Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

INGREDIENTS

•  Butter for greasing pan
• 3 blood oranges
• 1 cup sugar
•  Buttermilk or plain yogurt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
•  Honey-blood orange compote, for serving, optional (see note)
•  Whipped cream, for serving, optional

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Grate zest from 2 oranges and place in a bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.
2. Supreme an orange: Cut off bottom and top so fruit is exposed and orange can stand upright on a cutting board. Cut away peel and pith, following curve of fruit with your knife. Cut orange segments out of their connective membranes and let them fall into a bowl. Repeat with another orange. Break up segments with your fingers to about 1/4-inch pieces.
3. Halve remaining orange and squeeze juice into a measuring cup. You will have about 1/4 cup or so. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup liquid altogether. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently whisk dry ingredients into wet ones. Switch to a spatula and fold in oil a little at a time. Fold in pieces of orange segments. Scrape batter into pan and smooth top.
5. Bake cake for about 55 minutes, or until it is golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. Serve with whipped cream and honey-blood orange compote, if desired.

• To make a honey-blood orange compote, supreme 3 more blood oranges according to directions in Step 2. Drizzle in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir gently.

Maple glazed Meatloaf

INGREDIENTS

¾ pound sliced smoked bacon
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
 Dash of hot pepper sauce

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground veal
½ cup crushed saltines
⅓ cup finely chopped parsley
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

PREPARATION

1. Chop 1/4 pound bacon; sauté until browned but not crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer cooked bacon to paper towels to drain. Add onion and garlic to pan. Cover, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, eggs, dry mustard, salt, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper and hot pepper sauce.
3. In a large bowl, combine beef, pork, veal, cooked bacon, onion mixture and milk mixture. Using your hands, toss lightly to mix. Add saltines and parsley, and toss lightly again until thoroughly combined. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil; on it, form meat into a domed loaf about 5 inches by 12. Drape remaining strips of bacon lengthwise over loaf to completely cover.
4. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup and Dijon mustard. Paint a thick coat over bacon. Bake uncovered, until a thermometer inserted into center registers 165 degrees, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. If desired, baste occasionally with remaining maple syrup mixture. Let meatloaf rest about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Profiterole

Cappuccino profiteroles

• 150g/5oz unsalted butter
• 225ml/8fl oz water
• 225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 6 free-range eggs
• pinch salt
• 300ml/10½fl oz whipping cream
• 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out
• 100g/3½oz icing sugar, sifted
• 200g/7oz sugar
• 200ml/7fl oz water
• 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out
• 50ml/2fl oz coffee liqueur
• 120ml/4fl oz (4 shots) espresso (or strong black coffee)

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

For the choux buns, place the butter and water into a saucepan over a high heat and heat until the butter melts and the mixture boils.

Take the pan off the heat, add the flour and mix well.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture with a wooden spoon to incorporate well before adding the next egg. Beat until a loose dough is formed, then season with a pinch of salt. Allow to cool slightly.

Transfer the dough to a piping bag. Pipe eight golf ball-sized 'blobs' of pastry onto a floured baking tray. The thing to remember is that the pastry will double in size while baking, so leave plenty of space on the sheet between the blobs of dough to allow them to expand.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden and firm on the outside and dry in the middle. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the filling, whisk the whipping cream, vanilla seeds and icing sugar in a clean bowl, until it becomes thick and stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the mixture. Fill a clean piping bag with the cream mixture.

To make the sauce, place the sugar, water and vanilla seeds into a saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, until thickened to a syrup.

Add the coffee liqueur and espresso shots and simmer for a few minutes more, until thickened again.

To finish, make a small hole in the base of each profiterole with the tip of a knife and, using the full piping bag, pipe in some of the vanilla cream.

To serve, place each profiterole into the middle of a plate and pour over some warm espresso sauce.

Candied Sweet Potato

INGREDIENTS

• 1.3kg sweet potatoes, scrubbed
• 115g  butter
• 226g icing sugar
•  Pinch of salt

PREPARATION

In a large pot, boil sweet potatoes in their jackets in water to cover until fork-tender, 20 to 45 minutes depending upon their size. 

Drain and cool.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. 

Peel potatoes and slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. 

Place in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or 2-quart gratin dish, overlapping slices to fit in one layer.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in sugar and salt until smooth. Pour evenly over the potatoes.

