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Hazelnut fruit cake recipe – Ottolenghi inspired

2nd May 2020 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

The words “Ottolenghi” and “simple” normally don’t go together. Yotam Ottolenghi is well aware of his fame for complicated recipes and hard to source ingredients (as he put it himself in his Guardian column: “I’ve heard the jokes…the one about “just popping out to the local shop to buy the papers, milk, black garlic and sumac”).

He is also a man who moves with the times and recognises peoples’ eternal struggle to find time to cook. This was the inspiration behind his newest cookbook Simple.

If you like Ottolenghi flavours but are put off by the faff, this is the book for you. It includes recipes with 10-or less ingredients, others you can make-ahead of serving, as well as quick meals you can have on the table in under 30 minutes. Within Simple lies one of my favourite cake recipes of all time – a hazelnut sponge with peaches and raspberries.

I’ve tweaked the recipe to give you more options for alternative ingredients because the whole world and his dog are baking at the minute and you’re lucky if you can snag up a bag of flour these days; you can flex this recipe based on what you have to hand.

I also reduced the sugar from 320 to 260 grams – not because I want to make this in any way a “healthy bake” (I think life is way too short for that nonsense). I love the tartness the fruit can provide and don’t want to dim the gloriously nutty richness of the hazelnuts by making the batter overly sweet. It worked really well and I recommend you go for this amount of sugar too.

A note on the fruit: the original recipe calls for 2 large peaches sliced into 1.5 cm wedges + 150 grams raspberries. You could sub apples, plums, apricots, pears…just think, the harder the fruit, the smaller your slices will need to be. For the berries you can use blueberries, strawberries or blackberries, and these can even be frozen. We’re flexing here, but the concept is the same: hazelnut + fruit = winning combo.

Hazelnut + fruits of your choice cake – an Ottolenghi adaptation

Ingredients

  • 450 grams of fruit (I used rhuburb and plum and it was cracking)
  • 260 grams sugar (original recipe calls for white caster, I used golden – either works)
  • 125g hazelnuts (skin off – try to buy them like this as otherwise it’s a bit of a faff, but see here on how to remove the skins if needed)
  • 200 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 125 grams plain flour ( if you only have self-raising, half the amount of baking powder)
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • Tiny pinch of salt

Method

  1. Turn oven to 170 degrees and line a 24cm round cake tin
  2. Mix your fruits with 1 tbsp of sugar and set aside
  3. Grind hazelnuts in a food processor and once roughly ground (under a minute) mix with flour, baking powder and salt in seperate bowl
  4. Beat sugar into the butter – easiest if you use a form of electric whisk
  5. Gradually add eggs to butter mix and then add in your flour hazelnut mix
  6. Pour batter into lined cake tin and place your fruit on top
  7. Bake for 70-80 minutes but cover cake with tin foil after half an hour to avoid it overly browning on top

Ottolenghi says this will keep for a day but I found it perfectly edible after three. In fact, I think the hazelnut flavour got richer over time, so if you do for whatever reason have some left after a day or two, don’t despair.

And then you’re done – enjoy with a cup of tea and Netflix

Filed Under: cake, dessert, easy recipe, ottolenghi, recipe Tagged With: baking, cake, hazelnut cake, ottolenghi, recipe, simple recipe

Arepas & Chicharrón recipe

18th April 2020 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

While there’s much talk of how we should be using our time in isolation, I fully support the school of thought that if we just get through this, it’ll be enough.

So while you are under zero obligation to “be productive” or “try something new”, if you’re curious about Colombian food or share my inclination towards recipes involving any form of fried meat, you could give the below a go.

Today’s recipe is for Arepas con Chicarrón, or corn-cakes and fried pork belly. The arepas require a precooked corn flour called “masa harina”. You can’t sub this out for regular corn flour so I recommend looking in your local cash & carry or international supermarket for this; popular brands are Pan and Goya.

The pork belly recipe is a cracker; the meat pretty much takes care of itself, boiling down in water until the last few minutes when you fry it off in its own fat to get it gloriously golden and crunchy. Give it a bit of attention the night before with some salt and bicarbonate of soda to dry it out for extra crisp.

