Butternut Squash Rosti with Crispy Pork and a Mushroom Nduja Sauce

Posted on December 5, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

I recently discovered a mail order company that specialises in the local produce of Calabria and what a delightful discovery it turned out to be, they supply some of the tastiest dry cuts of meat I have ever tasted and one in particular was a complete revelation, Nduja. It has an intense deep flavour, that lends itself to almost anything you pair it with. You can do anything with it, slice it on toast or add it to sauces, it is completely versatile. This is my favourite so far, hope you enjoy it.

You will need;

2 large ring moulds

1 Butternut Squash

1 Large Potato – I used a waxy Maris Piper

1 Egg

1 Garlic clove

Generous pinch of Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Knob of butter

Nutmeg

Pork loin - I used what was left over from Sunday lunch, thinly sliced.

10g Nduja

Handful of chestnut mushrooms (Girolles would be a better alternative if available)

Spoonful Crème fraiche

How to do it;

Turn your oven to 180c, while the ovens heating up prepare your tatties, cut them into equal size pieces (large enough to handle, in half is generally ok) and pop them in some salted water and boil until they give when poked with the tip of a knife, about 6 – 8 mins, depending on how large the pieces are, drain immediately and allow to air dry.

At the same time cut your butternut squash in half and remove seeds, score into cubes with a sharp knife, pop the garlic clove in the recess of the squash and bang in oven for 20mins.

Once potatoes have cooled down enough to touch coarsely grate into a bowl. Check Butternut squash if it is nicely caramelised on the outside remove from oven and again allow to cool. Once cooled scrape out flesh and add to bowl along with the garlic clove that should now be gooey and sticky. Crack in your egg, grate a 1/3rd of your nutmeg in and season well,mix together.

Heat some butter until it starts foaming in a frying pan then add a touch of olive oil use 2 ring moulds and pack butternut squash mix in and fry until golden on both sides, this should take about 6 mins either side on a medium to high heat.

While your Rosti cooks get a dry pan hot as you dare, smoking, if you can. A drop of oil and whack in your thinly sliced pork, season, turn over and crisp up other side, this will only take 2 mins each side maximum.

In the same pan chop your Nduja into the pan and it will almost instantly start to release it’s flavourful oil, once it has released this throw in your ‘shrooms, fry for 1minute then add your Crème Fraiche and take of the heat. Check y

our Rosti’s these should be nicely golden on both sides by now.

Remove Rosti’s from mould, add your Pork and drizzle your sauce all over this sumptuous

dish. Then sit down, relax and dazzle your taste buds.

Brioche, Burgers and Butter

Posted on October 20, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

It has been a while so after feeling a little disconsolate about neglecting my blog for some time, I decided to get my arse into gear and well… this is the result of a couple of hours unadulterated fun (in my world) hope you enjoy it!

After being told how easy it was to make your own butter and after tasting the product of said activities I decided to give it a go. My intentions were purely to see how it went,but suprisingly my results were fantastic. When I was told how easy it was I did not believe for one minute it would be…I was wrong! and all you need is;

2* 500Ml Double Cream
Salt (to your personal taste)

Decant into your mixing bowl and if your lucky enough to have a table top mixer then set it to a medium speed and leave (the mixer not the kitchen) At this point I measured out my ingredients for the Brioche burger buns. In about 5 minutes you will here a delightful sploshing sound coming from the bowl, when you hear this the butter is done and the buttermilk has separated. Drain the liquid off, you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days and use it for such things as pancakes, however be warned this is no good for making biscuits and anything that needs a good rise as this requires the acidity of the shop bought variety.

Knead as much buttermilk out of the butter as you can then transfer to a bowl of Ice cold water and knead for a further 2 mins to ensure all buttermilk is out. If not it will go very bad very quickly. Take out of water add your salt and work the butter in, then form in to shape. I do not have a paddle so I used a couple of fish slices! Wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate and should be ok for a couple of months.

