Friendship and Cake

A well loved recipe from a good friend

When we got married my 'hens' compiled a book of recipes for me.  The recipes were those that meant something special to us, either because it was food we ate together, made together, or that we love.  That book is very special as it represents shared love, companionship, laughter and crying.  Some were old family recipies, others from books or magazines. Each recipe is as individual and special as the person who donated it.

One of those recipes is a german yeast cake.  A sweet bread base, topped with fruit and crumble.  It was a cake that my german house mate made regularly, for breakfast or for coffee time (Germans are very good at cake and coffee).  It's true comfort food and brings with it memories of the people and place we shared it.  The page in the book is coated with tea cup rings, butter and sugar (as with all my cookery books it's easy to see which recipes I love!)

Today I've made it to take to work and have added blackberries and cinammon to the traditional apple topping.  I hope it makes the day feel a bit better.  I know I'll be reaching for a piece to get me through the email backlog and mid morning sugar slump - and I'll be thinking of my friend as I eat it and how we really need to meet up for coffee (and cake!).

Blackberries and Crumble

It's similar to this Nigella recipe if you want to have a go.

Croissants - In Pursuit of Perfection

Good Texture inside - shame about the outside

Croissants are my baking nemesis.  I've tried various recipes, been on courses, practised multiple times but only once managed to produce any I was remotely pleased with.  The overnight rise time plus 4 or so hours of work makes them not an insignificant undertaking and so much can seem to go wrong: too much kneeding, butter to cold/warm, rolling out doesn't work, butter breaks through layers of dough, sizing, shaping, over/under proving, proving temperature too high/low, oven temperature not working etc. etc. etc.

Yet I love trying to make them.  It's partly the challenge of getting it right but also the knowledge that something with that much butter in them is always going to be edible.

Today's attempt was better than last time.  Last time the dough was so difficult to roll that the butter broke through the dough, destroying the layers and then melted whilst the dough was proving so we got something more like brioche (but still very nice). So this time I worked the dough less before its overnight rest in the fridge and left it to prove in a cooler place.

This time the dough seemed to work OK until the final rolling out and there were clear signs of layers of butter and dough.  The final rolling out was still tough, the dough seemed to become so elastic it kept springing back. I wonder if the super strong Canadian flour is the problem, with too much gluten build up during the rolling and folding stages.  I made half the dough into pain au chocolate with the unshaped dough left in the fridge to rest whilst I shaped the croissants.  That additional resting time seemed to really help so next time I'll try using lower gluten flour and rest the rolled dough before cutting and shaping the croissants.

Then my oven seemed to screw up - far too hot in places which made the croissants colour in the first 5 minutes with predictable results.  Mr Vitty's comment when they came out of the oven that they looked 'a bit burnt' nearly got him thumped.  Not sure why I still gave him the 'snippets' as Richard Bertinet calls them (left over croissant dough, deep fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar)

Snippets and coffee - much needed as croissants were proving

The croissants may well be overdone but they didn't taste burnt and the texture was great - flakey outside and lovely honeycombed centre (much better than the brioche texture of the last batch).

They taste great : )

Stored in the freezer so Sunday morning breakfasts are sorted for the next month or so and then I'll have another go at perfecting my croissants.

Appley Weekend

Apples are one of the joys of this time of year. Sweet cox and russets, sharp bramleys and inedible crab and cider apples.  Cakes, crumbles and pies are on my normal list of uses for this fruit of Eden, but Apple preserves aren't something that normally occurs to me.  So when a colleague gave me 5 kg of fruit from her tree it sparked a weekend of apple curd, jelly and butter.

For preserving I normally turn to the River Cottage Preserves book by Pam Corbin for inspiration.  All three of the recipes came from this book and I enjoyed making and eating all of them.

Apple Lemon Curd
We really enjoyed the Apple and Lemon curd. on toast.  I've made lemon curd alot but this is mellower and custardier, although it would have been nice to get a firmer set.

Breakfast

Apple and Thyme Jelly
Jelly's often fill me with dread - all the faff with jelly bags that invariably break or drop into the juice. Also,   Apple Jelly isn't something I would normally eat as I'm a bit wary of 'fruit and meat' combinations -unless they're done really well, but it's good to try something new.  I added thyme to the jelly which gives it a bit more flavour.  The texture is definately jelly like and it's crystal clear which is nice.  It was a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but that may have been because my colleagues apples aren't as sharp as the recommended Bramleys.  Still not convinced it's going to go well with cold meats, but I'm sure we'll find something to do with it and it's very pretty!

