We’re all in need of a little spoiling at the moment so for Valentine’s Day why not make an extra special breakfast treat for someone, or indeed for yourself ❤
You might have heard me talking about romantic cooking with Will Faulkner on Midlands 103 during the week. Well as promised, here’s how you can make a delicious romantic breakfast of heart shaped French toast stuffed with chocolate sauce …..
To make things easier on yourself I recommend that you make the chocolate spread in advance. Trust me, it’s much better than any well known brand 😉
What you need:
125g cream
35g sugar
75g dark chocolate, chopped or in callets
100g bar hazelnut chocolate, chopped
What you do:
To make the spread, heat the cream and the sugar together in a small saucepan. Careful, don’t allow it to boil.
Place both chocolates in a bowl and pour the warm cream over it.
Whisk until you have a smooth chocolately mix. Allow to cool.
Once your chocolate spread has cooled you’re ready to make the french toast and assemble your dish. You will need:
4 slices bread – preferably brioche
1 egg
75 ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp. caster sugar
25 g butter
Icing sugar
Toasted hazelnuts and raspberries to serve
What you do:
Whisk the egg, milk, vanilla and sugar together in a wide bowl.
Using a heart shaped cutter , cut out the centre of each slice of bread. Spread chocolate on two of the slices and then top each with the other pieces ie you will have two sandwiches!
Press the edges together to prevent the spread leaking out
Dip each of the sandwiches into the egg mixture and allow to sit for a minute on each side to soak up mix.
Heat the butter in large frying pan, add the sandwiches and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Transfer to your serving plate (s), add raspberries and chopped hazelnuts and sprinkle with icing sugar .
Your romantic breakfast is now ready to present to the object of your affections….. Enjoy 😘
Happy Romantic Cooking!
Yvonne xx
If you’d like to join the weekly Hey Pesto! cookalong or attend one of my online cookery classes then please click here for details.
Special thanks to Jeff Harvey for the great food photography📷
This year Shrove Tuesday is only two days after Valentine’s Day so when the lovely Sinead in Midlands 103 asked would I do some romantic dishes I thought what better than to combine the two in a delicious heart shaped pancake stack ❤
To make this plate of deliciousness you need lemon curd and it’s so easy to make, trust me. I use Darina’s recipe and it hasn’t let me down since I first made it in Ballymaloe
Lemon Curd
What you need:
50g butter
110g caster sugar
2 lemons, zest and juice
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten together
What you do:
In a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, melt the butter and add the sugar, lemon zest and juice.
Whisk in the eggs and continue to whisk until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Take off heat and allow to cool – it will thicken further.
You can keep any leftover curd in the fridge for a week though I doubt if it will last that long 😊
Now you can start to make your pancakes – these are American style and are thicker than our traditional pancakes. Try and make them heart shaped if you can – I used a mould that I bought in Dunnes Stores last year – it was designed for frying eggs but if you know me you’ll know that that’s never going to happen in my kitchen!
Blueberry Pancakes
What you need:
300g self-raising flour
1 tsp bread soda
2 eggs
250 ml buttermilk
1 pink lady apple, grated
100g bluberries and extra for serving …
butter or oil for frying
What you do:
Mix the flour, bread soda and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, then gradually whisk in the eggs and the buttermilk.
Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the grated apples and the blueberries
Melt a little butter in a non-stick pan or wipe with sunflower oil.
When hot, add small ladles of batter to the pan to make small pancakes (use a mould if you have one) Cook for 2-3 mins until bubbles appear and the bottoms are set. Flip and cook for a few mins more.
Transfer to a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest of the batter.
To assemble the stack, start with a pancake, cover it with lemon curd and repeat ! Serve with lots of fresh blueberries
Don’t forget it’s a sharing stack….
Happy Cooking!
Yvonne xx
If you’d like to join the weekly Hey Pesto! cookalong or attend one of my online cookery classes then please click here for details.
📷Special thanks to Jeff Harvey for the great food photography
We can’t do Trick or Treat as normal this year so let’s try and make Halloween at Home special . I know I promised on Midlands 103 this morning that I would post the recipes that we discussed so here’s a rather quick post to give you some inspiration
Put the sticks into the stalk end of the apples. Put the apples on a baking tray or plate lined with baking parchment
Put the sugar into a large saucepan with the lemon juice and 50 ml water. Bring to a simmer and let the sugar dissolve – don’t stir it!
Carefully add the golden syrup and let the mixture bubble until it looks like toffee. To test if it’s done take out a little on a spoon and drop it into a cup of cold water – it should harden straight away. If it doesn’t continue to boil for another few minutes and test it again.
Add a few drops of food colouring and take the pan off the heat.
Dip the apple into the toffee, you may have to tip the pan to cover all the skin. (BE CAREFUL) Let any excess toffee drip off and put on the baking parchment to harden
Repeat with the other apples.
Spooky Forest
What you need:
For the mousse:
150g marshmallows
50g butter
250g dark chocolate
60ml boiled water
250 ml cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Good splash Cointreau (adults only!)