As you may remember a short while ago whilst the cream was getting a bashing I prepared the ingredients for my brioche buns;

3 eggs
50g Butter – Homemade
500g Plain Flour
100g Strong Bread Flour
1* packet dried yeast
200ml warm milk
10g Salt

Mix the salt and flour first then add the yeast. When thoroughly mixed add the butter and rub in to a breadcrumb texture is achieved then add the eggs 1 by 1, when fully incorporated slowly add the milk, the dough then needs to be worked for no less than 10minutes it will remain slightly tacky. Do not overwork, the dough is ready when it has a smooth appearance and good pliability. Lightly oil a large bowl and put dough in, leave to rise for 1 and a half hours (depending on the heat in kitchen)

Meanwhile prep your burgers;

This makes 4 acceptable sized burgers

Burgers

500g steak mince
half a grated onion
Salt & Pepper

I do not put anything else in the burger as I want the beef to do the talking. Thoroughly mix by hand and pop in fridge until ready to fry.

Dressing

200ml virgin oil
100g groundnut oil
Pinch English Mustard Powder
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
3 egg yolks
1 clove Garlic
dollop of Tomato Ketchup

lightly beat the egg yolks and slowly add the groundnut oil, do this really slowly or the egg will split, then add mustard powder mix thoroughly and add the rest of oil still whisking very slowly when nice and thick and clinging to whisk add vinegar and garlic and incorporate completly, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Finish with a touch of Tommy K, just enough to give sauce a nice pink tinge.

Preheat oven to 160C

Back to the bread, keep up! When doubled in size slightly oil your hands and knock the air out and knead for further 2 minutes, divide into equal, plum, sized balls (you can freeze the dough at this point) roll out required amount of buns so they are approx 2cm thick and allow to prove on baking tray for another hour or doubled in size.

Cover with cling film. when risen give the tops a quick brush with eggwash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Put in oven for approx 30mins or until soft and golden brown.

While Bread is cooking get a griddle nice and hot and mould your burgers to desired size and fry on either side until chargrilled on either side – 7 minutes either side should be sufficient but always check that it is cooked thoroughly.

When done build your burger with whatever toppings your heart desires – I like a mild cheddar mixed with Swiss Gouda for ultimate delicous mouthwatering ooziness topped with crispy prosciutto and crunchy lettuce, pickled cucumbers and a generous amount of dressing. Enjoy!

The perfect picnic partner for savoury aficionados

Posted on May 27, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

What is not to like about scotch eggs? of course it has to have a suitably large chunk of sharp, crispy Piccalilli on the side of the plate to add a bit of zest to the rather bland eggs bought in most generic supermarkets. But you can’t carry a jar of piccalilli around with you to your wonderfully sunny picnic! so what to do? Well I for one suggest put the pickle in the egg!

The perfect picnic accoutrement for you savoury aficionados! Here it is

For 2 eggs;

600g good sausage meat - I used Pork shoulder from Teares Butchers in Ramsey, flavour with Sage, allspice , Thyme, Salt and caramelised onions and minced it using the large coarse attachment on the mincer. I then left the meat to a day for the flavours to amalgamate. You can of course use your favourite brand of sausage; just remove the skin and mould around your egg.

3 Large Free range eggs – 1 for dipping

enough flour to coat eggs for frying

Piccalilli – I cheated here and used a Jar bought at local farmers market

Good quality breadcrumbs – not that fluorescent yellow shite you can buy in the shops, if not making your own try and get hold of Panko breadcrumbs.

Ok so first hard boil your egg – I am removing the yolk so it doesn’t have to be runny – 10 minutes should do it.

Put your fryer on to heat up about 200C and your oven at 140C – you will see why later

When egg has cooled down, discard shell, and using a sharp knife slice down the middle then using a spoon, scoop out the yolk – in theory it should just pop out. Spoon in a generous amount of piccalilli enough to fill both sides of the egg, then place 2 halves together and mould your sausage meat around the egg. If the kitchen is warm, pop egg in fridge for 10 minutes while you line up three bowls in this order

Flour – Beaten Egg – Breadcrumbs

Dip your moulded egg in each and try to get a nice even coating of each on your egg, then repeat, dipping it twice will ensure a nice crisp shell. Test the oil is hot enough by dropping a few breadcrumbs in to the oil – they should immediately fizz back to the surfaceSlowly lower your egg in to the fat – ensuring it is not touching the bottom as it will burn! keep turning until all sides are a deep golden colour – at this point I transfer from oil into the oven for 10 minutes just to ensure your sausage meat is cooked all the way through.

