney and the apricot 
6. Then add in the Worcestershire Sauce, mayo and yoghurt
7. Season to taste
8. Once the chicken is cold, fold into the sauce with the parsley and refrigerate for a couple of hours
9. Serve on the lettuce and scatter over the toasted almonds at the last minute

© Felicity Cloake

T is for Ten Mistakes in the Kitchen

**Warning...blood mentioned in this post**

A friend of mine nearly sliced half her finger in half today.  We were sitting in her kitchen as she chopped up her vegetables and...arghh...splurt.

It's fine...she's fine...it wasn't (incredibly fortunately) as bad as it looked.  And the reason...a blunt knife.   As it was blunt she'd inadvertently put more pressure on the knife and when it didn't cut through the onion, it sheared into her finger.  Ouch.

So...here's my starter for ten on the top mistakes made when cooking (most of which only lead to bad food).   Just note the exceptions...as with the English language, the exceptions prove the rule!

1.	Blunt knives To avoid the above injury, please keep your knives sharp using a steel. There are lots of videos and guides on the web as to how to use one. But these only help keep your knife sharp. If it is already blunt (often called dull), then go to a professional to resharpen properly (e.g. your local butcher) or use a wet stone.
2.	Read the whole recipe There's nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a recipe and then realize that your sauce is developing a skin as you chop up some more ingredients. Reading through the recipe (actually best done twice) before you start cooking means you know what's coming up and can prep everything up front so you look like a pro.  And you can put your oven on to heat up as needed.
3.	Cook food at room temperature This especially applies to meat, fish, eggs and butter. The meat, fish and eggs won't cook through properly if you've put them in a hot pan/oven straight from the fridge. Butter meanwhile is a pig to mix in when it's cold hard. The exception is a pastry (pie) case. If it's not chilled your pastry shrinks in the oven and can crack.
4.	Cook at the right temperature This applies to both the hob and the oven. With protein (fish and meat), your pan needs to be hot so that it sears the flesh and stops the juices leaking.  With onions/leeks/garlic, you want your pan to be on a low heat to allow them to soften gently. And what you dial your oven temperature to on the controls may not be the real temperature inside.  A cheap self-standing gauge will tell you if your oven is actually (sometimes as much as 15-20℃) hotter or cooler than you think.
5.	Add ingredients to a warm/hot pan If you add ingredients to a cold pan with the oil, the food will soak up the oil and stick more easily.  Heat up your pan. Wait till it's the right temperature and add your oil. Wait five seconds and then add your food. There are two exceptions to this: bacon and duck.  Both are fatty and bringing the pan to temperature with the food in them (no fat needed, duck skin side down) means they start to render their fat before browning/being seared.
6.	Season as you go The best food flavours are layered.  So add salt and pepper at the beginning of cooking.  Spices are added quite quickly to allow their flavours to develop.  As food cooks, taste and add more seasoning to suit. Add herbs at the end so their freshness isn't obliterated.  Then, just as you come to serve, taste again and season again if necessary.
7.	Use the right amount of water If you're boiling potatoes, they need to be covered otherwise the bits sticking out of the water don't cook. If you're cooking broccoli or asparagus, try to keep the tips out of the water so they steam and don't go mushy by the time the thicker stems are tender. Bring pasta to boil in plenty of salted water so that it has space to swell and not just stick together. Add the amount stated in the recipe when cooking rice so you don't end up with uncooked rice or a (even worse) watery mush.
8.	Don't overcrowd pans If you put too much food in a pan, it gives off the water from within and your food stews rather than browns.  This applies to meat and fish, but also to mushrooms and any other food that you want to allow to caramelize a little.
9.	Cook food for the right amount of time While this sounds like a simple one, factor in the time that something may sit in the hot pan while you finish off other things or thicken your sauce.  What were perfectly cooked vegetables and pasta have now steamed for another five minutes and are now soggy. I also have two timers in my kitchen.  One is built into the cooker and one is a magnetic one that I can carry around with me.  Perfect if I have a fruit cake in the oven that takes two hours and I've started doing something else.
10.	Rest your meat I know this is often spoken about, but the number of people that I know that don't factor this into their timeline and so pull the meat out of the oven just as the rest of your food is cooked to perfection... You know who you are! Also the time for resting is often under-estimated.  A steak needs a good 5+ mins to rest even if it's only taken 4 mins to cook. A joint can rest up to half an hour so that the meat relaxes properly.

S is for Soy Sauce

When I am writing recipes, I specify the type of soy sauce I use.  However lots of recipes don't and the people don't understand why their recipes aren't quite right.  It may be down to the soy sauce.