Apples and Thyme

Beautifully Clear Apple and Thyme Jelly

Cider Apple Butter
I've never made or eaten a fruit butter before so this was another new one for me and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It tastes like christmas in a jar - a mix of apple, cinnamon and clove and the house smells amazing, so I suspect this is one I'll try again. I can't wait to stir it through some porridge or natural yoghurt. The other bonus is the left-over cider which I guess we'll just have to drink : ) .

A Productive Weekend

We'll never eat all of that so I took most of it back into work for the person who gave me the apples.  She then offered it to the rest of the office for a donation to a charity we're currently supporting. I just hope I get my jars back.

A matter of taste

Eating is probably one of the most obvious things that utilises all our senses.  If something doesn't look quite right, crunch or sizzle in the expected way, smells peculiar, has the right texture or taste as expected it can affect our enjoyment of the food (no matter how prestigious the chef). This sensory overload is what enables the likes of Heston Blumenthal to delight and confuse us ((apparently) - The Fat Duck is definately on my to-do list when we're richer).

When the interplay between our senses and how they are integrated to giving us a full experience of food goes wrong it can be frustrating.  Perhaps this is most commonly experienced when we have a head cold and can't smell, but other reasons can be less obvious and more serious.  As we age people often lose their appetite, resulting in weight loss and malnutrition.  This has been linked to a loss in the sense of taste.  I suffer from ulcerative colitis which I sometimes have to control using steroids.  Whenever I take the steroids some foods taste weird (particularly milk in tea) and I get a strange metallic taste in  my mouth.    Wondering why the steroids do this got me interested in how we taste.

Taste and smell are chemistry based senses. When we eat something the chewing that we do combined with our saliva breaks down the food and the different chemicals in the food are released.   These then react with sensors in our mouth and nose.  I was taught at school that there were 4 tastes: Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salt.  That was a while ago and since then a fifth - Umami has been added.  Umami is that deeply savoury flavour grilled meats have. Currently there is also a debate as to whether there is a 6th - fat.

Where we detect Sweet, Sour, Salt, Bitter (National Library of Medicine)

Our mouths have specific cells that detect each of these individual tastes that are spread all over our tongues. Specific taste receptors have been found for Sweet, Sour, Salt and Bitter. These are clustered together into taste buds and each one has a different sensitivity to each of the five tastes.   There are thousands of taste buds and this variety combined with the different sensitivities of enables the vast range of different taste combinations to be detected.

A Taste Bud (National Library of Medicine)

Once the chemicals have been detected we need to then integrate them and interpret them to recognise it as chocolate or marmite.  This happens in our brains.  The taste buds therefore detect the different chemicals in the food and send a signal to our brains via the nervous system.  Once in the brain each taste seems to be interpreted by neurones that are clustered together.  For example, no matter where on the tongue a bitter taste is detected once the signals reach the brain all the 'bitter' neurones are clustered together.

It is also  in the brain that the basic taste information is integrated with the information about the food from our other senses, and particularly the sense of smell.  Like taste our sense of smell is triggered by specialist sensors detecting chemicals.  Unlike 5 tastes the smell sensors can detect hundreds of different compounds.  It is this that gives the flavour to foods beyond the 5 tastes.

So the odd taste in my mouth from the steroids could be because there are some residual tablets (which do taste awful) still in my mouth and binding to the bitter taste sensors.  Alternatively the steroid compound itself could be affecting the complex signals that allow taste and flavour to be detected and recognised by the brain.  But taste is more than chemistry.  It is also a social experience, shared with those around us and influenced by our environment, temperature, texture and smell. I think this is just the start of my interest in taste......

References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072592/
http://www.flavourjournal.com/series/the_science_of_taste

Mushroom Market Inspiration

I had a day off today so wondered around Norwich City Centre.  Norwich market is a colourful and eclectic mix of stalls.  Some of the best food in the city centre can be bought there (particularly Pickerings for Sausages and bacon, the Spice Stall and the Cheeseman) but today it was the Fruit and Veg stalls on the front of the market that provided the inspiration for tonight's dinner.

Norwich Market (Image from TripAdvisor)

Mushrooms have been poking their heads above ground for a few weeks now, so when I saw some on the market I wanted to cook with them.  Today the stalls had chestnuts, white and oyster mushrooms.  Combined with some dried porcini there was the basis of a creamy, garlicky pasta sauce.   I had some pancetta in the fridge so chucked that in as well.  I also made my own pasta this time, something I really should do more often.