Chicarrón and Arepas

Arepas

Makes ten

Ingredients

  • 250 grams masa harina
  • 250 ml water
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

  • Pour out your water into a bowl big enough to allow you to mix in
  • Shake in your masa harina, salt & pepper
  • Combine ingredients with your hands, forming a dough
  • Cover bowl with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes
  • The dough is now ready to mould. Separate it into 10 equal sized balls and flatten down to about ½ inch thickness and mould into a round shape, either with hands or use a cup to cut out the shape, like a cookie cutter
  • Lightly oil up a griddle or non stick pan and cook arepas until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes on each side.
Colombian Arepas

Chicharrón

For four people, served alongside arepas and other nibbles

Ingredients

  • 500 grams pork belly, cut into cubes about 4cm x 4cm
  • 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 ½ tbsp salt
  • Seasonings of your choice (I used sweet paprika, cumin, garlic power)

Method

  • The night prior to cooking, place pork belly out on a plate and rub skin with the bicarb of soda and half the salt
  • The next day, when ready to cook, place pork belly in a pan big enough to fit it comfortably and add enough water to cover the meat completely
  • With the flame on very low, leave meat to simmer, checking on it every half an hour to turn the meat
  • 2-4 hours after you have started to cook the meat, the water will have evaporated off – this is time to turn up then heat and get your meat golden brown and crunchy
  • With the heat on high, carefully and lovingly fry the belly (no extra oil needed as it’s now cooking in its own fat). This should take 3-5 minutes – careful because the fat spits.
  • Once nicely golden and crunchy, remove meat from pan and place on top of kitchen roll laid on a plate to absorb extra grease.
  • Sprinkle spices and remaining salt on top – you can use the suggested sweet paprika, garlic powder and cumin or whatever your preferences are.
Chicarrón

These can be served alongside a whole host of toppings, below is what I went for: some pickled onions (left in red wine vinegar and a dash of sugar to take away the acidity), avocado, grated cheese, some chopped tomatoes with coriander and lemon and coriander to garnish.

Barranquilla in Golders Green, isolation edition

These are two very simple recipes that can serve as base for a whole Latin-American inspired meal. There’s loads of other Colombian recipes on my blog you could use as well: Colombian-style chicken wings, patacones (fried plantain slices, but this recipe does them in the oven), arroz con pollo (chicken with rice). Choices for pudding include a guava cake you could anglicise with jam instead of guava and a passionfruit and dulce de leche victoria sponge.

https://www.instagram.com/bidmeadbites/
Guava cake pulled from the archives, recipe available here

So if you’ve finished Tiger King and are at a loss for what to do next, why not give this a go? Let me know how you get on!

Filed Under: barranquilla, colombian cooking, colombian food, easy recipe, recipe, Uncategorised Tagged With: arepas, chicarron, colombian food, colombian recipes, easy recipe, pork belly recipe

The easiest tomato sauce you’ll ever make

5th April 2020 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

April 2020 and here we are facing a worldwide pandemic. Well, there’s nothing like quarantine to get you taking up old hobbies again, right? While some are reaching for yarns of wool and knitting or pulling on their leggings and down dogging in the living room, I’ve picked up my laptop and decided to reignite some life back into BidmeadBites.  Enjoy!

Pre-corona, we could wander into pretty much any supermarket and grab essential food items without a second thought (I love the fact that “essentials” at Waitrose covers pate and green lasagne). This is not a luxury everyone can count on and we are incredibly fortunate to have this privilege.

But the bare shelves of the past weeks shocked us all: cue bulk buying of bog roll like it was the end of the earth and piles of pasta packets in everyone’s trolly. And did you hear that they were planning to make a lasagne the size of Wembley stadium?!

Despite the supermarkets returning to some semblance of normality in terms of stock levels, I am definitely rethinking the recipes I’ve been preparing at home. I’ve been digging around in the cupboard more, pulling out cans of chickpeas to roast and throw into things, as well as discovering many different types of lentils to be cooked in a myriad of ways.

As the government’s recommendation is now to go to the supermarket once a week at most and leave home delivery slots for the most vulnerable, it’s a great time to get a bit more familiar with your cans and basic produce. And what could be better than a recipe the requires just half an onion, a blob of butter and a can of chopped tomatoes?

Low and behold the best pasta tomato sauce you will ever make (given the absolute minimal effort required). Called “the most famous tomato sauce on the internet” by Food 52, this is the creation of the culinary goddess Marcella Hazan and is one recipe you need in your repertoire.

How to make Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce

This serves two people with a generous portion of sauce each; to double, just add an extra can of tomatoes and use the whole onion. Increase butter and seasoning as you wish!

Ingredients

  • 400g tinned tomatoes (whole or chopped, we won’t be fussy given the times)
  • 1 yellow onion, cut in half
  • 2/3 tbsp butter
  • Salt (let’s say 1 tsp but it’s really to taste)
  • Black pepper (let’s say 1 tsp but it’s really to taste)
  • A tiny sprinkle of sugar (it really helps bring out the sweetness of the toms)

Method

  1. Peel the onion and chop in half. Place face down in a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat and add the tomatoes, butter, salt and pepper.
  2. When the tomatoes start to bubble, reduce the heat to a low simmer and sprinkle your dash of sugar. Stir every 10-15 mins until the tomatoes are no longer watery and the sauce has reduced, about 45 minutes depending on the size and shape of your saucepan.
  3. You will be left with a rich, thick tomato sauce. The onion can be removed.

