St Patrick's Day cooking with Miele

Last Tuesday a lucky group of food bloggers was treated to a day in Miele's Experience Centre, to cook some St Patrick's Day fare and test out the technology. I travelled down to Oxfordshire along with Joanna of Joanna's Food, Joy of Almanzo's Belly, Sam of Antics of a Cycling Cook, and my namesake Alex from Just Cook It.

The theme of the day was, of course, Irish recipes. After some coffee and pastries, we split into four teams and got cracking on the cooking, with the chance to play with some of Miele's toys at the same time.



I tried out the integrated steam oven and the Tepan-Yaki hotplate. Steaming rhubarb to make a Roscommon Pudding meant that the fruit really kept its colour and shape. We also made a really simple leek and watercress soup and I was surprised to find that it didn't need any seasoning. Steaming the vegetables kept the flavours fresh and vibrant. It's a very healthy way of cooking too.



The Tepan hotplate was lots of fun. If you haven't seen one before, it's a flat, smooth hob that lets you cook directly on the surface, Japanese style. It took a while to heat up, but once it was searing we grilled some prawns on it with the minimum of oil. You could just as easily use it for a full English (or should that be Irish?) breakfast.



After a few hours of toil in the kitchen we had the chance to taste our just desserts. It was quite a spread, with soda bread, beef in Guinness and Roscommon rhubarb pudding amongst the dishes on the table.

We were then shown around the centre to learn more about Miele. The technology was innovative to say the least. I was particularly keen on the dishwasher that opens its own door when it has finished (no more nasty water marks on my glasses!), the fridge that keeps a cabbage fresh for 6 whole months, and the wireless meat probe that lets you cook your meat to medium-rare perfection.

The Miele Experience Centre isn't just for food bloggers either; Miele run regular Let's Do Lunch events to help prospective purchasers test out the products. So if you're thinking of decking your kitchen out with some top end gadgetry (can I come and live with you?), why not try it out first?

My favourite dish of the day was this Bailey's chocolate cheesecake. It's too good to eat just one day a year, and although it takes a little bit of effort it can easily be made ahead and is very impressive.



Bailey's Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the base:
150g digestive biscuits
110g butter
3 tbsps cocoa powder
2 tbsps caster sugar

For the filling:
300g cream cheese
120ml double cream
1 egg
75g icing sugar
120g plain chocolate chips
4tbsps Baileys liqueur (plus extra if you like a tipple whilst you're baking)

For the topping:
75g plain chocolate
2 tbsps golden syrup
30g butter

1) Preheat the oven to 150c

2) First make the base. Crush the digestive biscuits. Melt the butter in a saucepan or the microwave. Mix the melted butter into the crushed biscuits, cocoa and sugar. Press the mixture into the base of a 22cm springform tin.

2) Bake the base for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool. Leave the oven on as you'll be using it again later.

3) Now for the filling. Beat together the cream cheese, cream, egg and icing sugar until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and slug of Baileys.

4) Pour the mixture over the base and return the tin to the oven for 35 minutes or until the filling is just set. We used the Miele oven's Moisture Plus setting, which injects an automatic burst of steam to keep the cheesecake moist and lovely. If you're not lucky enough to have one of these then just bake it at 150c. If you're feeling brave then you could try using a bain marie, but my Leith's Bible doesn't seem to think it's necessary so I didn't bother.

5) Cool the cheesecake in the tin and then pop it in the fridge overnight.

6) Finally, you need to make the chocolate topping. Break the chocolate into small pieces and put it into a small saucepan with the golden syrup and butter. Gently melt the ingredients together. Give it a stir and then pour the topping over the cheesecake. Chill again to set the topping.

Enjoy!
The Princess

Yauatcha, Soho

Yauatcha, Broadwick St

Tucked away in the heart of Soho lies London's second Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant. Formerly part of Alan Yau's empire, Yauatcha takes dim sum to a chic new level. Luxe ingredients like caviar, scallops and even gold leaf add some bling to the traditional Cantonese "little pieces of heart".

The decor is sleek and sexy, with low tables lit by candles, fish tanks and plenty of blue glass. It's not a typical fine dining restaurant, in fact it feels more like a glamorous cocktail bar.

We start by ordering some cocktails from our elegant waitress. I am not in the least bit elegant, so I can't resist the kitsch Lady Penelope, a startlingly alcoholic pink concoction. It slips down nicely, as fruity cocktails tend to do. I order another.

After reading reviews I am expecting the worst, but service is good. Not great, but good. Our waitress knows the menu, and although her politeness errs on the cool side, she is pleasant, courteous and, of course, perfectly turned out.

The dim sum at Yauatcha are things of beauty. They taste great too, and the dumpling casings are some the lightest and least obtrusive I have tasted. Highlights are the scallop shumai, decorated with pearls of roe, the crisp Mongolian lamb in flaky pastry and the Salt & Pepper Quail, crispy and delicious.