After 10 take out of the oven and allow to cool, then tuck in and enjoy!!

A Taste of the unexpected by Mark Diacono

Posted on May 24, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

When I first received this book I had a quick look through and thought “if there was an illustration of the North south divide this book is the perfect representation of such a divide, I do not believe that half of the country are going to be able to grow a large proportion of the fruit and vegetables in this book”

Gladly I am wrong! A further look at the book shows it to be a wonderfully written book that clearly shows Marks passion for his subject and left me with the decision of what I am going to try and grow on my allotment next year. If a book can do this then it is defenitly worth adding to your collection.

The pages are glossy and well illustrated and very informative with both growing details and great recipes to use with the result of your efforts. If I can grow a fraction of what is offered in this book I will be very happy.

Mark has succesfully written a book that is very different to most other books on the market in the fact that it is not vanilla and samey – advising you how to grow the same old things year after year. This in my eyes is a great acheivment and I know I will get great satisfaction from this book over the coming years – now how many books is that true of?

Publishing Details

Hardcover: 192 pages

Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (30 Sep 2010)

Language English

ISBN-10: 9781844008469

ISBN-13: 978-1844008469

ASIN: 1844008460

Product Dimensions: 25 x 19.2 x 3 cm

RRP £20

Bake & Decorate – Fiona Cairns

Posted on April 26, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

I am sure by now the author of this wonderfully simple cookbook needs no introducing, when looking through this book and at some of the recipes it was a little bit overwhelming and my first impressions were that the recipes and techniques had been over simplified. However once again the old cliche ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ was definitely appropriate.

I attempted something quick and simple for the first recipe as I was going on holiday and madeclassic shortbread and the results were positively astounding! it was without doubt the nicest shortbread I have ever tasted, and 10 days later the uneaten shortbread was still crunchy and melted in the mouth.

Once back off holiday I attempted something more elaborate and a friends birthday was coming up so I attempted the Chocolate Spiral on P144, and whilst not looking as well finished as the one in the book it was deceptively easier than ‘first impressions’ and created that wow factor at the party. Will post photo’s in seperate post.

Amongst a saturated market of baking books this one stands out and has definitely earned it’s place on my bookshelf. It also highlights why Fiona Cairns was chosen to bake the royal wedding cake.

Bake and Decorate by Fiona Cairns

Published 2010

RRP 12.99

ISBN – 978 184400 944 2

The Abbey – Castle Rushen

Posted on March 29, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

I don’t think there is a better setting on the Isle of Man for a restaurant than in the grounds of a ruined Savignac/Cistercian Abbey in the gorgeous Ballasalla.

The restaurant has recently been renovated to a very high quality and they have tried to produce a menu to match http://www.theabbeyrestaurant.co.im/food/à-la-carte.aspx, have they succeeded? I have been back to the restaurant 3 times over a two month period, in the interest of fairness of course, these are my observations.

The restaurant has been splendidly renovated to a very high quality the rooms are large and airy, but not so much as to feel lost in them. The decorating has utilised the buildings old natural features well giving it a modern feel but without losing the traditional atmosphere.

The children’s play area at the back is inspired and incorporated into the grounds of the abbey and enveloped by the ancient walls, you can almost imagine the monks gliding around peacefully at one with there surroundings getting on with the daily chores.

When you walk in you are greeted almost immediately and attended to quickly and professionally, it was busy both times but the waiter always found us a nice table, and when you are dining with a 2 year old child some places do tend to shove you out of the way!

Once at the tables the waiter was very attentive to start and drinks came promptly, but had to wait nearly 20 minutes before he came back to take the lunch order.