That’s it. Serve with pasta and grate parmesan on top, or any cheese handy, because again, we won’t be fussy.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: easy recipe, food writing, Italian, recipe Tagged With: easy recipe, italian food, marcella hazan, recipe

Bidmead in Berlin (again) – German Cheesecake recipe

20th March 2018 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

BidmeadBites visited Berlin back in 2015 and ate a bit of everything; from the classic Currywurst to Peruvian ceviche. Revisiting recently with my mum and sister, food highlights included some terrific Taiwanese dishes at Lon Men’s Noodle House and traditional frikadellen (meatball-esque German beef patties) back at Markthalle Neun, the cities funnest food market. But what I want to focus on in this post is cake. Oh, do the Germans know a bit about cake.

Cheesecake, to be specific.

German cheesecakes have a soft shortcrust pastry base and a filling which replaces the cream cheese used in typical New York cheesecakes with quark,  a sort of strained cottage cheese which is then mixed in with butter, sugar and whipped egg white. Below are three different slices I tried, with a pastry base/a pastry base and crust/filled with gooseberries. All in the name of recipe research…

Cheesecake no. 1: @ Oliv Caf, Mitte

Cheesecake no. 2: @ Markthalle Neun, Kreuzberg

Cheesecake no. 3: Gooseberry filled at KaDaWe Foodhall

Looking to recreate this recipe at home, I took inspiration from a cheesecake recipe in a wonderfully old retro cookbook named “The Sainsburys Book of Puddings & Desserts” (published in 1980, and still one of my favourite baking books). The use of semolina and ground almonds adds richness to the quark, which is often sold in a very low-fat version. While the traditional pastry bottom in the German cheesecake is definitely a welcome addition, the labour intensive descriptions of handling this dough are less appealing. I anglicised the German recipe to include a traditional digestive base, because biscuits mixed with truck loads of butter is never a bad thing.

Find my tweaked German (ish) recipe below! I slightly overcooked mine, so I recommend keeping a beady eye of for the browning of your cake on the top. Once cooked, do try to wait until it’s fully chilled to eat – the wait is worth it I promise.

Retro German/English cheesecake

Use a 9 inch (23 cm) cake tin.

For biscuit base:

  • 200 grams digestive biscuits
  • 100 grams butter

For cake:

  • 100 grams butter
  • 150 grams caster sugar
  • Grated rind and juice of one lemon
  • 400 grams quark
  • 3 eggs, seperated
  • 75 grams ground almonds
  • 50 grams semolina (if you don’t have this to hand, you can just sub in the same amount of ground almonds)

Method

Before you start….Preheat open to 180 degrees. Line cake tin.

  1. Firstly make your base. Either put biscuits in a big sandwich bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs, or put in a food processor to crush them up. Melt butter completely and mix in with biscuits, then press biscuits into base of tin until you have a nice compact biscuit base. Pop into warm oven for 10 minutes to cook, then remove.
  2. Now for the filling. Cream the butter, sugar and lemon rind together until light and fluffy. Beat in quark gradually, then mix in the egg yolks and beat thoroughly. Add the almonds, semolina and lemon juice and mix well. Whisk the eggs whites until stiff and carefully fold into the cheese mixture.
  3. Spoon into your lined cake line and bake for 50-60 minutes. Turn off oven and leave until cold (if you can manage to wait!).

An English/German lovechild take on the cheesecake

Filed Under: berlin, food market, food writing, recipe, travel bidmeadbites Tagged With: berlin, cheesecake, cheesecake recipe, german, retro baking, thursday night food market berlin

Bidmead back in Barranquilla – Feb 2018

21st February 2018 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Nearly three years have passed since I left Barranquilla, where I lived for 12 months while working as a British Council language assistant. As London’s bitter winter intensified, my thoughts wandered to the sun, salsa and downright lovely locura that is my beloved Barranquilla. It was high time I headed back.

Arriving just as carnival was about to commence, I danced, drunk and shook my stuff with the rest of the city, while also revisiting all my favourite Colombian foods.

I’ve published various Barranquilla posts while living there (fried ear and salsa dancing here, how to make your own ajiaco here – just search “Barranquilla” on the home page for more), and in fear of repetition I’ll keep this one brief. Here’s a snappy rundown of my top Barranquilla bites.