Scallop dim sum

Mongolian crispy lamb

Salt & pepper quail

Pre-dessert, I try one of Yauatcha's much vaunted teas. There is a dizzying array, but once I have eventually chosen I find it is a disappointment. Green tea always tastes a bit like water that you've boiled the vegetables in, and this is no exception. My advice would be to stick with the cocktails.


Cola & lemon tart

I usually skip dessert when I'm eating in Chinese restaurants. Not here though. Yauatcha has a French style patisserie counter where you can choose from an array of delicate delights. In fact, when we arrive for our early dinner there are still several groups taking afternoon tea, and feasting on tiers of elegant French pastries. I sample a citron & cola cube tart, which was equal parts sour and sweet, traditional and modern. Just like Yauatcha itself.


Yauatcha
15-17 Broadwick Street, W1F 0DL
www.yauatcha.com

Make your own pomegranate molasses

If, like me, you've been drooling over Helen's Pomegranate Duck with Caramelised Pears, then you'll need to get your hands on some pomegranate molasses. I trawled all my local supermarkets for this middle eastern ingredient, but my searching was in vain. Unfortunately Surrey doesn't seem to be quite cosmopolitan enough to stock such delicacies. However, a few minutes of internet research yielded a surprisingly easy recipe, so I thought I would have a go at making my own.

Pomegranates have been around since ancient times, and supposedly it was the temptation of sucking the seeds of one of these bejewelled lovelies that trapped Persephone in the underworld. They have featured in the Bible, the Torah and in Romeo and Juliet; Nigella Lawson has been known to swoon over their ruby-like beauty and AA Gill has been known to eat the seeds with a safety pin.

Pomegranate molasses is a great marinade for duck or lamb (try this recipe by Sophie Grigson), it is sticky, rich, sweet and sour. It features heavily in the Moro cookbook, which comes highly recommended by me.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe for pomegranate molasses.

Pomegranate molasses

Ingredients

500ml pomegranate juice (widely available - I used Pom)
75ml lime juice (or lemon juice, which is more traditional)
100g golden caster sugar

1. Add the ingredients to a saucepan, stir and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer until reduced by two thirds
3. Transfer to a container and cool. The molasses will thicken further as it cools.

I used two tablespoons of pomegranate molasses as a sauce for duck, bubbled up with the duck juices and a pinch of cinnamon. I then froze the rest in an ice cube tray, ready for future pomegranate emergencies.

Enjoy!

The Princess

Thai duck and green bean curry

Duck has to be one of my favourite meats, it's rich, dark, moist and tasty. According to Saint McGee, this richness is down to the the duck's abundant "myoglobin-rich" muscle fibres, a necessity when you need to fly hundreds of miles on the trot. It certainly puts the lazy old chicken to shame.

When out on the town, I can be almost guaranteed to choose duck confit if available, and I really miss the mouth-wateringly crispy Peking Duck that I ate on a regular basis in Hong Kong. However, it's January, and that means not only joining the gym, but replacing crispy skin with veggies and hot, fragrant, metabolism-boosting spiciness.

I adapted this recipe from one I found on the Good Food website. It's one of those slow-cooking, go-and-watch-the-TV-whilst-it-cooks type recipes. It's a new staple of mine and regularly crops up as weekday comfort food.

Thai duck and green bean curry - serves 2

Ingredients

2 duck breasts, without skin
3 tbsp green Thai curry paste
1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar, if you don't have it)
400ml can coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
100g (1/2 bag) green beans, trimmed and chopped in half
350g bag of fresh bean sprouts
1 red chilli, chopped finely
A handful of chopped fresh coriander, to garnish

1. Fry the duck breasts until they are browned and most of the fat has rendered off. Make sure you use a saute pan or saucepan as it will need to be deep enough to take the liquid ingredients later. Remove to the chopping board and let cool slightly. I usually pour the rendered fat into a jar and save it for other cooking purposes. Like goose fat, it's great for roasties!

2. In the meantime, fry the curry paste and sugar for 1-2 mins in the same pan.

3. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and lime leaves. Bring to a simmer.

4. Slice the duck breasts into bite size pieces, then add to the simmering coconut milk mixture.

5. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 1 hour.

6. Add the green beans and cook for 10 more minutes. Season with fish sauce and/or palm sugar as necessary.

7. Stir through the bean sprouts and chilli. Cook for 2 more minutes, then serve with shredded coriander and a big heap of steaming jasmine rice.

And now I'm off to the gym to see if I can improve my abundance of myoglobin-rich red muscle fibres. I think I'm more of a chicken though!

The Princess

Turkish delight

Happy new year everyone! I'm back from my trip to Istanbul, and what a trip it was. Meatballs, baklava and fireworks were as fabulous as I expected. Snow and seagulls were less anticipated but no less spectacular.

We stayed at the Ibrahim Pasha hotel, sadly more expensive than we originally intended due to the weak pound, a gorgeous boutique hotel right in the heart of Sultanahmet. We were mere steps away from the blue mosque and with a well stocked library, cosy log fires and a resident dopey labrador to boot, I was in seventh heaven.