Bake until potatoes look shiny and glazed, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

Garlic Butter Prawns

Ingredients

• 250g (9 oz) butter
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 
  
• juice of half a lemon
• 
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 
  
• half a bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 
  
• 1kg (2 lb) medium fresh prawns - shells removed with tails attached, and deveined

Preparation method



1.Preheat oven to 230 C / Gas mark 8.

2.In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic and parsley. When the butter melts completely, remove from heat.

3.Arrange prawns in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter mixture over the prawns.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the prawns are pink and opaque.

Banana Loaf

Ingredients

• 100g Softened Butter
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 Ripe Bananas (mashed)
• 225g Self Raising Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 tbsp. Milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas 4.

2. Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin, then line the base and sides with baking parchment

3. Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat for about 2 minutes, until well blended

4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface

5. Bake in the pre-heated over for about 1 hour, until well risen and golden brown. A fine skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean if the loaf is ready.

6. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel of the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Baked Cuban Chicken and Rice

For stock

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• pinch salt
• pinch white pepper
• olive oil
• 1pint chicken stock
• 35ml rum

For chicken

• olive oil
• 200g/ chicken breast, cut into chunks

For sausages mix

• 100g spicy sausage/Chorizo, chopped
• 1 carrots, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 175g/ short grain rice
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped (or half tin chopped)
• Half tin mixed beans
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 50g butter
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and butter a casserole dish.

For the stock, mix the spices and seasoning together in a bowl and blend with the little olive oil.

Stir the spice mix into the chicken stock and add the rum.

For the chicken, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken. Fry until golden-brown then remove and set aside.

For the sausage mix, fry the sausage, carrot, onion and garlic until soft. Remove and place in a bowl.

Add the rice, tomatoes, beans, parsley and the butter to the sausage mix and season well.

Put half of the mix into the casserole dish. Layer the chicken on top and cover with the rest of the mix. Pour over the stock and cover.

Place in the oven for about 30 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Bacon and Cabbage

Bacon and Cabbage          

So technically it’s not bacon at all,

Not really much of a recipe needed for this one, it’s an Irish dish and I used a slow cooker to make it for the first time and it worked well.

Ingredients

• A piece of gammon (I prefer smoked)
• Water
• Cabbage (I mainly use white cabbage, but have also used Savoy, both work well)

That’s it

Chop up the cabbage, put a layer down then add the gammon, then fill the rest of the space with cabbage.

Add some water, maybe around two thirds full

Cook for 6-8 hours

Take the meat out, and let rest for a while

Serve with mashed potatoes

A nice mustard sauce to go with it

• 25g flour
• 50g butter
• 1 tablespoon English mustard
• 125ml cooking liquid
• 125ml double cream

Make a roux with the butter, flour and mustard then add the liquid and mix

5 minute pizza dough

5 minute Pizza dough

Ingredients

• 450g flour
• 1 tub greek yoghurt
• 1tsp baking powder

instructions

Mix all together,

Roll out,

Top,

Bake,

Eat. 

Haitian Pork Griot

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small Scotch bonnet or habanero chile
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• ¼ cup fresh chopped Italian parsley, more for serving
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, more to taste
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more thyme leaves for serving
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ¼ cup cane vinegar or cider vinegar
•  Juice of 1 orange
•  Juice of 1 lemon
•  Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 pounds pork shoulder, not too lean, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted) or olive oil, more as needed
•  Cooked rice, for serving
•  Pikliz, for serving (see recipe)

PREPARATION

1. Quarter the chile and remove the seeds and membranes. Finely chop one quarter; leave the rest in whole pieces. Handle pieces carefully, preferably while wearing gloves; they are extremely hot.
2. Transfer chopped chile to a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a lid. Add onion, bell peppers, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme and garlic. Stir in vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in pork. Cover pot and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, remove from refrigerator at least 1 hour and no more than 3 hours before cooking. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place pot over high heat and bring liquid to a simmer; cover and put pot in oven. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Using a slotted spoon, remove meat from pot, allowing all excess liquid to drip back into the pot and picking any bits of vegetables or herbs off the meat. Transfer meat to a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle meat with 2 tablespoons oil and salt to taste, and toss gently to coat.
5. Strain braising liquid, discarding any solids. Return sauce to pot and simmer over high heat until reduced by about half, about 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat the broiler. Broil meat, tossing occasionally, until meat is evenly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. You want it nicely browned in spots but not so brown that it dries out.
7. To serve, drizzle meat with additional oil and top with sauce, parsley and thyme leaves. Serve on a bed of rice with pikliz on the side.