First stop was La Immaculada, one of the cities top fruteras, around since 1982. A frutera is the place to head for fresh juices and fried goodies (aptly named fritos).

Frutera Immaculada

Fruit juice and fried goods

What did I eat? A carimañola (meat filed pastry with dough made from yucca) and a dedito (cheesy finger), alongside nispero and mandarin juice, plus the obligatory ají (chilli) sauce.

Mondongo is one of my favourite typical soups and a perfect embodiment of the nose-to-tail approach within Colombian cuisine whereby no meat is left to waste. Made mainly from tripe, the slow cooking of the stomach breaks it down from chewy to smooth, with a rich meaty flavour. Accompanied by yucca, potato and plantain, the flavour is picked up by a sprinkling of coriander and a squeeze of lime.

Mmmm…Mondongo, I’ve missed you (please note my fantastic nails too)

Returning to Barranquilla I realised how things we might consider as exotic at home (huge avocados, fresh coconuts and exotic fruits) are really just everyday alimentation for the costeños. Just look at this coconut lolly I had on route back from the beach – homemade and bought from someone’s front garden, this beats a pre-packaged Twister any day.

Beach life = eating coconut lollies

Or how about this lovely lady, serving half or whole avocados to accompany people’s fish lunches by the river? The sweetness and intense flavour of this avocado has thoroughly ruined any future avo-on-toast I may be tempted to buy while out for overpriced brunches back home.

Best avocados EVER

Want to stop to quench your thirst in the mid-day sun? Why not grab an ice-cold coconut, sold on the side of the road. Sit down, sip the juice, and then ask your coconut vendor to machete open the shell for you in order to enjoy the sweet and creamy flesh.

Casual coco frio on the side of the street

Being back in Barranquilla, I slipped straight into my old routines and felt quite quickly that I’d never want to leave. But as my ten days flew by, London and it’s grey but homely skies were calling. I’ll always have a bit of my heart tied to Colombia’s coast, and now will aim to head back more often. In the meantime, I’ll be looking to recreate some Barranquillero recipes in my Brixton kitchen, so stay posted!

“Quien lo vive es quien lo goza” – offical phrase of Barranquilla carnival

Filed Under: barranquilla, colombian cooking, colombian food, food writing, recipe, travel bidmeadbites, travel writing Tagged With: frutera, mondongo, recipe, watermelon

Chicken, sage & mustard bake, a quick midweek supper

4th September 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

After I satisfied last weekend’s craving for some fried chicken livers (fried in a little butter, with red onion and fresh sage), said sage was left lurking in the fridge. As is often the way with fresh herbs, it’s quite hard to get through a big bunch of the stuff before it starts to wallow and wilt away.

Determined to use all of my 90p bunch of sage, I rustled up a mid-week supper; a chicken tray bake with sage, mustard and lemon, on top of sweet potato and red onion. I posted this dinner on BidmeadBites’s Instagram and it received several likes and some recipe requests.

chicken tray

Ever obliging to my lovely followers, here is the recipe. I used a half chicken which I had jointed it into four pieces. If the idea of jointing a chicken is daunting, you’d do well to watch this video here (thanks to a very retro Delia Smith).

Buying and eating a whole bird is not only cheaper, but more flavoursome – this tray bake includes not just plump breast, but dark meaty thighs and wings to chow down on too. However, if you find yourself buying some pre-prepped thighs and drumsticks, that will work equally as well here.

Ingredients:
– half chicken, jointed into four parts (equivalent to three thighs and two drumsticks)
– 2 medium-size sweet potatoes
– 2 red onions
– 1 lemon
– 2 tbsp runny honey
– 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
– 4 tbsp olive oil
– Generous pinch of salt
– 2 tsp ground black pepper
– 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
– Handful of fresh sage, leaves only, leaves cut in half

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slices about 2 cm thick. Peel and quarter the two red onions
2. Place potato and onion on the base of your baking tray, and place chicken on top.
3. In a jar, or anything you can give a good shake to, mix honey, mustard, olive oil, Worcester sauce, salt, pepper and sage (reserve 4 or 5 for the end).  Squeeze in the lemon, leaving the halves somewhat intact to be halved again and nestled into the corners on the tray.
4. Pour this lovely paste over the tray, massaging it into the chicken and making sure the veg get some saucy action too.
5. Give a good grind of black pepper and an extra pinch of salt on top, sprinkling the spare sage leaves on top and add one more splash of Worcester sauce.
6. Place tray in now heated oven for 40 minutes, giving it a jig around half way through, distributing some of the sauce that will have gathered at the bottom of the tray over the top of the chicken.