We started our mornings with a sumptuous Turkish breakfast. The generous spread of rustic breads, honey, juicy jams, olives, halloumi and other cheeses, boiled eggs, oranges and strong, sweet tea really hit the spot and set us up perfectly for days spent sightseeing and, er, more eating.



Street food was simple and tasty. I tried a Simit, a kind of sesame encrusted Turkish bagel. Carts selling these and roasted chestnuts tempted us at every corner, as did the patisseries selling sticky baklava and fleshy, rose-scented turkish delight.



Our first lunch was at Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi, a small, busy and traditional restaurant in the central tourist area of Sultanahmet. We were whisked to a table, where we chose from the short-and-sweet menu of kebab, kofte and a choice of two salads.



My pre-trip investigations on the Chowhound boards indicated that the meatballs were to die for, and they certainly were melt-in-the-mouth delicious (especially when coated with a zingy chilli sauce, doled out to each plate by a white-jacketed waiter). The lemon-drenched white bean salad was also perfect in its simplicity.



We also tried the local sour and salty yoghurt drink, Ayran, which was the ultimate post-chilli palate-cleansing refresher.





Dinner at Cafe Rumeli was spent in a cozy candlelit nook, devouring heaps of vegetarian mezze and a delicious, slow cooked tomato, rosemary and lamb dish.

Other eating places of note included Balikci Sabahattin (Sabahattin the Fisherman), a classy fish restaurant with calamari in possibly the lightest batter I have ever crunched. We fought over the last dregs of sweet red peppers and aubergine in soured yoghurt before tucking into the catch of the day. We chose our fish variety (sea bass for me, snapper for him) and whether it was to be grilled or fried. Fresh, simple and delicious.

We also took a short tram ride to Hamdi, which served miriad kebab varieties in a rooftop dining room with views over the Bosphorus. The sublime sesame pitta bread was puffed up like pillows, the baklava was unctuously gooey (as it should be!) and tiny cups of bubbling, mud-like coffee finished off the meal in true Turkish style.

Our final night was spent chowing down in-room on some takeaway Turkish pizza with sheep's cheese followed by yet more baklava and washed down with a few beers. We then saw the new year in from the roof terrace of our hotel, complete with a view over the blue mosque and flocks of seagulls erupting overhead at the first sound of fireworks.

We survived, unscathed by the gulls overhead, and were very sad to leave the following afternoon. Istanbul was a fantastic place to spend new year, with atmosphere, history and tasty rustic treats galore.

Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi, 12 Divanyolu Cad, Sultanahmet. Tel +90 212-520-0566
Cafe Rumeli, Ticarethane Sok. 8, Sultanahmet. Tel +90 212-5120008
Balikci Sabahattin, Seyit Hasan Kuyu Sokak, Cankurtaran. Tel +90 212-458 1824
Haamdi, Tahmis C. Kalcin Sokak 17, Eminonu. Tel +90 212-528 0390

Merry Xmas and a polar bear cake

I have a huge blogging backlog, but thanks to the flu have got a bit behind on putting things up here. But in 2009 you can look forward to a review of Pearl restaurant and bar, a luscious Thai duck and green been curry, the bf attempting a credit crunching meal for two for 10 pounds and a write up of my forthcoming New Year trip to Istanbul.

In the mean time, feast your eyes on my not-too-artistic polar bear Christmas cake. The cake was a gift but it was the first time I had attempted marzipanning, royal icing or indeed fashioning polar bears out of sugar paste. The bf thinks the one on the right looks more like a mouse!

Merry Christmas and here's to 2009!

The Princess

Little Chef Blumenthal is a Big Success!

On my way down to Hampshire to visit the Princess family this weekend, I took the opportunity to have breakfast at Little Chef. And before you ask, this was not just any Little Chef. The Popham branch has been made over by none other than Mr Heston Blumenthal as part of a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary.

The shabby Little Chef of old has been refitted in a retro, fifties diner style in red and white. We made ourselves at home in one of the banquettes and ordered from the trial menu.

Beef cheeks and green tea looked very enticing, but it was early so we decided to test out the breakfast fare that Little Chef is more typically known for. And in fact breakfasts haven't changed a whole lot since Mr B came along. The bf plumped for an omelette filled with tasty farmhouse cheddar and I went for the bacon sarnie, on fluffy white bloomer and filled with two types of crispy bacon (Wiltshire back and crispy streaky).



Whilst the breakfasts stick fairly closely to the Little Chef staple fry up, the quality and service is top notch. There's no snail porridge, but my bacon buttie was definitely one of the better ones I've had.

There were some nice little touches too, from the kitsch tomato ketchup dispenser and retro eighties board games, to the foodie wisdom on the loo walls and mini packet of Jelly Belly beans that came with the bill.

It remains to be seen whether this makeover will save the ailing chain, but from the comments on the board it seems to be going down well. An anonymous commenter said: "Very good ox cheeks", whilst A Govett "loved" the prawn cocktail & mussels.

I would love to hear what you think too!

The Princess