Recipes – Page 4 – Hey Pesto!

Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

To fry or not to fry?

February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 heypesto

I bought a deep fat fryer a few years ago because I wanted to cook Deep Fried Brie – it’s a favourite of the Chief Taster 😉 After about two uses it took up residence somewhere deep in my shed. Anything that needs to be deep fried is now baked. Well except for the brie – experiments have proven that it ‘explodes’ in the oven and it is now a dish to be enjoyed only when we’re out 🙂

Last night we had a ‘Taste of Asia’ class with dishes from China, India and Thailand. All the dishes were very well received including the baked spring rolls with hoisin sauce.

Here’s all you need to do to make a healthier version of take away spring rolls:

Spring Rolls

What you need:

Selection of vegetables such as:
- 1 carrot, finely julienned
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- Tin of Chinese mushrooms
- 1/2 packet Beansprouts
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
10 Spring Roll Wrappers
1 egg, beaten
Dipping Sauce:
- 3 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. Nam Pla (fish sauce)
- 1 tbsp. cold water
- 1 chilli, finely chopped

What you do:

Heat a tbsp of sunflower oil in a wok.
Add the vegetables and stir fry for 2-3 mins
Add the soy and oyster sauces, cook for another minute then set aside to cool.
Place spring roll wrapper on chopping board. Place a small pile of vegetables, in lower corner of wrapper – Fold bottom over, then bring in the two sides and roll over to enclose the filling – like an envelope (It gets easier!)
Seal the end of the pastry by brushing with the beaten egg.
Then brush each roll with egg and bake in hot oven (200 C Fan) for 10 mins until crispy
To make dipping sauce – mix hoisin sauce, fish sauce, water and chillies in a bowl.

You could also add shredded duck or pork if you’d like. I was pleasantly surprised that the Chief Taster polished off the veggie ones 🙂

Happy Cooking !

If you’d like to attend one of my cookery classes in Tullamore please let me know. Next week is a ‘Taste of the Americas’

Catering, Cocktails, Cookery Classes, desserts, Food, Recipes

Love (and Chocolate) is in the Air….

February 2, 2014February 2, 2014 heypesto

Chocolate has always been associated with sensual and romantic properties and when we indulge in it’s silky lusciousness, endorphins are released in our brains which make us feel happy and loved.

In the last year I’ve been very lucky to work with Butler’s Chocolates, giving chocolate cookery classes in their demo kitchen in Clonshaugh. I try to theme each class around an event so naturally the February class was all about Cupid, Valentines and Love! I do 7-8 recipes per class and I’m always amazed at how quickly the tasters disappear!

I’m also doing a ‘Cupid’s Dining’ class in my own kitchen on Tuesday 4th February – a three course romantic meal guaranteed to impress that special someone in your life 😉

There will be scallops , venison and lots of chocolate among other things on the menu …and of course some pink bubbles . If you’d like more details on this or any of my classes please let me know.

One of the big hits from yesterday’s class was the salted caramel dessert and here’s the recipe of you want to surprise your loved one on Valentine’s Day

Cupid’s Salted Caramel Delight

Serves 2

What you need:

3-4 tbsp dulce de leche – I use Ballyshiel
½ tsp sea salt plus extra to serve
50g dark chocolate
50g milk chocolate
75 ml cream
Good ‘glug’ Kahlua

What you do:

Stir in the sea salt into the dulce de leche and divide mix between two glasses
Melt the two chocolates together then stir in the cream until smooth.
Add in the liqueur and carefully pour over the caramel
Allow to chill for at least 2 hours then serve sprinkled with sea salt crystals.

Happy Cooking !

PS a message for the Chief Taster – it’s your turn to cook for me this year 😉

Chef, Cocktails, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Restaurants

Beating the January Blues

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 heypesto

2 weeks into January and my resolutions are still going strong – well most of them ! I started my get fit regime (albeit gently) , had a great turn out for my first cookery class and enjoyed my first meal out of the year.

The Chief Taster surprised me with a night away in Dunbrody House Hotel – just the thing to chase away the January blues. If you haven’t been, Dunbrody is a beautiful Georgian House in Arthurstown , Co. Wexford run by TV Chef Kevin and Catherine Dundon.