Mushrooms as Inspiration for Tea

Ingredients:

25g Butter
300g Mixed Mushrooms sliced
50g Pancetta
Garlic (about 3 cloves but adjust to taste)
A splash of Brandy
Cream
Salt
Pepper
Pasta (- something long e.g. Tagliatelle or Fettucini)

Method:

Melt the butter and fry the pancetta till it starts to crisp then tip in a splash of brandy to release all the flavour from the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Add the mushrooms and garlic with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat.  Toss the drained pasta through the mushrooms and add enough cream to pull everything together.  Check the seasoning and serve topped with a little grated parmesan

It would have benefitted from some parsley and white wine (instead of the brandy) added to the sauce to cut the richness, and maybe a breadcrumb topping for some crunch - but it worked quite well for comfort food on a wet, grey, September evening.

Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

I love this time of year.  The misty mornings that smell of sweet dampness, the cold crisp mornings that nip at your extremities, the colours of the leaves changing and of course the array of hedgerow fruits ripe (and free for the picking).  Sloes, Blackberries, Haws, Rosehips, Elderberries - they all conjour up possibilities of gin, crumbles, pies, preserves  - the basis of comfort food for the season. 

Surprisingly Good Chicken Soup

I wan't going to write what I did to make yesterdays chicken soup but it was surprisingly good (even if I do say so myself), so here goes:

Ingredients: Chicken carcass 2 Onions Carrot Thyme Peppercorns Vegetable Oil Ginger 2 cloves garlic Left over chicken Red pepper Nest of Noodles Fish Sauce Dark Soy Sauce Tabasco (I would have used a chilli instead if I'd had any) Sesame Oil Lemon Juice Fresh Coriander

Place the chicken carcass in a large pan with an onion cut in half, a couple of carrots (no need to peel either), a couple of sprigs of thyme and half a dozen peppercorns.  Cover, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for at least an hour.  The flavourings can be changed to suit what you're going to do with the stock.  Remove all the bits and pieces and either leave to cool and store in the fridge or freeze, or use immediately. (or just use shop bought stock :) )

In a large saucepan heat some vegetable oil.  Thinly slice the onion, ginger and red pepper (and chilli if using) and fry gently until soft but not coloured before adding the chopped garlic and cooking for a couple more minutes.  Add in the left over chicken and the nest of noodles.  Cover with stock and bring to the boil.  Add fish sauce, dark soy sauce, and tabasco.  I didn't measure them so just keep tasting and finessing.  When the stock is as spicy and salty as you like add a squeeze of lemon juice.  Finally stir in some chopped fresh coriander and a few drops of sesame oil.  Serve and sprinkle on a bit more coriander on top to make it look pretty.

Making a chicken last a week (well, almost)

A roast chicken on its own is a marvellous thing but I also love that the leftovers provide the basis of meals for the rest of the week.  I'm not sure I'll make my little chicken will quite last till Friday but it'll at least give us the basis of a chicken, leek and mushroom pie for a couple of nights and some chicken noodle soup for lunches.

Basics for the weeks meals

Sunday night's tea

Monday Chicken Leek and Mushroom Pie filling: Left over chicken and sauce is left over gravy

Cooked Pie

Eaten Pie (The rest will be scoffed on Thursday)

And Finally Chicken Noodle Soup for a couple of lunches - Broth stock was made from boiling the chicken bones, left over chicken added and spiced up with a few store cupboard ingredients

Norwich Food and Drink Festival

My annual New Years resolutions often include 'will food shop more locally'. The fact that it's a resolution that I have to make annually shows how successful it is.  Work, life, convenience, on line ordering, supermarket delivery etc. always seem to scupper my good intentions and local shopping ends up being something I do for fun when I have time and special meals.  Yet I live in a part of the UK with some fantastic food producers.  So when they come together for the Norwich Food and Drink Festival it would have been rude not to go.

The festival is still quite small but does focus on producers from the region (although I noticed some interlopers from Suffolk) and I think it should retain that focus on quality regional suppliers rather than expanding too quickly.  Mr Vitty and I spent a pleasant hour or so amongst the stalls of bakers, preservers, charcuterers, cheese makers, drinks providers and sausage makers.  It was a great atmosphere and we parted with a bit of cash on garlic smoked cheese, portuguese custard tarts, cordial and lunch.  I'm also tempted to try my hand at smoking some meat.  The 'Battle of the Banger's' (10 butchers fighting it out for the best sausage) was also good fun, although Mr Vitty's choice was obviously wrong.

