Any one who's ever been to my parent's house at 'Gin and Tonic Time' (When the sun is passed the yard arm, which means 6pm and not a minute earlier) will know what a big deal it is. At this point one of the strongest gin and tonics known to man is almost forced into your hand. The thing that makes this hilarious is that if you express the an interest in a drink a meer five minutes earlier, then your branded an alcoholic.
So, I'm sure you can appreciate that a few snacks to cut through that amount of gin is always appreciated.
I decided to pull out some old faithfuls because I didn't have a huge amount of time to research and think about new stuff. This gave rise to another Ottolenghi recipe, parmesan and poppy seed biscuits and cheese and mustard gougeres.
Parmesan and poppy seed biscuits
These little things are great. They're cheesy and spicy and are actually more flavoured with parmesan and smoked paprika than with the poppy seeds. The poppy seeds however give a bit of colour and visual drama. They're dangerous to have too many around as the second you've got a drink in your hand they just get hoovered up and you seem to drink a lot more too because they're so salty. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
210g plain flour, plus plenty extra for dusting
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp paprika (I always use smoked paprika)
a pinch of cayenne pepper
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
165g butter at room temp
165g Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
80g poppy seeds
1 free range egg beaten
Sift the flour, baking powder, paprika and cayenne into a bowl and add the salt and pepper.
Mix the butter with the Parmesan until they are well blended, add the dry ingredients and continue mixing to form a dough.
Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a long log 5-6cm in diameter using lots of flour. Wrap each log in cling film and place in refrigerator for about 30 mins to firm up.
Scatter the poppy seeds over a flat plate. Brush the logs with the beaten egg and roll them in the poppy seeds until covered. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. (At this stage you can also wrap the logs and freeze them)
Preheat the oven to 170c. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Cut the log into slices approx 3-5mm thick and arrange on the tray spaced about 2-3cm apart. Bake for 12 minutes. The biscuits should be dark golden and smell amazing! Leave to cool completely before serving or storing in an air tight container.
Cheese and Mustard Gougeres
I found this recipe last year. I was looking for inventive ways to use up cheddar when we received one of the oddest gifts I've ever had. We were given 6 large blocks of cheddar. All different types and all very nice but I don't normally eat that much cheese and by the time we'd have cheese and biscuits, mac and cheese, quiche and lots of cheese on toast I was kind of stumped.
These are quick, delicious, very cheesy and look pretty impressive for the effort. I normally flavour with smoked paprika but as I was already doing something paprika-ry I decided to flavour these with mustard. I added a pinch of dried mustard like the recipe suggested but if you love mustard like I do I think it could definitely take more. I also didn't use a standard piping bag with a nozzle I used a disposable piping bag and just cut the end to the right size (about 1.5 cm).
75g plain flour
dried mustard powder
50g butter
2 medium eggs , lightly beaten
75g strong cheddar , finely grated
Sprinkle of poppy seeds (optional)
Mix the flour and a large pinch of mustard powder and season well. Put 150ml water and the butter in a pan and heat until the butter is completely melted. Turn up to a boil. Tip the flour into the pan in one go and beat with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Turn heat down, but keep beating until the mix turns smooth and glossy and starts to pull away from the walls of the pan. Tip into a bowl.
Once the mixture has cooled slightly, beat in the eggs a little at a time with a wooden spoon or electric beaters. It should be smooth and stretchy and fall easily off a wooden spoon but still retain its shape. If it reaches this stage before you've added all the eggs, don't add the rest as it will be too runny to pipe. Beat in the cheese.
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment, put a straight-edged cream nozzle into a piping bag and spoon in the pastry mix. Pipe out 30 small heaps of pastry about the size of a pound coin. (If you don't have a piping bag, put the mix in a strong plastic bag and snip the corner off, or use a teaspoon to portion it out). Wet your finger and press down the tip on each one. Add a scatter of poppy seeds if you like. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and firm. Serve hot or make a hole in the base of each with a skewer and leave to cool. You can reheat them if you like.
No comments:
Post a Comment