We stayed in a lovely room overlooking the garden and the beautifully laid out herb garden. I will admit to being slightly jealous 😉 The CT had to go do some work so I relaxed with coffee and my book.

Then it was time to preen ourselves for dinner and pre-prandial drinks by the fire. I’m still searching for a ‘grown up’ pre-dinner drink – thanks to a recommendation from the cocktail guru Geoff Boyle I decided to try a Hendricks gin and tonic but was a little disappointed to be told that they had run out of Hendricks over Christmas. I picked a Campari from the drinks menu after that – it will not be my drink of choice 😉 . He stuck to his usual whiskey and was happy.

We were served a very tasty salmon dip while we decided on our dinner choices and then shown into the beautiful dining room.

Dinner did not disappoint. We both loved the black pudding and chorizo bread (I shall be attempting a version..). Then I had the Smoked Salmon and the Venison , while the Chief Taster had the Pigeon and the Halibut. I loved the flavour combination of the smoked celery root purée with the venison but I will admit to passing on the sunchoke!

We don’t normally do desserts but our lovely waitress Sarah persuaded us – so he opted for the doughnuts and coffee and I went for the cheese board which would have comfortably fed four if not six people! And then there were handmade chocolates…… All these delights were washed down by a very pleasant Lawton Hill’s Pinot Noir.
We were so full we couldn’t even manage a postprandial drink – even the stairs were a challenge 🙂

Would you believe the lovely Sarah turned out to be the equally lovely Paula Ryan’s niece. Talk about a small world!

Breakfast was another feast – did I mention I’m joining a gym! There were two ladies in the dining room who were heading to the Cookery School for the day and I would have loved to have gone with them but unfortunately it was time to head back to reality.

If you’re looking for a relaxing mini break with excellent food I’d definitely recommend Dunbrody House. Next time I’m definitely doing a cookery class 🙂

Speaking of cookery here is one of the dishes from my first ‘Healthier Cooking’ class – warm, comforting and healthy!

Chickpea & Red Pepper Stew

What you need:

1 tbsp. rapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red peppers, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 jar passata
1 tin chickpeas
Pinch of sugar
Seasoning
Fresh coriander

What you do:

Heat oil over a gentle heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan, add onion and pepper and cook for about 10 mins until softened
Add the garlic and the paprika and cook for another minute.
Add in the passata plus a pinch of sugar and the chickpeas. Leave to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Season and serve with rice, sprinkled with fresh coriander

PS Crisped chorizo sprinkled over the top may add a few more calories but it is rather delicious….

Happy Cooking !

Catering, Chef, Cooking, Food, Recipes

Pasta Bake for Supper ?

January 4, 2014January 5, 2014 heypesto

Way back when I didn’t cook – well career women didn’t – my idea of a cooked dinner was either a Marks & Spencer ready meal or, if I was feeling very adventurous, a pasta bake. And yes to my shame I used packet sauce – well I did add in the tuna and the sweetcorn and make the salad 😉 Actually thinking about it I feel sorry for my partner at the time – thankfully his Mother always invited us for Sunday lunch so he was guaranteed one decent meal a week!

Now thanks to Darina Allen, my time in Ballymaloe and in particular my friend Nicola, I can now make my own pasta bake . I promise no packet sauces have crossed my threshold for years 🙂

This is a variation on my standby recipe and as such I have to apologise as all quantities are approximate. I know – this used to drive me mad when I was learning to cook and it’s taken me a long time to be confident with ‘a bit of this and a handful of that’. I blame it on my scientific background.

I also wanted to blog this today to help you use up any Christmas leftovers still lurking in your fridge before Twelfth Night. Last night’s supper was to use up mine before the new year’s resolutions kick in on Monday ………

Thankfully the turkey and ham are long gone and all I had left was Smoked Salmon,Camembert and Cream ?

So what do you do?

Cook and drain some pasta – I estimated enough for 2. The general guideline is 75g dried pasta per person. I’d have preferred to use penne but hey, the choice was between fusilli or animal shapes. The fusilli won
Sauté a shallot and some chopped peppers in a butter/oil mix. Add some chopped smoked salmon (I used 2 long slices) , a handful of frozen peas and somecapers.
Cook for 2-3 mins then add a good glug of vermouth(or white wine if you’ve a bottle open). Allow to reduce for few minutes.
Pour in cream (I had about half a large carton left , approx 250ml) and a teaspoon of my ‘secret’ ingredient – Ikea‘s dill mustard. Trust me you need a jar of this in your fridge!
Then add in the cooked pasta and transfer the mix to a casserole dish.
Top with panko breadcumbs and chunks ofcamembert.
Bake for 15-20 mins at 170 C Fan until golden and bubbling.
Serve with a nice big glass of wine……….and a green salad

Happy Cooking !