I served this with boiled Italian farro, which is a grain similar to barley, and some steamed green veg. It’d go nicely with a fresh green salad too, with a nice chunky loaf of bread to soak up the sauce.

 

Filed Under: recipe Tagged With: chicken bake, easy cook, healthy eating, quick dinners, recipe, sage

My mother’s Jewish Chicken Soup

8th December 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Since returning from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where 27 degrees with a breeze is considered arctic, I am quite enjoying winter in London. However, recovering from my third sniffle of the season already, it seems that the cold and drizzle might be getting to me somewhat. Given that climate control is not a power I possess, I decided that the best way to warm up during the winter chill is from within – queue a big batch-cook of some good old fashioned Jewish chicken soup.

Having long been called Jewish Penicillin, this traditional dish is just the medicine to fight pesky winter colds. My mum, like any good Jewish mother, makes a mean chicken soup, and it’s her recipe I share with you today.

My mum’s chicken soup contains no spices and relies on the chicken and it’s bones (with the help of added stock) for flavour. You can add in some chopped parsley or dill at the end, but I think the beauty of the dish lies in its unapologetic blandness.

Many chicken soup recipes call for skimming off the fat which rises to the top as the chicken bubbles away. Us Bidmead’s leave it be, and I’m a firm believer that it’s this beautiful golden fat itself that adds to the soup’s medicinal properties. As for the use of instant matzah ball mix, it’s like my mother always used to say  – there are some things you should cheat at.  Maths tests, no, making matzah balls, yes.


(This recipe serves about 6 hungry people)

MY MOTHER’S JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP

INGREDIENTS

  • ¾ whole skinless chicken, cut into about 10 pieces (I got my butcher to do this, and saved a thigh, leg and breast for cooking at a later date)
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cubed
  • 1 leek, with all the white part chopped into little cubes
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, chopped and cubed
  • 5 tbsp chicken stock concentrate in 2 litres of boiling water (by all means use homemade if you have. This concentrate equates to the strength of about 2 litres of normal chicken stock).
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 sachet of instant matza ball mix (makes 12 matzah balls)

METHOD

  1. Heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed or sunflower oil in a large pot. Add celery, leeks, carrots and onions and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Do not brown – you just want to sweat them, not cook them.
  2. Add in the chicken and stock, and make sure all the chicken and veg is covered in the liquid.
  3. Once this reaches a boil the heat turn right down to a gentle simmer and leave for about 45 minutes.
  4. After 45 minutes, remove the chicken pieces from the liquid and leave on a plate to cool down while the soup continues to bubble away.
  5. About 15 minutes later, the chicken should now be cool enough for you to shred it into very small pieces. (Here I like to nibble on the bones and giblets – personal choice). Add chicken back into pot.
  6. To make the matzah balls, you simply need to add one egg to a sachet mixture and leave for 3 minutes. Then wet your hands and roll into 12 mini balls. These double in size so don’t worry if they look small. Add the matzah balls into the soup and let it all simmer for just a little bit longer – 15 minutes is fine, although half an hour is better.
  7. This soup can be garnished with chopped up parsley or dill and goes brilliantly with some freshly ground pepper on top.

Jewish chicken soup

As good as any medicine, my mother’s chicken soup

Filed Under: recipe, Uncategorised Tagged With: chicken soup, home cooking, jewish food, winter food

Coconut milk and Chia seed porridge inspired by 26 grains

13th October 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

To say breakfast is my favorite meal is a bold statement, as quite honestly any time of day where I can consume food fills me with delight. But there’s something about this morning meal, with its endless possibilities, that I really do love. It’s a time of day where you can eat bacon and eggs or a bowl of hot, steamy porridge, but also quite feasibly have pancakes and syrup too…what’s not to like? Sadly, when your alarm is snoozed one too many times and you’ve perhaps not left quite enough time to get yourself ready in the morning, breakfast is all too often eaten in a rush while dashing out the door, or even (shock horror!) skipped altogether.

Humble porridge, however, cooked for just a couple of minutes in the microwave or slowly simmered over a gentle flame, is a solid breakfast option for both busy work mornings and lazy weekend lie-ins. Make it with water, milk or cream, this simple combination of oats cooked in liquid is a winning breakfast any day of the week.

Somewhere stepping up their porridge game to absolutely dizzying new heights is 26 grains. What started as a pop-up providing bowls of nourishing oats and grains has now taken roots in Covent Garden, tucked away in Neals Yard. I’ve followed them on Instagram for a while now and have long admired their beautiful bowls of cooked oats, quinoa, and other grains, served in both sweet and savoury dishes.