Marsh Pig Charcuterie - Quite tempted by their courses to learn how to smoke

Norfolk Cordial - The Elderflower and Cucumber would be a great accompianment to Gin

Portuguese Custard Tarts - One of Mr Vitty's Favourites (although these weren't as good as those I make :) )

Our Favourite Bangers - Not sure if either won the Battle

Terrible Photo but fantastic Namaste Samosas for Lunch

Yeast Shaped Bread

I appear to have made some yeast shaped bread :)

Bread

Yeast (http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/1x3740051/saccharomyces-cerevisiae-scanning-electron-micrograph-sem-of-saccharomyces-cerevisiae-yeast-fungal-cells-budding-yeast-this-fungus-consists-of-single-vegetative-cells-and-is-otherwise-known-as-bakers-or-brewer.jpg)

Chicken Paprika

Delia Smith's books are amongst those I turn to for comfort food. It's not quick but like Bolognaise and Chilli Chicken Paprika is one of the regular things I cook on a weekend to feed us for a couple of meals during the week by whacking the left overs in the oven when I get home from work and boiling some rice.  It's a meal that is relatively healthy and full of flavour.  It's also relatively cheap (about £2.00 per portion), using good quality chicken thighs and drumsticks with meat that falls off the bone.  I think the key things to making this recipe  (which has a classic clip of Delia ) work well are the  paprika (sweet smoked rather than the spicy stuff), make sure you seal the chicken well and leave it in the oven for at least 90 minutes (adding the green pepper half way through).  Unlike Delia and in an attempt to reduce the calorie value I just add a couple of teaspoons of half fat soured cream or natural yoghurt to each portion once its served rather than a whole pot.

Core Ingredients

Ready for Oven

90 minutes later

Dinner

Cookery Year or Nigel Slater?

Was planning to spend next year cooking my way through my 1974 Cookery Year (part of the reason for starting to blog) but finding out about the imminent publication of Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries III I'm now torn!  Still - it gives Mr Vitty something to get for my birthday.

1974

2015

Kitchen Diaries Volume III

Spicy Pasta Bacon

When I'm feeling tired I'd still rather cook with what's in the house than shop for a ready meal (although Waitrose curries are a treat occasionally). There are a few regular 'no thought required' recipes we eat frequently when I can't be bothered.  Tonight was spicy pasta bacon (or penne arrabiata if you're feeling posh).  Whilst the pasta is cooking fry an onion in a little olive oil & add 3 rashers of chopped smoked bacon.  Fry for a few minutes then add chilli powder, a tin of tomatoes, salt & pepper.  Reduce the sauce whilst the pasta finishes cooking.  Tip the drained pasta into the sauce, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if the sauce is too thick, check the seasoning & serve topped with cheese.  Eat in front of the TV, preferably with a glass of wine.

Yeast

Yeast is a wonderful organism.  In my previous career as a microbiologist I messed around with Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, Rhizobium but as wonderful as all these microbes are the yeast that give us bread and beer, wine and whiskey must be some of the most wonderful. 

Different types of yeast will contribute different characteristics to the food they're used in.  They can affect the flavour, colour and texture of food and for many food producers making sure they are using the right yeast is vital. Packets of dried yeast used in baking are a particular type or strain.  They are carefully selected, grown and dried to make sure every packet is the same and the breads, beer, wines and spirits they are used to produce are always the same.  When you make sourdoughs they use the yeast and other bacteria found in the air to make something unique and specifc.  No sourdough starter is the same and they change slowly over time.  This can be both good and bad, no bread will ever be exactly the same but have its own unique characteristics that repesent the microbes in our own environments.  This is why I want my own sourdough starter that contains the microbes from my home, rather than buying a commercially produced starter (or even using someone elses).  Sourdoughs are highly personal, perhaps in ways you don't want to think too much about! Similarly, wine grapes are covered in natural yeasts and other organisms that contribute to the special characteristics of a vineyard.

Yeast is a living organism.  It makes bread rise by feeding on the sugars and starches in the flour.  Like Humans this produces carbon dioxide, bubbles that are captured by the bread dough (which is why you need to do all that kneeding) and make the bread rise.  As the bread is baked the carbon dioxide expands with the heat and causes the (hopefully) dramatic 'oven spring' as the bread expands in the oven.  Another product of yeast growth is alcohol.  Different yeasts are therefore better for bread making and brewing.  The different flavours yeast confers to foods depends on how each strain breaks down the different consituents of the flour (in the case of bread) or grapes (in the case of wine) it is growing on.    I would love to better characterise my sourdough starter and find out what yeast and other organisms make my bread rise and taste so good.

Yeast are so important to our food and economy that they have their own culture collection and website to make sure that those yeasts that contribute to the viability and taste of some of our favourite foods and drinks are stored properly. Love it or hate it Marmite wouldn't be Marmite made from a different type of yeast.

A Ham Sandwich

Work lunches can be boring.  So how good can a ham sandwich be?  As with most food I think the answer is in quality and care.  Today's lunch was a ham roll.  The bread was homemade, crusty and soft, full of flavour and made with 4 ingredients: Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt (and time).  Good butter, ham, mustard, vine tomatoes (that share my name) and lettuce.  That's all. 9 ingredients and a lunch that got eaten before 11am.