The health kick starts Monday I promise………… I’ll be researching recipes for my lighter cooking course which starts 14th January

Catering, Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegetarian

Happy New Year and all that …..

January 1, 2014January 3, 2014 heypesto

Happy New Year! I’m full of good intentions this morning – well who isn’t? 😉

2013 was exciting, if a tad stressful – the best bit being moving house and installing not one but two kitchens – one for me and one for Hey Pesto!
Now I have no excuses so it’s time to start making plans for the year ahead……..

I want to :

concentrate on the ‘cookery school side’ of the business – starting with my lighter cooking course on 14th January. I’ve been blown away by the feedback from my classes so far and I can’t believe how much I love doing them.
continue to grow my catering business. I can’t believe it’s 9 years since I started Hey Pesto!
blog more – I know, I know, I said that last year but there were far too many distractions. I also want to finally get round to creating a website (Stop laughing – yes you!)
cook more for pleasure – now that I have a library for my cookery books I need to use them! (I shall also be looking for ‘guinea pigs’)
enjoy lots of good food in the company of good friends and loved ones.

Another thing that I am very conscious of is the amount of food that is wasted. I tried to cut down last year but bad habits crept back in… So since Christmas I have trying to use up everything – I haven’t been food shopping since Christmas Eve and have managed to produce a number of tasty meals – ok I know we all overstock before the holidays but………

Of course I’m also going to be “super” healthy in 2014….well maybe I should start with healthier…….I even got a birthday present of gym membership (a less than subtle hint perhaps!)

So my first meal of 2014 is going to be a Vegetarian Crumble to use up all the sad vegetables still lurking in the pantry.

Spiced Vegetable Crumble

No Servings: 4 -6

Oven: 180ºC/ gas 4

What you need:

1 – 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1-2 cm fresh ginger, grated
1/2 jar passata
Approx 750g mixed root vegetables, chopped
500ml vegetable stock
75g flour
75g Kilbeggan Porridge Oats
50g butter
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

What you do:

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion for approx 5 mins. Meanwhile dry fry the cumin nad coriander seeds and roughly grind in a pestle and mortar (Okay you can use a spice grinder but think of the exercise!)
Add the garlic, spices and ginger to the onions, cook for another minute then add in 2 tbsps of passasta. Cook for another minute then add in the rest of the passata.
Add in the chopped vegetables – I used carrots, celery(not a root veg I know but it was in the basket), sweet potato and parsnips. I also threw in the half packet of chestnuts that were languishing in the fridge since I made turkey & leek pie.
Transfer the mix to a casserole dish and pour in your vegetable stock.
Make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the flour and oats. Add in the cayenne pepper – both for colour and seasoning. You could use paprika if you prefer.
Top the vegetables with the crumble mix and bake for 30-40 mins. until the top is golden and bubbling.

My dish is ready to go into the oven but as it has stopped raining I may even attempt to go for a walk! Looking forward to dinner later with a nice glass of red wine – well it is still Christmas ….

Happy Cooking and Happy New Year!

PS What are you planning for 2014?!

This is how the Crumble turned out and if I do say so myself it was rather tasty!

Catering, Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

Vegetarians deserve Christmas too!

December 20, 2013March 12, 2015 heypesto

When I was in college and living away from home for the first time I decided I would become a vegetarian. I have to to say it was more from economic than altruistic reasons … that and the fact I had a major aversion to handling raw meat!
This ‘phase’ lasted for about 14 years – and ended abruptly 3 days into my time studying in Ballymaloe Cookery School when I decided that if I was going to cook for a living I needed to know what everything tasted like And yes it was a rasher sambo that ‘brought me back’ 😉

During my years as a vegetarian I drove my poor Mum mad every Christmas by refusing point blank to touch turkey or ham and insisting on cooking my own dinner down to the vegetarian gravy!