I only keep three types of soy sauce.  I keep two Chinese soy sauces (light and dark) and a bottle of Kikkoman.

I tend not to bother with the flavoured ones as I am using soy as a base and prefer to add my own fresh flavours through the ingredients.

Dark Chinese soy sauce is used for dishes where the sauce will caramelize.  Think hoisin ribs, char sui (barbecued pork)... It's also found in lots of Shanghainese (red) dishes.  You can use dark soy sauce when stir frying rice but I often finds it overpowers more delicate flavours like egg.

You need to cook dark soy sauce to get the flavour going and so while you do see dark soy sauce in some dipping sauce recipes, again I find that it overpowers the dumpling/roll you're dipping without really bringing out the correct flavour.

Light soy sauce is a younger, less fermented version. It is also saltier than its dark sibling which is already pretty salty.  If a recipe doesn't cite which type of Chinese soy sauce to use, I would always use light.

Both of types of Chinese soy sauces have bran when being made to add to depth of taste.  This is where my bottle of Kikkoman comes in.  As it's a lot more expensive, I tend to reserve this one for my sushi (where I'm only mixing in a little wasabi) and in broths where I want only a very light touch of the salty soy taste to come through.

F is for Father's Day 2014

In 10 days time, Father's Day rolls around again and I'll actually be with my father that Sunday!

So am planning a fiesta with a bit of spice i.e. some dishes that my mother doesn't cook to make the day a bit special using the Mexican menu I drafted in my printables post at the end of April.

This menu comes from Real Simple and is very easy although I switch the red rice for wild rice.  The dishes are really colourful and it's quick to make them look appetizing.

But to make it all a bit more special, I drew up some other (free) printables for the occasion to complement the menu.

So I made some place cards to match...

And while these are available in the download, I have left them blank so you can write your own guests' names in.

And some disposable napkin rings which you can cut out and snip as per the dotted lines to slot together to form a ring.

They're just a bit of fun and package a bundle of serviettes which is useful given you need to use your hands for the tacos.

And if you want to go over the top, you can also cut out the confetti to scatter across your table.  Now, to go and buy a piñata...

If you would like the menu or the place cards in the original file formats, please message me.

P is for Prawns

I love seafood and think it makes a great starter.   This recipe is another of my standbys as the raw prawns are frozen and so can be dug out when needed.  And at this time of year, I always have tomatoes and rocket around.

Gather:

• 7 king/tiger prawns per person
• 2-3 cloves garlic*
• 2 tblspn fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tblspn ground cumin
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1 tblspn ground coriander
• 1 teaspn (sweet) paprika
• Zest and juice of a lemon

• 4 cherry tomatoes per person, cut in half
• ½ red bell pepper, skinned and cubed
• Handful of rocket per person
• 1 teaspn caster sugar
• 1 tblspn sherry vinegar
• 3 tblspns light olive oil / rapeseed oil
• S&P

* if you're using chopped garlic from a jar, then use a level teaspoon per clove

Then...

1. Mix the frozen prawns in the garlic, herbs, spices and lemon zest and one tablespoon of the oil and leave to defrost
2. Soak wooden skewers in water for 20 mins so they don't burn when cooked
3. Thread the defrosted prawns on the skewers
4. Pan fry the skewers (easier than pan frying individual prawns) until the prawns turn pink/are cooked
5. Meanwhile toss the tomatoes, pepper cubes (if using) and rocket in the remaining oil, vinegar and sugar
6. Season the salad to taste
7. Pour the marinade over the prawns for the last minute of cooking
8. Un-skewer the prawns and toss them in the lemon juice
9. Arrange seven prawns and some salad on each plate as desired^

^ Arranging uneven numbers of food on a plate for some reason looks more appealing.

C is for Chelsea Flower Show

It's been a couple of weeks since I've been able to post due to the lovely weather and work in the garden, but I wanted to put up some pictures from RHS Chelsea as it was so lovely again.

Here are a few phone pictures of my favourites...am taking my better camera next year!

The Telegraph Garden by Tommaso del Buono and Paul Gazerwitz

Love the euphorbia next to the clipped box balls.

The Viking Cruises Norse Artisan Garden by Sadie May Stowell

Liked the runes in the stepping stones

The large Imari china balls in the Arita Artisan Garden by Shuko Noda 

The mini tree sculptures in the Hillier Nurseries section in the Pavilion

But one idea that will be easy to recreate was from the estate agents on the way to the show, using Wellington boots as plant holders.  This would be great by the back door.

And if you missed the show entirely, have a look at the pictures online either on The Telegraph site or elsewhere.