This is what I had;

Starter – Ham terrine with grape chutney – £6.75

Saddle of Venison

Saddle of Venison with fondant potatoes and red cabbage – £21.50

My good lady had;

Queenie salad – £7.95
Chocolate Torte – Complimentary – reason to follow – normally £5.95

Me boyo had;

Mini burger and fries – £6.00

So the starter was probably the best course of the meal, the Ham terrine was course and had a nice texture but the grape chutney was too sweet, and upset the balance of the dish it should be acidic to cut through the rich fatiness of the terrine.

The Venison was cooked to my liking but I had to inform the waiter how I wanted it cooking as I wasn’t given an option, but again the star of the show was let down by it’s supporting actors, the potato fondant had no colour, which I could forgive, but it was also completely raw in the middle. Then there was the red cabbage, again I expected it to be leaning towards the pickled side, but it was sickly sweet side that completely overpowered the rest of the dish.

The Queenie salad was a Queenie salad! Not much else to say on that other than they could have been a tad warmer. Me Boyos burger was fine as well again it was a burger, chips cooked well and presented in a nice paper cone which is a nice touch for the kids.

The complaint was handled well, I was offered a replacement, but declined, my dessert was then taken off the bill as a gesture of good will, this went down well.

So the most important question is will I go again? Well the answer is definitely yes, but not to eat straight away, maybe for coffee and cakes for the moment. Over the three visits I thought the food is alright, a bit vanilla, but for the prices they want I do not think they warrant it. They are trying hard and I believe they will get there but at the moment it is not quite right.

48Hr Pomegranate Soaked Lamb

Posted on February 25, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

After getting sick of eating pomegranates the last few weeks I had a bowl of seeds sitting unemployed and glistening in the fridge, twinkling at me, teasing me every time I opened the fridge door, not wanting to throw them out or eat them in their current guise. I needed inspiration and as if slaughtered to answer my calls it was there! Oh hello beautiful Manx loaghtan leg fillet whispering sweet nothings from the bowels of my fridge -what’s that you have come in search of a beautiful temptress? Well allow me to introduce you! Pomegranate meet the lovely deep flavoured and mature Loaghtan, Loaghtan meet the shimmering jewels of ruby goodness, take a good look because the next time you meet her she will be undressed!

So how long should the courtship be? Not to be seen as a killjoy I thought 2 days should be plenty of time. Time to get undressed!

For the Sauce

2 Pomegranates

200ml Pre bought pomegranate juice

1Tbsp Local honey

1/2 Preserved lemon

For the Marital Bed

500g Good Greek Feta

1 Red Pepper

I popped the seeds into the blender, reserve a handful for decoration, ( I didn’t hence the lack of pomegranate seeds in picture and addition of distracting red peppers!)

Blend for a couple of minutes then pass through a fine sieve and blend again for a further minute and pass through sieve again.

Courting

Time to bring the playful lamb into play, slice the Lamb (I used a Leg fillet de-boned by the butcher, approx 1 1/2 lb) into temptingly mouthwatering morsels then in an improbable bad catchphrase done in the style of Paddy McGuiness “let the meat see the Juice” and leave for 48 hrs. If you can’t wait that long then it will still be very tasty after 24Hours.

Pre – Wedding Preparation

After the 2 days, the ingredients are separated and sent off for their individual pampering.

For the Groom

Heat the oven up to 140C, pop your Lamb into a roasting tray with a little of the juice, cover with foil and put in oven for around 1hour after the hour take the foil off and allow to brown for further half hour. At this point also you can add your marital bed.

For the Wife

Whilst your Lamb is cooking make your sauce, melt a knob of butter in a pan and add your pomegranate juice, Honey and finely slice preserved Lemon, reduce until the sauce becomes thick and shiny.

For the Marital Bed

Divide your Feta into 4 ‘beds’ put each individual piece into little trays, drizzle with Olive oil, sprinkle with Pepper and Oregano then bake in the oven for the final 30 minutes of the Lamb cooking.

The Cerermony

Place your bed in the middle of the plate, it should be soft, wobbly and unctous by now, line the groom up in slices across the bed of Feta then pour over your wife and let them consumate their marriage.

Eventually a Practically Perfect Pavlova

Posted on February 2, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

After playing around with several different recipes and having not so good results, all of which resulted in my meringue collapsing and breaking up into a trillion shards of the most perfect meringue dust imaginable, I tinkered with a few different recipes and found one that I have now cooked three times all with the same results.