Over the years this nut roast became a Christmas favourite tradition and even my very carnivorous brother gave it his seal of approval.

So if you’re looking for a veggie option for Christmas Day then your search ends here……….

Best Ever Cashew Nut & Mushroom Roast

No Servings: 6

Oven: 180ºC/ gas 4/350ºF

What you need:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
8 oz/225g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
4 oz/110g breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 medium parsnips, cooked and mashed
1 tsp each fresh rosemary & thyme
¼ pt/ 150 ml vegetable stock
Good knob of butter
8 oz/ 225g mushrooms, sliced.

What you do:

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté onion for few mins, Making sure to add a pinch of salt. Add the garlic then cook until soft
In a large bowl mix nuts and breadcrumbs together with the beaten egg.
Add in the mashed parsnips and the herbs, followed by onion and garlic. Make sure you add all the cooking juices in to avoid any dryness in roast
Stir in the stock and season to taste. Set aside
In your pan sauté mushrooms in butter until soft. I always add a little sherry or vermouth at this stage…. it gives a lovely flavour!
Butter and line 2 lb loaf tin. Put a line of your best mushroom pieces down the middle of the base – this will be the top of your roast when you turn it out so make sure they look good!
Then press in half the nut mixture. Cover with a layer of mushrooms and top with rest of nut mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. When cooked remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 mins before turning out.
Serve it hot with all the usual Christmas accompaniments or have it cold with salad and chutney.

Note: You can half the recipe and use a 1 lb loaf tin if you want to cook this for 2-3 people

And if you’re looking for a delicious vegetarian gravy …….. all you need to do is put 1 pt/500ml water, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the jelly. Blend 2 tbsp cornflour with 2 tbsp orange juice and 1 tbsp sherry. Stir a little of hot liquid into cornflour mix, then add back into saucepan, whisking well to ensure no lumps! Simmer over gentle heat until slightly thickened. Season to taste.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking and Happy Christmas!

Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Recipes

Tips for the Perfect Turkey

December 15, 2013December 15, 2013 heypesto

It’s that time of year again. Time to plan the Christmas Feast – turkey, ham and all the trimmings.

I don’t know about you but I’ve always found turkey rather dry despite trying all sorts of methods including cooking it in buttered muslin, breast side down, basting………….Then last year on our Fáilte Ireland food trip to Canada I had my eureka moment when we were treated to a Thanksgiving dinner in the lovely Elmhirst Resort – Brining!

This is so easy to do and you won’t believe the difference this will make to your bird – ask anyone who’s been to one of my Christmas Cookery Classes 🙂

What you need:

¾ cup salt
¾ cup sugar
1 carrot
1 large onion
¼ cup diced celery
2 large sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
¼ tsp. chilli flakes
¼ tsp. fennel seeds
7 litres of water

What you do:

Bring the salt, sugar and 1 litre of water to the boil, stir until dissolved, turn off the heat and add the remaining ingredients and 6 litres of cold water.
Add the turkey to your brine mixture and leave to brine for 24- 72 hours (make sure bird is fully submerged, place a plate on top to help)
Remove the turkey and pat dry
Cover the skin with softened butter
Cook as normal

This brine mix will work for up to a 16 lb. turkey.

I’ve changed the ingredients occasionally to suit what I have to hand. I did two turkey breasts last week using rosemary and pink peppercorns instead of thyme and black pepper and they were gobbled up (sorry I couldn’t resist!)

This year we’re having turkey wellington for Christmas Dinner . I’m going to brine a turkey breast for 48 hours, then remove it from the brine, split it in half (not going quite the way through ) and fill the ‘pocket’ with stuffing.
Then I’ll spread two sheets of puff pastry with cranberry sauce ; place turkey on one sheet and top with the second – sealing the edges together. To finish I’ll brush the pastry with beaten egg and cut a little cross in the top to allow steam to escape. My rule of thumb for cooking this is 20 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes.

This is one I prepared earlier !

I’m still deciding on which stuffing to use on the ‘Big Day’ but at the moment hazelnut & apricot is looking good:

What you need:

1 large onion, finely chopped
50 g butter
50 g hazelnuts, chopped
140g dried ready-to-eat apricots, chopped
200g breadcrumbs
Handful parsley, chopped
Juice & zest of 1 orange

What you do:

Melt butter in frying pan and sauté onions until soft but not coloured (about 5-10 mins).
Add hazelnuts and fry until golden
Stir in apricots, breadcrumbs, zest, juice and parsley. Remove from heat.
Allow to cool completely before using to stuff your bird.