26-grains

While porridge purists (my mother being one of them) will try and tell you any divergence from the classic oats cooked in water is all wrong, I’m with 26 grains and their adventurous take on what a bowl of porridge should be. I like to add chia seeds to my oats, and will always eat them with a dollop of greek yogurt on top, often with some kind of fruit and seeds too. I’d consider myself quite the expert when it comes to all things oaty, yet it’s hats off to 26 grains in the porridge stakes, as their concoctions put my plain yogurt and fruit toppings to shame.

On my visit, breakfast porridge bowls included Banana Cacao made with almond milk oats and topped with coconut yogurt, cacao nibs, banana and maple syrup as well as other tempting options such as Blackberry Bay, again cooked in almond milk, served with a blackberry compote and topped with almond butter, apple and bee pollen. A sucker for any touch of salt with my sweet, I opted for the Salted Caramel Pear, where my oats were accompanied by barley and cooked in coconut milk, topped with cinnamon greek yogurt and then salted caramel pears and a pistachio sesame sprinkle.

IMG_20151007_100422

Not just beautiful, this porridge was filled with interesting flavours and quite unlike the plain oat and milk affair I’m used to consuming. Feeling inspired by 26 grains amazing oats, I wanted to come up with my own porridge recipe…but not before I had read up a bit on how to make the perfect bowl of porridge. Turns out I’m  not the only one with a keen interest in oats either; The Porridge Club have a whole website devoted to it, and you only need to read Felicity Cloake’s article on The Guardian to see how much opinions vary on what makes a ‘perfect’ bowl of porridge.

I based my own recipe on what I had tasted at 26 grains and also the grains of knowledge (get the pun) I had learnt while reading up on the perfect porridge recipe. I’ve opted for a mix of coconut milk and water, as I think using just coconut milk is a bit rich for an everyday breakfast. A top tip is toasting the oats before you add in your liquid, not only because it creates a lovely popcorn-esque aroma around the kitchen but because it does seem to enhance the overall flavour of the oats. Felicity Cloake recommends it, and from her extensive porridge recipe research I think we’ll take her word as gospel.

I’ve added chia seeds to my porridge recipe because they’re really fashionable and I want to be a trendy blogger. Just joking – I happen to like the texture they add in their weird, gelatinous way of swelling up which gives the porridge a smooth, voluptuous feel (this all sounds a bit sexy now, doesn’t it?).

Try making this porridge today – just 10 minutes on the stove with minimal effort creates a breakfast bowl you won’t want to miss.

Coconut and Chia seed Porridge  

(Serves 2)

Ingredients
  • 100g oats (the general consensus here is that they should be posh, jumbo rolled oats. Probably right, but I used Aldi’s basic instant oats. Shhhhhh…)
  • 400 ml coconut oats
  • 200 ml water
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 pinch of salt
Note: This is going to seem like a lot of liquid, but stick with it. We’re using a high heat and boiling it right down, cooking the oats in about 5 minutes but stirring so they don’t catch.
Method
  1.  First let’s toast those oats. Place pan on heat and add in oats. Toss pan around making sure oats don’t burn, but keep on flame until you get a lovely, pop-corn like smell in the air.
  2. Once you feel the oats are sufficiently sun-kissed (2-3 minutes max), add in your coconut milk and water mixture. Don’t worry that it seems like loads of water! Stir around and wait for the liquid to start bubbling.
    IMG_0429
  3. Now that we’ve reduced the liquid down, it’s time to add in your pinch of salt and sprinkling of chia seeds. Here you could also add in a nut butter or some frozen berries to add flavor and texture too. Stir around and wait intil most of the liquid has gone and you can see your porridge ready.
  4. Just leave the porridge a couple of minutes to cool down, and you’re ready!

IMG_0437
I went for greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey on top, as well as half a sliced banana and pomegranate seeds too.

IMG_0455

 This simple breakfast recipe, taking a bowl of classic porridge and adding a slight twist, is a solid way to kick off your day in the morning. While it might not be as thought-free as a slice of toast it’s hardly rocket science, and the little steps of toasting your oats and mixing up regular milk for coconut will make a welcome change to your regular old oatmeal.

 

Filed Under: breakfast, recipe Tagged With: 26 grains, breakfast, coconut milk porridge, healthy breakfasts, porridge, recipes

A ménage à trois you won’t want to miss – Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

14th May 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Sad, sad news people. The absolutely incredible 3 nuts Cookie Dough Peanut Butter I bought in New York at Smorgasberg market ran out last week. I was enjoying it in so many ways : spread on toast, mixed into my porridge, as a key feature in some very delicious chia seed puddings, and in all honesty, more often than not just straight from the jar and into my mouth.