It is this simple! For the Meringue;

3 Free Range Egg whites – save the yolks for my upcoming lemon curd blog!

175g Caster sugar

2 Drops of Lemon Juice

1/2 cap full white wine vinegar

Take my hand and I will show you the way;

Pre-heat oven to 200C of gas mark equivalent

Put the egg whites and sugar into a large mixing bowl or free standing mixer and whisk like your life depends on it – for at least 7 minutes with an electric hand held whisk and around 5 if you are lucky enough to own a free standing mixer. When the mix is forming nice stiff peaks add the lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Whisk for further 2 minutes.

Your mix should now be very glossy and as the old adage goes ‘you should be able to place over your head and it will not fall out’ however if you do not want to risk getting covered in a white sticky goo the just look at your peaks – how many double entendre can one get into a paragraph! – if they are pointing to the ceiling when you have lifted the whisk out you are on to a winner!

Spoon mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment – I also dust with icing sugar to help removal after baking. You can make whatever shapes you want at this stage but for the traditionalists out there I mad a bird nest’esque’ shape dipped in the middle to accommodate the filling.

Place in oven for 10 minutes then turn oven as low as it will go and leave inside for at least 2 hours, longer if you have the time, but after 2 it should be perfectly acceptable. Do not give in to the urge to take a sneaky peak as this can result in the whole meringue cracking.

For the filling;

You can use whatever you like to fill the meringue, this is what I used;

500g raspberries

500g Strawberries

250ml Double Manx cream

1 Vanilla Pod

100g Caster Sugar

20ml water

Take 50g of Strawberries (de-hulled , of course!) and 50g of Raspberries and place in a pan with the caster sugar and water and simmer for approximately 10 minute until soft and mashable. Allow the resulting mush to cool slightly then push through a fine sieve to remove the pesky seeds and retain resulting syrup for later.

Whisk up your cream, with the seeds of your vanilla pod, until firm – not stiff and not too runny, it should be easy to spread without too much effort. Scoop into the well of your meringue and top with the fresh fruit. Tower the fruit in the middle to create a focal point, then drizzle prepared syrup over the top of the meringue.

Now go and impress your friends and family with this easy Raspberry & Strawberry Meringue. Enjoy!

Review – First Flat Cookbook – Tiffany Goodall

Posted on January 26, 2011 by masticatingmanxie

Fresh from the success of her student cookbooks, Tilly embarks on helping all the young graduates who have now moved out of their student accommodation, and gives them a helping hand on the road to culinary liberation. This book has been written with the novice cook in mind who has just moved into their first flat and are on a tight budget and as such is packed with freat money saving tips and shortcuts.

The book itself is a put together beautifully, well illustrated and easy to follow with large glossy pictures. The recipes themselves are well written, clear and concise and each page has a helpful little tip to further improve or modify the recipe.

I tried the sweet potatoes and Lentil curry and have to say it was quite delicious and for someone attempting it for the first time it would definitely impress your friends. All recipes included in these book are ideal for the novice and I am sure it will be a great companion through the early stages of culinary exploration.

The First Flat Cookbook

by Tiffany Goodall, published by Quadrille

PB £9.99

ISBN: 9781844008728

A Walk on the Wild Side – Part 1

Posted on November 30, 2010 by masticatingmanxie

Ever taken a walk on the wild side? Well this year I have, I survived and I’m here to tell you how I did it.

Of course I’m not talking about throwing myself out of a plane at 30,000ft or even speeding down an angry swollen river. I am of course talking about pillaging the natural larder. This year has been a fantastic year for the forager and the bounty has been plentiful and I think I should have enough booty to last well through to the spring, in many different guises.

Cherry Plums

The first significant crop of the season, and what a crop it was, the plums were hanging off the branches, like yellow & red jewels glistening in the sun. So laden were they that the branches had drooped to such an extent that they were physically snapping. It was like the trees themselves were begging for us to relieve them as they groaned as the weight was removed from their appendages. So it was after an hour of picking we had over 12lb of fruit to amuse ourselves with.