Happy Cooking and Happy Christmas!

P.S. Here’s a few tips for safe cooking this Christmas

Make sure when you’re brining your bird to keep it in the fridge or somewhere cold.
Take turkey out of fridge an hour or two in advance – it will cook more evenly from room temperature
Cooking time depends on size and type of bird – see link below for cooking chart
Use a meat thermometer if you have one, and test thickest part of breast and leg. You want the temperature to hold at 70 C for at least 2 minutes
If you don’t have a meat thermometer use a skewer in the thickest part leg and breast – make sure juices run clear.
Allow the turkey to rest – will stay warm under foil for up to 2 hours. Use this time to cook vegetables
Save yourself time and prep your veg day before!

You can get more safe cooking tips here:

http://www.safefood.eu/Publications/Consumer-info/Have-a-healthy,-happy-Christmas.aspx

Baking, Cookery Classes, desserts, Food, Recipes

Sammy the Spider

October 14, 2013October 20, 2020 heypesto

Have I mentioned that I love the variety of what I do -from catering to canapés to classes?

One of my latest ventures is Chocolate Cookery Classes at the famous Butler’s Chocolates.

So when they asked me to do a Halloween class I had to put my thinking hat on and Sammy the Spider was born …..

To make this cake and be the star of your Halloween Party just follow my instructions which I hope don’t ramble too much…..

The body of the cake is made using one of the most versatile chocolate cake recipes you’ll ever need. I was introduced to it about 10 years ago by Tess and Nicola when I worked in Wicklow and since then I’ve used it for cakes, muffins, mini cupcakes, sweet canapés …..and now spiders.

What you need :

8oz/200g Self raising Flour
9oz/225g Soft Brown Sugar
2o/50g Cocoa Powder
1/4 pt/125ml Milk (the full fat variety please!)
1/4 pt/125ml Sunflower Oil
3 eggs , separated

What you do:

Preheat your oven to at 180C /170 C Fan/Gas 4
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix the milk and oil in a jug and whisk in the egg yolks.
Whisk the egg whites until they’re thick and glossy (as if you were making meringues).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix well and then fold in the egg whites – being careful not to knock out all the air.
And that’s it ! Now pour mix into baking tins – I used two 11.5 cm and one 20 cm- you could make 2 large cakes or 4 small ones.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until firm to touch.
Leave to cool in the tin for about 5 mins then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Note: It’s not worth halving the recipe to make just one small cake so freeze the extra cakes for another day – or make a family of spiders!

Now comes the fun part – the decorating.

First you need some Chocolate Ganache:

To make this you simply heat 200ml cream until simmering then pour over approx 125g dark chocolate chips and stir until melted. If you think it’s not thick enough you can add more chocolate but do remember it will thicken as it cools.

Place on of the 11.5cm cakes on your serving plate (you can do it on a turntable but you have to be very careful when transferring it to its final plate!)

Cover the body of the cake with the ganache then get ready to add the legs. I used wafer rolls for the legs though I think chocolate fingers might work as well.

You need 16 rolls – two for each leg to allow for the bend! Cover each roll in the chocolate ganache (Didn’t I warn you it could get messy!)

Stick 8 of them into the body of the cake to form the tops of the legs. Then carefully ‘glue’ on the bottom half of each leg (wafer) using more of the ganache. (I’ll repeat the picture so you can see what I mean – I hope!)

For the face you need some roll out icing – white for eyes, orange for mouth. Stamp out two white circles for the eyes, ‘glue’ onto the body and then attach an M&M’s to each circle with a little of the ganache.

To make the mouth cut out a smile from the orange icing and stick it on.

Et voila! Your Halloween spider cake is complete and totally worth the mess!

Happy Cooking & Happy Halloween!

PS the best compliment I received on this was from my soon to be 3-year-old nephew – he wants a spider as his birthday cake 🙂

Baking, Cooking, Recipes

Wild Garlic Soda Bread

October 8, 2013October 8, 2013 heypesto

I know , I know. I said I was going to get back to blogging earlier in the year but between moving house, setting up a new kitchen for Hey Pesto! and my involvement in the inaugural Harvest Offaly Food Festival it just didn’t happen.