But every cloud has a silver lining, and I managed to pull myself out of my nut butter mourning and launch into recipe creation mode. Looking to recreate the brilliant combination of cookie dough, chocolate chips, and peanut butter, this recipe is a combination of all things good and yum…

Say hello to Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes with Cream cheese Cookie Dough icing.

Sweet cream cheese cookie dough icing meets rich cocoa brownies. The rest is history.

The touch of cream cheese with the cookie dough makes for a very smooth, spreadable icing. And it couldn’t be simpler to make! To make the icing I literally whacked everything in my blender and mixed in the chocolate chips at the end. The icing is sweet (of course), but ended up as the perfect topping for the rich chocolate brownie recipe I chose to follow. Taken from the incredible food blog smitten kitchen, this brownie mix  uses just cocoa powder rather than melted chocolate.

I tweaked smitten kitchen’s recipe slightly with the addition of swirls of peanut butter (chunky, please) and I opted for a mix of white and brown sugar, as I felt this would provide a good sweet balance against the rich cocoa flavor. I choose to make my brownies in cupcake molds, because…why on earth not?

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes with a Cream cheese Cookie Dough topping

(This recipe is adapted to make 6 cupcake sized brownies, so if using 8×8-inch square baking pan, you’ll need to double it)

– 70 grams unsalted butter

– 60 grams of white caster sugar mixed with 60 grams brown sugar (1 cup)

– 30 grams cocoa powder (this is a little less than 1/2 cup)

– 6 teaspoons of chunky peanut butter (a spoonful for each cake)

– A wee pinch of salt

– 1 egg

– 30 grams self-raising flour (again, a little less than 1/2 cup)

For the Cream cheese Cookie Dough icing

– 1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

– 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

– 40 grams brown sugar (1/3 cup)

– Drizzle of milk (if needed. Play this by eye, only adding if it seems too thick).

– 35 grams flour (1/4 cup)

– 70 grams mini chocolate chips (2/3 cup)

Baking the Brownies

1) Get the oven on, and set it to 190 degrees. Grease chosen mold for brownies.

2) Now we want to melt our butter into our cocoa – traditionally done in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water, I actually managed this just fine in a microwave. Blasts of 20 seconds are recommended, just to check you aren’t burning anything. Once combined, add your pinch of salt to the chocolate butter combo.

3) Now we want to add the egg. Use a wooden spoon, and stir in gently.

4) Once the egg is mixed in, it’s time to add in the flour. Fold in until it can no longer be seen, and then your brownie mix is ready! Pour into baking tray/cupcake mold, and on top on each cake nestle in a teaspoon of peanut butter, so that the surface is flat.

Making the icing

1) Place cream cheese, butter, sugar and flour in the blender. Whizz on high speed for about 10-20 seconds until you reach an even consistency. If it’s looking a little lumpy, here’s the time to add in that drizzle of milk.

2) By now you should be seeing a clear dough-like texture. Remove from blender and stir in chocolate chips (and plenty of them).

3) Once your brownies have cooled completely, bang your icing on top.

Now these look good.

But I couldn’t help add in just a little bit more chocolate for good measure. I melted some chocolate in the microwave, and swirled it into the icing…

Because chocolate, on top of chocolate brownies and chocolate chips is never a bad idea. Make these cakes and make some special people very happy. Or…

Just be one very happy baker and munch them all on your own!

Peanut butter, cookie dough and brownie. The sexiest ménage à trois I can think of!

A huge thanks to my lovely roommate and the all-round likable human Juan Kattan for some of these lovely snaps. You can check out some more of his photos on his Tumblr blog.

Filed Under: dessert, recipe Tagged With: brownie, chocolate, cocoa powder brownies, cookie dough icing, dessert, peanut butter, smitten kitchen, sweet

Dinner for 80?

15th March 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Colombia is a country of contrasts. Hot Caribbean beaches, deep, dense jungles and cold, steep mountain ranges. African-influenced music such as champeta plays next to the indigenous music bambucco, with some modern day reggaeton thrown in the mix too. While these are differences to be celebrated, Colombia also possesses less desirable contrasts, such as the stark comparison between the rich and the poor.

Thankfully, there are many charities within the country working to help change the situation of millions of families who live in poverty. One such organisation is TECHO, who work to provide emergency housing for families living in sub-standard housing conditions.

I’ve already written about some of the work I have done with TECHO here, and my most recent experience was the task of feeding 80 hungry volunteers during a weekend of construction with four families in Puerto Colombia, down by the beach here in Barranquilla.