With all the glorious fruit came the labour, hours of de-stoning all the fruit, we didn’t have anything as exotic as a cherry stoner – oh but we will next year – once the repetitive strain injury’s subsided we had to decide on what to do with the gratuitous amounts of flesh we were left with.

So here’s what we decided on;

Plum Pudding (of Course) – Variation of a Victorian ‘plumless’ pudding! Courtesy of http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-victorian-plum-pudding

This is a variation of a recipe for the classic Plum Pudding served at Christmas. This recipe is based on an original from circa 1880. The original uses sultanas, dates and raisins as the ‘plums’ so I thought Why??

Ingredients:

450g breadcrumbs from good quality white bread (about half a loaf)

160g plums copped finely

250g Caster sugar

1/2 tsp mace

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

240g melted butter

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp almond extract

120g Plum Jam

Method:

Add the breadcrumbs and fruit to a large bowl along with the sugar and spices. Then mix in the melted butter and all the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly to incorporate then taste for seasoning and add more if needed. Traditionally this would have been made in a cloth. But if you want a round pudding then you can pack into a round pudding mould. I used a plastic bowl covered with foil and Clingfilm! Set the bowl in a steamer.

Never let the pudding bowl directly touch the base of the pan. If using this method add boiling water to half-way up the pudding. Cover with a lid, bring to a simmer and allow steaming for 6 hours. Ensure you check the water level frequently and never let the pan boil dry.

The pudding is done when deep ruby in colour and firm to the touch. Once ready, allow the pudding to cool, I have since poured brandy over the pudding and is now locked in a cake tin until crimbo! When it will get flamed and lashing of brandy Cream!

Plum Clafoutis

As the plums are a cross between cherries and plums I thought – why not! So here it is

The recipe is a common one found in most cookbooks and does not really vary, However I like the punch of cherry brandy so I used this instead of Kirsh.

150ml (5fl oz) double cream

150ml (5fl oz) milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp kirsch or Cherry brandy

3 large eggs

125g (4½oz) caster sugar

Pinch of salt

25g (1oz) plain flour

600g (1lb 4oz) Plums

Handful of Raisins

Handful of Flaked almonds

Method

To make the batter, mix the cream, milk, vanilla and alcohol. Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in a separate bowl until the mixture at least doubles in volume and pale and fluffy. Fold in the flour.

For a fuller flavour leave the Plums/Cherries and Raisins to soak in liquor for at least 24 hours before needed. Arrange the cherries in an average sized tray, preferably one designed for gratins, and pour over the batter. Scatter Almonds on top.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the batter is set. Leave it to sit for 15 Minutes and serve with clotted cream spiked with Amaretto – Delish

Plum Jam

2Kg Plums

1.5Kg Preserving or Jam Sugar

400ML of red grape Juice or Pomegranate Juice

Simmer fruit until nice and soft in fruit juice, roughly about 20Mins, then pour in Sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved, bring to the boil as quick as you can. You can buy an expensive jam thermometer for this but I prefer putting a blob on a nice cold plate – if a skin starts forming then bingo your done!

Should be enough for about 4 sterilized Kilner Jars, will keep in fridge for a couple of weeks. If not longer, however do so at own risk.

Stewed Plums

Does what it says on the tin – really done to optimize space in the freezer for the plums to be used throughout winter. Here’s how I did it.

I didn’t weigh the plums it was just what we had left over after making everything else, threw them in a big stockpot, 1 pint of water, 2 Cinnamon sticks, glug of Vanilla essence and a bag of sugar, very low heat. Left for a couple of hours – stirring intermittently, the end result is a nice plum compote – if you’re being posh – stewed plums if like me you’re from up north!

Once cooled they were separated into 1lb bags and stuck in freezer until needed – great on porridge, as a pie filling or simply on toast!

More wild goodies to come in the next thrilling instalment of ‘A walk on the wild side’

As a little pre-cursor, have been in touch with a foraging expert who is willing to come over and teach, however need to know numbers and how much you would pay? Please let me know either on twitter or leave a comment thanks!

Masticating Manxie

Eating his way through life