So here it is – my first blog post in months and I’m starting with an easy one! Earlier in the year Helen from Failte Ireland asked the food champions for an Irish recipe with a ‘modern twist’ and this was mine.

My Nana was famous for her soda bread, well within our family anyway and there’s enough of us! Everyday she made two loaves in her Aga . Always two, never any more than two and to paraphrase an ad ‘when it was gone, it was gone’.

I asked her once for the recipe and she told me ‘a handful of this and a handful of that’. If I’d had the sense at the time I’d have measured the size of her hands! I’m still trying to recreate the taste of her bread and apparently I have come close once or twice though I think the real difference is that she used unpasteurized milk straight from the cow that my great uncle kept in the orchard, that was allowed to go sour naturally (the milk not the cow!)

The great thing about soda bread is that you can add flavours – such as pesto or sundried tomatoes or even chocolate chips for a sweet cake.

In this version of soda bread I have added wild garlic pesto and dried wild garlic leaves to give the taste of summer. I also use spelt flour, an ancient relative of modern wheat, which I think gives a better, lighter loaf

What you need:

450g/1 lb. white spelt flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon bread soda
340-400 ml / 12-14 fl.oz approx buttermilk
1 tbsp wild garlic pesto
1-2 tsp dried wild garlic leaves

What you do:

Preheat oven to 230ºC/Gas 8
Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl, making sure that you sieve in the bread soda.
Add in the wild garlic pesto and the dried leaves if you have them ( dry them overnight in a very low oven when in season and store in an airtight jar).
Make a well in the centre and pour in most of the buttermilk at once. The exact amount of buttermilk can vary, even according to the weather!

Stir in the liquid until completely mixed but be very careful not to overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and gently form into long ‘loaf’ shape. I know a circle is more acceptable but this is the shape my grandmother always used and it makes cutting the bread much easier!

Place the loaf on lined baking sheet. Score a deepish line down the centre and prick the sides to let the fairies out.
Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 180ºC/Gas 4 for another 15-20 mins, or until just cooked.

Tap the bottom of the bread; if it is cooked it will sound hollow. Cool on wire rack and eat as soon as possible!

Perfect with soup or with as a base for bruschetta

I’m not sure if Nana would approve of the garlic but it went down very well here.

If you don’t have wild garlic pesto or if you just fancy a plain white soda then leave it out.

Give it a try – you’ll be amazed at how quick and easy it is to make your own bread.

Happy Cooking!

Baking, Cakes, desserts, Food, Recipes

Love is in the Air

February 3, 2013February 10, 2013 heypesto

My poor blog has been very neglected of late so it’s time to pay it some attention and share a recipe for Valentine’s Day.

In preparation for my ‘Cupid’s Cookery‘ class last week I did a little research on aphrodisiacs and found lots of trivia. Did you know that basil was used for seduction by women in Moldova? Or that Catholic priests in Spain banned avocados because they found them obscenely sexual?

Other reputed aphrodisiacs are honey, almonds and chocolate – so what better way to celebrate St Valentine’s Day than to present the object of your affections with a combination of all three?

This recipe is based on one I found in the course of my research….I’ve made a few alterations and I hope you like it……

What you need:

Heart Shaped loose bottomed tin
180g dark chocolate digestives
60g butter
2 tbsp. flaked almonds
200ml Avonmore Fresh Cream
3 tbsp. Limefield Honey
300g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), in pieces
Generous splash of Cointreau!

What you do:

Crush the biscuits finely and add in the melted butter. Then press into the bottom of heart shaped tin.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan.
Whisk the cream and honey together in a small saucepan over a low heat and then slowly bring the mix to just below the boil.
Pour the mix over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts.
Stir in the toasted almonds and the Cointreau.
Pour the mix into the lined tin and leave to chill for a few hours until set (overnight is best)
Decorate to your heart’s content with almonds, hearts and sparkles!
Serve with lots of extra Avonmore Fresh Dessert Cream

I also made individual ones for last week’s date night – one with added sea salt which I preferred but The Chief Taster preferred the Cointreau version!

Did it live up to expectations? Well, let’s just say there were no complaints ……