Zest of 1 orange
Trees:
White chocolate, melted
Googly eyes
Soil:
Blitzed Oreo cookies
What to do:
To make the mousse:
Put marshmallows, butter and chocolate and water in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add in orange zest.
Whip the cream and add vanilla extract and Cointreau
Take chocolate mix off heat. Fold cream into chocolate until smooth.
Pour into glasses
Leave to set in fridge
For the trees:
Trace some scary trees onto baking parchment (you’ll find lots of templates online). Then melt some white chocolate and pipe/brush onto the shape
Attach eyes and leave to set
To Assemble
Top the mousse with the crushed cookies
Then carefully peel the trees of the parchment and stick into the mousse
Decorate with mini pumpkins etc.
Marshmallow Zombies
What you need:
Marshmallows
White chocolate, melted
Lollipop sticks
Icing pens
Googly eyes
What you do:
Put each marshmallow on a lollipop stick and dip into white chocolate
Allow chocolate to set – standing in a glass is the easiest
Then decorate the marshmallow with eyes and drawing on a mouth
Happy Cooking & A Very Spooky Halloween!
Yvonne xx
If you’d like to attend one of my cookery classes online then please click here for details.
I love Christmas. I love everything about it – I can’t wait to get my tree and decorations up, wrap presents, catch up with friends and of course plan all my festive food.
This year I started my Christmas demos with Neff in early November and whilst by now I wouldn’t mind if I never saw turkey and ham again I’m still planning and making lots of dishes and goodies to share with friends and family .
So when the lovely Sinead in Midlands 103 asked me to share some festive ideas on air I was happy to do so ( though I suspect one of the reasons that I keep being asked back is that I bring food 😉
As promised here are some of the recipes that I discussed on air with Will Faulkner earlier today
For starters, or to serve with drinks try sausage truffles or prawn shots :
Sausage Truffles
What you need:
125g plain flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp smoked jalapeno powder (or smoked paprika)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 lb sausage meat
80g cheddar, grated
50g butter, melted
30 ml milk
What you do:
Preheat oven to 200 C
Mix your dry ingredients together then add in sausage meat, cheese, butter and milk
Mix well and then using wet hands form into approx. 24 balls. Chill if you have time
Place on lined baking sheet and bake for 20 mins until golden.
Serve hot or cold with a cranberry dipping sauce (mix sour cream, cranberry sauce and a dash of mustard)
Prawn Shots
What you need:
12 large (raw) prawns, peeled but with tail on
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Juice of 1 limes
1 red chilli, chopped
Fresh mint, chopped
What you do:
Split the prawns lengthways (making sure to remove the black vein). Then place them on baking sheet/grill pan, drizzle with a little (chilli) oil. Cook under very hot grill for 3-4 mins
Mix all the other ingredients together and divide between 12 shot glasses. Then Top each glass with a prawn.
Or alternatively pour the dipping sauce into a dish and arrange the prawns around the side of the dish
You’ll find ideas on cooking the perfect turkey and a vegetarian roast elsewhere in my blog so I’m going to head straight to dessert, This year, inspired by a Tom Kerridge podcast, my favourite is a festive cheesecake:
Christmas Pudding Cheesecake Pots
What you need:
150g ginger nut biscuits
50g butter, melted
200g Christmas pudding
30 ml Cointreau
Zest and juice of 1 orange
250g cream cheese (the full fat version please!)
250g mascarpone
80g soft brown sugar
200 ml cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
What you do:
Crush the biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter together and press into the base of each shot glass (this mix should make approx. 24 pots)
Blitz the Christmas pudding, brandy and orange zest to a puree
Whisk the cream cheese, mascarpone, cream and sugar and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy.
Carefully fold the pudding purée into the cream cheese mix. Pipe or spoon onto the biscuit base
Leave to chill before serving.
By now you should be feeling rather full so we’ll move onto what to do with your leftovers.
Potato cakes always make a good addition to Stephen’s Day and will use up leftover mash and ham
Potato & Ham Cakes
What you need:
400g mashed potatoes
100g Leftover ham, chopped
1 egg
Bunch spring onions, chopped
pinch of chilli powder or dash of chilli sauce
seasoning
What you do:
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Shape into cakes
Shallow fry or bake cakes in oven (180 C) for 15- 20 mins until cakes start to crisp
And then when you’re looking for ideas to use up the leftover turkey why not try this Mexican inspired dish ….
Festive Picadillo
What you need:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. flaked almonds
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
50g raisins
Jar Passata
300ml chicken stock
Shredded Cooked Turkey
What to do:
Heat 1 tbsp. oil in an ovenproof casserole dish and sauté the onion until soft.
Stir in the garlic and spices and cook for another minute.
Then add in remaining ingredients – almonds, vinegar, raisins, passata & stock.
Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for about 20 mins.
Add in shredded turkey and allow to heat through
Serve in tortilla baskets or with rice and topped with sour cream
This has been a rather rushed post so I hope it all makes sense. Once again my new year’s resolution will be to be more organised!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Cooking & A Very Happy Christmas!
Yvonne xx
If you’d like to come along to one of my cookery classes or book me for a demo then please click here for details.
If you‘d like details of our catering options then please click here or contact me directly on 087 2488124
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