I had to provide two breakfasts and one dinner and my job involved planning the menu, managing the budget, buying the food and of course…cooking it all too! Another volunteer and I worked together to achieve this mammoth task. We came up with a menu of well-loved Colombian classics, two of which I’ll share with you all today.

The breakfast on the first day was huevos pericos served alongside bread rolls. This is a classic Colombian breakfast dish and is a quick, easy and nourishing option that is just a tad more exciting than your everyday scrambled eggs recipe.

Spice up your scrambled eggs with the recipe here below!

Eggs for 80

Huevos Pericos (serves 4)

Ingredients
– 6 eggs
– 3 finely chopped tomatoes
– 2 tablespoons olive oil (replace one of these with butter if you like your eggs a bit richer)
– 2 strands of spring onion, finely chopped
– Salt to taste

Method
1) Add in oil (and butter if using) to the pan while it heats up. Once the pan is warm, add in chopped onions and watch and stir until the start they change color.
2) Add in chopped tomatoes with a good pinch of salt. Stir around with onions for about 5 minutes, until tomatoes are looking cooked but not mushy.
3) Now crack eggs straight into the pan and mix around, and when starting to scramble turn off heat. Stir around a bit more, but don’t let them dry up – runny eggs are best!

This can be served with some chopped coriander stirred through, or sprinkled on top.

Breakfast on the second day was a very traditional dish called cayeye – boiled guineos (smaller, green plantains) mashed up with butter, salt and cheese. Added suero (a kind of sour cream) is optional, indulgent and completely recommended! Sadly, in the sheer mayhem of boiling 80 bananas and grating over 5 kilograms of cheese (all before 5:30 am this is), I forgot to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say this is one breakfast dish you should try!

Ingredients for Cayeye – photo credit not my own, taken from food catering company aldimark

Breakfasts done, what’s for dinner? The much-loved Colombian dish arroz con pollo (chicken and rice).  Tackling such a classic dish, I did my research talking to various mums/grandmas/cleaners and cooks in order to get their top tips. Everyone has their own little tricks for making this dish, and here is a compilation of those pearls of wisdom to help you try your hand at this classic Colombian eat.

Arroz con Pollo (serves 4)

Ingredients 
– 250 g (1 cup) of white rice
– Stock cube of chicken stock
– 3 cloves on garlic, chopped
– A fair bit of salt (various pinches, we will say)
– Trisazon spice (now I doubt this is hanging around in Tesco. It’s basically a mix of cumin, garlic, paprika and red colouring. Use these 4 and you should be good!)
– 1 teaspoon tomato puree
– 3 carrots, grated
– Half a bunch of coriander, chopped, with some leaves reserved for serving
– 1 green pepper, cut into small cubes
– 1 red pepper, cut into small cubes
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 large onion, finely chopped
– 2 chicken breasts

Method

1) First cook the chicken. Place breasts in a pot with the first 3 chopped cloves of garlic, the stock cube, and cover with water until all of the chicken is submerged. Boil for about 30 minutes until the breasts are cooked through, and remove chicken to cool on a plate but reserve this chicken stock (you will use it to cook your rice).

2) Now, in the water you cooked the chicken in, you’re going to cook your rice, adding in the grated carrot for colour. Make sure there is exactly twice as much water as you have rice – if you haven’t got enough chicken-y water for your rice, add in more plain water. Likewise, if you’ve too much water, drain some out. Simple!

3) While the rice is cooking, shred your chicken breasts with two forks. Save aside, and crack on with the veg.

4) Cook onion in a separate pan until it starts to take a golden colour and then add in peppers. Add salt and spices and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes, and then add in tomato puree.  Add in shredded chicken, chopped coriander and give a good stir for about 1-2 minutes.

5) Checking your rice is nice and cooked (about 20-25 mins), it’s time to mix it all up! Add cooked chicken and veg to rice, stir it all up and taste. A bit pale looking? Try a squirt of tomato ketchup! Not feeling flavorsome enough? Add some more spices. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander, and enjoy.

Arroz con pollo is a great feed-a-crowd dish, and if I managed it for 80, this recipe for four should be a breeze!

Overall, the weekend was a tough, long, but unforgettable experience. It was my third time participating in a construction with TECHO, and it never ceases to amaze me how in just two days the lives of families can be transformed so positively. So after you’ve hit the kitchen to cook up these two Colombian classics, please also take the time to read up about TECHO and the work it does across Latin America.

Until next time, where BidmeadBites takes a brief holiday away…stay tuned to find out where to!

Filed Under: barranquilla, colombian cooking, colombian food, recipe Tagged With: arroz con pollo, barranquilla, colombian recipes, comida colombian, huevos pericos, puerto colombia, recipe, techo, techo colombia

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